Wham The Big Tour

The Big Tour was the second concert tour by English musical duo Wham!, launched in support of their multi-platinum second studio album Make It Big with over six million units sold in the US alone. The tour spanned 4 months between December 1984 and April 1985, comprising 39 shows across the UK, Ireland, Japan, Australia, United States, Hong Kong and China. Wham! made history in China by being the first Western pop act to visit the country.

The Big Tour opened at Whitley Bay Ice Rink on 4 December. The venue was small due to no other venues being available in the north east, they were booked for two more shows between concerts in Glasgow, Dublin and Leeds. Just as the UK portion of the tour was in its stride, George Michael hurt his back during a performance and the band had to cancel five consecutive shows which were put back until February and March. They continued the UK leg with shows in Wembley Arena during the Christmas period to around 50,000 fans. The dates coincided with the release of their new single “Last Christmas” reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart.

At the end of the worldwide tour, the duo went for a 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The China excursion was a publicity scheme devised by Simon Napier-Bell (one of their two managers—Jazz Summers being the other). It began with a concert at the Peoples' Gymnasium in Beijing (then Peking) in front of 13,000 people. They also played a concert in front of 5,000 in Canton. The two concerts were played without compensation. Wham!'s visit to China attracted huge media attention across the world. Napier-Bell later admitted that he used cunning tactics to sabotage the efforts of British rock band Queen to be the first to play in China: he made two brochures for the Chinese authorities – one featuring Wham! fans as pleasant middle-class youngsters, and one portraying Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in typically flamboyant poses. The Chinese opted for Wham!.

"The first feeling was of failure, there was no way we could communicate. And when we actually found out what had gone on [with people being told not to dance] I was just furious. Obviously, I felt responsibility at the time to represent my generation from the west in a good light and pop music in a good light."

A documentary film was shot over two weeks in April and edited over summer and autumn 1985 in London. The whole China visit was documented by British film director Lindsay Anderson and producer Martin Lewis in their film Wham! in China: Foreign Skies released in 1986. The first ever public viewing of Foreign Skies was shown on large video screens on Saturday 28 June 1986 at the farewell show "The Final".

Support acts:

DJ Gary Crowley Pepsi & Shirlie

Setlist:

Japan

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "Club Tropicana" "Blue" "Heartbeat" "Credit Card Baby" "If You Were There" "Like a Baby" "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)" "Freedom" "Careless Whisper" "Young Guns (Go for It!)"

Encore "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "Last Christmas"

Beijing, China

"Bad Boys" "Club Tropicana" "Blue" "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" "A Ray of Sunshine" "Young Guns (Go for It!)" "Careless Whisper" "Everything She Wants" "Like a Baby" "If You Were There" "Love Machine"

Personnel

George Michael & Andrew Ridgele Gary Crowley - Crowd DJ (Guest Star) Tommy Eyre - M.D. & Keyboards Trevor Murrell - Drums Deon Estus - Bass Hugh Burns - Guitars Mark Fisher - Keyboards Danny Cummings - Percussion Paul Spong - Trumpet Dave ‘Baps’ Baptiste - Saxophone Raul D’Oliviera - Trumpet Leroy Osbourne - Vocals Janey Hallett - Vocals Janet Mooney - Vocals Shirlie Holliman - Dancer Pepsi DeMacque - Dancer Simon Napier-Bell - Management Jazz Summers - Management Jake Duncan - Tour Manager Ken Watts - Production Manager Dave Davis - Guitars & Keyboards Dick Jones - Drums & Percussion Tony Blanc - Sound Engineer John Roden - Monitor Engineer John ‘Judge’ Loudon - Lighting Engineer Ross Balfour - Staging Russell Sparks - Staging Lesley Morrall - Wardrobe Melanie Panayiotou - Wardrobe Yioda Panayiotou - Make-up & Hairdressing Dave Moulder - Personal Security Ronnie Franklin - Personal Security Connie Filippello - Press & P.R. Mike Putland - Photographer Mr & Mrs. Panos Mrs. Jenny Ridgeley Mrs. Tommy Eyre Ms. Debbie Sweeny