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Podcast: Today In History with The Retrospectors
Episode: When Wham! Went To China
Description: George Michael and Andew Ridgely, aka British duo Wham!, became the first Western group to play a gig in Communist China on 7th April, 1985.The event, staged at the People's Gymnasium in Beijing, was primarily a strategic move aimed at breaking the band in the United States; the brainchild of the band’s managers, Gordon Jazz Summer and Simon Napier Bell, who embarked on a series of hotel lunches with Chinese officials, gradually unveiling the proposal for Wham!'s performance.The logistical challenges were immense - requiring a jumbo je...