PRINCE
THE BEAUTIFUL ONES
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE★★★★
WHAM! GEORGE & ME
ANDREW RIDGELEY
PENGUIN/MICHAEL JOSEPH
★★★★
© Chris Craymer © Larry WilliamsAlmost three years on from
George Michael’s tragic death
and 33 years since Wham! took
their fi nal bow, Andrew Ridgeley,
a man whose retreat from the
public eye following that June
1986 swansong triggered three
decades of silence regarding his
time in one of the most successful
pop acts of the 80s, has fi nally
decided to put forward his side
of the story.
Prompted by the public
outpouring of support directed
towards him and
former Wham!
backing singers
Pepsi and Shirlie
after they paid
tribute to George
at the 2017 BRIT
Awards and what
he felt was a gross
misrepresentation
of George in the
press, Andrew has
said that Wham!
George & Me
came from a
compulsion to protect the legacy
of his former bandmate.
On those terms, the book is
a resounding success. The
prominent theme here is
fundamentally Andrew and
George’s friendship and the
emotion required to sustain a
close bond. Though the story of
how the pair met at school in
1975, bonded over music and
extrovert Ridgeley helping his
introverted friend come out of
his shell and instil in him a
confi dence to express his
extraordinary talent via Wham!
is by now well known, it’s
interjected with a level of
humanity and intimacy when
told from Andrew’s perspective.
Though it was obviously
diffi cult to be vilifi ed in the press
by a media that constantly
scrutinised his role in Wham!
and the global fame which
George went on to achieve,
Andrew remains respectful
throughout the book, even when
discussing diffi cult
subjects such as
George’s sexuality
and his struggle
to maintain his
public image.
More
celebratory than
maudlin, one of the
main strengths of
Wham! George &
Me is the insight it
provides into the
machinations of
well-known career
landmarks such as The Final
concert at Wembley, Wham!’s
groundbreaking tour of China
and the behind-the-scenes
frivolity on video shoots (of
which Last Christmas deserves
special mention).
Packed full of nostalgia, heart
and insight, Wham! George &
Me is a lovingly written ode to
friendship and a celebration of
one of the greatest pop acts of
all time. A superb tribute.
Mark LindoresA tantalising air of ‘what if’
hangs over this long-awaited
Prince memoir, a compromised
affair due to the star’s untimely
passing just at the point where
he was beginning to get his
teeth into the project. As we
learn in the introductory text by
editor Dan Piepenbring, their
collaboration was likely to be just
the fi rst of many.
The Beautiful Ones is split into
four parts. First, Piepenbring’s
story tells us of how he became
attached to the
project as well as
the meetings and
phone calls he had
with Prince about
the way forward.
What becomes
apparent is that the
star, while happy to
retain some of his
mystique, wasn’t
wholly interested
in wrapping the
memoir up in
misdirecting
metaphor – he was keen to lift
the veil on his life and art.
Prince’s direct contributions,
which amount to a handful of
pages and are reproduced here
in his fl owing handwriting and
transcript form, delves into his
earliest memories; his pride at his
mother’s beauty, the pain of
living through his parents’ divorce
and eventual relief at choosing to
live with his father after the pair’s
separation. Prince’s growing
interest in sex and fi rst kiss arediscussed, although, due to the
brevity of the transcript, the ideas
are not expanded upon greatly.
This was never conceived as
a traditional memoir, though.
Piepenbring has stuck to the
initial brief of mixing recollections
with family photos and
reproductions of annotated
original handwritten lyrics.
A second section features
Prince’s scrapbook as he
recorded his debut album –
often annotated in the star’s own
handwriting before
The Beautiful Ones
moves on
to his rapid
development as a
solo artist up to the
1999 album, his
handwritten song
sheets especially
interesting.
Concluding with
Prince’s treatment
for the story
concept behind
Purple Rain, the
most has been made of the
book’s diffi cult genesis. Prince’s
voice comes through loud and
clear; his personality, joie de
vivre and single-mindedness
jumping off the page throughout.
The star’s plans for further
books about an insider’s take
on the music industry and
explorations of racism in society,
would never be realised but like
his life as a musician, perhaps it’s
fi tting that we should be left
wanting more. Steve Harnell