If you thought the cultural reassessment of Wham! was over after the release of Chris Smith’s 2023 documentary, you thought wrong. Because now, there’s a documentary that gets even more into the weeds about one of their most beloved songs. No, it’s not “Careless Whisper” (though one hopes there’s an “unwrapped” for that in the future). Instead, Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped is an ultimate deep dive into the making of, what else, “Last Christmas,” the seasonal hit that didn’t soar to the number one spot on the British charts until 2023, continuing the new “tradition” of being at the top this year as well (much to Mariah Carey’s dismay). Which was well-timed for a reflection on the making of the song…particularly its accompanying bittersweet video.
The hour-long special, directed by Nigel Cole (who went from directing an 00s rom-com such as A Lot Like Love to ostensibly specializing in made-for-TV music docs that include Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words, Roy Orbison: Love Hurts and Johnny Cash: The Man in Black in Britain), focuses in on a moment both micro and macro in pop culture. Not to mention in Wham!’s all too brief period of time together. Although 1984 was already a monolithic year for the band’s success, George Michael had gotten a melody and idea trapped in his head. The former was one that he was certain would help fulfill a dream for the Wham! trajectory: securing the Christmas number one. Something that only British people have a fixation on—indeed, it’s a tradition as British as loving tea at this point (as 2003’s Love Actually showed Americans long ago when Billy Mack [Bill Nighy] miraculously blocked Blue from getting the top spot).
With the release of their sophomore album, Make It Big (a title indicative of a typically cheeky and ironic British sense of humor), in October of that year, the duo already garnered chart-topping hits with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Careless Whisper.” The fourth and final single from the record, “Everything She Wants,” was released on December 3, 1984. Which might have meant, in some non-moneymaking minds, that Wham! would risk an “oversaturation point” by releasing a new single the same month. But no, Michael was committed to his goal. And he even wanted to make a cinematic accompanying video to go with it—one that had a narrative in the spirit of The Big Chill, as Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped tells it.
Capturing the vibe of friends who meet once a year to catch up with each other, it’s apparent from the outset of the Andy Morahan-directed video that Michael’s character, who we’ll call Lovelorn, and model Kathy Hill’s character, who we’ll call Backstabber, had “a thing.” Even more apparent is that “thing” must have ended quite badly/awkwardly. The latter quality further compounded by the fact that Backstabber is now with Lovelorn’s best mate, Andrew Ridgeley, who can just be called Andrew Ridgeley.
Morahan had previously worked with Wham! for the “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” and “Everything She Wants” videos and, thus, like everyone else, shared an easy rapport with them as he opted to essentially just film his subjects without directing them, letting the camera run and seeing what usable moments might be organically caught on camera. The affinity shared between the bandmates/chums was so natural that, as Ridgeley tells it, the trip to Saas-Fee in Switzerland really did feel like a genuine getaway with friends. Complete with drinking too much wine and getting more than slightly “ribald.”
Fellow revelers/bandmates Helen “Pepsi” DeMacque and Shirlie Paddington are also prominent “talking heads” in the documentary, recalling how the Wham! days were the best of their lives. Mainly because those days were representative of the freedom and promise of their youth. Indeed, Ridgeley reiterates toward the end of Wham!: Last Christmas Unwrapped that, apart from Michael becoming an undeniable superstar/sex symbol as the 1980s wore on, the reason for the disbanding of the group stemmed from their belief that it was always meant to be a project centered on the fun and froth of being youthful. Once they were out of their teens and early twenties, the concept of “Wham!” no longer worked for their image.
That Michael was, more and more, relying on his own musical instincts was also clear. So it is that Ridgeley remembers how determined Michael was to ensure that “Last Christmas” turned out exactly as he had heard/pictured it in his “mind’s eye.” Hence, being the lone producer and singer on the track, with only a Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, LinnDrum programming and sleigh bells as collaborators on the song that would end up continuing to melt hearts for decades to come. At this moment, four decades, to be exact. Which is part of why the special was created and released this year: to mark the song’s fortieth anniversary.
And it’s obvious that the single has even more of an impact today, as evidenced by Cole being able to secure interviews with several big names in music, including Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys (side note: Wham!’s “Last Christmas” director also directed the PSB videos for “Opportunities [Let’s Make Lots of Money],” “West End Girls” and “Love Comes Quickly”), Mary J. Blige (who did a cover of the song) and Sam Smith. It is the latter who most fervently speaks to what the song means to him. To the chills that Michael’s voice still sends down people’s spines when they hear the earnestness in his voice. In fact, it is Smith who emphasizes that singing and songwriting is one of most vulnerable forms of expression. And it comes across, to this day, that Michael’s emotions were irrefutably genuine.
It’s also no coincidence that, of all the themes to home in on for a Christmas song, Michael chose unrequited love. For it’s something that practically every human, at some point in their lives, has been able to relate to. That Christmas is a time for heightened sensitivity to such feelings only adds to the melancholic, nostalgic aura of the song.
As the special comes to a close, Bob Geldof materializes (as he so often does when you least expect it) to show his respect for George Michael and the fact that he was willing to sabotage his own dream of having a Christmas number one for a “greater” cause: recording “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” With its charity cachet (Geldof was focused on raising money for the famine in Ethiopia) and supergroup status (with such members as Sting, Boy George, Phil Collins, Bono and Simon Le Bon in the mix), Wham! officially didn’t stand a chance of snagging the number one spot that year. Thus, Michael and Ridgeley had to settle for being “number two” as 1984 came to a close. Needless to say, however, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” wouldn’t have anything resembling the same longevity as “Last Christmas,” with the former increasingly balked at by listeners for its tone deafness, stereotypes and white savior attitude.
That the “cult following” of “Last Christmas” has grown to the point where fans of the song (whether casual or “die-hard” Wham! enthusiasts) have been able to, at last, stream it to the top spot where it had always belonged when it first came out is a powerful thing. And the song’s power has obviously grown so much that there is enough of an audience for it to warrant an entire documentary devoted solely to exploring its backstory and cultural impact.
+ There are no comments
Add yours