Fact #161824
When:
Short story:
On their Chinese tour, Wham! spend a free day in Canton, with a banquet in the evening given by the Chinese Cultural Exchange Centre.
Full article:
Jonathan Morrish (Head of Press, CBS Records) : In some ways, Canton was more cosmopolitan city than Beijing. They were able to pick up Hong Kong radio there, so the young people knew about pop and rock music, and the place was generally more Western-oriented. We managed to organise a football match with Wham! and I was the referee. I remember the girls got a bit upset in the street-markets because they saw headless cats hanging up for sale to eat
That night we had a huge banquet, 32 courses…
Simon Napier-Bell (manager, Wham!) : One interesting thing was that George Michael always hated meeting officials and dignitaries, but he tolerated it, and he would ask me to make sure it didn’t happen again. In China though, he behaved the way I’ve always longed to behave but my very English manners won’t allow me to. There was a dinner in Canton, where the mayor wanted to meet George. Now Canton is the second most important city in China and one of the twenty most important cities in the world, but George said, ‘No, stuff him. I don’t want to meet him.’ I was so jealous. And, of course, it didn’t really matter. The mayor was rather impressed because, in a Communist society, he was quite used to being snubbed by powerful figures. George had a great sense of when he had to do something and when he didn’t, so I think he probably sensed he could get away with that one.
(Source : not known)
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That night we had a huge banquet, 32 courses…
Simon Napier-Bell (manager, Wham!) : One interesting thing was that George Michael always hated meeting officials and dignitaries, but he tolerated it, and he would ask me to make sure it didn’t happen again. In China though, he behaved the way I’ve always longed to behave but my very English manners won’t allow me to. There was a dinner in Canton, where the mayor wanted to meet George. Now Canton is the second most important city in China and one of the twenty most important cities in the world, but George said, ‘No, stuff him. I don’t want to meet him.’ I was so jealous. And, of course, it didn’t really matter. The mayor was rather impressed because, in a Communist society, he was quite used to being snubbed by powerful figures. George had a great sense of when he had to do something and when he didn’t, so I think he probably sensed he could get away with that one.
(Source : not known)