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Wham! in China: Foreign Skies
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Wikipedia article
'Wham! in China: Foreign Skies' is a 1986 documentary film about the English pop duo Wham! consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. It follows Wham! on their historic 10-day visit to China during the 1985 world tour when they became the first Western pop act to visit the country.[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4FUNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT46&dq=wham!+big+tour+1984+1985&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij-5C--q_ZAhXOWsAKHeZrAywQ6AEIPTAF#v=onepage&q=wham!%20big%20tour%201984%20China%201985&f=false George Michael: The biography] - By Rob Jovanovic[https://www.lindsayanderson.com/film/wham-in-china-foreign-skies/ Lindsay Anderson] - Wham! In China: Foreign Skies The film is a British venture produced by Big Boys Overseas Limited and CBS Records, with CBS/Fox Video serving as distributor.[http://archives.wordpress.stir.ac.uk/2012/07/20/154/ If You Were There: Wham! in China] - UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING ARCHIVES
Directed by Lindsay Anderson and produced by Jazz Summers, Martin Lewis and Simon Napier-Bell, 'Wham! in China: Foreign Skies' had its world premiere at the farewell concert held at London's Wembley Stadium on 28 June 1986.[https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b787dddc8 "Foreign Skies"]. (1986) - British Film Institute
Production
Development
Manager Simon Napier-Bells negotiation for the two performances took over 18 months. Napier-Bell used cunning tactics to sabotage the efforts of rock band Queen to be the first to play in China: he made two brochures for the Chinese authorities one featuring Wham! [Michael] as "wholesome", and one portraying Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in typically flamboyant poses. The Chinese opted for Wham!.In December 1984 Wham! set out for their second concert tour, The Big Tour a commercial success, which promoted primarily their second studio album, 'Make It Big'. The concept of filming 'Foreign Skies' began when producer Martin Lewis was busy directing the 1985 documentary about Julian Lennon, titled 'Stand by Me - A Portrait of Julian Lennon'. During a Wham! performance on February 14, 1985 at the Beacon Theatre in New York, he met the duo's co-manager Jazz Summers and discussed the possibility of filming the China tour. When Lewis had permission for the film, it took two weeks to prepare the 35-member international crew, including transportation of a sound desk and super 16 camera equipment.
British director Lindsay Anderson was engaged to accompany Wham! to China in April 1985. The second leg in East Asia began with two concerts in Hong Kong, before moving to China and a concert at the Workers' Gymnasium in Beijing on 7 April in front of a crowd of 12,000, who paid about $1.75 each. They also played a concert on 10 April in front of 5,000 in Canton where tickets cost about $5.50 each. The two concerts were played without compensation, however Wham's visit to China attracted huge media attention across the world. Promotion of trip cost at least $1.5 million which was self-funded, due to Michael wanting artistic control over the film.
Post-production
The film created by Strathford Hamilton and Andy Morahan was shot over two weeks, was then edited over summer and autumn 1985 in London. Anderson called his one-hour and 18 minute film 'If You Were There'. In the final stages of editing, Anderson was dismissed in October 1985 by Wham!'s management, the editing team quit, and the film was entirely re-edited, renamed and released as 'Wham! in China: Foreign Skies'.Music
The soundtrack used in the film was taken from the albums 'Fantastic' and 'Make It Big'. The documentary features some concert footage and studio cut excerpts of the following tracks:[https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/in-china-foreign-skies-mr0002503069 Wham! In China: Foreign Skies] - (VHS (Video) - CBS/Fox #) Allmusic.com
# "Bad Boys"
# "Club Tropicana"
# "Blue"
# "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
# "Ray Of Sunshine"
# "Young Guns (Go For It)"
# "Careless Whisper" (concert footage)
# "Everything She Wants" (concert footage)
# "Like A Baby"
# "If You Were There"
# "Runaway"
# "Love Machine"
Release
The world premiere of 'Wham! in China: Foreign Skies' was shown at London's Wembley Stadium on large video screens on Saturday 28 June 1986 before 'The Final' began. With an audience of 72,000; this set a record for the largest audience at a film premiere.
Home media
It was released on VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc in October 1986. The documentary has yet to be issued on DVD and only one track "Blue (Live In China)" from the film has been officially released on their studio album 'Music from the Edge of Heaven'.In the United States the video retailed at $19.98 and debuted at number 8 on 'Billboard's Top Music Videocassettes chart, for the week ending 25 October 1986 and climbed to number 4, two weeks later.[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1986/BB-1986-10-25.pdf 'Billboard' Top Music Videocassettes] - New entry: #8 for week ending October 25, 1986 (P. 51)[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1986/BB-1986-11-08.pdf 'Billboard' Top Music Videocassettes] - Position: #4 for week ending November 8, 1986 (P. 48) As the video started to climb up the chart, and for the week ending 6 December 1986, it reached number 1, replacing 'The #1 Video Hits' by Whitney Houston.[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1986/BB-1986-12-06.pdf 'Billboard' Top Music Videocassettes] - Position #1 for week ending December 6, 1986 (P. 49) 'Wham! in China: Foreign Skies' was the sixteenth best-selling music videocassette for 1986.[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-08-22.pdf 'Billboard' Top Music Videocassette Hit Chart] - best-selling videocassettes during August 2, 1986 to August 1, 1987. - August 22, 1987 (V-36) It was present on the top 20 chart for a total of 17 weeks until February 1987.[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-02-14.pdf 'Billboard' Top Music Videocassettes] - February 14, 1987 (P. 44) The video was certified gold in April 1987 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 50,000 copies.
Charts and certifications
Charts
Certifications
Credits
*Executive Producers: Jazz Summers and Simon Napier-Bell
*Musical Production and Arrangement: George Michael
*Additional Music: Richard Hartley
*Supervising Editor: Peter Davies
*Editor: Nigel Galt
*Assistant Editors: Peter Culverwell, Len Tremble, Mark Mostyn, Finn Arden
*Director of Photography: David Myers
*Photography: Peter Mackay, Paul Goldsmith, Lee Kenower, Dennis Smith, Alvin Allen
*Assistant Cameramen: George Stephenson, Paul Cameron, Leslie Otis, Bobby Shepherd
*Camera Technician: Ernest Jew
*Gaffer: James Sofranko
*Documentary Lighting Director: Michael Lesser
*Song Mixing: Chris Porter
*Sound Editor: Alan Plaey
*Re-recording Mixer: Dean Humphries
*Documentary Sound: Paul Rusnak
*Lighting Designer: Jonathon Smeeton
*Associate Producer: Michael Owen
*Post-production Supervisor: Sarah OBrien
*Assistant Director: Steven Bull
*Location Manager: Joel Hinman
*Make-up: Melanie Panos
*Wardrobe: Yioda Panos
*Titles: Optical Film Effects
See also
*Wham! discography
*The Big Tour
*List of British films of 1986
References
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