Conversation 24

On April 7, 1985 Wham! made history in China by being the first Western pop group to play in China when they perform at the Worker’s Gymnasium, the biggest stadium in Beijing at that time, for an audience of 12,000, and a few days after on April 10 they performed at Canton’s Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for an audience of 5,000 and the crediti goes to their manager, Simon Napier-Bell. Their whirlwind 10 day trip all caught on the documentary Wham! in China: Foreign Skies. And also the video “Freedom” opens like a documentary with George and Andrew talking about the trip under footage of their adventures in China.
At that time Wham! wasn’t really known in China that was still a community country and was in process of industrialistation for this reason they decided to give away with every ticket sold cassette tapes with the voice of a Chinese Singer named Cheng Fangyuan covering the songs of Wham! in Chinese on one side, and on the other side Wham’s original songs, hopefully the audience hearing the songs in Chinese, would sing along with them.
The audience is mostly government official and curious teenagers.
The police had warned spectators to stay seated, worried that they would be unable to control the crowds and that there might even be riots.
The crowd then watched in near silence as George and Andrew bounded onto the stage in their big-shouldered suits, backed by an 11-piece band and dancers, and launched into their greatest hits such as “Club Tropicana, “Careless Whisper”, “Everything She Wants” and many others. The screams of the crowd prove just what a special night it was for everyone who witnessed the concert. Some young Chinese who got up to dance were hauled away by security officers . But the unforgettable moment of the night was when the audience gradually fell silent as George serenaded them with “Careless Whisper”.
Speaking about the concert Andrew said “It was an extraordinary experience”.
And thanks to the Wham! there concert influenced Chinese musicians, who had never seen electric guitars played on stage and began to get interested in rock `n’ roll.

NATIONAL COFFEE CAKE DAY

On April 7th, National Coffee Cake Day gives us a reason another reason to linger over a cup of joe. We can also break out some of our favorite recipes and deliver a heartwarming, home-baked item to a friend or two. As many bakers know, coffee cakes take very little time to make and bring a lot of satisfaction to both the baker and the receiver.

NATIONAL GIRL, ME TOO DAY

National Girl, Me Too Day on April 7th recognizes the strength and endurance of women of all ages and is an opportunity to show support for each other.