Xmas Eve, 1984. Wham throws an exclusive Xmas party for 12,500 people. Technically, it is a concert and we have all bought tickets. But it feels like a big party.
The party starts before Wham come on. Gary Crowley, the Capital Radio DJ, plays chart hits as the warm-up act and the arena explodes when George Michael’s bit of “Do They Know It’s Xmas?” comes on. It is a joyful riot from that point on.
Everyone is given a party bag. The bag has a hat, a party popper and a Xmas cracker in it, with strict instructions not to pull the cracker until George and Andrew say so. We wait on their order but, amidst all the excitement, they never give the word.
I still have that unpulled cracker in a Wham Xmas party bag. And unpulled it will always now remain.