Was It The Greatest Show of the 1980s?

[PeterRS2]

I reckon a number of events could qualify for the title of this thread. Was it Bob Geldoff's Live Aid etimated to have been seen on TV by 1.5 billion viewers? Was it the relase of Michael Jackson's Thriller album which is said to be the best selling album of all time with 70 million sales.

Many consider the subject of a new documentary movie now on sale revealing the background and events of April 1985 as the 'greatest' - the tour of WHAM to China. Titled WHAM – 10 Days in China the film charts the astonishing concept with one of the greatest pop groups in the world making a tour to a communist China still mired in the dying embers of the Cultural Revolution.

No western pop stars had ever before toured to China. China had never experienced western pop music. The only non-local Chinese who performed were mostly occasional Cantonese pop stars from Hong Kong. How the reticent Chinese authorities permitted such a tour and the near daily disasters portrayed in the movie illustrate just what an iconic event it was. The pair's catchy tunes and energetic performances wowed audiences and helped bridge a gap between a huge nation and western pop.

The acclaimed movie director Lindsay Anderson was hired to make the movie. He recruited a 30 strong production team. When the first cut of the movie was shown to George and Andrew six months later, they hated it. He was immediately dismissed. The new movie has been assembled from the masses of footage Anderson shot, much of it never seen before. This has the approval of the George Michael estate. Ironically the China gig was principally a "wheeze" thought up by agent and producer Simon Napier Bell with its object being to get WHAM better known in the USA. He knew that Elton John had started to get much higher sales in the USA after his 1979 concerts in Russia. Long article in today's Guardian newspaper.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/aug/04/george-michael-lindsay-anderson-wham-movie-china-producer

 

[mauRICE]

My parents would swear it was the Who Shot JR story arch on Dallas. They were and still are devoted fans and absolutely loved the DVD box set I got them for their 50th anniversary.