535

Lot #535: WHAM! - Wham! First Demo Recording January 1982 CD

Currency:GBP Category:Memorabilia / Music Memorabilia Start Price:500.00 GBP Estimated At:1,000.00 - 2,000.00 GBP
Lot #535: WHAM! - Wham! First Demo Recording January 1982 CD
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Day 1 and 2 of the auction will be held live with in-person bidding on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th November 2023 at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LN.

Please note in-person bidding is not available on Days 3 and 4 (Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th November), bids can be placed online or via telephone or written absentee form.
WHAM! - Wham! First Demo Recording January 1982 CD

A CD of the original Wham! demo recorded in 1982 by producer Paul Mex. The four-track master demo was recorded on a TEAC 144 4-track recorder in the lounge of Andrew Ridgeley's family home. It was the very first recording the pop duo ever made as Wham!, and it helped them secure a record contract with Innervision Records. Parts of the demo can be heard in Chris Smith's Netflix documentary Wham!.

Mex discovered the multi-track master demo cassette in his collection and gave it to George Michael in 1998, but not before archiving it digitally on a hard drive, which he kept private for many years, before transferring it to this one-off CD for safe-keeping. The demo has never been fully released to the public.

The CD includes the tracks "Careless Whisper" and "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)", and Mex added acapella versions of both songs for his own enjoyment. The lyrics in these early versions differ slightly from the released versions. The lot comes in a white card sleeve, with details of the recording printed on the front, and the tracklist and credits on the back. Dimensions: 12.5 cm x 12.5 cm x 0.5 cm (5" x 5" x 1/4")

Sold without copyright; see notice in the Buyer's Guide.

Additional Information:



George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley sent around 25 cassette copies of the demo to record companies at the beginning of 1982, hoping to secure a deal. This initially yielded no results until Mark Dean at Innervision Records finally took them on. None of those cassettes are known to have survived. Production company Ventureland searched extensively for a copy of the demo for the Netflix documentary, spending months scouring George's homes for the four-track master that Mex gave him in 1998, but to no avail. Ridgeley provided the solution when he suggested that Mex may have kept a copy.

Estimate: GBP 1000 - 2000 M

Bidding for this lot will end on Friday, November 10th. The auction will begin at 3:00PM BST and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Thursday, November 9th, Saturday, November 11th or Sunday, November 12th.