Wham!

As half of pop band Wham! (with Andrew Ridgeley), bronzed, big-haired George Michael (real name Georgios Panayioto) churned out disposable pop such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go as well as 1984's ultimate fashion statement, the "Choose Life" T-Shirt. But they provided more than just an image of gleaming cleanliness - they gave a generation of multicultural youths their first real, it's hip to be hirsute, role models.

Wham! were without doubt the biggest British act of summer 1983. Their album Fantastic stormed into the UK charts at Number 1 in July as the boys started their first major tour (sponsored by a sportswear company).

George Michael won the Daily Mirror readers' award for 'Best Bottom of 84' and was then parodied mercilessly (along with partner Andrew Ridgeley) as a pair of singing shorts-clad buttocks, on the TV show Spitting Image.

In April 1985, Wham! became the first Western pop act to play in China, where they performed in front of 10,000 people at the Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing. Back in the capitalist West, their album Make It Big lived up to its title by topping the UK and US charts simultaneously, selling three million copies in the States.

Fourteen months later, 72,000 fans poured into London's Wembley Stadium to say goodbye to Messrs Panayioto and Ridgeley as Wham! played their farewell concert.

George Michael released his first solo album in November 1987. Faith was an impressive debut from Michael, who produced and played many of the instruments on the album himself.  It was obvious that the former Georgios Panayioto had gone firmly for credibility since leaving his pal behind, and quickly established himself as a sophisticated singer and songwriter.