Could Andrew Ridgeley actually play the guitar?

JEM · May 2022

I believe he's a keen cyclist. He appeared on the coverage of the tour of britain a couple of years ago as some kind of pundit. Everybody, including him, seemed a bit bemused why he was there as he didn't have a great deal to say about professional cycle racing.

Seemed like a nice chap though and was very happy just to be involved.

jonnyburgo · May 2022

Johnnyseven said:

Dominic said:

Johnnyseven said:

CavemanGrogg said:

Didn't he open a Chippie or some other take away after Wham?

He had a bar/restaurant/nightclub in the town I grew up in in the late eighties.

That must have been somewhere around Rickmansworth area
I used to know him and George back in the eighties .......I subsequently knew George a lot better and my best friend had a business partnership with him so I would see quite a lot of him and Pepsi and Shirley . I remember going to the opening of Andrew's bar/restaurant .......his Dad was very involved in it and hosted the evening as I remember

Yeah, it was called 93 and was on Rickmansworth High Street.

What number?

Nikc · May 2022

Number 7 I believe, it was an in joke you add the name and the number together it makes 100 oh how they laughed...

I could be making this up of course but it tickled me

vasselmeyer · May 2022

Let's summarise to the list:

Pop star
Handsome fanny magnet
Tabloid sting fodder
Chippy owner
Husband of Bananarama member
Skier
Surf bum
George Michael's emotional support
F3 racing driver
Bar/restaurant owner

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Schnozz · May 2022

vasselmeyer said:

Let's summarise to the list:
Pop star
Handsome fanny magnet
Tabloid sting fodder
Chippy owner
Husband of Bananarama member
Skier
Surf bum
George Michael's emotional support
F3 racing driver
Bar/restaurant owner

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Why I love the forum, right there.

vasselmeyer · May 2022

To be honest, I don't really care...I just thought the video was pretty funny, but it's a less predictable thread that ones where keyboard warriors who ruin "Mr Brightside" and "Mustang Sally" down at the Dog & Duck on Saturday nights (Hands up, that's me!) slag off Chappers and Joe Bonamassa.

Philly_Q · May 2022

vasselmeyer said:

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Nobody actually knows.

Jalapeno · May 2022

Philly_Q said:

CavemanGrogg said:

Didn't he open a Chippie or some other take away after Wham?

I think that was David Van Day from Dollar.

He did open a Wine Bar in Rickmansworth that did OK for a few years.

usedtobe · May 2022

Philly_Q said:

vasselmeyer said:

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Nobody actually knows.

He might..

Philly_Q · May 2022

usedtobe said:

Philly_Q said:

vasselmeyer said:

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Nobody actually knows.

He might..

Let's hope he's reading all this nonsense, then. Maybe he'll tell us.

longjaw · July 2023

Thread resurrection - just watched the Wham! documentary on Netflix (very good BTW).
From listening to the first demos they recorded at the very start of their career and watching the live clips I think it's safe to say he can play the guitar but he isn't a virtuoso.

prowla · July 2023

vasselmeyer said:

Let's summarise to the list:
Pop star
Handsome fanny magnet
Tabloid sting fodder
Chippy owner
Husband of Bananarama member
Skier
Surf bum
George Michael's emotional support
F3 racing driver
Bar/restaurant owner

STILL NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY PLAY GUITAR WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!

Where did it all go wrong???

mort · July 2023

From his autobiography “my songwriting aspirations had been given a boost by a generous eighteenth-birthday present from Mum and Dad – a white Fender Telecaster with a black scratch plate and rosewood fretboard. It looked incredible and became a prized possession to rank alongside my record collection. Every night, I’d lovingly pack it away in a case, storing it under my bed because the room was so minute. In the evenings I’d practise over and over, piecing together covers of the songs I loved and trying out interesting chord sequences that Yog and I could work on together.“

thermionic · July 2023

All this talk about Andrew Ridgely has reminded me of a school eisteddfod (google it if you live outside of Wales) when two guys got up on stage to mime to one of Wham’s hits. I can’t remember who George Michael was, but Andrew Ridgely was played by my friend Aled. The weird thing was, he’d borrowed a bass to do this, not a guitar. He did the whole thing with a massive grin on his face, and he had some amazing dance moves on that stage, that I can still vividly recall to this day. Totally out of character for him, but what a performance!

RocknRollDave · July 2023

longjaw said:

Thread resurrection - just watched the Wham! documentary on Netflix (very good BTW).
From listening to the first demos they recorded at the very start of their career and watching the live clips I think it's safe to say he can play the guitar but he isn't a virtuoso.

Watched the documentary on your recommendation. Indeed, very good. Thanks for the heads up.

StuartMac290 · July 2023

According to a friend of mine who worked with them, Andrew was a decent enough Nile Rogers-esque rhythm player. So yes, he can play guitar.

axisus · July 2023

Planning to watch the documentary. Two likeable lads who did very well indeed. The albums were top notch, good musicians including the excellent Deon Estus on bass.

rossi · July 2023

If girls adore you its not really important to play a guitar .You just have to look good wearing it .Its only important to blokes who arent girl magnets .

DrCornelius · July 2023

rossi said:

If girls adore you it’s not really important to play a guitar .You just have to look good wearing it .Its only important to blokes who arent girl magnets .

It’s why I never bothered taking lessons

elstoof · July 2023

I just walk up and down the street carrying an empty gig bag filled with padding, like Joey with the cardboard Porsche in friends

LordBucketHead · July 2023

He probably played the guitar better than most people on this forum is my guess.

CaseOfAce · July 2023

Saw the documentary last night ... and to be honest there's not much evidence in there one way or the other as to Ridgeley's ability on guitar - a few seconds of an early demo, some still photographs of him with a guitar on stage (he liked his stratocasters).

There is however a brief clip of him at the Wham Final concert doing the intro to Club Tropicana on guitar on stage at Wembley (8th fret F minor 7 going to an Eb maj 7 at 6th fret if you want to play along!) which leads me to believe that YES he can play guitar and his style is barre chords / partial barres up and down the neck using a Nile Rogers funk rhythm - which was good enough for the role he had in the band running around the stage between the photo shoots.

The heavy lifting was done by a session guy - I'd be surprised if Ridgeley was doing the fiddly funk stuff on Ray of Sunshine.

dazzajl · July 2023

LordBucketHead said:

He probably played the guitar better than most people on this forum is my guess.

and looked better doing it too. Speaking for myself naturally:)

impmann · July 2023

LordBucketHead said:

He probably played the guitar better than most people on this forum is my guess.

TBH, he had more success playing one - thats for sure.

EricTheWeary · July 2023

The pre Wham! band was The Executive. I’m not sure what Ridgley did in it, but they were variously a four or five piece so he must have been playing something if George was on vocals. Andrew Leaver is credited as the rhythm guitarist in an obituary, he died quite young and the first Wham! album was dedicated to him.

https://youtu.be/Nsz9-bnYNM8

EricTheWeary · July 2023

https://youtu.be/OnPJkd_7yj8

Despite holding a guitar in the video Ridgley is not credited with playing but this is, I think, one of the tracks that Paul Gray of The Damned played bass on. I just quite like that little known Wham!- The Damned connection.

Open_G · July 2023

I watched the documentary while lost in Netflix ads this morning. While I kept an eye open for any playing there really wasn’t much clue. Closest thing would be the discussion of the writing of careless whisper where he talked of having a chord progression he liked and when he showed it to George it matched a melody he had. It suggests that he approached writing on the guitar to me.

mart · July 2023

EricTheWeary said:

... Wham!- Damned ...

Thank you ma'am.

Philly_Q · July 2023

EricTheWeary said:

https://youtu.be/OnPJkd_7yj8

Despite holding a guitar in the video Ridgley is not credited with playing but this is, I think, one of the tracks that Paul Gray of The Damned played bass on. I just quite like that little known Wham!- The Damned connection.

Which becomes a Wham! - The Damned - UFO connection, I like that.

Poboy · July 2023

I saw him jamming with Allan Holdsworth once in a small jazz club in New York.

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Could Andrew Ridgeley actually play the guitar?

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