Namesakes #34: Wham!

Sometimes this features genuinely surprise me. I mean, come on, there can't be more than one band called Wham, can there?

Yes, there can. The only difference is that one of them favours an exclamation mark. Except that's not 100% accurate either...

WHAM #1

Our first onomatopoeic punch came from the U.S.A. (I can't narrow it down any more than that, I'm afraid), releasing one LP and a bunch of singles in the late 70s. They were also known as Super Band Wham and... wait for it... Wham! 

They returned in the mid-80s when... for some unknown reason... they'd re-christened themselves Jham. Or Jham!!

Here they are in all their funky disco glory...

  

WHAM! #2

Our next Wham! comes from Kuala Lum... OK, no they don't. It's George and Andrew, and they met at Bushey Meads school near Watford. They're probably the greatest pure pop band of the 80s, and yet they still managed to write songs about teenage pregnancy, parental argy bargy and unemployment. They made a catchy chorus out of the letters D-H-S-S, for god's sake! Show me somebody who doesn't love Wham! and I'll show you someone with all the joy sucked out of their. And I should know: I've had most of the joy sucked out of mine... yet I still love Wham!

For the record, in case you were wondering, Discogs tells me "They were briefly known in the United States as 'Wham! UK' because of a naming conflict with another band." But I'm guessing CBS sorted that one out pretty sharpish. Just ask Jham!

Still not convinced? Tune out the 80s production (if that's not to your taste), close your eyes and listen... to one of the greatest Motown tunes to come out of Watford...

I mean, it's no contest this week, is it? #1 was all very fine, nothing wrong with it at all, but if you tell me you prefer it to #2, I'll know you're only lying to wind me up. You've got to try harder than that...