I'm Coming To Take You To Lunch: A Fantastic Tale of Boys, Booze and how Wham! Were sold to China [Paperback]

Simon Napier-bell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2005

Simon Napier-Bell, manager extraordinaire and world-class raconteur, brings readers along on a Far Eastern pop adventure as he tries to take Wham! behind the bamboo curtain

Wham! were among the world’s biggest pop music sensations of the ‘80s. Simon Napier-Bell began managing the British group in 1983 and, over the next three years, turned them into superstars. This was due in no small part to his ability to get them to perform in China -- the first-ever Western pop band to do so. I’m Coming to Take You to Lunch is the never-before-told story that recounts Bell’s dealings with an extraordinary cast of characters. From heads of state to seedy CIA operatives, I’m Coming to Take You to Lunch is a behind-the-scenes look at the management of a major international pop-act and the diplomatic machinations involved in breaking the walls around Communist China.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A veteran manager of groups like the Yardbirds, Napier-Bell was just about ready to retire when Wham! fell into his lap. Although the group is little more than the answer to a trivia question at this point, Napier-Bell's account of the group's expedient rise and demise portrays the underhanded antics managers and producers employ behind the scenes, here encapsulated in Napier-Bell's campaign to secure the pop group a high profile concert in communist China. Napier-Bell's account of the struggle to arrange the performance is fraught with twists and turns, from the delicate navigation of a fabulously corrupt Chinese bureaucracy to his misrepresentation of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury to keep Queen from landing the gig before Wham! (Napier-Bell compiled a dossier on each band to circulate among the Chinese bureaucrats; one portrayed Wham! as wholesome, while the other depicted Queen as a bawdy carnival of homosexual debauchery. "Yet the brochure wasn't at all offensive."), not to mention the struggle for publicity, a band member's bout of insanity and competing mammoth egos. His attempts to weave in a subplot about financially and emotionally supporting two of his ex-lovers does little to further the book; the minor romantic spats and small victories distract from the larger tale of shepherding Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael to fame. That said, those interested in what goes on backstage and behind the scenes will find Napier-Bell's stories worthwhile and entertaining.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Simon Napier-Bell managed the Yardbirds and co-wrote Dusty Springfield’s hit "You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me." He managed megastars Wham! in the ‘80s and, in 2000, became manager of Alsou, Russia’s biggest pop star. He regularly contributes articles to all the British broadsheet newspapers: The Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian. He currently lives in Thailand.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wenner (January 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932958568
• ISBN-13: 978-1932958560
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,507,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wham! Behind the Scenes, January 15, 2006

By 

Dorrie Wheeler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Coming To Take You To Lunch: A Fantastic Tale of Boys, Booze and how Wham! Were sold to China (Paperback)

If you would have killed to be a fly on the wall during the inner workings of "Whamania," you absolutely must read "I'm Coming To Take You to Lunch A Fantastic Tale of Boys, Booze, And How Wham Were Sold To China." Simon Napier-Bell managed the group in their early days. They had signed a pretty bad record deal with Innervision for their debut album "Fantastic." "Fantastic" was a big hit in the UK spawning the hits, "Bad Boys," "Young Guns," "Wham Rap," and "Club Tropicana." Despite the hits, according to Napier-Bell the group were pretty broke. Despite not having hit the proverbial jackpot yet, Napier-Bell describes George Michael as being very business minded and suspicious at all times when it came to business. Although George was serious when it came to business, in the book George and Andrew are described as childhood friends who were so close it seemed they communicated in their own language with snickers and giggles tossed in. Napier-Bell assisted the group in their legal case which brought them into a deal straight with CBS. CBS signed them directly but it did not guarantee U.S. success as the label felt they were a UK act and Napier-Bell had to do a lot of convincing to sell them to the U.S., and he had to convince people that the poppy "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" was the right song.

Despite this closeness, as Napier-Bell was making business moves trying to make Wham a success in the United States, George Michael was already planning for his solo career and the waters would be tested with a single titled "Careless Whisper."

It's a really great book for the Wham! fan wanting to learn little details about the group that only a person on the inside would know. There is not much information about the groups personal life as far as relationships. There is a brief mention of Andrew dating one of the groups early backup singers and maybe a few other tidbits. What's amazing is that at the start of their international success George Michael wanted to end it all, according to the book.

As for the group conquering China and becoming the first group to play in the communist nation, Simon Napier-Bell was planning the China trip for the group before they were international stars and it finally happened after years of business meetings and trips to China.

It's a really great book and if you are a Wham! fan or someone interested in the music business you should check this book out.