I’m Coming to Take You to Lunch

British duo WHAM! were among the world’s biggest pop music sensations of the 1980s. Simon Napier-Bell began managing them in 1983, almost by accident. Previously he had looked after such stellar acts as The Yardbirds, Japan, T-Rex, and John Paul Young. He also co-wrote Dusty Springfield’s massive hit “You don’t have to say you love me”. In his best selling book “I’m Coming To Take You To Lunch”, he tells how he (through means legitimate…and maybe otherwise) took WHAM! to Beijing in 1985 to perform one of the most famous pop concerts of the 20th Century. In a five part adaptation written especially for Radio 3 by Simon, actor Barry O’Rorke reads this “fantastic tale of boys, booze, and how WHAM! were sold to China”. (Saturdays, 8.30am-9am) Produced by Simon Napier-Bell and Phil Whelan