BEFORE FAME 

OR WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOU DISCOVER ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST POP DUOS IN A VILLAGE HALL 

Saturday 21st September 2024 – 8pm

What would you do if you discovered George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley rehearsing in a village hall before they were famous? Michael Burdett knows because that’s what happened to him when he was a 19-year-old talent scout.

Michael tried to get the music company he worked for to sign the duo as part of a ska band called The Executive. And when his bosses told him he was wasting his time, Michael decided he would take The Executive into the studio himself. If he’d succeeded in getting them a deal, music history might be very different.  

BEFORE FAME tells the untold story of the early years before George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley stormed the UK charts as Wham! It follows Burdett as, 40 years later, he took the recording they made together round the UK, photographing strangers listening to it. And it seeks to find the answer to something that had always puzzled him: did he accidentally give The Beat the idea for one of their greatest hits?

The result is a quirky, funny and uplifting solo show that will make you scratch your head at how coincidence shapes destiny.  In Michael’s words, it’s a show about two musical geniuses and an idiot. Spoiler: Michael is the idiot. 

Michael Burdett is a composer who has written music for television, radio and theatre. He has written everything from the theme tunes to Masterchef and Homes Under The Hammer to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s posing music for the bodybuilding documentary Total Rebuild. He occasionally releases recordings under the name Little Death Orchestra and latterly The Amber Quills.  

Michael’s award-winning one-man show Strange Face – Adventures with a Lost Nick Drake Recording came to Chew Magna in 2019. It also went to Edinburgh three years running, attracting the following praise.

“A gorgeous one-man show. He is a sure-footed guide who keeps us surprised and involved.” The Times

 “He totally engages the audience.” Broadway Baby  

 “Funny, surprising, heart-warming and a right riveting story. Burdett is a compelling raconteur.” The Scotsman 

 
BEFORE FAME supports Nordoff and Robbins, the UK’s national music therapy charity. www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk

Website: www.beforefame.co.uk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/beforefameshow/
Contact details: joblot@hotmail.com  

Image credited ©Before Fame – Michael Burdett