Musical Heritage
The Three Crowns is more than just a local; it's the legendary spot where George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley hung out and dreamed of Wham! Step into the very space where an iconic musical story began over drinks and friendship.
The Birth of Wham!
The Three Crowns played a small but significant part in the story of Wham!
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Andy and George became friends when they met at Bushey Meads School. Their first group was called The Executive and they practised at St Peter's Church over the road and came to The Three Crowns afterwards. They would drink Coca-Cola and hide away in The Snug as they were all underage!
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On the day before he turned 18, on January 25th 1981, Andy was in The Three Crowns with George when he saw a girl who he recognised from school. He went over to her and the two started talking. Shirlie Holliman had been in the year above them at Bushey Meads.
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George and Andy would go out with Shirlie and David Austin from The Executive to The Three Crowns. After leaving school they decided to form Wham! right here in the snug at The Three Crowns.
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They took the name from a rap that Andy had made up. As George put it, "there was no point in calling yourself "Wham!" if you weren't going to have an exclamation mark!"
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They made a demo tape which included 'Wham! Rap', 'Club Tropicana' and 'Careless Whisper' and sent it to lots of record companies but were turned down by all. Andy was then introduced to Mark Dean, who lived down the road from him. Mark who had already had some success in the music business with Soft Cell and ABC was looking to set up his own record label.Â
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Andy gave him a copy of the demo tape and every time he saw him in The Three Crowns would ask if he had listened to it, until he finally did!
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Mark was impressed, so held a series of meetings with George and Andy before signing Wham! to his new label, Innervision Records, in March 1982. The rest is pop history!
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