Festive Hits

01 LAST CHRISTMAS (1984) - WHAM!

George Michael, who ironically died last Christmas, wrote one of Wham!'s best-selling hits when both he and bandmate Andrew Ridgeley were visiting the former's parents in 1984. After grabbing a bite, Michael disappeared, unnoticed, to his old room for an hour or so before showing up again in excitement while everybody was watching television.

"It was as if he had discovered gold which, in a sense, he had," recalls Ridgeley recently in an interview conducted on the anniversary of his childhood friend's death, "George had performed musical alchemy, distilling the essence of Christmas int…