If You Were There
George Michael and Wham!
Photographs by Martyn Goddard
If You Were There: George Michael and Wham! with photographs by Martyn Goddard, is the next book from our publishing arm, Ormond Yard Press, and features the very best work from Martyn Goddard’s extensive Wham! and George Michael archives.
This beautiful signed and numbered limited edition book measures 12 x 12 inches and contains 180 pages of photographs and personal recollections from Martyn’s sessions with Wham! and George Michael from 1984 to 1987.
Many of the photographs have never been published before.
The edition size is small— just 500 individually signed and numbered hardcover books are available to collectors worldwide.
As you scroll down this page you will find out everything you need to know about this book—but if you do have any questions please get in touch.
The front cover artwork.
More about If You Were There
If You Were There is a beautiful 180 page limited edition signed and numbered hardcover book, featuring the very best of Martyn Goddard’s Wham! and George Michael photographs taken from 1984 to 1987.
Martyn first met George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in 1984 when he was asked to photograph them for a magazine cover at Chateau Miraval in the South of France, where Wham! were recording their second album, Make It Big. As often happens, one thing led to another, and soon he was accompanying them on their tour of Hong Kong and China, then shooting stills at the video shoots for “I’m Your Man,” “The Edge of Heaven” and “Where Did Your Heart Go?” He documented their 1986 warm-up gigs at Brixton Academy for the final concert at Wembley stadium. His last assignment was in May 1987 at the video-shoot for George Michael’s solo single “I Want Your Sex.”
If You Were There features the best photographs from all these sessions. Many of the photographs in the book were uncovered by Martyn during a comprehensive review of his archives during the Covid-19 lockdown, and are being published for the first time.
Just 500 copies of this limited edition hardcover are being released worldwide.
There are going to be two versions; a Deluxe version (200 copies) where the book is housed in a special presentation box, together with three signed and numbered limited edition photographs; and a Regular version (300 copies) consisting of just the book—exactly the same book—without the box/prints, but at a more affordable price.
For the Regular versions only, we are introducing an innovative pricing mechanism which will allow the market to determine the price at which individual books are sold. This price mechanism is known as a Dutch auction, and in effect means that you as a collector have the opportunity to set the price you are willing to pay for the book.
Deluxe versions of the book (with three prints in presentation box) will ship from 5 September 2022, with Regular versions shipping a few weeks later from 17 October 2022. The price of the Deluxe versions will not be covered by the Dutch auction mechanism, so the price for those will not drop.
Aa you scroll down this page, you will find full details of both the Deluxe and Regular versions, and the Dutch auction mechanism for the Regular versions.
It has been a pleasure to work with Martyn on this book, and we hope you enjoy it. Huge thanks and appreciation for the co-operation of George Michael Entertainment, the Panayiotou family and Andrew Ridgeley.
Sample pages from If You Were There
Take a look at this small selection of double-page spreads from If You Were There in the slideshow below.
“I’ll pay you any amount. Just don’t publish the memoirs!”
George Michael to Martyn, after the tour of China.
Deluxe versions
Everything you need to know
There are just 200 Deluxe versions of If You Were There. They combine the signed and numbered limited edition hardcover book with a set of three limited edition photographs in a special presentation box.
The presentation box is a two part construction with a separate base and lid, and an image of George and Andrew from the session at Chateau Miraval is inset into the lid. The base contains a ribbon that allows the contents to be removed easily.
Deluxe versions have the lowest edition numbers – from 1 to 200. Numbers will be allocated to purchasers in date order, so the earlier you place your order, the lower the edition number you will receive.
Deluxe versions cost £ 250. The price covers the book, the three photographs and the presentation box, in heavy duty external packaging and with secure delivery to a UK mainland address included.
We don’t ship to Russia or Belarus, but other than that, we will be shipping to collectors worldwide. Shipping charges to locations outside the UK are added at checkout based on your location.
Orders can be placed from 9.00am Saturday 13 August 2022. Shipping starts on Monday 5 September 2022. Deluxe copies will be the first to ship.
The front view of the lid of the prevention box, with inset image (top) and the front cover of the book (bottom)
The limited edition photographs
The three limited edition photographs in the Deluxe box
Martyn has selected the photographs from three different sessions; one from his first session with Wham! at Chateau Miraval in France; one from the video shoot at London’s Marquee Club for “I’m Your Man,” and one from his final session with George at the video shoot for “I Want Your Sex.”
Each photograph has an image size measuring 27.7 x 25.5 cm (11 x 10 inches) on a 29.7 x 29.7 cm ( 11.7 x 11.7 inch) sheet. Martyn Goddard will personally sign and number each photograph in the white border under the image area.
The three photographs all have matched edition numbers, and these in turn will match the edition number of the book. So for example if you are the owner of book number 25, your three limited edition photographs will also all be the number 25s in their respective editions.
Another double page spread from the book, showing George at the “I’m Your Man” video shoot at the Marquee Club, 28 October 1985
Regular versions
Everything you need to know
There are 300 Regular versions of the book—it’s exactly the same 180 page book that you get in the Deluxe version—just without the presentation box and additional photographs.
Regular versions are numbered from 201 to 500. Each Regular version is personally signed and numbered by Martyn Goddard.
Numbers will be allocated to purchasers in date order, so the earlier you place your order, the lower the edition number you will receive.
The price includes heavy duty packaging and secure delivery to a UK mainland address. We don’t ship to Russia or Belarus, but other than that, we will be shipping to collectors worldwide. Shipping charges to locations outside the UK are added at checkout based on your location.
Regular versions will start to ship on 17 October 2022.
But wait. How much are they and when can you secure one?
This is where it gets interesting. Read on…..
George at Brixton Academy, June 1986
The Dutch Auction
Some background
We are running a very interesting pricing dynamic for the Regular copies – one which we think you will get a kick out of, and which you can definitely benefit from. Bear with us while we go though it in some detail, as it is something new, and needs a proper explanation.
The pricing mechanism we are using for the Regular versions of the book is known as a Dutch auction. The idea is based around the principle of ‘price discovery’, and involves letting the individual buyers who make up the market take their own individual decisions about what price to pay for the book. Taken together, these decisions ensure that all the books are sold, at individual prices that make sense for the individual buyers that make up the marketplace.
The Dutch auction allows us to ensure that all the Regular versions find a new home, at specific prices that makes sense for you as an individual buyer. Being realistic, we would rather sell some at a loss than have them sitting in a warehouse taking up storage—and, much worse—not being enjoyed. After all, these books deserve to be seen.
An example
We’ll talk more about the launch price and the timing/launch date shortly, but for now let’s look at an example of how it works.
To kick things off, we will set a launch price for the book. If you believe that the launch price is a fair price for the signed limited edition book, then, from the launch date, you simply buy it for this price. That’s your own personal price for your copy.
Once we have launched the process, then each week, at 9.00am UK time on Saturday morning, the price of a Regular version will reduce by £5. After two weeks, the price will have reduced by £ 10. After five weeks the price will be down by £25. And so on—you get the picture.
At any point, when you believe the price is right for you, you just make your purchase. That’s the price you choose. Other people will have paid more. Some people will pay less, if there are books left when the next reduction happens.
The Dutch auction mechanic means that if you really want the book, but your budget is way below the launch price, then there is at least a chance that you can buy the book at your target price. You just have to wait a few weeks and take your chance that there are still some left at the point that the price that works for you.
That’s the element of jeopardy that a Dutch auction introduces—you need to bear in mind that there are only 300 Regular books available worldwide, and if you wait too long, you might miss out completely.
Please note that the Dutch auction only applies to the 300 Regular copies.
When does the auction start, and at what price?
The Dutch auction mechanic for the 300 Regular versions is underway.
The launch price will drop £5 every Saturday at 9.00am UK time until they are all sold.
Another double page spread from the book, showing George and Andrew at the video shoot for “The Edge of Heaven,” June 1986
If You Were There
George Michael and Wham!
Photographs by Martyn Goddard
Why structure like this?
Some background
There is no denying that we all find ourselves in challenging economic times.
As a result, we are tailoring our approach to the launch of If You Were There to reflect the cost of living crisis.
In normal times, when we launch a new limited edition book, we set a fixed price for the edition, and create just one version. For books in the same 12 x12 inch size as If You Were There, this would include a beautiful signed book in a presentation box with a signed limited edition photograph.
If You Were There is different in three ways.
First, we are carving out 300 of the edition of 500 to offer as a much more affordable “Regular” version—no box, no separate photograph—for those people who really want the signed limited edition book but don’t have the budget for the Deluxe version.
Second, we are letting the market decide the price for this Regular version, using a Dutch auction mechanism, structured so that the prices falls on a regular basis until all the books are sold. It means that if you have a budget of, say, £50, then at least you have a chance of getting one. The details of the Dutch auction are explained fully on this page.
Third, we are enhancing the Deluxe offering by including not one but three separate signed limited edition photographs in the 200 Deluxe packages.
It does mean that this all becomes more complicated to explain compared to a straightforward book launch—but hopefully this helps to explain why we are structuring things in this way.
Another double page spread from the book, showing George, Andrew, Pepsi and Shirlie at Brixton Academy, June 1986
The endpapers
Details are important
Even the endpapers are special, playing their own part in the story.
Wait a minute—what even are endpapers? Good question. Endpapers are the pair of blank pages, often with a matte finish, that you find at the front and rear of a hardcover book, performing a routine but important function connecting a book’s cover to the sewn and bound body of text pages. They are often grey, and aren’t a bundle of fun. You wouldn’t want to get stuck next to one at a party.
We wanted to do something a little more with the endpapers in If You Were There. First off, we avoided the grey. We picked a vibrant yellow that references the colour used for the title on the front cover. Then we ghosted a different photograph through each endpaper. These photographs were specially selected to reflect the journey within—the act of ‘being there’ reflected in the title of the book.
At the start of the journey, the front endpapers show a small group of Wham! fans looking through a window of a concert venue in China, wanting to be there. The rear endpapers show a ghosted close-up of some of the lucky ones who actually were there, this time at Brixton Academy in June 1986. Maybe one them is you.
The journey is contained over 180 pages, sandwiched within those two sets of endpapers.
Martyn Goddard
Martyn Goddard began taking photographs at school, building a darkroom in his parents’ bathroom. He went on to study photography at Harrow College of Art, where he refined his technique and, as he puts it, “learned how to take pictures.” After graduating in 1974 he assisted various leading photographers, including renowned music photographer Gered Mankowitz, before going freelance.
He became part of the new-wave music scene of the late 1970s, shooting artists such as Blondie, The Jam, Sham 69, Ian Dury and The Cure. He went on to work with more mainstream acts such as Genesis, Queen, Wham! (touring China with them) Elton John and U2.
Towards the end of the 1970s he was invited to contribute to various Sunday newspaper magazine supplements, where he was assigned portrait and feature shoots with some of the great writers, artists, actors and politicians of the time. On assignment in 1984 for You Magazine to produce a Wham! feature, he met George and Andrew at Chateau Miraval in the South of France. This book documents the three years he worked with the band, photographing them at concerts, videos and on their tour of China.
From the 1990s to the present day, Martyn has worked on travel and automotive shoots in Europe and the USA. In recent years he has moved to a digital platform, becoming an active photo-blogger and content provider, producing travel features and images for media groups in the UK, Europe and USA. Martyn has also been cataloguing and preserving his extensive archive of photographs of musicians—a project accelerated in the two years of lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Martyn Goddard with George and Andrew at The Great Wall of China
He has contributed to or staged several photography exhibitions including Blondie in Camera in 1978 and The Jam: About the Young Idea in 2015. He has published two books combining his images of musicians and motors, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Fast Cars (Volumes 1 and 2), and more recently Jam Sessions: Photographs by Martyn Goddard, a book of largely unseen photographs of The Jam.
As Martyn explains: “As a freelancer I have always had the freedom to work for an array of interesting magazines and record labels. It has been an extension of my teenage dreams of music and fast cars that my chosen profession has given me the ability to be a part of both worlds, as I can’t play a note of music and only managed fourth place in my ten-year career as a historic rally driver.”
In recognition of his work, Martyn became a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography in 1987.
Questions?
If you have any questions at all about If You Were There please just ask – we are here to help.
Another double page spread from the book, from the video shoot for “I Want Your Sex,” May 1987
Copyright notice
Photographs of George Michael by Martyn Goddard © Big Geoff Overseas Limited.
Photographs of Wham! by Martyn Goddard © Big Geoff Overseas Limited and Andrew Ridgeley.