for several years after becoming a solo artist, michael spoke negatively, in public, about his time with wham!, partly because of the negativity of intense media coverage on ridgeley. michael complained of the constant pressure he felt, and he claimed that the duo had been mistreated financially. he also spoke disparagingly about some of the videos and songs from the wham! repertoire, especially the video from "wake me up before you go-go", and the songs from "fantastic". however, his perspective on the era softened somewhat in the later years of his life. at his solo concerts he would still perform "i'm your man" and "everything she wants", the latter being one of the more critically acclaimed songs from the wham! era.