Andrew Ridgeley looks back with fondness at George Michael

NEW YORK — Long before he was a music icon in skintight jeans, leather jacket and designer stubble, George Michael was something else — awkward, chubby and insecure. was never meant to last very long, saying the youth-driven duo was intended to “burn brightly, but briefly.” Ridgeley just wanted to form a band, write music and perform. Music and the career that he chose, allowed him to become, in some ways, the man in his mind’s eye.” Ridgeley said he didn’t always handle the tabloid press very well, unable to shake the “Animal Andy” or “Randy Andy” labels as a hard-partying pop star. “If I was advising the 20-year-old Andrew Ridgeley from this perspective, I’d be telling him to do things very differently,” Ridgeley said. “Give yourself a healthy bit of distance between your fame and reality because they are two different things.” Among the book’s highlights are the dozens of photos included, complete with witty captions from Ridgeley.