Stick Aitken Waterman

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Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW for short) is a British music production team made up of Mike Stock , Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman who made a significant impact on pop music in the 1980s. Thirteen of her singles reached first place in the British charts, and there were other placements in international charts.

1984–1989: Creation of the producer team and successes

On January 15, 1984, former DJ Pete Waterman met with two musicians and songwriters Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. Waterman had only recently founded his production company PWL ( Pete Waterman Limited ) in the London borough of Camden Town . Stock and Aitken appeared with a song they wrote and produced with keyboardist Pete Ware. The track was called The Upstroke and was a Hi-NRG number in the style of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax . Proto Records released The Upstroke, sung by a girl band called Agents Aren't Airplanes . However, the title did not become a hit. The record company offered the three producers the opportunity to produce the Cypriot entry for the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest . It is the song Anni-Marie Elena, written and sung by Andy Paul . However, the title was unsuccessful and reached 15th place in the Song Contest.

At that time they were named "Directed by Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, A Pete Waterman Production" on record sleeves. The trio had their first hits in the summer of 1984 with the Hi-NRG numbers You Think You're a Man, sung by drag queen Divine , and Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go), sung by Hazell Dean . More singles from Divine and Hazell Dean appeared, but could not repeat the success.

In November 1984, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by the group Dead Or Alive was released . The track gradually climbed the charts, eventually becoming number 1 for Stock, Aitken and Waterman in March 1985.

Although more Hi-NRG numbers were released in 1985, SAW proved with the single Say I'm Your Number One, sung by Princess , that they could also write and produce soul numbers. The sound of the trio gradually changed from Hi-NRG to catchy pop songs. The record sleeves now read: "Produced by Stock Aitken Waterman", mostly supported by the sentence: "A Stock Aitken Waterman Production".

In 1986 the successful girl group Bananarama decided to work with Stock Aitken Waterman. The result was a cover version of the Shocking Blue hit Venus, which took first place in the USA. Rick Astley did just that in the summer of 1987 with his debut single Never Gonna Give You Up . In the middle of the year, Stock Aitken Waterman recorded their own title, Roadblock . This was followed in the same year by her second and last own title, Packjammed (With The Party Posse) . Because of their continuous staccato saxophone brass sections, both pieces are reminiscent of inspirations from the funk classic Pick Up The Pieces by the Average White Band .

In late 1987, Australian soap opera actress Kylie Minogue recorded the title I Should Be So Lucky . Waterman was convinced that it would be a success, but the record companies were skeptical. That's why he released the song on his own label PWL. The title rose to number 1 in the UK singles charts in early 1988. This started the world career of Kylie Minogue, who scored a total of 15 top ten hits with SAW.

In 1989 SAW produced 23 singles, only one of which ( When Love Takes Over You by Donna Summer ) was not listed in the top 40.

1990–1993: Waning successes and dissolution

With the advent of new music genres such as rave , techno or indie , fewer SAW singles were released from 1990 onwards, and these only made it to the bottom of the charts. Aitken then left the producer team.

In 1993 it looked like Stock and Waterman were about to experience a renaissance, but in August Stock announced that he was leaving PWL as Waterman had sold the entire SAW song catalog to BMG Music without his knowledge . This ended the collaboration that had started almost ten years earlier.

From 1994

Stock and Aitken reunited in 1994 and founded the Love This label , while Waterman continues to work with other producers to this day. In 2002 Aitken withdrew from the music industry and Stock founded the Better the Devil label .

At the end of 2005, Stock, Aitken and Waterman decided to work together again and released a best-of album under the title Gold as Stock / Aitken / Waterman.

Stock and Waterman composed and produced the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 . That Sounds Good to Me , performed by Josh Dubovie , came last.

Singers and groups produced by Stock Aitken Waterman

Discography (solo)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1987 Road block DE47 (7 weeks)
DE 		- CH21 (5 weeks)
CH 		UK13 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: July 1987
Packjammed DE34 (10 weeks)
DE 		- CH20 (4 weeks)
CH 		UK41 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 1987
1988 SS paparazzi - - CH26 (2 weeks)
CH 		UK68 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 1988
1989 Ferry Cross the Mersey DE5 (15 weeks)
DE 		AT15 (8 weeks)
AT 		CH11 (9 weeks)
CH 		UK1 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: May 1989
(with Paul McCartney , Holly Johnson , The Christians & Gerry Marsden)

Number one successes

The following Stock Aitken Waterman productions reached number one on the official sales hit parade in the United Kingdom , the United States , Germany , Austria and Switzerland . The year does not refer to the year of release, but to the year in which the single or album reached first place.

Singles:

* = The Christians , Holly Johnson , Paul McCartney , Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman

Albums:

  • 1987: Rick Astley - Whenever You Need Somebody
  • 1988: Kylie Minogue - Kylie
  • 1989: Jason Donovan - Ten Good Reasons
  • 1989: Kylie Minogue - Enjoy Yourself
  • 1992: Kylie Minogue - Greatest Hits

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK

https://www.discogs.com/composition/6c584d3b-4ec7-41b0-b32b-bd0552e0a390-I-Dont-Care-Tony-King-Remix

https://www.discogs.com/artist/62882-Tony-King?noanv=1

https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=VENGABEARS+