Personalities | Stock, Aitken & Waterman | Eighties | Rock

(Musicians, producers, writers, 1984–91)

Mike Stock, Pete Waterman and Matt Aitken joined forces in 1984 to manufacture pop gold. Waterman had already produced hits for Nik Kershaw and Tracey Ullman. The team’s first chart-topper was Dead or Alive’s ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’. They then updated classic girl-group pop with Bananarama, Mel and Kim (including the 1987 No. 1 ‘Respectable’), Pepsi and Shirlie, and Sinitta. 1987 also saw the soul stylings of Rick Astley joining the stable, with smash ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. They also scored under their own names with ‘Roadblock’, and ‘Mr Sleaze’. In 1988, they hooked up with Kylie Minogue (‘I Should Be So Lucky’) and Jason Donovan, leading to an annus mirabilis in 1989 when they logged 20 Top 20 hits from the Aussies, plus Sonia and Donna Summer. Mick Stock’s departure in 1991 halted the conveyor belt.

Styles & Forms | Eighties | Rock
Personalities | The Stray Cats | Eighties | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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