Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time by the Guinness World Records, scoring more than 100 UK Top 40 hits and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties. The trio had thirteen UK No. 1 singles including three consecutive UK No. 1's and three US No. 1 singles. They also had at least one record in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart every week between March 1986 and October 1990.
Dead or Alive were an English pop band who released seven studio albums from 1984 to 2000. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK Top 40 and three albums in the UK Top 30. At the peak of their success, the line-up consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass), and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career due to Percy and Lever exiting the group in 1989. Burns died in 2016; with the death of Coy in 2018, the band ended.
Peter Jozzeppi Burns was an English singer, songwriter and television personality who formed the band Dead or Alive in 1980 during the new wave era and was the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter. He sold over 17 million albums and 36 million singles worldwide and also gave the songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) their first UK No. 1 hit single. His first three albums all reached the UK Top 30, with Youthquake reaching the Top 10. Additionally, the band had seven UK Top 40 singles, two US Top 20 singles and another two singles which went to No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 2016, Billboard magazine ranked Dead or Alive as one of the most successful dance artists of all time.
Youthquake is the second studio album by the English pop band Dead or Alive, released on 3 May 1985 by Epic Records. The album was their commercial breakthrough in Europe and the United States, due to its lead single "You Spin Me Round ", which was a UK No. 1 hit and a Top 20 hit in the United States. Additional single releases from the album included "Lover Come Back to Me", "In Too Deep" and "My Heart Goes Bang ".
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know is the third studio album by the English pop band Dead or Alive, released in December 1986 on Epic Records. Continuing their association with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production team, Dead or Alive scored several hit singles from this album, including "Brand New Lover" and "Something in My House". In addition to an image of singer Pete Burns, the cover features one of the game walls at the Château de Raray, where some of the scenes for La Belle et la Bête were filmed. The cover photographer was Bob Carlos Clarke. The phrase "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" itself comes from a statement by Lady Caroline Lamb describing controversial English literary figure Lord Byron.
"You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is a song by the English pop band Dead or Alive, featured on their second studio album, Youthquake (1985). Released as a single in November 1984, it reached No. 1 in the UK in March 1985, taking 17 weeks to get there. It was the first UK No. 1 hit by the Stock Aitken Waterman production trio.
"Venus" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, released as a single in the Netherlands in the summer of 1969. Written by Robbie van Leeuwen, the song topped the charts in nine countries.
"Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular, as well as his signature song, and it is often played at the end of his live concerts. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, it was released by RCA Records as the first single from Astley's debut studio album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987), with a music video directed by Simon West.
"Together Forever" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Rick Astley and released by RCA and BMG as the fourth single from his debut album, Whenever You Need Somebody (1987). The song reached number two in the United Kingdom, behind Neighbours star and fellow Stock Aitken Waterman artist Kylie Minogue's debut single "I Should Be So Lucky". The single was a worldwide hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 18 June 1988, becoming Astley's second US chart-topper. It also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland and Spain, and was a top ten hits in many European countries.
"More Than Physical" is a song by English girl group Bananarama from their third studio album, True Confessions (1986). It was released on 28 July 1986 as the album's third single. It was co-written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio. A reworked version of the song was released as the single version.
"A Trick of the Night" is a mid-tempo ballad recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It was written and produced by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain and released as the final single from Bananarama's album True Confessions.
"Respectable" is a song by English pop duo Mel and Kim from their only studio album, F.L.M. (1987). It was released on 18 February 1987 as the album's second single. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for one week in March 1987, becoming the second UK number-one single produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), following Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round " (1985), and the first UK number one that the trio had written themselves. The single also topped the charts in many European countries, as well as in Oceania.
"You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" is the debut single of English pop singer Sonia. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, the song was included on Sonia's debut album, Everybody Knows (1990). The single became Sonia's only number-one single on the UK Singles Chart and reached number 10 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.
"Whenever You Need Somebody" is a song written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, which became successful for two of their artists, namely O'Chi Brown and Rick Astley.
"Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)" is a song by English pop duo Mel and Kim, released as their debut single in September 1986. The song became a chart hit in the UK, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and reaching number one in four European countries.
"Something in My House" is a song by English pop band Dead or Alive, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. It was released in the UK in December 1986 as the second single from the band's third studio album, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. The single peaked at No. 12 on the UK singles chart.
"Lover Come Back to Me" is a 1985 single by the English pop band Dead or Alive, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. It was released as the second single from the band's second studio album, Youthquake. The single peaked at No. 11 in the UK, No. 3 in South Africa, No. 5 in Switzerland, No. 21 in Germany, No. 13 in Australia and No. 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"GTO" is a song by American-born singer Sinitta. Produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, it was released in 1987 as the fifth single from her self-titled debut album. The song is about a girl whose boyfriend cares more about his car, in the music video a Ferrari 250 GTO, than her. The song was a top-20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 15, and reached the top ten in several European countries.
"The Harder I Try" is a song by British boyband Brother Beyond. Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, it was released on 18 July 1988 by Parlophone as the fifth single from the band's debut album, Get Even (1988). The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart the following month. It was a number-one hit in Ireland and entered the top 10 in Iceland while peaking within the top 20 in Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
"Say I'm Your Number One" is a song by English singer Princess, released in 1985 as the lead single from her self-titled debut studio album (1986). Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it reached number 20 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, while it reached the top ten in the UK and several of European and Oceanian countries.
