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,scoring more than 100 UK top-40 hits,selling over 150 million records and earning an estimated £60 million.
Dead or Alive were an English pop band that released six studio albums from 1984 to 1995. 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 on the UK top 30. At the peak of their success,the lineup 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.
Mel and Kim were an English pop duo,consisting of sisters Melanie and Kim Appleby. Originally managed by Alan Whitehead,they achieved success between 1986 and 1988,before Melanie died of cancer in January 1990 at the age of 23.
Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label,originally PWL,is most famous for being the home of hit record producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
Lonnie Gordon is an American female dance,pop and R&B singer and songwriter. She scored several chart hits during the 1990s,most notably for her 1990 UK top 10 single "Happenin' All Over Again".
"Better the Devil You Know" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue,taken from her third studio album Rhythm of Love (1990). The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and was released as the album's lead single on 30 April 1990 by PWL and Mushroom Records. "Better the Devil You Know" is known as the song that re-invented Minogue with more sex appeal,as her previous albums were presented with her "girl next door" persona. Her music onwards presented a more independent approach.
"Step Back in Time" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her third studio album,Rhythm of Love (1990). It was released as the album's second single on 22 October 1990,and distributed by PWL and Mushroom as a CD single,cassette tape and 12-inch and 7-inch singles. The track was written,arranged,and produced by Mike Stock,Matt Aitken,Pete Waterman,who are collectively known as Stock Aitken and Waterman,and was recorded in London,United Kingdom. Musically,it is a disco song that lyrically pays tribute to 1970s' culture.
"Shocked" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her third studio album,Rhythm of Love (1990). Written and produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman,"Shocked" was released as the album's fourth and final single in May 1991 by Mushroom and PWL. The song later appeared on most of Minogue's major compilations including Greatest Hits (1992),Ultimate Kylie (2004) and Step Back In Time:The Definitive Collection (2019). The DNA 7-inch mix of the song also includes a rap in the bridge by Jazzy P.
"Too Many Broken Hearts" is a song by Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan,released on 20 February 1989 as the third single from his debut album,Ten Good Reasons (1989),and 1991's Greatest Hits album and again on a later collection in 2006. The song reached number-one in the United Kingdom and Ireland in March 1989. The song additionally peaked within the top 10 in Australia,Denmark,France,the Netherlands,Norway and Spain. British magazine Classic Pop ranked "Too Many Broken Hearts" number 19 in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs" in 2021.
"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.
A Ton of Hits :The Very Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in the UK in November 1990 bringing together the hits of Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) in a continuously sequenced mix. It was released by Chrysalis Records on their subsidiary label Dover Records and followed the previous "Best of Stock Aitken Waterman" collections;The Hit Factory:The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman,The Hit Factory Volume 2 and The Hit Factory Volume 3. The album reached #7 in the compilation Top 20. Notably absent from this release are Bananarama and Dead or Alive,presumably due to licensing issues,whilst including nine songs by Jason Donovan,and ten by Kylie Minogue.
Stock Aitken Waterman Gold is a compilation album released in 2005 by Sony BMG,PWL Records and EBUL.
If I Have to Stand Alone is the debut album by Hi-NRG and house singer Lonnie Gordon,released in 1990 on Supreme Records. It includes Gordon's breakthrough hit "Happenin' All Over Again",which was a top 10 hit in the UK and Ireland. However,the two follow-up singles,"Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" and "If I Have to Stand Alone" did not fare as well. The album was released in parts of continental Europe in late 1990,and Japan and Australia in early 1991,albeit in limited quantity,and wasn't released in the UK until a Cherry Pop reissue in 2009. The album was also released in South Africa in 1990.
"Love's About to Change My Heart" is the third single from Another Place and Time,the 1989 album by Donna Summer. The song was released on August 14,1989 by Atlantic Records and Warner Bros. Records. It was written and produced by British production team Stock Aitken &Waterman. Released as the second single in the US,the song was a hit on the dance charts,but failed to repeat the Top 40 success it enjoyed in Europe.
"Shattered Glass" is a song written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which was originally recorded in 1980 by Scottish singer Ellie Warren. The song was recorded in 1987 by American singer Laura Branigan with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team to serve as the lead single from Branigan's fifth studio album,Touch (1987).
"Beyond Your Wildest Dreams" is a ballad written by British hitmaking team Stock Aitken &Waterman,which was recorded by three of their artists,Lonnie Gordon,Sybil,and Nancy Davis. The songwriters have cited this song as one of the best they ever wrote,and were dissatisfied with its poor chart performance. Gordon and Sybil's versions were released as singles.
Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory is a compilation album released in July 2012 collecting 39 hits produced by Pete Waterman. Included are a vast number of tracks that were written and produced by Waterman along with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken during their most successful period working as Stock Aitken Waterman,becoming among the most successful music producers of all-time.
"Wouldn't Change a Thing" is a song performed by Australian singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue,recorded for her second studio album Enjoy Yourself (1989). The song was written by Stock Aitken Waterman,and was released on 24 July 1989 by Mushroom and PWL Records. The song was released as the second single off the album.
"If I Have to Stand Alone" is a song by American Hi-NRG and house singer Lonnie Gordon,released in November 1990 as the fourth and last single from her debut album by the same name (1990). Like the other tracks,it was written and produced by English songwriting and record producing trio Stock Aitken &Waterman,and a black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single. In spite of good critical reception,"If I Have to Stand Alone" did not manage to become a hit,remaining at the bottom of the charts in the countries where it was released.
"Handful of Promises" is a pop-dance song written by Stock Aitken Waterman for British boys band Big Fun. It was the third single from their 1990 debut studio album A Pocketful of Dreams on which it is the first track. The B-side of the various formats is a new song,"Catch a Broken Heart",which was not included on the parent album. Released on 5 March 1990 with two different covers,it failed to reach the top 20 in United Kingdom where it stalled at number 21. However,it was a top ten hit in Ireland and Spain.
