Pete Waterman Presents the Hit Factory | ||||
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Compilation album by Various Artists | ||||
Released | 9 July 2012 | |||
Recorded | 1984–1999 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Label | Sony | |||
Producer | Stock Aitken Waterman | |||
Various Artists chronology | ||||
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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. [1]
The release of the album coincided with Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory Live, a concert that was due to take place in London’s Hyde Park on 11 July 2012 and featuring the classic artists from the 'Hit Factory' era together on one bill. Both Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were due to perform their million selling duet 'Especially for You' alongside Rick Astley, Sinitta, Bananarama and Hazell Dean but the concert was ultimately cancelled due to poor weather conditions. [2]
An early track listing included two hits by Donna Summer produced by Stock Aitken Waterman in 1989: 'I Don't Wanna Get Hurt' and 'This Time I Know It's For Real'. Early artwork for the CD showed the 7-inch single covers of the tracks featured on the compilation, and the Donna Summer tracks were originally shown. Some music retail websites still show this earlier artwork when promoting the CD. However, the final track listing and artwork replaced these songs with tracks by Loveland and Opus III, neither of which were produced by Waterman, nor were Stock Aitken Waterman productions.
The bonus disc contained rarities including the obscure Morgan-McVey track 'Looking Good Diving (With The Wild Bunch)' from 1987 which is considered an early version of Neneh Cherry's breakthrough hit 'Buffalo Stance' in 1988. The rare mix of Kylie Minogue's 'What Do I Have To Do' was also well received, however, reaction to the compilation was largely negative with critics and would-be buyers criticizing the track-listing as too similar to the 2005 release Stock Aitken Waterman Gold .
Michael Stock is an English songwriter, record producer, musician, and member of the songwriting and production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He has been responsible for over a hundred top-40 hits in the UK, including 16 Number One's and is recognised as one of the most successful songwriters of all time by the Guinness World Records. As part of Stock Aitken Waterman in the 1980s and 90s, he holds the UK record of 11 number one records with different acts. In the UK Singles Chart he has written 54 top-ten hits including 7 number ones.
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.
Let's Get to It is the fourth studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was the final studio album with Pete Waterman Limited (PWL), being released by the record label in the United Kingdom on 14 October 1991. Mushroom Records distributed the album in Australia on 25 November 1991. After Matt Aitken left the trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) in early 1991, the remaining producers wanted to make another album with Minogue, although it was not a contractual obligation for her. Mike Stock and Pete Waterman agreed to share their songwriting credits with Minogue for the first time on six tracks. They spent months recording at PWL Studios, more time than any of her previous studio albums.
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.
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. The album was released on 24 August 1992 as Minogue's final release under Pete Waterman Limited (PWL). The record contains nineteen singles from the singer's first four studio albums, as well as three new songs recorded specifically for inclusion on this album. The album was largely written and produced by the Stock Aitken Waterman team, and its release marked the end of Minogue's professional relationship with them. It contained all her single releases to date including the Japan-only single, "Turn It into Love", featured on Kylie's first studio album in 1988.
"Especially for You" is a song performed by Australian recording artists Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan from Donovan's debut album, Ten Good Reasons (1989). The song was released as his album's second single on 28 November 1988 and was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW).
"Turn It into Love" is a single released by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was taken from her debut studio album Kylie (1988). The single was released in December 1988 in Japan only. The B-side was a new song "Made in Heaven", which also served as the B-side to both "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" and "It's No Secret" in other international territories.
"Got to Be Certain" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album, Kylie (1988). Written and produced by English songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song was released as the second single from Kylie in most territories outside Australia, and was released on 2 May 1988 in Australia and the United Kingdom. In Australia, "Got to Be Certain" was Minogue's third single release. "Got to Be Certain" was a commercial success, peaking at number one in Minogue's native Australia and number two on the UK Singles Chart.
Disco in Dream is the debut concert tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. Although headlined by Minogue, the tour was an ensemble show alongside fellow Stock Aitken Waterman acts Sinitta and Dead Or Alive and supported her first two studio albums, Kylie (1988) and Enjoy Yourself (1989). The tour took place in Asia, later travelling to Europe re-titled as 'The Coca-Cola Hitman Roadshow' with a different line up of PWL and Stock Aitken Waterman artists such as Big Fun and Sonia. The shows were free to "thank British fans for their support" and targeted towards fans under the age of 18.
Philip James Harding is an English music producer, audio engineer, remixer, academic and author.
The Hit Factory Volume 2 is a compilation album released in November 1988 by Fanfare Records and PWL Records. It is an album featuring hits produced by British production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, who were at their peak at the time of the album's release. The first compilation, The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman, was issued by Stylus Records in 1987. The range of tracks on Volume 2 includes four special 12" remixes, exclusive to the set, and also a previously unavailable track by American group Sequal. The album gained a platinum BPI Award and reached No. 16 in the UK Top 100 Albums Chart. When compilation albums were excluded from the main chart on January 14, 1989, the album crossed to the new UK Compilation Chart for the remainder of its run.
The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in 1987 by Stylus Records in association with PWL Records. The collection brought together some the biggest hits by British production team Stock Aitken Waterman. It reached #18 in the UK Top 100 Album Chart and achieved a Gold BPI award.
The Hit Factory Volume 3 is a compilation album collecting the biggest hits of the award-winning British music production trio Stock Aitken Waterman during their most successful era. It was released by PWL Records in association with Fanfare Records in June 1989 and reached #3 in the compilation Top 20, achieving a Gold BPI award.
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.
The Hit Factory: Pete Waterman's Greatest Hits is a compilation album featuring music produced by Pete Waterman. It was released by Universal Music in 2000 and reached #3 in the UK compilation Top 20 chart, achieving a Gold BPI award.
Stock Aitken Waterman Gold is a compilation album released in 2005 by Sony BMG, PWL Records and EBUL.
Greatest Hits of All Times – Remix '88 is a remix album by Boney M. released in 1988. Boney M.'s new manager at the time, Simon Napier-Bell, succeeded in persuading the four original members to briefly reunite and promote this remix album. The man employed to re-arrange the original hits and create new interest in the band was PWL's Pete Hammond, who previously had remixed many of the Stock Aitken Waterman stable's chart-topping hits with Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama. Five of the tracks also feature new lead vocals by Liz Mitchell. In early 2021, Hammond recalled the following about the '88 remix project, explaining the new vocals: "The 2inch 24 track multi-track tapes were sent to PWL by Frank Farian of Far Music. Apparently, they had lost some of the original recordings—four songs if I remember correctly—and had to record four new versions; they were musically incomplete but good enough for me to overdub and remix". The remix project spun off three fairly successful single releases, "Rivers of Babylon ", "Rasputin " and the 1988 "Megamix", which would appear on the follow-up album issued a year later, and created the first wave of Boney M. nostalgia in Europe.
Between the Lines is the second studio album by Australian pop singer Jason Donovan. It was released on 29 May 1990 by PWL and Mushroom.
Mandy is the only studio album by Mandy Smith. It was released by PWL in 1988, re-issued in 1993 in Japan and re-mastered and re-issued in 2009.
I Should Be So Lucky is a British jukebox musical written by Debbie Isitt, which uses the music of the pop writing team Stock Aitken Waterman.