Stock Aitken Waterman plan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first number one song “down the pub”.
Producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman were the masterminds behind ‘You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)’ by Dead or Alive – who were fronted by late singer Pete Burns – which reached the top of the UK Singles Chart in March 1985.
The track turns 40 in just a couple of months and the trio will mark the occasion by raising a glass or two together.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at their Southwark Heritage Association Blue Plaque unveiling at Vine Yard Studios, in Borough, London, on Wednesday (22.01.25), Mike said: “[We’ll go] down the pub [and have] a couple of pints.”
Pete recalls that they didn’t make too much of a fuss when the song went to number one back in 1985 because they were fully focused on creating more hits.
He added: “To be honest, we just had to get on with it.
“We were too busy. Number one, you’d stop for five minutes, have a glass of champagne, and get back to work.
“That’s what it was like.”
Stock Aitken Waterman went on to achieve 13 number ones in the UK.
Their pop songs for the artists such as Mel and Kim, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Rick Astley, are fondly remembered by fans across the world, but as the music business has changed since the ’80s when they were at their pinnacle, it has cast doubt on whether the trio could go back to their roots and make new songs for modern artists.
Mike confessed: “I’m still writing songs and making records.
“I don’t know, but for the three of us, the business has changed, so we can’t do now what we did then.”
Channel 5 released a documentary on the hitmakers last year called ‘Stock Aitken Waterman: Legends of Pop’ that dived into the story of how one of the most successful songwriters and producers of all time, and looking back in the show, Matt admitted some of the songs they created were “stinkers”.
When asked what tracks he was referring to, he remained tight-lipped: “I’m not naming names.
“There were stinkers, and they didn’t make it into the charts, so that’s left unspoken about, I think!”
Other acts that Stock Aitken Waterman created hits included Bananarama, Sir Cliff Richard, Princess, Donna Summer, Sonia, Mel and Kim, Samantha Fox, Sinitta, Big Fun, Hazell Dean, Brother Beyond among others, but they are best remembered for giving the world Kylie and Jason.
Asked if they find it annoying that people typically only remember them for the duo and not always their other artists, Mike said: “I think people keep discovering them, you know, Bananarama, for example.
“There are loads of names, and they’re there for people to dig up at some point.
“We’re proud of what we did, so, perhaps, they’ll come back in fashion one day.”
Pete added: “I don’t give a monkey’s, as long as they remember us.”