Reproduced from The Daily Telegraph (Australia) 15 September, 1997

The songwriting trio of Stock, Aitken and Waterman who produced her number one singles such as I Should Be So Lucky and Put Your Hand On Your Heart and turned her from soap opera actress to international pop star are embroiled in an extraordinary legal row over royalties.

The team was one of the most successful in pop history.

They dominated the charts in the late '80s with a stream of hits which also included Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and Jason Donovan's Too Many Broken Hearts.

Others in their hit list include Bananarama, Mel and Kim, Sinitta and Sonia.

By 1990 the trio had more than 100 top 40 hits which sold more than 35 million copies and earned $200 million.

Their success took the three friends Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman from humble backgrounds to a world of mansions and fast cars. Now the final act of their story is set to be played out in the High Court. Stock and Aitken are demanding that Waterman pays them royalties from the hits of former Neighbours stars Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.

It is the most public manifestation yet of the intense animosity between three men who were once so close.

Those who know Waterman say his view of his ex-partners is summed up by the Mark Twain words pinned up behind his desk: "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between dog and man."

A former colleague reveals: "Pete and Mike drink in the same pub, one in the public bar, the other in the saloon."

Stock and Aitken are reluctant to talk about the relationship, but Stock says: "We haven't spoken to Pete for two years. But our lawyers are in touch."

Stock and Aitken insist they were the team's driving force. Waterman was the businessman and became the partnership's public face with his ostentatious lifestyle. He owned 18 classic Jaguars and Ferraris, worth more than $2.2 million, which he kept at his $1 million mansion in Cheshire.

In contrast, Aitken owned a $550,000 apartment in Hampstead, North London, and drove a $65,000 Ferrari, while Stock lived in a $650,000 house in Swanley, Kent.

"We weren't getting enough credit," says Stock. "We used to have big rows. If Pete was taking more than 60 per cent of the credit there was only 20 per cent for each of us.

"In 1984 we needed to have someone like Pete who could sell us, but by 1987-88 his role, as far as that was concerned, was irrelevant. The records did the selling on their own."

Music business observers say Stock and Aitken are dissatisfied with audits of royalty payments of Waterman's companies and want a declaration to confirm each has a third share of ownership rights for hits they wrote and produced.

But you can't deny Pete's vision got their projects off the ground in the beginning.

He had a magic ear - he selected all Kylie's songs and chose 90 per cent of their hits.

When in 1990 the team split, a series of major flops followed. Waterman, who once had a staff of 40, now has only two.

The former colleague adds: "Pete is in for a big legal battle. Mike and Matt are determined to take this to court."