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Reproduced from Sunday Times supplement 1 November, 1997
1000 Music Makers
(500 classical, 500 contemporary)
Stock Aitken Waterman
British, 1984-91
Songwriters, producers
Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman (pictured) were the most
prolific production team British pop has ever seen, masterminding
more than 200 singles for the likes of Bananarama, Kylie Minogue
and Jason Donovan, of which extraordinarily, 141 were British chart
hits. Waterman boasted he had "Woolworth's ears", a knack for spotting
trends in clubs and recycling them as catchy, mass-market pop. But SAW
tunes were more than pastiche: at its best, their music was immediately
familiar but also shiny and new. Artists complained about being on a
production line, with little input into the songs created for them in
the South London "hit factory". Critics also say the SAW sound was
formulaic yet it made millions: if the formula were really so easy, why
doesn't everyone follow it? When the trio struck out alone, successes
were fewer. Stock and Aitken have since become partners again (producing
hits for Robson & Jerome, among others), and Waterman continues to
diversify his empire. SG.
Keywork: Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky (1988)
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