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Reproduced from The Observer 19 November, 2000
The perfect chart hit
Pete Waterman
There's no such thing as a perfect number one, and that's what makes them number one. They're perfect to the people who buy them. People believe there' a formula, but formulae don't work. Our hits at Stock, Aitken and Waterman weren't premeditated - we'd just write something, then think, 'That works.'
The most crucial thing is a great song. It's impossible to define, but I know it when I hear it. Writing hits is not an exact science - that's why it's the most exciting job in the world. You can't write a thesis on why you get goosebumps.
The perfect hit for me would be a Gerry Goffin and Carole King song, co-written by the Beatles and produced by Phil Spector with George Martin. That would roll all my heroes into one. Most of the best hits are about teen angst and the feelings they expressed were perfect - 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow', 'It Might as Well Rain Until September', 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.
George Martin added a Britishness I found satisfying and Phil Spector was larger than life. Why put one piano on when you can have 10? Why have one drummer when you can have five?
You cannot have a great chart hit without a great performer. The performance has to seem sincere, and if there is no personality and charisma in the record, it will not become a hit. Everyone from Madonna to the Spice Girls makes you feel like they're singing just to you.
These fundamental things haven't changed for 50 years. But what the public considers to be a great song changes every week. Every song you write has to be tempered by the knowledge that it will be redundant by Monday.
* Pete Waterman's biography I Wish I Was Me (£16.99, Virgin) is out now
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