METRO, 7 NOVEMBER 2005

60 second interview: Pete Waterman

Pete Waterman, along with his colleagues Matt Stock and Mike Aitken, discovered a catchy, if irritating, songwriting formula in the 1980s that launched the singing careers of Kylie, Jason Donovan, Mel And Kim, Sinitta and Sonia among others. He's been a judge on Pop Idol and Popstars: The Rivals and has reunited with Stock and Aitken. You've been warned.

60 SECONDS EXTRA!: There are loads of acts on the album. Are you surprised you worked with so many?
It always amazes me when you see it displayed like this. You appreciate how hard you worked. You think 'Christ, did we ever sleep?'

Who was the best singer you worked with?
I've never considered that because I love them all. Different people were better on different days. Some were better than others but you've got to take the rough with the smooth.

Who was the roughest?
There was no such thing as automatic tuners when we were making these records. It's a different era now. What we could have done with tuners would have been amazing but if the singer wasn't the greatest then that's what you got. Jason Donovan is Jason Donovan - that's what he sounded like.

Who did you enjoy working with the most?
Rick Astley was a mate, he was tea boy in our studios. We come from the same village in the North. One of my favourites was Donna Summer because I was a fan. I bought her records before she worked with us but it's difficult to tell someone you're in awe of what to do.

Presumably you weren't a Reynolds Girls fan. You only did one single with them.
Their song, I'd Rather Jack, was a tongue-in-cheek record about the changes that were going on in radio at the time. We wanted to knock that so we wrote this record. I'd met the girls at a show and thought 'we may as well use these two'. The record went flying up the charts but when The Reynolds Girls appeared on Top Of The Pops they killed it stone dead. If it was Mel And Kim it would have been No.1. The joke went a bit sour on us because it would have been a huge hit if we'd got the image right.

Do you know what happened to them?
They went back to Dublin and no one's seen them since.

Dead Or Alive's Pete Burns has said his You Spin Me Round sparked off the famous PWL Records sound. Do you agree?
It's a fair comment. He came to us when no one would touch us with a barge pole. He's probably one of the most talented guys I've ever worked with but also very self-destructive. I still love him to this day and I still love Spin Me Round. It was one of the first electro records. Pete knew exactly what he wanted and drove us to be more and more innovative. He pushed us past what technology could do. We take sampling for granted now but back then you could only sample 0.4 of a second. We'd done Divine and Hazell Dean before Pete but he really gave us an identity.

You once accused Kylie of 'taking the piss out of her fans'. What do you think of her now?
She's incredible. She does things no one else can do. She changes herself every two years and people love her for it. Most pop stars couldn't get away with it but people expect it of Kylie.

Would you ever judge another TV talent show?
No. When we did Pop Idol it was originally about music. It's more about television now and I don't want to be in a soap opera.

Were you disappointed Michelle McManus won Pop Idol?
Totally. I thought it took the piss. If that's great TV then I'll stick to watching the Discovery Channel. I never understood why certain people thought her winning would translate into record sales - and it hasn't. I don't take the public for fools.

60 SECONDS EXTRA!: Jamie from your Pop Stars boyband One True Voice says you ruined his life. Any thoughts?
Ruined his life? He needs to get a life. I didn't break them up, they did it themselves. Simon Cowell wouldn't have let them - he'd have got their contracts out and sued them. I let them get on with it. Everyone forgets we had one, two and three in the Christmas charts that year. They never listened to me. They wanted to split up, so fair enough. You're famous for not being famous, lads, help yourselves.

60 SECONDS EXTRA!: How long will it be before people get fed up with shows like X-Factor?
Who knows? It works fine for TV but the record sales are gone. People like to watch Simon be nasty to people but are we going to see another Will Young from one of these shows? I don't think so.

You've reunited with Matt Stock and Mike Aitken after years of not talking. How's it going?
That's not true - we spoke but never did any business together. I've had a few bad things happen to my family, my son died earlier this year, and Mike was always the first on the phone. I never thought we'd all get back together though. We've still got the same enthusiasm and we've got new ideas. I'm looking for a new artist we can work with. Working with an established singer puts you in a straightjacket, you're not allowed to change how they sound. Expect something in the New Year.