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What did you think of Stock Aitken and Watermans music back in the Eighties


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Old 01-08-2016, 21:08
owen10
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I have to admit, i did like their music especially Rick Astley and Kylie who were big at the time. It seemed every song they did was a hit and then Jason Donovan came soon after and he became big as well

What did you think of Stock Aitken and Waterman music back then and were you a massive fan of their music
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Old 01-08-2016, 21:51
dearmrman
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Most of it was absolute garbage.
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Old 01-08-2016, 22:10
Cloudy2
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They made some great pop songs (mostly the number ones) but huge amounts of what they released was rubbish.

I liked you spin me round, never gonna give you up, i heard a rumour, love in the first degree, you'll never stop me from loving you, happening all over again and later Kylie better the devil, shocked, step back in time and what do I have to do.
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Old 01-08-2016, 23:02
MagicCoppelia
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For the under 10s.
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Old 01-08-2016, 23:36
chrisqc
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Loved it, being from canada for me SAW was the sound of the Uk

Went to the local import store every friday to buy the latest 12"

Rick, kylie, Samantha, bananarama,Sonia, that donna summer song, their sound was epic

Never gonna give you up
Together forever
She want to dance with me
I heard a rumor
love in the first degree
Nothing's gonna stop me now
I should be so lucky

I still love those song as much as i did when i was a teen
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Old 01-08-2016, 23:45
CLL Dodge
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Even worse than Chinnichap in the 70's.

Though the songs of both will outlast nearly all the current singles chart drivel.
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Old 02-08-2016, 00:15
Doghouse Riley
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An opinion?

"You should be so lucky!"
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Old 02-08-2016, 00:35
mgvsmith
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Even worse than Chinnichap in the 70's.

Though the songs of both will outlast nearly all the current singles chart drivel.
I prefer the Chinn/Chapman stuff. I notice Sweet's 'Ballroom Blitz' is used on one of the Suicide Squad trailers!!!
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Old 02-08-2016, 00:49
RoseAnne
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I liked their first hit "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive as it was different and a good pop song IMO but as soon as they developed their factory sound I disliked all their songs. I especially loathed it when a famous artist worked with them and it sounded just the same. The Donna Summer and Cliff Richard ones were just awful. I'd happily erase all SAW records from music history.
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Old 02-08-2016, 01:18
manlove
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Some greatness and quite a lot of dross.

Essential SAW albums:

Dead Or Alive - Youthquake (1985)
Princess - Princess (1986)
Dead Or Alive - Mad, Bad & Dangerous To Know (1987)
Mel & Kim - F.L.M. (1987)
Bananarama - Wow! (1987)
Kylie Minogue - Kylie (1988)

additional listening:

Divine - You Think You're A Man (1984)
Hazell Dean - Wherever I Go (Whatever I Do) (1984)
Bananarama - Venus (1986)
Carol Hitchcock - Get Ready (1987)
Stock Aitken Waterman - Roadblock (1987)
Samantha Fox - Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now (1987)
Debbie Harry - In Love With Love (1987)
Hazell Dean - Who's Leaving Who (1988)
Sinitta - Cross My Broken Heart (1988)
Jermaine Stewart - Get Lucky (1988)
Dee Lewis - The Best Of My Love (1988)
Brother Beyond - The Harder I Try (1988)
Sinitta - I Don't Believe In Miracles (1988)
Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real (1989)
Lonnie Gordon - Happening All Over Again (1990)
Sybil - Make It Easy On Me (1990)
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Old 02-08-2016, 01:19
manlove
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Double post
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Old 02-08-2016, 02:30
spaceygal
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I liked some of their songs but so much of it all sounded the same to me, and was very bland. I liked the songs they wrote for Kylie the most. I think they kept their best stuff for her, personally. Songs like Better The Devil You Know, Shocked, Finer Feelings, What Do I Have To Do and Step Back In Time are so catchy. Before Kylie started recording though I did like some of their songs with Bananarama and Princess, and Mel And Kim's album FLM was really good. Princess' first album too. Donna Summer's (one of my all-time favourite singers) album with them had a few good songs on it (especially Love's About To Change My Heart and This Time I Know It's For Real) but there was a heck of a lot of filler on it too. There were some other good songs here and there, by Lonnie Gordon, Sonia and others but the production sound and backing tracks on all of them became really annoying after a while, making all the artists sound the same. It was as if they used the same backing track for every song!
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Old 02-08-2016, 07:40
wakey1512
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If you can cast aside the quality of music this was knocking off the charts, and also if you can compare it to the even sh*tter stuff of today, it's not that bad.
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Old 02-08-2016, 09:26
eggchen
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Hit "Factory" was an absolutely apt name for the bland durge that they churned out like a mass production line. All of their artists sounded exactly the same once they had been autotuned and tweeked beyond all recognition. Made them all very wealthy though.
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Old 02-08-2016, 11:15
Cloudy2
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Hit "Factory" was an absolutely apt name for the bland durge that they churned out like a mass production line. All of their artists sounded exactly the same once they had been autotuned and tweeked beyond all recognition. Made them all very wealthy though.
And then bust. If remember correctly pwl went tits up.
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Old 02-08-2016, 12:15
Jeannie_Wilson
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I liked one or two songs but the rest were all similar and repetetive.
I don't think I could listen to that nonsense again if you paid me.
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Old 02-08-2016, 12:32
mushymanrob
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If you can cast aside the quality of music this was knocking off the charts, and also if you can compare it to the even sh*tter stuff of today, it's not that bad.
disagree..... generally.

ok, they did have some great pop tracks, but as others said they overused the formula and watertwat boasting he 'can make a pop star out of anybody' really brought pop music down a complete notch.

im well known for my hatred of what watertwats mob did.... making 'manufactured' music acceptable to a new young audience (that were not into rock, indie, house, rave) . this focus on business and change from businessmen facilitating or taking a punt on what a young act was producing - to the businessmen themselves producing everything and finding a figurehead to front the project, is id suggest why theres no creativity in youth today like there used to be up until the turn of the century.

SAW manufactured music for the millennials, or snowflakes, which id suggest is one reason why creativity in pop has died.

going back to the quoted post - re todays garbage...

well youve got to compare like for like.... and quite frankly i reckon manufactured acts of recent years like little mix, girls aloud, 1d, jls, and a few others have produced better manufactured pop tracks then 95% of what SAW did.

give me 'black magic' or 'love me like you' over anything SAW produced.
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Old 02-08-2016, 15:42
Deep Purple
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Shite.
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Old 02-08-2016, 16:16
Ancient IDTV
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At the time I was mostly into heavy rock/metal, and I disdained SAW's music (which was often on the radio at work). Don't like it much now, either. Harmless fluff, I suppose.
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Old 02-08-2016, 18:25
Hitstastic
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I was only young when S/A/W dominated the charts so to my 7 year old self, their music appealed to me more than say groups like The Smiths and Iron Maiden did.

However, there are some of those S/A/W songs that I cringe at when I hear them now with a much more mature taste in music. I still like some of their singles though, whilst I'm more likely to listen to The Smiths or Iron Maiden now than I am Big Fun or Sonia.
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Old 02-08-2016, 19:20
dearmrman
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I was only young when S/A/W dominated the charts so to my 7 year old self, their music appealed to me more than say groups like The Smiths and Iron Maiden did.

However, there are some of those S/A/W songs that I cringe at when I hear them now with a much more mature taste in music. I still like some of their singles though, whilst I'm more likely to listen to The Smiths or Iron Maiden now than I am Big Fun or Sonia.
I thought you'd rather jack...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hg7M8qI5m8
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Old 02-08-2016, 20:55
Hitstastic
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Do not diss I'd Rather Jack!!!

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Old 02-08-2016, 21:01
wakey1512
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disagree..... generally.

ok, they did have some great pop tracks, but as others said they overused the formula and watertwat boasting he 'can make a pop star out of anybody' really brought pop music down a complete notch.

im well known for my hatred of what watertwats mob did.... making 'manufactured' music acceptable to a new young audience (that were not into rock, indie, house, rave) . this focus on business and change from businessmen facilitating or taking a punt on what a young act was producing - to the businessmen themselves producing everything and finding a figurehead to front the project, is id suggest why theres no creativity in youth today like there used to be up until the turn of the century.

SAW manufactured music for the millennials, or snowflakes, which id suggest is one reason why creativity in pop has died.

going back to the quoted post - re todays garbage...

well youve got to compare like for like.... and quite frankly i reckon manufactured acts of recent years like little mix, girls aloud, 1d, jls, and a few others have produced better manufactured pop tracks then 95% of what SAW did.

give me 'black magic' or 'love me like you' over anything SAW produced.
That comparison is understandable when you compare SAW to (not my personal choice but better than some) little mix, 1d and JLS . My issue lies with Drake (non talent), Justin bieber (non talent) lukas graham (talented but f***ing annoying...) Adele (talented but overplayed)... And rihanna (bad anyway but gone even more downhill of late). SAW to me is a better listen.

Now if I was this age (25) in 1987 and started hearing the influx of brand new SAW material take over the charts (first written and produced SAW #1 song was Mel and Kim respectable in early 1987) introducing that trademark beat we all know, and holding off some of the high quality in that year, SAW would be very unpopular especially if I was a radio user like I am today - the unpopularity extending to the artists using the hit making vehicle. The airwaves would be polluted with this new musical direction.

It's only now we have even worse music that this is perhaps the lesser of two evils.

Could be perhaps compared to SYCO - plaguing our charts with manufactured rubbish (which SYCO does seem to have a trademark sound just like SAW did) albeit only really an issue at X factor time.
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Old 03-08-2016, 07:45
mushymanrob
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That comparison is understandable when you compare SAW to (not my personal choice but better than some) little mix, 1d and JLS . My issue lies with Drake (non talent), Justin bieber (non talent) lukas graham (talented but f***ing annoying...) Adele (talented but overplayed)... And rihanna (bad anyway but gone even more downhill of late). SAW to me is a better listen.

Now if I was this age (25) in 1987 and started hearing the influx of brand new SAW material take over the charts (first written and produced SAW #1 song was Mel and Kim respectable in early 1987) introducing that trademark beat we all know, and holding off some of the high quality in that year, SAW would be very unpopular especially if I was a radio user like I am today - the unpopularity extending to the artists using the hit making vehicle. The airwaves would be polluted with this new musical direction.

It's only now we have even worse music that this is perhaps the lesser of two evils.

Could be perhaps compared to SYCO - plaguing our charts with manufactured rubbish (which SYCO does seem to have a trademark sound just like SAW did) albeit only really an issue at X factor time.
bib... close but id agree tbh... due to the 10% or so of SAW tracks that are ok.
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Old 03-08-2016, 09:52
neo_wales
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They were not really my cup of tea but their formula was right, they sold millions of records.
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