A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman Chart Beats

Late in 1991, PWL was trying all sorts of things to get back in the charts on a regular basis, including working with '80s funk/soul band Cool Notes. Single "Make This A Special Night" harked back to some of SAW's earliest releases when they dabbled in R&B — and was one of several tracks recorded with the group, which was now a trio. Singer Lauraine McIntosh talks about Cool Notes' progression from reggae outfit to commercially successful soul group with mid-'80s hits "Spend The Night" an...

They were the pop stars that changed everything for the Hit Factory — and in this episode we discuss pivotal singles for Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue. In Jason's case, his remake of "Happy Together" was his final single with PWL, as he made the leap to musical theatre and a new record label. The cover version was also the first Stock and Waterman production, with Matt Aitken now out of the picture. Jason joins us for one last time to discuss the parting of ways with PWL, his third studio a...

To mark the third anniversary of A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman, former PWL remixer Tony King joins us to share his story of going from Phil Harding's assistant to being responsible for a Billboard Hot 100 smash hit thanks to his remix of "Don't Make Me Over" by Sybil. Tony recounts the "weird" way he landed a job at PWL and how his first task was to remix "Packjammed (With The Party Posse)" by Stock Aitken Waterman — in a matter of hours. He also talks about some of his early remixe...

The Boy Krazy story is one of the most interesting — and complicated! — in the SAW history. The American girl group was put together through auditions in New York, going through a few line-up changes before the final five-piece, Johnna, Josselyne, Kimberly, Renee and Ruth Ann, signed a deal with PWL Records and flew to London to start recording with Stock Aitken Waterman. Kimberly and Josselyne join us to reminisce about that process and how debut single "That's What Love Can Do" came togethe...

It had to happen at some point. In May 1991, the Stock Aitken Waterman era ended when Matt Aitken walked away from his role as one third of the songwriting and production trio. In this episode, he explains what prompted his decision and we explore the changing nature of PWL at the time, which was a contributing factor in the split. Mike Stock also weighs in on Matt's departure and reveals whether he blames his musical partner for leaving. In terms of the music, we look at one of the most pola...

The fourth in arguably the best singles run in pop music history was also a first for Stock Aitken Waterman, as external mix team DNA took care of the 7" remix of "Shocked" by Kylie Minogue, Neal Slateford from DNA tells us how the unprecedented remix came about following the runaway success of his and production partner Nick Batt's reinvention of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner". A key component of the "Shocked" remix was the rap by Jazzi P, who also joins us to talk about the triumphs and trial...