Toy Soldier
Member
Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman (or sometimes just Mike and Pete, or just Mike and Matt) made up one of the most successful collective songwriting/production houses in the history of pop music...and for good reason.
Quick primer: Mike, and to a lesser extent Matt, was responsible for writing the music and lyrics. Matt, while also helping with songwriting, was mostly responsible for much of the actual production alongside the legendary PWL engineers. Pete was responsible for finding artists, helping dictate the current popular styles the guys' would work within, as well as being the vocal public frontman of the trio. As I said earlier, the guys split apart and worked with each other at different times - as recently as last year when Mike and Pete released a song for The Sheilas called (I'm So) Happy Happy (You're Mine).
They recognized, and did well at utilizing, the importance of a strong chord structure and unique charming vocals in pop music - really honing in on ensuring their artists' personalities came through vocally in the songs they crafted. Sure, the lyrics are sacchrine bubblegum, familiar chord structures were often shared between songs, and the production styles often became almost too uniform. But what they created worked. The songs were awesome, the artists memorable.
So what are some of your favorite songs in the vast S/A/W catalog? Here are some of my picks:
Sonia - Listen to Your Heart
Big Fun - Handful of Promises
Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real
Rick Astley - Together Forever
Jason Donovan - Every Day (I Love You More)
Bananarama - Love in the First Degree
Kylie Minogue - Better The Devil You Know
Cliff Richard - I Just Don't Have The Heart
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Scooch - For Sure
Paul Varney - So Proud of You
Lonnie Gordon - Happening All Over Again
Stock / Aitken / Waterman - S.S. Paparazzi
Sabrina - All of Me (Boy Oh Boy)
Kylie Minogue - It's No Secret
Boy Krazy - That's What Love Can Do
Jason Donovan - When You Come Back To Me
The Three Degrees - The Heaven I Need
Pat & Mick - Use It Up, Wear It Out
Additionally, here are some favorites they produced but didn't write:
Bananarama - Venus
Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
Newton - Sky High
Rick Astley - She Wants To Dance With Me
Bananarama - Trick of the Night
For good measure, here are a couple of funny S/A/W parodies:
Spitting Image's puppet parody of Kylie Minogue.
Morris Minor & The Majors - This is the Chorus