If you've never seen it and are looking for a great nostalgic ride back through the late eighties, there's a great documentary on Stock, Aitken and Waterman on youtube.
I guess if you grew up in the UK, Australia [or even some parts of Europe] you're more likely to feel the connection to the bubble gum/hi NRG music that those guys came up with while creating their empire.
For a few years they were everywhere - and their distinct sound proved to be huge, almost guaranteeing hits for their artists: among them Bananarama, Mel & Kim and... Jason Donovan.
A lot of their stuff was repetitive, similar and so sugary that it should've come with a warning. But they also came up with some of the period's most defining pop songs. They had a knack for making stars out of unknowns [though at one point even Donna Summer came their way]. Of course, their golden geese were Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue.
Pretty much everyone - bar Kylie - that was involved with SAW is now a distant memory [or on the nostalgic 80s tours that are snaking their way around the world] although Rick Astley has recently had a comeback.
People magazine recently profiled Rick Astley who had a comeback album earlier this year. Checking out the statistics on youtube, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up has racked up almost 250 million views since being the target of the Rickroll. That's about $2m of revenue if you believe the estimates based on what PSY's video publicly made even if Astley, who sang and didn't write the song allegedly has seen a lot less than that.
I guess if you grew up in the UK, Australia [or even some parts of Europe] you're more likely to feel the connection to the bubble gum/hi NRG music that those guys came up with while creating their empire.
For a few years they were everywhere - and their distinct sound proved to be huge, almost guaranteeing hits for their artists: among them Bananarama, Mel & Kim and... Jason Donovan.
A lot of their stuff was repetitive, similar and so sugary that it should've come with a warning. But they also came up with some of the period's most defining pop songs. They had a knack for making stars out of unknowns [though at one point even Donna Summer came their way]. Of course, their golden geese were Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue.
Pretty much everyone - bar Kylie - that was involved with SAW is now a distant memory [or on the nostalgic 80s tours that are snaking their way around the world] although Rick Astley has recently had a comeback.
People magazine recently profiled Rick Astley who had a comeback album earlier this year. Checking out the statistics on youtube, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up has racked up almost 250 million views since being the target of the Rickroll. That's about $2m of revenue if you believe the estimates based on what PSY's video publicly made even if Astley, who sang and didn't write the song allegedly has seen a lot less than that.
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