Stock Aitken Waterman

[CK]

Was out the other night at the Fringe and heard the dulcet tones of Rick Astley at one of the bars, and it got me thinking about SAW's prodigous output.

How do music fans judge them, overall? Producers of rubbish, or very underrated for their ability to write a catchy tune that, in a number of cases, still stands the test of time? Bearing in mind the likes of Astley, Kylie Minogue's earlier work, Bananarama, Mel and Kim and others; that they, as a songwriting and producing trio, were responsible for over 100 UK Top 40 hits alone and sales of over 40 million records - curious to hear the views of the panel on this one.

[zipzap]

Thought they were almost entirely rubbish. Early Kylie, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, their work with Bananarama...mostly very badly dated Eurovision-by-numbers. Just because it's popular don't make it good! And don't be fooled that everything they touched turned to gold - for every Rick Astley there were ten Blakeney Twins or Sybils. Mind you, Mel and Kim were a bit of a guilty pleasure!

BUT... when they strayed from their customary sound and (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-to-fade) formula they were more than capable of some good work. Youthquake by Dead or Alive was very un-SAW sounding and their finest moment by far (Pseudo, back me up here). When Kylie finally stretched her wings with Better the Devil You Know (still her best song I reckon) and the Rhythm of Life album it showed they weren't one trick ponies.

So, for me, they were talented guys who rocked when they used their powers for good instead of evil.

[Pseudo]

Youthquake by Dead or Alive was very un-SAW sounding and their finest moment by far (Pseudo, back me up here).

What he said. Youthquake is Audio Gold. I have rated that album with 4.5 stars (out of 5) on rateyourmusic.com. The followup (Mad Bad And Dangerous To Know) was a bit of a letdown. Only one real good track on it. 2.5 stars.

Didn't mind some of the other SAW efforts. Formulaic and mass-market produced doesn't always mean bad. I liked the earlier Bananarama efforts, particularly the 12" version of Venus.

To my mind SAW's lowest point was this piece of sh!t:

[southee]

Not one of SAW's best moments.

I despised them. I was into metal music at the time (school days).

Played it at the school socials and gave me the s**ts!!!! Awful stuff......

[Barto]

Youthquake by Dead or Alive was very un-SAW sounding and their finest moment by far (Pseudo, back me up here).

What he said. Youthquake is Audio Gold. I have rated that album with 4.5 stars (out of 5) on rateyourmusic.com. The followup (Mad Bad And Dangerous To Know) was a bit of a letdown. Only one real good track on it. 2.5 stars.

Didn't mind some of the other SAW efforts. Formulaic and mass-market produced doesn't always mean bad. I liked the earlier Bananarama efforts, particularly the 12" version of Venus.

To my mind SAW's lowest point was this piece of sh!t:

Quoted for truth.

SAW created typical cookie cutter formulaic pop songs, like many other song writing teams such as Chin/Chapman in the 70s but people buy it, music company execs get filthy rich, the 'artists' usually end up dead from drugs/booze or living like hobos but at the end of the day, people who were teenagers when these songs were out have their hits and memories.