One example of this is Beyond Your Wildest Dreams by Lonnie Gordon, one of the best songs SAW ever wrote, and one of the best records they ever made.
It was the follow-up to the smash-hit Happenin' All Over Again; it had a real laidback, jazz-soul sound that suited the summer of 1990; and simply oozed class.
Yet this astonishing ballad peaked at #48 on the UK Singles Chart.
It is arguable that, out of all the lesser-known SAW singles, this is the one that really deserved to do better. Sure, it's downtempo, but this ain't no drippy, over-produced ballad; this is grown-up, honest stuff.
A story of a woman trying to get her partner to put the hurt of past loves behind them and let her into their life, the song is at turns brooding and plaintive, both compassionate and passionate. Lyrically, this is emotionally mature material which really resonates. The end of the first verse -- "The past / hurt your pride / and you're always looking back" -- provides a neat coupling with the first bridge "But the future / ain't what you believe", whilst the middle eight lyrics -- "I've been hurt / and on my bended knee / You've experienced / the same as me" -- possess a real poignancy, showing empathy with the other party. Some detractors of SAW state that all their songs sound the same -- a nonsense disproven by this track especially -- but this is not a song which many other Hit Factory artists could have pulled off the way Gordon does here.
Notably, the record does not sound anything like the perceived idea of a typical SAW production. Carried along by a delicate percussion track, laidback jazz piano and female backing vocals, the track is given space to breathe, allowing Gordon's vocals their moment to shine. She is an amazing vocalist who doesn't always get the credit she deserves, and this is surely one of her best performances. Mike Stock and Matt Aitken's musicianship is well demonstrated here; the piano work is delightful, and Matt Aitken's guitar work deserves special mention. His guitar playing, perhaps lost a little in the 7" mix, is the highlight of the main extended version, and is reminiscent of his rightly-lauded work on The Cool & Breezy Jazz Mix of Mandy Smith's I Just Can't Wait.
The song -- and Gordon's breathtaking performance -- builds slowly and steadily, until we get a release of emotion with the middle eight -- after which we get to the nub of the matter and Gordon lays her heart bare. The middle eight is a thing of beauty, lyrically (as mentioned above) and melodically, but the emotion Gordon brings to her delivery makes it all the more touching.
Often, it is the bridge which is the most striking and unique element of many SAW songs, but is often overlooked due to the killer choruses the team crafted. If anything, the bridge in Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is arguably the real hook of the song, the signature of SAW in a song which doesn't immediately sound like one of theirs. The song carries three variations of the bridge, with the first two building up to the third and final iteration, which Gordon almost spits out "If only you won't / hold back / stop fighting / me please...".
It's a remarkable song and a brilliantly crafted record, which poses the question... why wasn't it a bigger hit?
There are a number of possible explanations. The first is that switching Gordon from dance to ballad maybe came too quickly. Happenin' All Over Again was a proper belter and seemingly set Gordon up as a dance diva; perhaps the follow-up track should have also been an upbeat dance track, so that Gordon was more established before going for a ballad. And yet, that appears to have been the original intention. The follow-up to Happenin' All Over Again was originally How Could He Do This To Me?, another upbeat (and lyrically strong) track, but the story goes that Supreme Records decided to release Beyond Your Wildest Dreams instead.
It is worth considering that 1990 saw Stock Aitken Waterman looking for a "harder" sound to take them into the new decade, and it is believed that three records in particular formed part of this experiment. Sonia's Counting Every Minute was one, as was Big Fun's Handful of Promises -- and Happenin' All Over Again. It could be that there was a view that Beyond Your Wildest Dreams was again a new take on the SAW sound, and that may have led to the enthusiasm for that to be the follow-up. Conjecture on my part perhaps, but one can perhaps understand how the record company would have been seduced by the sophisticated sound of this track.
The second possible reason could have been the six month gap between the release of Happenin' All Over Again and Beyond Your Wildest Dreams; in hindsight, perhaps this gap should have been smaller in order to capitalise on the success of Happenin' All Over Again and establish Gordon in the eyes (and ears!) of the record buying public. (It has been suggested that Gordon's record label, Supreme Records, was struggling at this time; indeed, it would later fold. This may be a contributing factor).
Another reason could be the beginning of a change in SAW's fortunes. They were still riding high at the start of 1990, but by the time Beyond Your Wildest Dreams was released in July 1990, some commentators were suggesting the SAW bubble had burst. This was mainly instigated by the failure of Jason Donovan's Another Night to reach the top ten in June 1990, stalling at #18 (although the follow-up Rhythm of the Rain would reach #9 in August 1990). The music scene was undergoing big changes at this time and it is fair to say that as 1990 progressed, SAW were not enjoying the same level of success as in previous years, but I would argue that it wasn't so much that the public was tired of the SAW sound -- it was more that the media had moved away to the new styles of music, therefore SAW material was not getting the same level as coverage as in previous years. Certainly Beyond Your Wildest Dreams does not appear to have enjoyed the same level of promotion achieved by Happenin' All Over Again.
The final possible reason is one which could apply to many records which do not become big hits: perhaps people just didn't like the record enough to go out and buy it in droves. In fairness, I find it difficult to understand why many of the SAW "flops" didn't break through, but I do feel that Beyond Your Wildest Dreams deserved to be a bigger hit. That said, Stock & Waterman re-recorded the track with Sybil for a 1993 release and that stalled frustratingly at #41, despite a strong production and an amazing performance by Sybil. I recall that version getting airplay -- on local radio at least -- but again the song didn't seem to take off.
Some fans jokingly refer to "The Curse of Beyond Your Wildest Dreams", as not only did the Lonnie Gordon and Sybil versions miss out on a Top 40 chart placing, but a third version was recorded by Nancy Davis in 1992. Davis was a waitress who won a karaoke contest run by women's magazine more!, which included Stock & Waterman as judges; this led to her releasing two singles through PWL Records -- a Stock & Waterman original If You Belonged To Me and a cover of the Jackie Wilson classic Higher and Higher. Unfortunately, neither track was a big hit and there were no further releases from Davis -- although it appears she recorded other tracks with Stock & Waterman, including the cover of Beyond Your Wildest Dreams. Davis had a soulful and very engaging singing voice -- if perhaps not as powerful as Lonnie and Sybil -- but judging by the clip of her version which appeared on the PWL Empire website, she performed the song with real emotion.
For me though, Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is one of the very best Stock Aitken Waterman songs; it's mature, heartfelt and very accomplished. It's almost criminal that this song has not yet had a second life. Here's hoping that it is a song whose time is yet to come; after all, sometimes the wildest of dreams can come true...
Lonnie Gordon - Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
Written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman
Supreme Records SUPE 167 / #48, 1990
Extended Version: mixed by Dave Ford
Originally published on Meaningless Insights
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