Hang On... it’s not that bad, is it?

Over the years, Stock Aitken Waterman tracks have come in for a lot of criticism (largely unjustified), but some tracks even get a bad reputation amongst SAW fans. One such track is Jason Donovan’s 1990 single Hang On To Your Love, but why is this the case...?

1989 had been an amazing year for Jason Donovan, and he entered 1990 on the back of the success of the well-received When You Come Back To Me. There was a sense that Donovan was in a strong position to consolidate that success, as indeed were his producers Stock Aitken Waterman. However, Donovan’s first single release of 1990 would come to be regarded as something of a misstep.

Hang On To Your Love was, as usual, a Stock Aitken Waterman composition and production, recorded in January 1990 as part of the initial sessions for Donovan’s second album, Between the Lines. It would seem that, consciously or not, that SAW was starting to move Donovan’s sound away from the bright pop that characterised his previous material.

One of the hallmarks of Stock Aitken Waterman tracks, especially self-composed, was the dichotomy between upbeat production and downbeat lyrical content. And that had been the case with many of the tracks on Donovan’s debut album Ten Good Reasons, such as Time Heals, Too Late to Say Goodbye and If I Don’t Have You. But Hang On To Your Love brought a darker edge to proceedings.

Sure, the beats and percussion are still present, but the synths are heavier, the strings more dramatic and the electric guitar adds to the bleakness. This is all topped off by Donovan’s doleful delivery: “Just to think I had the world in my hands / And I let it slip through my fingers” opines Jason, “I guess I didn’t know what I had / It’s just a memory that lingers”.

The result is that, at the time and even now, there was a pervading view that Hang On To Your Love just wasn’t as good as Donovan’s previous singles, to the point where even fans found it unlikable.

So this is where I come in. Because I think Hang On To Your Love is great.

I actually prefer it to When You Come Back To Me. I love its drama. I love its boldness. I love the spirit of Abba that the melody has. I love the thicker, chunkier arrangement. And I love the guitars.

So why is it so disliked?

Listening to it again for this article, the most striking thing about it is just how downbeat it sounds. The light and twinkly Yamaha Staccato Heaven preset was all over Ten Good Reasons, but here we have a thumping bassline and pounding beat accompanied by doleful synths.

And this brings me to my main proposition. Hang On To Your Love moves away from the aforementioned contrast between upbeat arrangement and melancholic lyrics/themes, and instead provides a double whammy of melancholic arrangement and lyrics. As a result, the usual bittersweet combination of joy and sadness is sacrificed for melodrama.

And it is quite a dramatic record, at least in terms of arrangement and production. The opening combination of electric guitar and strings is impressive, but it does set the tone for the next 3 minutes. There’s a certain heaviness to this track, which does match the world-weary and regretful nature of the lyrics, but the usual glimmer of hope you’d find in most Stock Aitken Waterman records is in short supply here.

In fairness to Mike, Matt & Pete, they’d gone into 1990 with a sense that it was time to try out some new methods, and whilst Hang On To Your Love was not one of the 3 experimental tracks marked out as a possible new sound, the track does reflect some of the stylistic choices made for those tracks. I am not grumbling that Stock Aitken Waterman should have made the record sound brighter or have made the lyrical content less depressing, but this is the key reason I can arrive at as to why so many listeners have an issue with a record which is just as well constructed as other Jason Donovan tracks which have a better reputation.

The extended version (expertly mixed by Phil Harding) is a fascinating listen. It’s a great mix – but the bleakness/heaviness of the track is felt even more keenly. That said, the musicianship and playing is well demonstrated in this version, and there is a great bit in the breakdown where Donovan’s echoed vocals make him sound a bit like David Bowie! It also features a great piece of vocal loc work in the instrumental break, with stuttering samples of Donovan’s vocals chugging away over sweeping strings and jangling guitars. 

Whilst the video to Hang On To Your Love retains the instrumental break from the extended version (albeit without the vocal locs), the single mix released to radio and through the shops completely excises the instrumental break – with a sudden cut that is so jarring, it actually sounds like a manufacturing fault. It’s not of course, and I’m sure it was done to add some drama to the track (which was so dramatic anyway that it didn’t need any more), but it just sounds wrong. For my money this cannot have helped the reaction to the song.

And you know, whilst I am a huge Stock Aitken Waterman fan, that doesn’t blind me to the point that perhaps people just didn’t like it because it didn’t connect with them. Maybe it’s the fact that all the component parts are great and all in place, but haven’t quite been assembled in the best way. Maybe it came along at a point where the music scene was changing and people were getting bored of Stock Aitken Waterman. That said, it did get to #8, so clearly enough people did like it. And maybe there is something good in the fact that Hang On To Your Love provoked a strong reaction instead of indifference; the follow-up Another Night (which would break Donovan’s Top 10 run and in many ways indicate the end of Mike, Matt & Pete'’s imperial phase) received a much more ambivalent response. But that is another article for another day…!

7 Days of SAWmas! #5: Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid II

In the run up to Christmas, what better way to get into the festive spirit than to take a look at 7 Yuletide tracks Stock Aitken Waterman came up with between 1987 and 2015? Join Kean Canter Mattowski for 7 blogposts during December as we take a look back at some seasonal gems…

On the fifth day of SAWmas, the DJ played for me…

Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid II

The 1984 Christmas number one was a ground-breaking record that has not only achieved legendary status, but has also done so much good for a worthwhile cause. Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?, masterminded by Boomtown Rats vocalist Bob Geldof and Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, brought together a star-studded line-up of contemporary music artists to raise much-needed funds for the Ethiopian famine crisis.

The track would be re-issued – to a more muted reception – in subsequent years, so when Geldof was asked in 1989 if the original 1984 version could be re-issued once more, he felt that it was time for a new recording.

According to the timeline published in Number One magazine, Pete Waterman took a call from Bob Geldof on Friday 1 December 1989, asking if SAW would produce a new version? Apparently Waterman accepted with little hesitation, but he had to move quickly.

Aside from the time needed for recording and production, the lead-in time for vinyl, cassette and CD production and distribution at that time meant that recording would have to take place that weekend.

As PWL was a small but independent organisation, Waterman was not only in a position to make a decision to take the project on, but was also able to turn the whole operation around in the tight timescales required. That said, PWL would link up with Polydor Records (part of the PolyGram group, who released the original 1984 version) for the eventual release and distribution of the record.

Gearing the staff and studios up for recording and production of the track was one thing, but it was quite another for Waterman to cancel his wedding to Denise Gyngell, which had been scheduled for that weekend!

Waterman appears to have spent Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd December collating a list of artists to invite to participate; his initial approach was to consult the chart and identify potential contributors. Artists who were available and agreed to participate included Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Bros, Wet Wet Wet, Lisa Stansfield, Chris Rea, Cliff Richard, Sonia and Bananarama (the latter the only artists to return from the original version).

The recording day was set for Sunday 3rd December. Mike Stock and Matt Aitken arrived at PWL Studios at 5am to commence work on the backing track; whilst this arrangement and production work would continue well into Monday 4th December, the initial requirement was to have a backing track for the performers to sing to, and this needed to be ready for midday.

Whilst Chris Rea was the first artist to arrive (at 11.30am), most of the other artists arrived around 2pm to start recording their parts. Whilst Lisa Stansfield & Wet Wet Wet were delayed by fog (but would ultimately arrive), other acts were forced to send apologies – such as Grace Jones (who missed her flight in the US), the London Boys (who were unable to travel from Hamburg) and Soul II Soul (who were actually holding a party for the children who sang on their recent Get A Life single). Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney were unable to attend the recording session but all three pledged their support, with McCartney offering to pay for the catering.

Whilst the keyboards, guitars and other instrumentation was in the main played and programmed by Stock and Aitken, Chris Rea contributed additional guitars, whilst a drum kit was set up to allow Luke Goss to play drums and percussion; Goss’ contribution would be combined with the standard Linn drum programming, but the inclusion of real snare sounds gave the track an organic feel.

Recording would continue throughout the afternoon and into the evening, when at 8pm the final group chorus would be recorded. Vocal recording was completed by 9pm, with the artists finally vacating the studios by 11pm. Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, Pete Waterman and the studio staff would continue working on the track until 3am Monday morning.

Stock Aitken Waterman recommenced work on the track at 10am on Monday 4th December 1989, with work mainly focused on assembling the vocals and finalising the arrangement. Smash Hits reported that Stock and Aitken tried different variations of the arrangement; at one point, the track opened with a Soul II Soul-style drum pattern, but that was removed, whilst various guitar elements were tried out. The team carried on through the whole of that Monday, and finally handed a completed multi-track to Phil Harding at midnight; Harding would work through the night on the final mix.

This final mix was approved on Tuesday 5th December, with Capital Radio getting the first exclusive play of the track that same day.

The track is well-produced, especially considering the quick turnaround involved – the track took 2 long days from pre-production to final mix – and is arguably more polished than Ure's production of the 1984 version (a clear sign of how much technology and recording techniques had developed in 5 years – and don’t forget that Ure was a highly-talented and experienced producer by that point).

The arrangement is relatively restrained for a SAW track of that era; whilst there is the use of synth pads and chimes, the track has a reliance on rhythm guitar and real drums, rather than synth brass and rattling percussion. The instrumental version is worth a listen, and highlights the playing from Stock and Aitken, plus the contributions Rea and Luke Goss.

Tonally, the arrangement and production is upbeat, in comparison to the dour and serious atmosphere of the original Band Aid version. This move was the cause of most of the criticism of this version, but one could argue that the SAW arrangement reflects the hope in the song’s lyrics. I think is fair to say that the original version delivers the message more effectively, but I would argue that the Band Aid II version is stronger from a sonic perspective.

Another clear difference was the structure of the song. The original 1984 version built up verse by verse to a final grand chorus at the end, but SAW changed this structure so that the chorus recurred throughout the song (as per a standard pop song structure) as well as the final grand chorus. Some would argue this affected the narrative flow of the song and perhaps weakened the impact of the final chorus, but again, it emphasised that this was a different take on the song.

Vocally, the track is well-performed in the main; true, like many multi-artist records like this, some performers are perhaps not as effective as others, but there are many good performances on show here.

The combination of Minogue and Donovan’s vocals on the “Where the only water flowing / Is the bitter sting of tears” line is especially effective, whilst The Pasadenas section is really nicely arranged and performed. Strong performances also from both Lisa Stansfield and Sonia, whilst Chris Rea, Jimmy Somerville and Cliff Richard are also typically solid.

Marti Pellow and Matt Goss both make impressive contributions, even if the latter’s take on the “well tonight thank god it’s them/instead of you” line was quickly dismissed as inferior to Bono’s take on the same line in the 1984 version. In fairness to Matt Goss, he performs the line well but, given the power of Bono’s delivery and the emotive force of that lyric, any vocalist would have found it almost impossible to follow Bono’s performance.

As with the original, the record closes with a grand group performance of the “Feed the World” chorus, with the arrangement dropping out at one point to leave the vocals accompanied by drums only.

The track was released on Monday 11 December 1989, in 7”, CD single and cassette format. All formats carried two mixes – a 7” vocal version and a 7” instrumental; no extended or remixed versions were issued.

As expected, the single went straight to number one the following week, thus becoming Christmas number one. This left Jason Donovan’s When You Come Back To Me at number 2, but given that SAW produced Do They Know It’s Christmas? and that Donovan sang on it, one could argue that both SAW and Donovan actually did reach number one that Christmas – though perhaps not in the manner original envisaged.

Band Aid II would hold the number one position for 3 weeks, and would sell over 600,000 copies, but despite this success, there has been much dismissive criticism of this version.

It goes without saying that, irrespective of whether you like the record or not, the original Band Aid version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? is the definitive version. This is widely accepted, and there won’t be many arguments to the contrary.

However, that does not justify the attempts made over the years to eradicate the Band Aid II version from history. It is little played, was unavailable for many years and rarely mentioned, to the point that those of us around at the time must sometimes wonder if it actually happened at all!

(In fairness, the CD single for the Band Aid 30 version did carry the Band Aid II version (along with all other versions) so at least the Band Aid organisation appears to have softened its view).

There is a whole separate article to be written on the treatment Band Aid II has received over the years (and I’ll write that at some point) but briefly, the main criticisms appear to be that:

a) the calibre of artists was poor compared to the original version, and
b) the SAW production was too upbeat for such a serious subject matter

These are effectively subjective arguments, but my responses would be:

a) SAW picked artists who were popular at that time, just as Geldof did in 1984 – the key difference is that the original record was THE first big collaboration of huge musical artists; sure, there had been supergroups before, but nothing on this scale, and in many ways, this in itself made the original Band Aid record a significant cultural event. In addition, it appears that Geldof had a lead-in time of at least 10 days to recruit artists; Waterman had a day and a half.

b) The Band Aid II version may be a radically different take on the original, but surely, that instantly makes it more interesting than a carbon copy of the original (which SAW could have easily done, and in fact, that was the thing Geldof didn’t want).

My position on Band Aid II is: yes, you can’t beat the original version, but that doesn’t make the Band Aid II version (or for that matter, the Band Aid 20 and Band Aid 30 versions) worthless. If anything, it was the right record for that time. Band Aid II simply had the disadvantage of following the original version, a problem that the Band Aid 20 and 30 versions did not have to deal with.

For my money, SAW and the participating artists made a really good record, and this version is actually my favourite. A contrarian view perhaps, but then this entire site, dedicated to putting a positive spin on Mike, Matt & Pete's work, is a contrarian exercise in itself!

So, that was 1989 and Stock Aitken Waterman had finally achieved a Christmas number one. Whilst 1990 would be a year of mixed fortunes for the hitmaking trio, they would team up with an established soul singer to make a further attempt at Christmas number one…

Based upon and expanded from the entry in 80s UK Christmas Singles (available on Kindle here)

7 Days of SAWmas! #4: When You Come Back To Me - Jason Donovan

In the run up to Christmas, what better way to get into the festive spirit than to take a look at 7 Yuletide tracks Stock Aitken Waterman came up with between 1987 and 2015? Join Kean Canter Mattowski for 7 blogposts during December as we take a look back at some seasonal gems…

On the fourth day of SAWmas, the DJ played for me…

When You Come Back To Me – Jason Donovan

1989 saw Mike, Matt and Pete dominate the charts with 7 number one singles, and a further 15 Top 40 hits. A significant part of this success was due to their collaboration with Jason Donovan, who followed Especially For You with two solo number ones (Too Many Broken Hearts, Sealed With A Kiss) and a number two hit (Every Day), and a number one debut album (Ten Good Reasons).

Jason and SAW would end such a successful year by making another attempt at a Christmas number one with the release of a new single - recorded in October 1989 - from his forthcoming second album.

When You Come Back To Me, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, is an up-tempo number which manages to convey the Christmas spirit without making any explicit reference to the season.

Whilst it features the usual SAW hallmarks of synth brass and electronic percussion, it has a very seasonal feel to it; it's underpinned with timpani, swirling strings and prominent backing vocals, with chimes, tubular bells and timpani sprinkled on top. There's a nod to the time of year in the lyrics, with references to "so many people" with "smiles on their faces" and "armful of presents", and there being a "chill in the air". It's a tale of separated lovers, which of course resonates deeply in the Christmas season.

As with many SAW songs, the real strength lies in Mike Stock and Matt Aitken’s melody. The memorable chorus is euphoric, conflating Donovan’s hope of reunion with the hope that Christmas offers many, and Pete Hammond’s immaculate final 7” mix seals the deal that this is a bona fide hit record.

(The 2010 digital release of the When You Come Back To Me single bundle contains the Original 7” Mix, by Dave Ford; this mix dispenses with the distinctive brass found on the final 7” mix and is perhaps less energetic, but is actually more atmospheric and seasonal. It may lack the impact of the Hammond mix, but is an interesting take all the same).

In addition to the main single release, a second remix 7" was released featuring The Yuletide Sleigh List Mix -- this very much turned the track into a Christmas song; opening up with a spoken intro by Donovan, the track removes most of the frenetic percussion and synths which adorn the main version and replaces them by choral backing vocals, tinkly bells and plucked strings.

There were a number of various mixes of the track; the main Extended Version (mixed by Pete Hammond) is an atmospheric longer take on the 7” mix, with the elongated intro and outro showing off the various layers of the track. Dave Ford’s No Probs Mix takes the track into a dance direction, with Ford deploying an effective house approach, whilst the Guitar Instrumental Mix, also mixed by Ford, is a showcase for Matt Aitken as he plays the melody line on a classical guitar. The 2010 digital release contains a No Strings Mix, which was mixed by Ford and appears to be a slight variation on the Yuletide Sleigh List Mix, plus various instrumental and backing track versions.

When You Come Back To Me was fairly well received at the time, and is still fondly regarded by many even now. Perhaps just as memorable was the bright orange overcoat which Donovan wore in the video and on the single sleeve! The single sleeve, the design of which is actually credited to Donovan, also carries handwritten (and annotated) lyrics to the song, and given these appear to be written in two different sets of handwriting, it appears these were Stock and Aitken’s own original handwritten lyrics.

Given both Donovan and SAW's huge success in 1989, When You Come Back To Me would have likely been a Christmas number one -- had it not been for the rush-release of a particular charity single. However, that particular charity record did actually see both SAW and Donovan – and many others – reach number one on the 1989 Christmas charts…

Based upon and expanded from the entry in 80s UK Christmas Singles (available on Kindle)

7 Days of SAWmas! #2: Especially For You – Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan

In the run up to Christmas, what better way to get into the festive spirit than to take a look at 7 Yuletide tracks Stock Aitken Waterman came up with between 1987 and 2015? Join Kean Canter Mattowski for 8 blogposts during December as we take a look back at some seasonal gems…

On the second day of SAWmas, the DJ played to me…

Especially For You – Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan

If Mike Stock, Pete Waterman and others around the SAW operation at the time are to be believed, then the trio’s second attempt at a Christmas number one was unplanned and mounted at the last minute.

1988 had seen the huge success of Neighbours actress Kylie Minogue’s debut album and its string of hit singles, making her a superstar and turning Stock Aitken Waterman into household names. Her fellow Neighbours actor Jason Donovan had also teamed up with SAW towards the end of the year, and had enjoyed a hit with his debut single Nothing Can Divide Us.

As Kylie and Jason’s Neighbours characters were boyfriend and girlfriend, there was much speculation as to whether the pair were an item in real life. Whilst it later turned out they were in-fact dating, this speculation was denied at the time, but did not dampen the public’s romantic hopes of them being in love.

With both parties having launched pop careers, the speculation switched to whether or not Kylie and Jason would release a duet for Christmas. Waterman, in his autobiography I Wish I Was Me, remembers that he was constantly approached by teenagers asking when the Kylie and Jason song would be coming out.

Stock, in his memoir The Hit Factory: The Stock Aitken Waterman Story, adds that there were growing calls for a Kylie and Jason duet, and that SAW initially resisted these, but changed their minds when Woolworths apparently tried to place an advance order for 400,000 copies of the mythical duet!

PWL’s marketing manager Tilly Rutherford came up with the title, and as the main songwriter of the trio, Stock set to work on the composition. The only problem was that both Kylie and Jason had returned to Australia, so SAW recorded a demo version of the track (a short clip can be found below), with Mae McKenna performing the Kylie parts and Stock singing the Jason parts.

It fell to Aitken and Waterman to fly out to Sydney to record Kylie and Jason’s vocals, with the full track being completed upon their return.

Given how successful the track was, it seems surprising to discover that there were some misgivings about the track once the initial mixes came in. Waterman states that he hated the initial version, suggesting that it lacked passion, and added that Stock also disliked it.

In an interview with Paul Smith, Waterman states that the problem with the initial version was that SAW had “tried to make it Peaches and Herb but it didn’t work”. (Note: Peaches and Herb were a 70s soul duo, who recorded Reunited, a ballad about a couple getting back together, as is the case with Especially for You).

Waterman goes on to say that Stock carried out a further remix, but “it still wasn’t wonderful, so I thought I’d have a go. Somehow it all came together at the last moment…”

This is a great story delivered with typical Waterman bonhomie, but a glance at the record sleeve will tell you that it was in fact Pete Hammond who was responsible for the final mix.

In his memoir Get Down Here Quick And Mix Yourself A Hit!, Hammond states that several mixes had been done by various engineers, but PW rejected them all on the basis that the track “just didn’t feel right” and eventually got Hammond to do it.

Hammond comments that he called up the master to prepare his mix, and was of the opinion that there was a drum timing problem. He fixed this and changed the kick sound, but apparently the main change he made was to the intro. The original mix opened with a two-part drum hit, followed by Kylie’s first line. Hammond took some backing harmonies from the bridge (performed by Mae McKenna, Miriam Stockley and Mike Stock), and put them right at the start of the song, creating that evocative opening.

One of those early mixes has been released (see below); this particular mix fades in with a drawn out synth pad before the two-part drum hit, and straightaway it’s clear that Hammond’s clever cut and paste creates an impact the early mix perhaps lacks. In addition, the drum track lacks the punch of the final mix, whilst the synth pads of the early mix are swapped for some nice guitar work in the final version.

All that said, it is clear that the final version has other instrumentation the earlier version lacked, so it appears that Stock and Aitken did some overdub work prior to Hammond’s final mix, which may be the 4 hour mixing session Waterman refers to.

If I’m totally honest, I wasn’t crazy about the record at the time (I think I felt it a bit slushy when in fact many SAW ballads have a bit of an edge to them) but listening to that final version now, there is much to appreciate about both song and the record. The backing vocals bring real warmth, as do the strings and the Spanish guitar solo, creating a lighter-than-usual backing for the main vocals. Kylie probably sounds the most comfortable here; whilst Jason’s voice would improve considerably with each release, he was still new to recording at this time. That said, his voice is pleasant here and does not detract from proceedings. Lyrically, it’s great to have a SAW song about two former lovers reuniting (rather than splitting up, or worse, not getting together at all!), whilst the fluid melody of the verses sells the tentative nature of these two lovers getting back together. The chorus is joyous and memorable, and both vocalists sound great here.

The B-side carried another Kylie and Jason duet, All I Wanna Do Is Make You Mine, which is a fun, upbeat number with Grease leanings. I probably preferred this at the time, with its clattering drums, rumbling bass, chugging guitars and horn blasts really selling the catchy melody, most notably its wonderful bridge.

As it was, Especially For You was issued in time for Christmas, but, just like the 1987 battle for Christmas number one, SAW were thwarted by EMI Records, as Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe and Wine claimed the Yuletide number one. Whilst widely derided, it is clear that Cliff’s tribute to a traditional British Christmas appealed to a large section of the record buying public. It wasn’t all bad news for Kylie, Jason and SAW, as Especially For You was the first number one single of 1989, selling just short of a million copies.

And as 1989 would prove to be SAW’s most commercially successful year, they would go on to have two records vying for the Christmas number one that year. However, it turns out that there would be a third Christmas track from SAW that would go unreleased for over 20 years…

Ten SAW B-Sides I'd Have Made The A-Side! [Part 2]

So -- after an unplanned hiatus! -- here is the second part of my list of the 10 SAW B-sides which I would have made the A-side!

In case you missed part one, the criteria for the list is:

• Written (and/or co-written) by SAW
• Standalone tracks not belonging to an original artist album
• A full song with lyrics

So, without further ado, here's my Top 5!

5) Closer – Kylie Minogue
[B-side to Finer Feelings]

As Kylie Minogue approached the end of her tenure with PWL Records, she clearly had a growing influence on her material. Certainly, the whole Let’s Get To It album demonstrated this, even if the singles chosen to promote the album did not necessarily reflect this change in style. This new direction was probably more keenly felt in the B-sides of those singles; Say The Word – I’ll Be There (previously covered in part one of this article), the house-techno pastiche I Guess I Like It Like That, the storming Do You Dare?, and this track, the B-side to adult ballad Finer Feelings. Kicking off with a hypnotic metallic synth and heavy breathing, Closer sets out its stall from the outset – a spooky and sensual deep house track that takes Kylie and Stock & Waterman into new territory. The robust house beat and the vocal locs show a more mature, less tricksy approach to Stock’s arrangement than previously demonstrated, with an amazing squelching synth workout in the middle. Minogue’s vocals appear to have a filter applied in places, which adds to the trippy sense to proceedings.  But Stock (with Waterman and Minogue on co-writing duties) also takes an alternative approach with the song’s construction; it only has two verses (as opposed to the usual three), with the chorus tacked on to the end of each – with quite a gap between both of those verses. There is also no bridge as such (a key part of many SAW tracks). The lyrics have a pleasingly elliptical style to them, hinting towards the pleasure of sexual union (which actually complements the lyrics of the A-side), and these are of course reinforced by the heavy breathing which punctuates the track. Overall, it’s a refreshingly adult track in term of theme and sound; whilst there would be a year and two further PWL single releases before Minogue released the post-PWL Confide In Me, Closer actually indicates the mature stylised direction Minogue would take with her initial DeConstruction material. As much as I love and admire Finer Feelings, Closer was actually an utterly contemporary track that would have set a new course for both Minogue and Stock & Waterman – and arguably, the producers would have benefited more from such a re-evaluation at that time.



4) Never Knew Love Like This Before – Nancy Davis
[B-side to Higher And Higher]

Pizza-waitress turned karaoke-contest-winner turned pop-star Nancy Davis was a real missed opportunity for Stock & Waterman and PWL; her strong soulful voice and striking looks made her a real candidate for a new star for the 90s, and her debut track If You Belonged To Me was a strong classy house/pop crossover. However, when this track missed the top 40, her follow-up (and sadly, final release) took safer ground with a cover of Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher; whilst a joyful take on that classic, it took Davis away from the credible house/soul path and towards pure pop. The B-side was more interesting; again, more pop than house, but Never Knew Love Like This Before at least went some way into creating a new style that could be Davis’ own. The arrangement is a strange brew of both the 80s and 90s S(A)W sound; the house piano and brass base the track in 1992, whilst the vocal locs and incidental chime sounds hark back to the producer’s golden period. The elasticity of Stock’s melody allows Davis’ voice to shine, with her tackling the almost conversational lyrics, which present Davis telling the world how happy her new relationship has made her. One striking element of this track is that Mike Stock is on solo backing vocals here, and you can hear his isolated vocals just after the instrumental break. As with Say The Word – I’ll Be There, Stock cites this as another favourite B side, classing it as a bit of an experiment. And I guess that’s a good description. It sounds like Stock trying to forge a new pop sound for the 90s; if anything, he was a bit early – whilst this sound would have played better later in the decade, it didn’t really fit with the chart fare of 1992. As such, I’m not sure Never Knew Love Like This Before would have been a hit at that time, but, as per the challenge I set myself with this article, I’d have chosen this as the A-side over Higher And Higher.

3) Made In Heaven – Kylie Minogue
[B-side to Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi]

You might say this is a slight cheat, as Made In Heaven was originally intended as a double A-side single with Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi. This French-styled classic track was the fourth single from the massive Kylie album, so there many have been concerns over its chart performance given that so many people already owned it on the album and that is why new track Made In Heaven was appended to the release. As it was, Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi was another smash hit, peaking at #2 in the UK Singles Chart – and as a result, the single was never “flipped” to make Made In Heaven the A-side. A great pity, cos this one’s a little gem that deserves to be better known. Heavy on plucked strings and luscious synth pads, this tale of a girl building up to a first kiss is brought alive by an irresistible melody. The verses and bridge are exquisite enough, but that chorus just knocks it out of the park. It just shows the confidence and the winning streak of SAW at that point that such a belter of a pop track could be consigned to the flipside of another bona fide hit. Most SAW fans will know this one, but well worth checking out if you don’t.



2) You Changed My Life – Mel & Kim
[B-side of That’s The Way It Is]

Back in 1988, there was a lot of anticipation regarding a second Mel & Kim album. Whilst there was talk of recording taking place with other producers (notably Prince alumni David Z), further recording with SAW was anticipated. Alas, Mel Appleby tragically lost her fight against cancer and the full potential of Mel & Kim was never realised. The only tantalising glimpses of that second album were the hit single, the bold, classy That’s The Way It Is, and its B-side, You Changed My Life. A co-write between SAW and the Appleby sisters, You Changed My Life is a full-on pop frenzy, yet still possessing the cool dance edge of previous material. The chorus is solid gold A-side material, whilst the verses are perhaps even better, with an intoxicating melody, moody synths and winning vocals. Lots of lovely incidental synth sounds make this a proposition that’s hard to turn down. It appears there are two mixes of this track; the sparse, funky version that was actually the B-side, and a warmer, poppier version that features on the 2010 Cherry Red Deluxe Edition of the FLM album.



And in pole position is…


1) She’s In Love With You – Jason Donovan
[B-side to Happy Together]

In many ways, this track was the last hurrah for Donovan’s work with the original SAW team; it featured on the B-side of the Stock & Waterman-produced Happy Together, which was Donovan’s final single release on PWL Records.  As good as the A-side was (a lovingly created take on The Turtles classic), few knew of the absolute belter that lay hidden on its B-side. You could almost class She’s In Love With You as the definitive Jason SAW track; it kicks off with a cracking electric guitar riff (a la Too Many Broken Hearts); it features soaring strings which evoke the emotion of Jason’s tale of thwarted love (“No matter what I planned / She never let me hold her hand”), and it has The Chorus To End All Choruses. Seriously, this chorus is WASTED on a B-side but then it’s so amazing that had the track been an A-side, it would have punched a hole through the universe. I can’t really find the words to describe how catchy the chorus is, but of particular note are the three last lines – “There’s nothing more to say / I’m gonna walk away / And live to love another day” – which are delivered in a breathless rhyming triplet and is yet further proof if any were needed) of Mike and Matt’s songwriting skills. It is a crime that this track was not an A-side; okay, I get that it was a nod back to Jason’s 1989 sound and may not have been deemed as truly contemporary in 1991, but this is a solid gold 24 carat pop smash that never got the chance to prove it.



+++++

Again, I stress this is my personal list and that, crucially, it is not necessarily a list of the best or my favourite B-sides -- this is a list of B-sides that I would have swapped with the A-side track for single release.

I'll be exploring the other SAW B-sides in a future article, as there are some fascinating tracks included in that canon.

Ten SAW B-Sides I'd Have Made The A-Side! [Part 1]

As a Stock Aitken Waterman fan in the 1980s and early 1990s, one would become resigned to the fact that the B-side of many single releases would be an instrumental version of the A-side. As my love of all things SAW has deepened over the years, I’m now delighted to have so many instrumental versions that allow me to listen closely and pick out the different elements which make up the song.

As a teenager desperate for original SAW material, I was a bit frustrated by this reliance upon the instrumentals – but I guess this made the appearance of a brand new original SAW track on the B-side a VERY EXCITING EVENT!

Sure, some tracks would impress more than others, but every so often you’d get a SAW B-side which was just as good as the A-side, and in some cases, even better than the A-side.

So here is my – admittedly personal – list of the 10 SAW B-sides which I would have made the A-side!

The criteria for the list is:

• Written (and/or co-written) by SAW
• Standalone tracks not belonging to an original artist album
• A full song with lyrics

The latter point means that tracks such as I Wanna Be Your Everything by Delage, Just Call Me Up by Jason Donovan, and Do You Dare? by Kylie Minogue are excluded. As are the instrumental pieces SAW created for the Pat & Mick B-sides (although a separate article on these will follow).

Likewise, instrumental and dub mixes of the A-side are also excluded.

Hopefully, you will find some of your favourites in this list, but I’m equally as certain that you may be aggrieved that I have missed some obvious choices out. Yes, I’ve left out certain Kylie and Jason tracks which I love, but I don’t want this to be a list full of their tracks.

So here goes, in reverse order!

10) I Wanna Shout About It – Delage
[B-side to Running Back For More]

This infectious slab of dance pop from early 1990s SAW girl band Delage appears to have had an interesting genesis. As lovely as the A-side Running Back For More is, this meaty, utterly contemporary banger is probably the more commercial cut of the two tracks, and it is a mystery why this was consigned to B-side status. That said, the recent re-issue of Running Back For More carries additional mixes of I Wanna Shout About It, including 7” and 12” mixes, which suggests that it was considered as an A-side. So we have two key versions: a full vocal single version, and the version that made the B-side of Running Back For More, which omits the verses. The full vocal version is just glorious, with a strong lead vocal and some great backing harmonies, but the official B-side version heads more in the direction of the limited vocal style of contemporaneous dance tracks. A big dirty synth riff and some frantic house piano kicks off proceedings, whilst the solid beat and shifting synth pads give this track a real edge which takes it away from the standard SAW sound of the time towards the tough dance sounds dominating the charts at the time.  A great marriage of pop sensibilities and house influences, this was a real missed opportunity for both the band and producers. One of the emerging themes from this top 10 list of B-sides is how S(A)W were able to demonstrate they were still more than capable of remaining current and up-to-date in the early 1990s, but maybe there was a lack of confidence somewhere in terms of being more adventurous in choices of single material.





9) Say The Word – I’ll Be There - Kylie Minogue
[B-Side to Word Is Out]

Whilst Word Is Out still appears to be a polarising song for S(A)W and Kylie fans, its B-side Say The Word – I’ll Be There garners a much warmer reception. Composed by Stock, Waterman and Minogue, this smooth, mature mid-tempo ballad is worlds away from the beat-led and brass-boasting affair on the A-side. Underpinned by rich, rolling piano and made all the sweeter by the glorious backing vocals, Say The Word sees Kylie in pining mode as she makes her case to the object of her affections. It’s a further development of the Kylie sound; however, where the listener can hear the S(A)W DNA deep within Word Is Out, one could be forgiven for thinking that Say The Word had been produced by a different production team. It’s lush, with a real organic feel to its arrangement and production, with little in the way of electronic sounding synths and percussion to betray the trademark sound of its producers. Certainly Mike Stock, in his recent interview with Nick Moon, cited this track as one of his favourite B-sides. Whilst it perhaps wouldn’t have been the best choice for the first single of Kylie’s fourth album campaign, it would have made for a good third or fourth single and perhaps indicated a new direction for S&W and Kylie had they continued to work together. I would add though that it is almost a crime that the track didn’t make the Let’s Get To It album.





8) Story of My Life - Jason Donovan
[B-side of Rhythm of the Rain]

B-sides often allowed SAW to try something a little different, and during their imperial pure pop phase of 1988-1990, such experimentation was very welcome. So it was that the B-side of Jason’s Rhythm of the Rain gave us Baggy Jason (baggy, of course, being the early 1990s term to describe what would later be called indie). Story of My Life is a standard Jason tale of bad luck in love (“And by the way, if you’re looking for sunshine, I ain’t the luckiest one / If you come with me, there’d be cloud in the desert / or a total eclipse of the sun”), but the arrangement and production presents a real change to the SAW sonic palette of the time. Kicking off with wailing guitars, Jason’s tale of woe is backed by a solid electric guitar riff, honky-tonk piano and a thumping beat, whilst the inclusion of brass and organ enlivens proceedings further. As Tom Parker points out in his excellent sleeve notes for the Between the Lines Deluxe reissue, this track finally gives Jason the Happy Mondays-style track he’d coveted for some time, and surely he must have been pleased with the outcome. That’s why I think it’s a crying shame this languished on a B-side; it’s a million times more adventurous than the pleasant cover version that made the A-side. This track would have really benefited Donovan’s profile – it’s poppy enough to keep the SAW and Jason fanbase, but also different enough to pull in a wider audience – and would have been a good direction for both parties to head for.





7) Another Lover – Bananarama
[B-side of Last Thing On My Mind]

Please Yourself, Bananarama’s 1993 album with Stock & Waterman, received mixed reactions upon its original release, and actually remains a polarising collection amongst S(A)W and Bananarama fans to this day. I can’t help but wonder if that reception would have been improved at all by the inclusion of this track, which was on the flipside of Last Thing On My Mind but omitted from the album. It’s a decision which beggars belief, as this is a superior slab of 70’s disco-styled pop. The use of real strings (no doubt recorded in the same sessions as those for Give It All Up For Love and Is She Good To You?) creates an authenticity of the sound, whilst the addition of brass, funky rhythm guitar and rattling drums just adds to the joyous feel – even if lyrically it’s a tale of Keren and Sara telling a straying lover to pack their bags and go. Happily, the track eventually made it to the album on subsequent reissues, thus righting the original wrong, but for my money, this should have been an A-side back in 1992/1993.




6) Better Than Ever - Sonia
[B-side to Listen To Your Heart]

This sparky uptempo track had a former life, planned as it was to be a fourth Stock Aitken Waterman-branded single in 1989, featuring sometime PWL singer Lisa Fabien as guest vocalist. That version was never released at that time (although was finally issued as part of the PWL iTunes releases many years later), but you can’t keep a good SAW tune down, so it was eventually recorded by Sonia – but insanely was consigned to B-side status. It only takes one listen to know this is a hit record not given the chance to be one. Driven by a solid beat and a mean bass, the track is a perfect concoction of synth fx, brass riffs and guitar licks, providing a thrilling backdrop to Sonia’s tale of her sickeningly perfect relationship. As much as I love the A-side – a moody, house-influenced affair and much underrated – I do think Better Than Ever was a missed opportunity for another hit for Sonia.


Next time: we count down from 5 to 1…