Neon Nights

Yes, the eagle eyed among you know these famous lyrics from Kylie Minogue back in 1990. This week we celebrate the genius that is Stock / Aitken / Waterman.

The trio had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s. S/A/W is considered to be one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top 40 hits, selling 40 million records and earning an estimated £60 million (about $104 million). S/A/W started producing underground club hits, but earned worldwide success with a mix of Hi-NRG-influenced sound, romantic Motown lyrics and Italian disco melodies. During 1984–1989, their musical style was labelled Eurobeat or Hi-NRG. They were pretty much the Motown of Electronic Pop. For a few years everything they touched turned to gold. They were absolutely cutting edge in terms of sound and technology. Quite a few of my musical peers still hold them in high regard, and rightly so. What they did, they did extremely well.

This week I’ve chosen some totally obvious S/A/W tracks plus a few obscure tracks and one or two personal favourites. “Love, Truth & Honesty” is one of my all time favourite Bananarama songs, with “Cheers Then” coming in a close second, and then everything else they’ve done is pretty much amazing. Sinitta dazzles us with “I Don’t Believe In Miracles” which is a pristine, surreal, emotional and simply fabulous pop song which IMHO is her best ever (and Sinitta rates it as her worst ever, so there’s no accounting for taste!!). We also include Donna Summer with the unstoppable “This Time I Know It’s For Real“, which despite her homophobic statements in the past, is still a totally genius song. And then there’s the blisteringly amazing track which started the whole ball rolling…by the legendary Glenn Millstead aka Divine with “You Think You’re A Man“. I could go on about the rest of the tracks, but you can read the playlist below and then listen to the podcast and enjoy the whole thing over again. And again. And again….

Electronically yours,
John.