1989
1989 was the year that the charts went Stock Aitken Waterman-crazy, as Mike, Matt and Pete hit their most successful year!
Kicking off with Kylie and Jason finally reaching #1 with ESPECIALLY FOR YOU SAW were responsible for 24 singles this year, and only two ("When Love Takes Over You" by Donna Summer and "Tell Him I Called by Sequal) failed to reach the Top 40. An incredible 6 of those releases reached Number One - four of them consecutively: Kylie's HAND ON YOUR HEART, Hillsborough's FERRY 'CROSS THE MERSEY, Jason Donovan's SEALED WITH A KISS and Sonia's YOU'LL NEVER STOP ME LOVING YOU.
SAW had 4 nominations at The Ivor Novello Awards, winning MOST PERFORMED WORK with Kylie's I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY and for the second year running winning SONGWRITERS OF THE YEAR!
Samantha Fox bagged herself another top 20 single with her cover of I ONLY WANNA BE WITH YOU and Bananarama embarked on a huge world tour and released their final Stock Aitken Waterman record, a cover of The Beatles classic HELP! raising money for Comic Relief.
An unknown sister duo from Liverpool released their one and only SAW single in February. I'D RATHER JACK was a tongue-in-cheek dig at radio stations playing a lot of oldies and reached #8.
February saw the release of Donna Summer's, THIS TIME I KNOW IT'S FOR REAL- the first track from her SAW penned/produced album "ANOTHER PLACE AND TIME" and it gave her a worldwide hit! The song became Summer's biggest hit in the UK since her 70s Disco heyday - peaking at #3 and spending 14 weeks on the chart. The album went Top 20 and she had a further 3 releases from it, I DON'T WANNA GET HURT #7, LOVE'S ABOUT TO CHANGE MY HEART #20 and WHEN LOVE TAKES OVER YOU #72.
In March ‘89 Jason Donovan finally followed up his debut single with TOO MANY BROKEN HEARTS which reached Number One and spent nearly 3 months in the Top 40. The single was taken from his debut album, "TEN GOOD REASONS" which became the biggest selling album in the UK this year. A further 2 singles were taken from the album, SEALED WITH A KISS #1 and EVERY DAY (I LOVE YOU MORE) #2. He ended the year with a brand new song, WHEN YOU COME BACK TO ME which was tipped to be the Christmas number one but had to make do with #2 - because of another SAW release!
A bubbly, red-haired Liverpudlian burst onto the scene this year in the shape of Sonia, her debut single YOU'LL NEVER STOP ME LOVING YOU shot straight to Number One and following up with 2 further top 20's, CAN'T FORGET YOU #17 and LISTEN TO YOUR HEART #10.
Kylie returned in fine style with her first single of the year, HAND ON YOUR HEART hitting Number One. This was the first track from her new album "ENJOY YOURSELF" which was released in October and flew straight to Number One on its first week. Two further singles were taken from the album this year, WOULDN'T CHANGE A THING #2 and NEVER TOO LATE #4. Although released in late October "ENJOY YOURSELF" still managed to become the 6th best selling album of the year.
Boyband newcomers Big Fun scored hits this year with BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE #4 and CAN'T SHAKE THE FEELING #8 Even Cliff Richard benefited from the SAW touch, with I JUST DON'T HAVE THE HEART smashing into the Top Three.
SAW did their bit for charity this year. As well as Bananarama's "HELP" (for Comic Relief) there was also Pat & Mick's cover of Gloria Jones' I HAVEN'T STOPPED DANCING YET (for Help A London Child) and a revival of FERRY 'CROSS THE MERSEY, to raise money for the families affected by the Hillsborough football tragedy, where 96 Liverpool football club supporters were killed. The year ended with the biggest, their Band Aid II revival of DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? which of course became the Christmas Number One.
After such a phenomenal year, Mike, Matt and Pete ended the decade as the most successful production team in UK chart history, having an influence on the UK music scene not seen or heard since The Beatles and George Martin.