Song 154 - Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley

I feel as though  I am going through the tapes I had as a kid as today's Stock,  Aitken & Waterman's (SAW) is the unforgettable Rick Astley with  Never gonna give you up. First noticed by Pete Waterman in 1985, when he took over as lead vocalist of his band FBI, he would eventually signed to the PWL record label along with the rest of his band.

Never gonna give you up was released from Astley's debut album, Whenever you need somebody, in August 1987 and was number one in the UK for five weeks making it the best selling single of 1987. The success in the UK was followed up throughout the world, as it reach the top of the charts in 25 different countries, including the United States and West Germany. Its success led to Astley winning a Brit Award for Best British Single. 

Due to the phenomenal success of his debut single, it is easy to forget about the other singles that came off his debut album, which was released in November 1987. In total Whenever you need somebody contained 5 hit singles that reached a top ten position in the country's chart they were released in. His fourth single Together Forever  helped gained him a Grammy nomination in 1989 for Best New Act, which he lost out to Tracy Chapman. 

You are probably asking yourself why is she telling me all this? My answer is I think acts belonging to SAW are given a certain label and almost sneered at by some music elite, where, although I probably do have my own musical scale worked out to my own taste, it is really important to recognise every genre and the role it has in the overall makeup of the music scene. In the first six months of his career, Astley never left the UK chart, which is no mean feet. 

I was a big Rick Astley fan and I do remember reading listening to interviews with Astley at the time of his second album when he felt he was struggling to emerge from the image of being a SAW creation even though he was writing his own material after the success of his first album. His portrayal in the British Press probably helped his decision to leave the SAW machine in 1990.  The media didn't want Astley to move away from his boy next door image, but Astley did, and in 1993, he  took a decade out to look after his family. In 2002, Astley returned with a new album and has continued to record and release material since then.

Astley will never escape the success of Never Gonna give you up and I hope that no matter how far his journey in music takes him, he will always be proud of his musical roots as for many people who grew up during the late 1980s, his biggest song will always have a place in our musical memories.

Hear an absolute classic:

Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley

Written by Stock, Aitken and Waterman

Released: August 1997

Album: Whenever you need someone