Pop hit-makers Stock, Aitken and Waterman get blue plaque
From the sampled vocals of Mel & Kim to the instantly memorable lyrics of Rick Astley’s biggest hits, Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s songs ruled the UK charts in the late 1980s.
With a blue plaque being installed on the side of the Bermondsey building that housed their “hit factory”, the trio spoke to Sky News about spotting Kylie’s “spark” and claiming they “invented” AI.
At their peak in 1989, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman songs made up a whopping 27% of the UK singles market.
It remains one of the most successful partnerships in the history of pop.
Waterman admits feeling “knocked out” by the 40 or so crowd that came to watch them receive the honour – including 1980s artists Brother Beyond, former staff who worked on their records, and fans.
“These are some of the kids that every day used to be here after school wanting autographs. Of course, they’re all grown up now!” laughs Waterman.
The partnership produced countless hits for some of the biggest stars at the time.
“We had a method of working, we tried to taper the songs to how we thought the public would perceive the artist and we were quite successful in that regard,” says Matt Aitken.
Waterman adds: “If it didn’t work, we didn’t bother.”
The trio wrote Kylie’s first hit, I Should Be So Lucky, in 20 minutes
They also penned Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up
In 1988, their success went into overdrive thanks to a collaboration with a young Australian soap actress called Kylie Minogue who they hadn’t even heard of at the time.
“When she arrived at the studio we were unaware that she was even turning up,” Mike Stock explains. “So we had to come up with a song pretty quick.”
They wrote her 1987 debut hit I Should Be So Lucky in just 20 minutes.
“She was a great deliverer of a song,” Aitken says.
“When she was sat in a corner you wouldn’t know she was there but the minute a camera went on… she sparked,” adds Pete Waterman.
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Back in the day most of their hits were recorded on a simple 24-track tape machine but now, with advances in AI software, songs can be produced in an instant.
So how do the trio feel about artificial intelligence being the new “hit factory”?
“AI? We invented it!” jokes Waterman.
“You’ve got to incorporate influences from the past but… the difference between AI and what we did [is] we had emotion,” he says.
“We fought over songs if a lyric didn’t work. It doesn’t work without emotion.”
The mother of Cassie Ventura has told a court she felt “physically sick” when her daughter told her Sean “Diddy” Combs had threatened to “release two explicit sex tapes” after discovering his long-time girlfriend was dating someone else.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the seventh day of the trial, Regina Ventura said she did not initially understand the email Cassie sent her in December 2011, saying, “The sex tape threw me, [Diddy] was trying to hurt my daughter.”
The email said Combs was planning to release two explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt her and the man she was seeing, rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
Regina said the family took out a home equity loan and paid Diddy $20,000 to recoup money he had spent on Cassie “because he demanded it,” angry that Cassie was now dating Cudi.
She said the money was returned days later.
During her evidence, jurors were shown photographs of bruises on Cassie’s body Ms Ventura said were taken when her daughter returned home for Christmas in 2011.
Regina’s time on the stand was fairly brief, as the defence declined the opportunity to question her.
Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, who dated Cassie in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 7 – As it happened
Prosecutors say Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, forced women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs” from 2004 to 2024, facilitated by his large retinue of staff. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty.
The rapper faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs and Cassie pictured in 2015. Pic: Reuters
Last week, the prosecutors’ star witness, Cassie Ventura, who dated Combs for over a decade, spent four days giving evidence.
Combs’s legal team has sought to show jurors that his relationship with Ventura was complicated, and while they acknowledge he was an abusive partner, and had substance issues, they say the sex acts described by the prosecution were consensual.
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‘Diddy wanted our bodies to shine’
A male exotic dancer nicknamed “The Punisher” also gave testimony, telling jurors that in the autumn of 2012, Cassie contacted him asking him to “create a sexy, erotic scene” Diddy, and using the pseudonym “Janet”.
Male exotic dancer Sharay Hayes, aka The Punisher. Pic: Reuters
Sharay Hayes said he went on to have eight to 12 more encounters with the couple, having sex with Cassie, while Diddy watched from a distance.
He described the hotel rooms as routinely being dressed with electric candles and sheet-covered furniture, and says Cassie told him not to “acknowledge” her husband, and to “try not to look at him and no communication”.
He says Diddy would often wear a cap, and he could not see his face, but he later realised it was the famous rapper.
“The Punisher” mentioned using a “considerable amount of baby oil” during the performances, saying “[Diddy] wanted us to keep our bodies covered, to shine”.
He later described the acts as “a fetish type thing,” and while he said he believed Cassie was fully consensual, he also said he “did occasionally see her sigh or wince” and said she would frequently look at Diddy “for cues”.
Paid between $1,200 (£900) and $2,000 (£1.500) for each performance, he said he was not called back after struggling to get an erection during one encounter.
He said he never saw Diddy use drugs or saw filming during any of the performances.
Car park dispute with Suge Knight
David James, Diddy’s ex-personal assistant, also completed his evidence and testified that he never saw physical violence between Cassie and his former boss.
David James, Combs’s former assistant. Pic: Reuters
James, who worked for Diddy for two years, said he left Diddy’s employment after he realised his “life was in danger” following a dispute in a car park with rival record label owner Suge Knight, which culminated in Diddy bringing three handguns to try to find Knight and his entourage.
He also detailed an altercation between Diddy and his personal chef, Jourdan Atkinson, and said he refused to file a police report after Diddy told him to say “Chef Jourdan hit him first”.
The final person to give evidence was a special agent responsible for planning the March 2024 raids on Combs’s Miami home on Star Island.
Steve Gannon showed photos of items taken during the raid, including sex toys, high heels and loaded guns, and explained how an armoured vehicle was used to break down the mansion’s front gate to gain entry while the family was away on a trip.
Combs has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.
The trial is set to last for around two months.
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