Blue plaque for 1980s producers Waterman, Aitken and Stock
2025-01-23
Category: entertainment

Pop producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman have been honoured with a heritage blue plaque in Southwark.The three were behind some of the biggest names in 1980s and 90s pop, churning out 13 number ones at Vine Yard Studios - also known as The Hit Factory.They helped launch the careers of stars including Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Bananarama.The Southwark plaque scheme takes nominations from the public which are put to a  vote.
'Pop music history'
The plaque said they "achieved worldwide success and acclaim working from this building" between 1984 and 1993.Their biggest hits included Kylie's I Should Be So Lucky, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, Bananarama's Venus and Dead Or Alive's You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)."There are so many memories here… but the most important thing was this building was special, and it's different now – this area is quite trendy," Waterman said during his speech."But it was home to us, and the local community was fantastic," he added.Aitken said: "There's a lot of history in Southwark and I wouldn't have said it myself, but it was a small piece of history for the area, and certainly a piece of history for pop music anyway."He added it was hard work but they had "some big strokes of luck on the way, and a little bit of talent".
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