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It was received as a typical Stock, Aitken and Waterman product, very, very, very similar to Jason Donovan, Mel&Kim, Kylie Minogue and the likes. It was like a train of one hit wonders: one smash hit, a few less popular songs and then forgotten. By the end of the eighties, most people had enough of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman formula. And then for some reason, Rickrolling happened.

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While I was a teenager in the latter half of the eighties, Stock, Aitken and Waterman totally dominated mainstream music on radio in Ireland (and presumably Britain). In the summer of ‘87, I spent a week painting an uncle’s house with only a battery-powered “transistor radio” for company. During this time, “Never Gonna Give You Up” was played about once every 90 minutes or so – and I grew to really hate it.

I blame Stock, Aitken and Waterman for putting me off pop music and turning me into something of a music snob which lasted until well into my twenties. Having said that, I had a soft spot for Mel and Kim’s “Respectable” as a guilty pleasure and I thought “Roadblock” was a genuinely good tune (though I preferred “Pump up the volume” by MARRS).

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