Greatest party popper ever staged at Devon castle!

...On Saturday, more than 8,500 people turned up to the 80s concert to see Bananarama, The Real Thing, Paul Young, Belinda Carlisle, Heaven 17, T'Pau, Midge Ure, Rick Astley, Nick Heyward and Toyah....

Saving trains will stop teenagers going off the rails, says former locomotive man Pete Waterman

In 2004 I presented a television series called Trains, about the history and development of the railways. I still get letters from mothers about it, telling me their children watch it again and again.

Yet the children who loved my documentary, or who adored Thomas when they were five or six, have no interest in the industry by the time they leave school. And that means we have a problem.

The average age of the engineers working for my train maintenance company, London and North Western Railway, is 56. We need to recruit another 70 engineers but we just can't find them.

The situation is only going to get worse as our current crop of railway engineers - the average age at Network Rail is 54 - approaches retirement because we are faced with a number of what MPs like to call 'challenges'....

Today's music business is selfish and greedy

One thing I find frightening about the modern music business is how it's all about money now. These kids, ooh, they have got it sussed. There's no room to see if anything happens by chance.

One of my favourite songs of recent years was Bad Day by Daniel Powter. Brilliant song. And then I turn the telly on, it's on a fucking deodorant ad! What are you doing?! And people go, "well, he got paid £200,000". Hang on a minute - you write a song and all you care about is the money?

This may surprise people, but I'm totally against that. You've never heard a Stock Aitken and Waterman song on an advert. I've been offered millions of pounds for our songs to be on adverts, but absolutely not....

Donna Summer: It's good to be the queen

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Donna Summer's reign as the "Queen of Disco" may have begun in the 1970s -- more than 30 years ago -- but that doesn't mean she's slowed down in the 21st century.

With a new album, "Crayons," just out, and a tour coming up, Summer has re-entered the limelight as if she'd never left.

The woman known for "Love to Love You Baby," "Bad Girls" and "She Works Hard for the Money" appeared on the finale of "American Idol" and performed some of her greatest hits with the show's leading female singers. She also did a short duet with third-place Syesha Mercado.

The "Queen of Disco," now 59, sat down with CNN to talk about her upcoming tour, her performance on "Idol" and her status as a "gwammy." The following is an edited version of the interview.

CNN: Let's start with "American Idol." ... How did all that come about?

Donna Summer: Well, you know, I did the show about two or three years ago, the year Fantasia won. And they've been asking me to come back. And so this year it worked out that my album was coming out and ... they wanted to, uh, have a lot of surprises in the last show and so [the producers called and asked], "Do you wanna do the show?" And I'm like HELLO! Of course! (laughs) [It has] like the most high viewership in the world! So I said I'd do it.

CNN: How much fun was that, to see ... [the contestants] singing your famous tunes? ...

'Tragedy! I rarely cook in my posh kitchen!'

Claire, 30, who has a one-year-old son Charlie, bought her three-bedroom ’30s cottage in Middlesex in 2001 with her then partner and spent a year having it renovated.

She now shares it with her fiancé, electrician Reece Hill, 40.

They’re currently adding two more bedrooms and another bathroom.

She says: “When I bought this place I wanted a big kitchen and dining area, so the builder knocked down walls and I helped us get a good deal at Magnet on the beech units.

"I think we spent about £6,000 on the kitchen, which is quite good value...

Pop princess collects royal honour

Kylie Minogue has already been crowned the princess of pop, now she has been honoured for a "lifetime of music making" with a prestigious OBE from Prince Charles...

...Her OBE comes after she collected France's highest cultural honour, the Order of Arts and Letters, in May this year and a Centenary Medal from Australia's governor general for "outstanding contribution to the music industry" in 2003.

Also sitting on her trophy shelf are a handful of Brit Awards, a Grammy, and several ARIAs and Logies.

Dubbed the "singing budgie" early in her career, Minogue shot to the top of the Australian music charts in 1987 with her single Locomotion.

Soon after she moved to London, where she quickly found fame and fortune by teaming up with hit producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman...

Rick Astley - A new Greatest Hits (Album)

THE pop icon from Newton-le-Willows is back with a series of his greatest hits for fans wanting a taste of the 1980’s... His Greatest Hits CD is unlikely to break records, but is sure to be a must for all Stock, Aitken and Waterman fans.

Dancing Queen" Live @ (Sydney Olympics 2000)

Kylie's most watched performance, as she wows the world! "Dancing Queen" Live @ (Sydney Olympics 2000). I loved these performances.



Kylie at Sydney Olympics - On A Night Like This

Bananarama - Tripping On Your Love

This isn't a Stock, Aitken, Waterman production. I like it but I think it's not a wonderful song.

Bananarama - Australian Interview

This interview is from The Midday Show here in Australia circa 1990's. The girls were promoting the album ULTRAVIOLET..Gr8 interview..

Meet the man behind Kylie and One True Voice

Surfing the Web I found this old Pete Waterman's interview.

You can read it here. He also talks about Robbie Williams...

H and Claire's on MySpace

I found H and Claire's MySpace page. It's here, and it's very good! You have to see it!

Rick Astley "Cry For Help"

Save your snickers: there's no "Rickroll" in this video. Three years after "Never Gonna Give You Up" made him a star, Rick Astley grew out his hair, ditched the Stock Aitken Waterman beats, and hired a gospel choir for the 1991 ballad, "Cry For Help." ...

Waterman to be guest speaker at Liverpool Daily Post Business Awards

MUSIC impresario Pete Waterman will be speaking at the Liverpool Daily Post Regional Business Awards next month.

It was Mr Waterman’s company that brought together the iconic 80s pop production team Stock Aitken Waterman, which was responsible for the success of Kylie Minogue, Bananarama, Newton-le-Willows’ Rick Astley and many others.

He claims sales of £500m worldwide, and his acts have had 22 UK number one singles. He was also a judge on two series of television talent contest Pop Idol.

Kylie Minogue at the Belfast Odysey Arena - the Sunday Times review

The word on the web — from bloggers who have been comparing notes since the KylieX2008 tour kicked off in Paris in May — was that this show was, by her extravagant standards, a muted affair. The costumes, the choreography, even her singing, were all felt to be a little below par. Maybe the citizens of Belfast, the first stop on Kylie’s UK tour, don’t set much store by online gossip; or perhaps not having seen the recent Showgirl and Fever tours, or indeed witnessed any live headline performance by Kylie Minogue in their city since 1990, they were simply delighted to welcome her back. Either way, the 12,000 mainly female fans packed into the Odyssey Arena last Sunday were having such a raucously good time that, towards the end of her 2½-hour show, Minogue had to ask them to “calm down” to make way for a rare rendition of one of her older, more reflective numbers, Step Back in Time...

Kylie OBE breaks protocol by shaking hands with Prince Charles

FOR most, it's a polite handshake, a curtsey and a 'how do you do?' lasting a few seconds.

When you're Kylie Minogue, things are different. As she collected her OBE from Prince Charles yesterday in the imposing surroundings of the ballroom at Buckingham Palace, the normal rules were forgotten...

Read also here and here.




Kylie OBE Investiture





Kylie OBE Investiture Interview



The Queen honours Kylie

KylieX2008 Tour

Just days after receiving her OBE from Prince Charles for services to music, Kylie Minogue played the first of four arena dates in Glasgow on her KylieX2008 tour, to be followed by six in Manchester, four in Newcastle and seven at the O2 in London. The majority of rock groups would view such a schedule with awe, but Minogue doesn't only take such an enormous level of fame and support in her stride, she manages to make satisfying it look easy...

Primal Scream: 'Kylie Minogue Was Offered Drugs At Our Show'

Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie has revealed that Kylie Minogue was offered drugs at one of their shows in the nineties but turned them down... [continue]

Morrissey mocks Minogue and Bush Ireland Online - Dublin,Ireland

British rocker Morrissey used his headlining slot at a UK music festival to mock pop superstar Kylie Minogue's OBE award.... [continue]

Read also here.

Steps - It's The Way You Make Me Feel (Sleaze Sisters Edit)

It's not perfect the Sync, but I like it. It's one of the Step's song I prefer. I hope you like it too!



Steps "It's The Way You Make Me Feel" Live

Donna Summer- ET Performance 'Stamp Your Feet' (2008)

This isn't a Stock, Aitken, Waterman production but I love it!

Same Difference, here they are!

They have been writing in the studio with some of the best pop writers (the people behind a lot of the Steps songs and the people who wrote Hero for Enrique Iglesias!).

They just hope that to bring back the pop music that we feel the UK has been missing!

They wrote on their site: "We went to record one of the tracks with Mike Stock and Pete Waterman and it was legendary. We went to the recording studio with Mike (who is one of the masterminds behind Kylie Minogue and loads of other 80's music!) to record one of the songs (we cant tell you the name of the track, you will just have to buy the album to find out! hint hint). We went to his house which was in the middle of the countryside and it was such an amazing day. We learnt so much from being with Mike as he is such an inspiration and we have both decided that we would like a house like his one day!!!"



X Factor 4 - Same Difference - Never had a dream come true



Same Difference Nothing Gonna Stop Us Now



Same Difference Wake Me Up Before You GoGo



Same Difference Any Dream Will Do



X Factor 4, The Final, Same Difference