STACK #194 Dec 2020

MUSIC FEATURE

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“We didn’t know we had a hit on our hands,” he continued, “and so when it went to #1 for five weeks, someone said: ‘What’s the follow-up?’ We didn’t have one. So I went out to Australia at the start of 1988 and met [Kylie] in a bar with Jason and her manager. I basically crawled 100 yards on my knees and apologised profusely. She took it well, and we did some more recording. She would be working on Neighbours from 5am, then come to record with me at 6pm. Tiring for her. But at least this time I had the songs ready, the lyrics typed up, and everything in order.” Stock Aitken Waterman composed and produced all of the songs on Kylie’s self-titled debut album except for The Loco-Motion , and Kylie has since said she felt like a bit of a puppet during her SAW period: “When I look back at when I started, [it] was very controlled – but it worked at the time. If they had said to me, ‘Look, you tell us what you want for your next album,’ it wouldn’t have worked. In retrospect they... didn’t do much for my

tape into a song competition, one of the judges was Molly Meldrum

continued

(who played himself). As it turned out, the judges were super-impressed by Charlene ’ s voice. After Charlene stole the boys’ thunder, she was invited into the studio to lay down some tracks before being offered a job. “Three months touring as a backing singer with someone I’ve never heard of, living out of a suitcase and on the road every day – they made it sound awful!” Charlene baulked, choosing to decline their offer and instead focus on completing her HSC. (As a side-note, watching Kylie on Neighbours really highlights how ‘international’ her accent has become over the years.) During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert with her

Kylie as mechanic Charlene Mitchell on the Neighbours set, 1987

confidence at the time, but it worked! I can’t deny that, and they were very clever.” True dat; the record was no wallflower, spending more than a year on the British album charts... BC

fellow Neighbours stars, held at Festival Hall in 1987, Kylie performed a duet with John Waters (Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe ) and then busted out an impromptu version of The Loco-Motion as an encore. The next day, Kylie signed a record deal with Mushroom Records. The Loco-Motion was released as her debut single, topped the ARIA Singles Chart for seven weeks, and went on to become the highest-selling single of the ‘80s. The music video was shot at Essendon Airport and Melbourne’s ABC Studios, and features a cameo by Kylie’s cameraman brother Brendan towards the end of the clip.

Following The Loco-Motion ’s success, Kylie was flown to London to work with Stock Aitken Waterman. The story goes that when Kylie and her then-manager Terry Blamey rocked up for their scheduled session, SAW had completely forgotten about it, and quickly came up with I Should Be So Lucky in 40 minutes while Kylie waited outside the studio. The song was then recorded in an hour, and Mike Stock later told Tim Jonze during an interview that Kylie “left not having had a happy experience.”

Cotinue reading about how Olivia Newton John, Madonna, and the late Michael Hutchence inspired Kylie across this period of her life and beyond; the full feature article is online at stack.com.au!

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