Review: ‘A Life In Song – Pete Waterman’
By Nick Bond
Pete Waterman took to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall last night for a genial – if slightly sedate – look back at his incredible career with hit making partners Mike Stock and Matt Aitken.
It was a relaxed evening, as Waterman and host Michael Grade sat at the side of the stage in typical Parky talk show format, careful not to dwell too long on Waterman’s humble beginnings (“We don’t want people to think they’ve wandered into This Is Your Life,” Grade quipped) before getting into the juicy stuff: the stories and gossip behind that river of hits SAW produced over an incredible decade-long period.
The anecdotes – some of which were well-worn, others less so (did you know I Should Be So Lucky was written because Kylie considered herself lucky to be dating heart throb Jason Donovan?) were punctuated with performances of some of Waterman’s best songs.
No, there was no surprise Kylie cameo, and it was a little disappointing that many of the stars associated with PWL’s golden era were absent – not a Sonia, Sybil or Sinitta in sight.
But Steps front woman Claire Richards (apols, LSL) was on hand to bust out a few of the hits, sounding – and looking – absolutely stunning as she tackled Kylie’s Step Back In Time, Sonia’s You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You and what was the highlight of the night, Steps’ own One For Sorrow. Give her stunning new version a listen below:
As Waterman himself were keen to point out, Steps were his biggest selling act – they sold more records than Kylie – and yet, “you don’t hear their songs on the radio anymore.”
Elsewhere, there were welcome nods to SAW’s knack for infusing R&B and reggae rhythms into their hits – while many think of them as hi-NRG cheese purveyors, hits like Say I’m Your Number One, Roadblock and Hurts So Good provided welcome evidence to the contrary.
And the biggest surprise of the night: Waterman’s own daughter, who delivered a soulful, Adele-esque take on Banarama’s classic Love in the First Degree. So hit making legend Waterman’s got a daughter with a great set of pipes – do we need to join the dots for you? Pop force in the making, people!
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