The Hit Factory Trivia Quiz

Answer: Love in the First Degree

Although Bananarama had been a feature in the UK chart since 1982, it was while working on their third album that the trio sought to collaborate with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, having heard Dead or Alive's Number One single "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)".

The collaboration saw the group's cover version of "Venus" become a worldwide hit, and led to a more extensive collaboration on the album "WOW!", which was released in 1987. "Love in the First Degree" was the third single from the album to be released, reaching Number Three in the UK chart and being nominated as British Single of the Year at the BRIT Awards.

It was also the final single Bananarama released with their original line-up, as Siobhan Fahey left the group in early 1988.

Answer: The Harder I Try

Brother Beyond originally formed in 1985, and had some some minor chart success with their first four single releases, all of which came from the album "Get Down". However, in 1988, Stock, Aitken and Waterman auctioned their services for charity, with Brother Beyond's label EMI winning the auction.

As a result, Stock, Aitken and Waterman produced a number of new songs for the group, two of which were incorporated into a re-release of "Get Down". The first of these was "The Harder I Try", released in July 1988.

The song, which incorporated a sample from "This Old Heart of Mine" by the Isley Brothers, became Brother Beyond's biggest hit, eventually peaking at Number Two in the UK chart.

Answer: You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)

Dead or Alive had been established for a number of years, and had released some singles to moderate success during the first half of the 1980s, with the group's first album, "Sophisticated Boom Boom", released in 1984. The following year, Dead or Alive began working with the fledgling production trio of Stock, Aitken and Waterman on their second album, which was released as "Youthquake".

The first single from the album, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", went through a fraught production, as the record company did not like it, while tensions between the band and producers during the mixing of the track were high.

Despite this, the track was released in November 1984 and eventually reached Number One in the UK chart in March 1985, the first by Stock, Aitken and Waterman to do so.

Answer: This Time I Know It's for Real

Donna Summer was known as the "Queen of Disco" as a result of her collaborations with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder during the 1970s, and had had a long and successful career when, in 1988, her record company, Geffen Records, hired Stock, Aitken and Waterman to produce the singer's new album.

However, Geffen elected not to release the result, "Another Place and Time" once it was complete. The album was released in Europe by Warner Brothers Records, with the first single, "This Time I Know It's For Real", becoming a major chart hit across the continent, including reaching Number Three in the UK chart.

The single's success saw Summer signed to Atlantic Records in the US, with the album receiving an American release, and the single reaching the US Top Ten.

Answer: Too Many Broken Hearts

Jason Donovan started out as an actor in Australia, most notably playing Scott Robinson in the soap opera "Neighbours". While still in the television show, he signed a recording deal with Pete Waterman in the UK, which saw him release his first single, produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, in August 1988, reaching Number Five.

He subsequently reached Number One as a solo artist with "Too Many Broken Hearts", which was released in February 1989, and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks. Later the same year, the album "Ten Good Reasons" was released alongside a cover of the Brian Hyland song "Sealed with a Kiss", which led to the singer occupying the Number One spot in both the album and singles charts simultaneously.

Answer: I Should Be So Lucky

Kylie Minogue initially found fame appearing in various television shows in her native Australia, most notably as Charlene Mitchell in "Neighbours". In 1987, her popularity in that series led to her signing a record deal with Mushroom Records, releasing a cover of "The Loco-Motion" in Australia in July 1987.

This led to her travelling to London to do some work with Stock, Aitken and Waterman. However, having forgotten she was coming, the trio initially had nothing for her - while she was waiting outside their studio, they spent 40 minutes writing "I Should Be So Lucky", which she then recorded in less than an hour.

In spite the the difficult beginning, the song spent five weeks as the UK Number One, and was the first of thirteen top ten hits the trio had with Minogue.

Answer: Respectable

Melanie and Kim Appleby were a pair of sisters from London who, having made some demos, were signed to Supreme Records, who put them in touch with Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Although the record company had a view of what the pair's first single should be, the producers had an alternative concept, with Waterman in particular thinking that the act should reflect the feisty and streetwise personalities of the pair.

The first single released, "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)", reached Number Three in the UK chart.

The follow-up, "Respectable", stemmed from a line Waterman used in advertising his own label, and became Stock, Aitken and Waterman's second UK Number One single (and the first they had penned themselves) following its release in February 1987.

Answer: Whenever You Need Somebody

Rick Astley was performing as the singer in a group called FBI, playing the Northern club scene, when he was spotted, aged 19, by Pete Waterman in 1985. Waterman signed Astley onto a youth training scheme and brought him to work at his record label PWL in London, where he was taught about all aspects of music production.

At the beginning of 1987, Astley recorded what became his debut single, "Never Gonna Give You Up"; released in August 1987, it stayed at Number One in the UK for five weeks and was the year's highest selling single.

The follow-up, "Whenever You Need Somebody", a cover of a Stock, Aitken and Waterman song originally recorded by O'Chi Brown in 1985, was released in October and peaked at Number Three.

Answer: Toy Boy

Sinitta was born in Seattle, but moved to the UK to go to school at the age of nine. While at school, she began auditioning for musical roles in London, making her debut in a production of "The Wiz" aged 12. In 1986, following a career that had seen her perform in "Cats" and "Little Shop of Horrors", she released the single "So Macho", which became a slow-burn success, eventually reaching Number Two in the UK.

In an attempt to replicate this, she sought out Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who wrote and produced the single "Toy Boy", which became her fourth single and was released in July 1987. "Toy Boy" eventually peaked at Number Four in the UK chart, the first of two from Sinitta's collaboration with Stock, Aitken and Waterman to reach the Top Ten.

Answer: You'll Never Stop Me Loving You

Sonia Evans was an 18 year old from Skelmersdale in Lancashire when she persuaded Pete Waterman to listen to her sing one day while outside his studio in Liverpool. Calling her bluff, he asked her to sing live on his radio show. Impressed by her voice, Waterman added her to a roadshow tour of up and coming artists he was managing, while at the same time preparing material for his new discovery. Stock, Aitken and Waterman wrote and produced Sonia's first single, "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You", which was released in June 1989.

The single eventually reached Number One in the UK, where it stayed for two weeks, making Sonia one of the youngest British female artists to achieve the feat of reaching the top of the chart with her debut.