Ep 24: Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now to F.L.M.

The Hit Factory era was in full swing by mid-1987, with three of the singles in this episode being major international hits. Samantha Fox came to work with Stock Aitken Waterman — and their collaboration, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now", took her back into the UK top 10 and was huge across Europe. Bananarama stepped up their musical relationship with SAW on Wow!, an album fully produced by Mike, Matt and Pete, and lead single "I Heard A Rumour" saw them back in the US top 5. We delve into the similarities between "I Heard A Rumour" and its plot track, "Give Me Up" by Michael Fortunati, with Mike Stock and Pete Hammond sharing their insights on how the Bananarama song came together. And Mel & Kim's third single, "F.L.M.", became the duo's third consecutive UK top 10 hit, but behind the success, a tragedy was unfolding. Kim Appleby and former Supreme Records MD Nick East weigh in on the unusual music video made for the song. Although not a big hit, Hazell Dean's version of "Always Doesn't Mean Forever" was her latest SAW single — and a reworking of a track that had originally been recorded (but not released) by former The Three Degrees member Sheila Ferguson.Support the showSubscribe for bonus material at chartbeats.com.au/sawInstagram: @chartbeatsauThreads: @chartbeatsau, @matthew_denby360Bluesky: @chartbeatsau, @matthewdenby.bsky.socialFacebook: Chart Beats: A Journey Through PopEmail: [email protected]