Agent's Aren't Aeroplanes
1984 is where the Stock Aitken Waterman story began, and it began with Agent's Aren't Aeroplanes!
Mike Stock and Matt Aitken had a plan to launch a female version of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. They and keyboard player Pete Ware wrote the song, THE UPSTROKE, and in early January recorded it with the two girl singers who would front the project, sisters Julie and Diana Seabrook.
The next problem they faced was what to do with the completed demo and in discussion Pete Waterman's name came up. Pete (and Peter Collins) had produced a song of Mike's a few years earlier called "One Nine For A Lady Breaker" so they set up a meeting in London on 15th January. At that meeting with Waterman they explained their idea to him and to his credit he got it straight away,
" OK, so you're the band, you make the record and the girls front it. I understand what you're getting at. I like it. Let's go in the studio and do it!".
So on February 15th they went to the old Marquee Studio in Wardour Street and recorded the track that was the very first STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN record. Barry Evangeli, a Greek Cypriot who ran a label called Proto Records with his partner Nick East, agreed to put the record out on his label.
THE UPSTROKE, a fictional dance, only made number 93 in the charts but did very well in the gay clubs, an area that was to play a big part in the SAW success story. The gay community had become a powerful force and the gay clubs and discos were where new acts and records were being discovered and with THE UPSTROKE Mike and Matt knew exactly what audience they were aiming for - and successfully as the record was Number One in the London clubs.
