The 1980s – a decade that has ended in the courts with 80s greats from Spandau Ballet to The Smiths dishing the dirt on each other before the beak – saw another bunch of sorry refugees in the dock today as Stock and Aitken sued Waterman.
The production trio that spawned virtually every record in the charts in the late 80s – from Dead Or Alive to Kylie to Rick ‘Who he?’ Astley – are engaged in a battle over the contracts of major artists such as Kylie and Jason Donovan. The final figure is said to be around #1 million.
S & A claim that they gave W a third interest in income from music and lyrics in exchange for a third of the profits from the recordings.
They claim that Pete Waterman “parted with ownership” of copyrights in sound recordings made by their label PWL that he had no right to and are seeking an investigation and damages.
The case continues at the High Court in London.