Song:Never Gonna Give You Up
Album:Greatest Hits
So I'm sure you all know this 1987 worldwide chart topper. In recent years it has become an internet meme. It's the biggest hit from British producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. Astley was born Feb. 6, 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England. He grew up singing in church. And he played drums in local bands. He was playing drums in FBI when the lead singer left and Astley replaced him. Pete Waterman spotted him and brought him to London. And that was it. the 1987 album Whenever You Need Someone blew up when Never Gonna Give You Up topped worldwide charts. The record is a very typical Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production. But it was so much bigger than anything else they produced. The song just clicked with people. Maybe it was Astley's deep voice and boyish looks. Together Forever was Astley's other number one hit. Astley's second album was delayed when the masters were destroyed by a studio fire. Meanwhile the British media upset Astley by calling him an SAW puppet. So he split with them after the 1988 album Hold Me In Your Arms. And Astley wrote and produced the 1991 album Free. Cry For Help was a top ten hit. After his 1993 album Body & Soul, Astley retired from the music business. You can get all his hits on this budget comp. After spending more time with his family, Astley signed with Polydor in 2001. He still tours and records but of course he's a nostalgia act now. He was back in the news when the video for Never Gonna Give You Up became an internet prank known as Rickrolling. Astley played along with it for a while especially at the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But he made no money from it so he returned to his normal career. It was certainly an odd sidebar to his career. Here's the video for Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. No rickrolling from me.
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