Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory is a compilation album released in July 2012 collecting 39 hits produced by Pete Waterman. Included are a vast number of tracks that were written and produced by Waterman along with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken during their most successful period working as Stock Aitken Waterman, becoming among the most successful music producers of all-time.[1]
The release of the album coincided with Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory Live, a concert that was due to take place in London’s Hyde Park on 11 July 2012 and featuring the classic artists from the 'Hit Factory' era together on one bill. Both Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were due to perform their million selling duet 'Especially for You' alongside Rick Astley, Sinitta, Bananarama and Hazell Dean but the concert was ultimately cancelled due to poor weather conditions.[2] It was eventually rescheduled for 21 December 2012 at The O2 Arena in Greenwich.[3]
An early track listing included two hits by Donna Summer produced by Stock Aitken Waterman in 1989: 'I Don't Wanna Get Hurt' and 'This Time I Know It's For Real'. Early artwork for the CD showed the 7-inch single covers of the tracks featured on the compilation, and the Donna Summer tracks were originally shown. Some music retail websites still show this earlier artwork when promoting the CD. However, the final track listing and artwork replaced these songs with tracks by Loveland and Opus III, neither of which were produced by Waterman, nor were Stock Aitken Waterman productions.
The bonus disc contained rarities including the obscure Morgan-McVey track 'Looking Good Diving (With The Wild Bunch)' from 1987 which is considered an early version of Neneh Cherry's breakthrough hit 'Buffalo Stance' in 1988. The rare mix of Kylie Minogue's 'What Do I Have To Do' was also well received, however, reaction to the compilation was largely negative with critics and would-be buyers criticizing the track-listing as too similar to the 2005 release Stock Aitken Waterman Gold.
