A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman

Ep 35: The Harder I Try


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It takes a certain confidence to auction off your songwriting and production services secure in the knowledge that you'll deliver the highest bidder a hit single. But that's exactly what Stock Aitken Waterman did in 1988. EMI Records bid the most and the artist that received the Hit Factory Midas touch was Parlophone's struggling pop band Brother Beyond. Lead singer Nathan Moore joins us to talk about the group's initial efforts to land a hit themselves. After three singles failed to reach the UK top 40, not even a trip to PWL to work with Harding & Curnow on the original version of "Can You Keep A Secret?" could turn their fortunes around. But everything changed — and we mean everything — for Brother Beyond when a SAW tune was bestowed upon them. Nathan reveals how Motown-influenced track "The Harder I Try" was recorded (and who was involved in the studio session), what the band's reaction was to external writers providing them with a song, why one member quit and what it was like doing all that running he did in the song's flashy music video.

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