Weekend Supplement 2: Flashback! Sonia ~ You'll Never Stop Me Loving You

24 years ago this week, l'il ol' Sonia entered the UK charts at a lowly 55 with her S/A/W penned debut single You'll Never Stop Me Loving You. Billed as the British Kylie, the public soon fell in love with this percolating ditty and sent it flying to number one just a month later (the sixth number one of 1989 that the PWL team had been involved in, fact fans). As a young fresh faced 15 year old I was gobbling up every single slice of Stock Aitken & Waterman music that I could get my hands on so of course I feel in love with the bubbly chorus, bonkers video and catchy refrain. I also fell in love with the tall chap in the video with the kicking converse who has to put up with Sonia throwing herself all over him :) It was an enduring love that lasted a good four weeks (then Jason D was looking mighty fine again in the Every Day video so I transferred my affections back to him)! However, as the song stuck with me over the years, many more layers to this seemingly simplistic pop tune were revealed - on one level it's a wistful tale of unrequited love (indeed, parts of the song have Sonia's vocal seemingly resigned to her fate) counteracted with the relentless optimism of Sonia that frames this in a more positive light (she's OK as long as she has him to love). On a darker level, it's a tale of obsessive devotion and stalking. I mean everywhere the poor fella goes, Sonia is there scrupulously detailing his every move (she knows when he's home!) And on a more subtle level, it's a tale of a heartbroken woman who has been treated appallingly by her fella and now can't let go. It's a song for every non-romantic occasion! Ultimately it really is a charming pop tune that more than stands the test of time and certainly doesn't feel like it is 24 years old.

(Only 2 cover versions of any note - in 2006, Australian pop group Young Divas added the track to their debut album, giving the song a disco sheen with a more contemporary feel. In 2009, Almighty put out a Belle Lawrence version of the song that just shimmied from start to finish. Marvelous)...

(You are an absolute fool to yourself [which is a good single title isn't it? Fool To Yourself. This week's highest new entry at number 7] if you do not check out the KISS mix of the single. You can do so by clicking here. It "appropriates" bits of L'il Louis' massive smash French Kiss (or at least sounds like it does) for a more club driven version of the song. It strips away some of the innocence for an altogether more throbbing effect, highlighting some of the aforementioned darker nuances of the song. Bloody love it)

(Sonia went on to have 4 more top 20 hits from her debut album Everybody Knows - though only Listen To Your Heart made the top ten. How Counting Every Single Minute missed the top ten is beyond me. It's one of the most vibrant S/A/W songs of that era :) Ah well. You can get a rather good deluxe edition of the album from all good record emporiums. Which nowadays means iTunes or Amazon)...