Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in

Astley, Greater Manchester Astley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with Tyldes ...

, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considere ...

Biography

He began his musical career as a musician and was a member of many different bands before teaming up with Mike Stock to write and produce music for other artists. They both later teamed up with

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Water ...

, and they went from small independent record labels to the major

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, producing a myriad of hits. According to Waterman, Aitken was a noted perfectionist, particularly when it came to his guitar solos. After the partnership split up in 1991, Aitken went into a period of retirement, raising his daughters Isabelle and Romy, and pursuing hobbies such as

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He later returned to the music industry in 1994 -- partnering with Mike Stock once again and having success with acts such as

Nicki French Nicki is a given name, and may refer to: Film and television * Nicki Aycox (1975-2022), American actress best known for her roles as Syl on the series ''Dark Angel'' and Stella Vessey on the dramedy ''Ed'' * Nicki Chapman (born 1967), English tel ...

Scooch Scooch is a British pop group, comprising performers Natalie Powers, Caroline Barnes, David Ducasse and Russ Spencer. Scooch represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with their song " Flying the Flag (Fo ...

, and

Robson & Jerome Robson & Jerome are an English pop duo who were active in the mid-1990s, consisting of actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn. They rose to prominence via the English television series ''Soldier Soldier''. The duo's musical catalogue was compose ...

-- before seemingly retiring again in 2002.

References

1956 births Living people Musicians from Coventry English songwriters English record producers {{England-musician-stub