''Whenever You Need Somebody'' is the debut studio album by English singer

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song " Ne ...

, released on 16 November 1987 by

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 ...

. It is his best-selling album and, according to his own official website, has sold 15.2 million copies worldwide. The album is listed as the 136th best-selling album in Spain, and was the seventh best-selling album of 1987 in the United Kingdom. A remastered version containing rare remixes and extended versions, was released on 12 April 2010. Celebrating the 15th anniversary for the Record Store Day UK, a reissue was set to be released on 23 April 2022 as a limited edition with a red vinyl, only 1800 of them would be sold. After 35 years, a 2022 remastered edition of the album was released on 6 May 2022, including a double CD album with a Pianoforte version of "Never Gonna Give You Up", the reimagined versions of "Together Forever", "Whenever You Need Somebody", and "When I Fall In Love" on the CD1 from his compilation album '' The Best of Me'', also included with B-sides, instrumentals, and remixes for the CD2. The

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exclusive signed edition of the album was also available to pre-order, all hand-signed and only limited to 2000 copies. Due to the unavoidable global supply chain issues, it was rescheduled to be released on 20 May 2022. The writing credit of Dick Spatsley on "The Love Has Gone" was a reference to a running gag by '' Smash Hits'' magazine that deliberately misspelled his name.

Track listing

2010 expanded remaster

2022 Remaster

2022 Remaster (digital)

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Whenever You Need Somebody''.

Musicians

– vocals ; guitars * Mike Stock – keyboards *

Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman ...

– keyboards, guitars * A. Linn – drums * Ian Curnow – Fairlight programming ; keyboards * Daize Washbourn – keyboards, drums *

Gary Barnacle Gary Barnacle (born 1959 in Dover, England) is an English saxophonist, flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer, and producer. Barnacle is primarily noted for his session work and live work, including various Prince's Trust concerts a ...

– saxophone * Shirley Lewis, Dee Lewis, Mae McKenna, Suzanne Rhatigan – backing vocals

Technical

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 ...

– production * Phil Harding – production, mixing * Ian Curnow – production * Daize Washbourn – production * Mark McGuire – engineering ; mixing * Phil Harding, Karen Hewitt, Mike Duffy, Jamie Bromfield – additional engineering * Yoyo, Jonathan King, Peter Day, Boky, Gordon Dennis – engineering assistance * Pete Hammond – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1987 debut albums Albums arranged by Gordon Jenkins Albums produced by Stock Aitken Waterman RCA Records albums Rick Astley albums