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Rick rolls in to re-love those golden years
Eighties heartthrob Rick Astley talks to JODIE JEYNES about giving it all up in the 90s,then returning to music and playing at Osborne House next month.
Rick Astley has life sussed.
Not many pop idols have the perspective to walk away at the height of their fame in order to dedicate themselves to fatherhood. Nor does the average artist have the humility and honesty to admit that when they return to the limelight, a large part of their motivation to do so is money.
But Astley has done both.
When he was 21, Rick topped the UK charts for five weeks with Never Gonna Give You Up. It reached number one in 16 other countries. But Rick, now 44, says that appearing on Top Of The Pops was 'bigger than having a number one' for him.
'In those days it took four or five weeks to have a number one. When I went on Top Of The Pops, I knew – come Friday morning – people would recognise me on the street. That affects you.
'I was number one in lots of countries, but I never went there. That doesn't affect you like being known in your own country and appearing on a show that you grew up with,' explains the singer, who was born in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.
Growing up, he sang in the church choir and then played drums in a band called FBI, but his life changed forever when he moved to London for a production deal with pop behemoths Stock, Aitken & Waterman.
A common misconception is that Rick started out as Pete Waterman's Tea Boy.
Though Rick says that's not entirely true, he does own that part of his job 'was to help out at the studios and that did involve making tea'.
He remembers: 'I signed to RCA records, but I spent a lot of time making tea at first.
'One of the best things about it was that I could go in and do my demos when the studios weren't being used.
'It was a brilliant time to be in that building. It was all very fresh and very interesting. They were doing records that didn't all sound the same – Mel and Kim were nothing like Dead Or Alive.
'But then they filtered it and filtered it, until there became a Stock, Aitken & Waterman sound,' continues Rick, who now lives in Kingston upon Thames with his partner of 21 years, Danish film producer Lene Bausager (Flashbacks Of A Fool), and their 18-year-old daughter Emilie.
With the help of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Rick was in the top 40 every week for the first six months of his career. He earned a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1988 and he was the first male solo artist to have his first eight singles reach the top 10 in the UK (this has still to be bettered).
Then, in 1993 – at what Pete Waterman called 'the height of his fame' (though the artist himself disagrees) – Rick Astley retired aged 27.
'There were a number of reasons,' says Rick.
'I think I was going mad a little bit. I wasn't having a breakdown, but I could see the signs, if you know what I mean?
'I just wasn't in love with it any more. I loved music (still do), but I felt like a mouse on a wheel.
'I'd had a good go at it. I spent five years being famous, travelling all time. I'd done a lot of the things that I really wanted to do. I'd made an awful lot of money. I was famous all over the world. I'd even done a gig in Tasmania.
'But after a while the glamour just fades away. I used to leave the house, look at my daughter, and think "is it worth it?"'
Rick continues: 'Look at Madonna and U2. They've been going 25 years or more.
'Even if I had the talent, or whatever it is, I just don't have the desire for a career like that.
'Don't get me wrong, I like having the hits. But there are only a handful of people who've had careers like that and not come out the end completely bonkers.
'They usually end up dead or drug addicts or divorced or with kids who never speak to them. Perhaps all that would have happened without the success, but it's a hard balancing act. And I just didn't feel like I could balance things for all that time,' he admits.
By his own admission, Rick did 'bugger all' for seven years after retiring.
'That's what everyone wants to do. That's why everyone's doing the lottery,' he says, excusing himself.
'I've had a lot of freedom, a lot of time to be there for the people I care about.
'I'm not the richest man in my neighbourhood, but I live in a very nice neighbourhood.
'I mention money because I'm really grateful for it. It's given me the freedom to do what I want with my life,' he continues.
For a time what Rick wanted to do was write songs and he has composed pieces for some of his film producer wife's films.
'It's not easy,' Rick admits. 'You need skill, devotion and a knack that I, perhaps, just don't have.
'But my real pleasure is singing and performing, rather than trying to write songs.'
It's a good thing too, because this is the area in which Rick really excels, despite having a hiatus of more than a decade.
After 14 years of only getting up on stage to perform at friend's weddings and the like, Rick shocked everyone, including himself, and agreed to a public performance.
'I got a bizarre request to go to Japan,' remembers Rick. 'I love Japan. I think it's an amazing place. And my wife and daughter really wanted to go.
'Also, and I don't mean to sound like a breadhead, but I got paid a fortune.
'When they first asked I said "no", so they offered me more money and I still said "no". Then they hit me with so much money that I said "go on then". We all have our price!
'It was the first time I'd sung my old 80s hits in a long time and I came off stage laughing.
'My manager said "you enjoyed that didn't you" so I decided to look at the situation.
'I enjoy doing gigs. When the day comes that I don't enjoy it, I won't keep doing it. But, because I had such a long break, it's a totally different thing for me.
'For some guys, who've carried on since the 80s, that's who they are and what they do. But, for 10 years or more, I wasn't that fella with the red hair and big shoulder pads.
'It's given me a bit of perspective.'
This perspective came in handy in 2007 when an internet prankster came up with the idea of hijacking web links so that, when people click on a link on a website, instead of getting what they expected, they got a video of Rick singing Never Gonna Give You Up.
An April 2008 poll by SurveyUSA estimated that at least 18 million American adults had been 'rickrolled'. The craze swept the globe and rocketed its subject's status from nostalgia to cult.
But level-headed Rick had the sense to stay out of it.
He explains: 'It had nothing to do with me. I kept out of it. I'm not for it or against it. I just think it's bizarre.
'I didn't use it to try to plug myself. The best thing you can do is ignore it. If you jump on the bandwagon, it just looks a bit naff.
'A lot of people would have jumped up and down if it happened to them, but I found it a bit odd.
'It's odd because it's a worldwide phenomenon and suddenly much younger people know that song, and even my name, that wouldn't have otherwise.'
Rick's target demographic are around his own age and were fans of his back in the 1980s. He says: 'When I had my 15 minutes of fame I had a lot of younger fans, but mums liked me as well and dragged their husbands along, whether they liked it or not!
'I'm surprised when I see young people at my gigs today. I often look into the audience and pick out someone who's about 22 and tease them, saying, over the mic, "What are you doing here? Have you been going through your mum's music collection?"
'I know what it's like, I hear Emilie listening to stuff and I think "how the hell does she know about that?"
'It's the net. People listen to a broader landscape of music than ever now because of it.
'The net's so easy. Even the physicality of CDs (never mind records, which you had to stand up and turn over) made you less likely to try something new.
'But you can go on Google to buy a handbag and you end up buying biscuits! It's the same with music,' laughs Rick.
He continues: 'That's one of the good things about the net – older things get listened to. Emilie loves bands like ELO. I think it's because a lot of the music they made was timeless. On the net, it doesn't matter where or when it comes from.'
Rick's not the only 80s act to enjoy a resurgence in popularity. The careers of Bananarama, Belinda Carlisle and the like have also been resurrected.
Spearheading this nostalgia movement are 80s-themed summer festivals, such as the concert at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight next month, at which Rick appears alongside Bananarama, Belinda, ABC, Howard Jones and Go West.
'I've performed with all of them before,' says Rick. 'I've not seen the Bananas in a while, but I've been on the very same stage as all the others for the last two weekends.
'It's usually pretty chilled out backstage. I know them all well enough to have a proper chat and a glass of wine.
'The egos have gone out the window. No-one's worried who goes on last and who goes on first. Well, I'm certainly not worried.
'Going on last is actually a bit of a bugger. Going on second to last is best, because you get to see it all and you can nip out just before the end so you don't get stuck in the traffic!' continues Rick, who can also be seen opening for comedian Peter Kay on tour at the moment.
Rick says these 80s nights are nice 'because the pressure's off'.
'People come for a night out, not just to see one artist. They come with a good attitude because of that.
'It's really good fun. People bring picnics and they get in a party mood,' continues Rick who has never been to Osborne House before but visited the island many times when he had a boat moored in Hamble.
Because of the nature of the gig, Rick says he and the others will just be playing their hits. 'There are no tracks from the fourth album or anything like that.
'Having said that, I'm going to play Lights Out – the single I put out recently,' he reveals.
'Unless you've not heard Radio 2 for a few months, you must've heard it. They made it record of the week and it's been on their A-list for seven or eight weeks.'
Rick is delighted with the success he's had so far with his new material. He explains: 'It's hard to get played on the radio these days.
'And I think, if you're going to try to be in the Top 40, you need everything working for you. To be successful, you need talent and drive, but you also need a huge slice of luck and I'm aware of that,' he adds.
'But we'll throw another single out and we'll probably make an album and release it at the end of the year, hopefully. I might do a little tour at the very end of the year too.
'I'm just enjoying making music at the moment, the airplay and everything else is a bonus.
'I'm not seeing it as a major comeback or anything.'
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