Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

What this video is

Released 27 July 1987 as Rick Astley's debut single on RCA Records, 'Never Gonna Give You Up' was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman at PWL Studios in South London, using a Yamaha DX7 for basslines and a Linn 9000 for drums, with the Colonel Abrams track 'Trapped' (1985) cited as a key sonic reference. The song became the UK's best-selling single of 1987, topping charts in 25 countries and winning Best…

Why it matters

A defining artefact of the Stock Aitken Waterman production era, the video encapsulates the visual grammar of late-1980s UK dance-pop: affordable single-night location shoots, choreography-forward performance, and warm tungsten aesthetics in lieu of conceptual elaboration. Its longevity as the…

The director

Simon Alexander West (born 17 July 1961, Letchworth, Hertfordshire) is a British filmmaker. He began his career as an apprentice film editor at the BBC, then moved into freelance directing, securing a contract with Limelight London to helm music videos and…