Hazell Dean – The Best Of Hazell Dean (2009)

A Hi-NRG pop star of the 1980s, Hazell Dean was responsible for kick-starting the career of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, the prolific production trio behind the early success of Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, and Jason Donovan. Born Hazell Dean Poole in Great Baddow, Essex in 1956, she began her career performing across the cabaret club circuit, before reaching the final of A Song for Europe, the U.K. search to find the Eurovision Song Contest entry, in 1976. After releasing several records under the guise of the Hazell Dean Orchestra, including her 1981 debut album, The Sound of Bacharach & David, she reached the Top Ten with singles "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)" and "Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)," the first of several hundred hits produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. Two studio albums, Heart First and Always, followed until she parted company with the trio to work on a more dance-led sound with Ian Levine. In the '90s, she wrote and produced hits for boybands Bad Boys Inc., Gemini, and Upside Down; released an ABBA covers album entitled The Winner Takes It All; and became a regular fixture on the gay club scene. In 2010 she signed to Energise Records and released several remixes of her biggest hits.