The pop calling the kettle black?

by TONY BONICI, Daily Mail

AS the man who launched the careers of Steps and Rick Astley, he is, one might think, the last person who should criticise any pop group for being manufactured.

But Pete Waterman has ignored any suggestions of double standards to dismiss chart-toppers Hear'Say as 'a group of over-exposed karaoke singers'.

The veteran producer, who was also behind the success of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, said he was offered the chance to work with the band, formed on the ITV series Popstars.

'It was just not my thing,' he said. 'They're a group without any intrigue. They're not the kind of band I would have signed.

'I've been in the business long enough to know about this. I've seen it happen with the film industry when there is more emphasis on the merchandise than the script.

'Hear'Say's success at the moment is phenomenal. But where will they be by the winter? Their next single will be a number one, so will the one after that. But after that? They have radically shortened their lifespan as artists because they are so over-exposed.

'As a group, they are singing karaoke tunes. That's what they all did on the show.' Waterman's criticism will probably not worry the band. Their debut single went straight to number one and their album is storming up the charts.

Hear'Say's record label, Polydor, refused to comment on Waterman's outburst yesterday. But one industry insider said: 'It sounds like a classic case of sour grapes.'

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