Rick Astley was a 1980s postscript in pop music history until a switch’n’bait internet meme using his most successful hit went viral in 2007 and revitalised the UK singer’s career.
The creation of the worldwide chartbusting single Never Gonna Give You Up – and how a young American airman later gave it a second life through ‘Rickrolling’ – is told in a new episode of The Story Of…, screening on SBS VICELAND.
Shawn Cotter was serving in the US Air Force in South Korea and dreaming of becoming a YouTuber when he stumbled across the pop clip for Never Gonna Give You Up while looking for songs that were popular in 1987, the year he was born. He was attracted to the drum intro, the foot tapping, Astley’s awkward dance moves and, most of all, his vocals.
“He has such a low voice and it just doesn’t look like it came from him,” Cotter says in the episode. “I immediately knew I wanted to make this thing into a meme.”
He uploaded the music video to his YouTube page and then posted tons of messages everywhere with innocuous-looking links that directed unsuspecting viewers to his page to be Rickroll’d. (The ‘rolled’ part of it is said to derive from , where people were ‘duckrolled’.) He thought his prank would be short-lived, but it took on a life of its own. The meme’s popularity was cemented on April Fool’s Day in 2008 when YouTube linked its homepage to Cotter’s video.
Since then, it has become , with numerous versions recorded featuring everyone from Barack Obama and the cast of Mad Men to 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet, when viewers were offered a preview of Frozen 2, only to get Ralph singing Never Gonna Give You Up instead.
It’s estimated that more than a billion people have been Rickroll’d during the past 15 years.
But long before there was a meme there was Astley, a shy teenager from the small town of Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire, who sang in a local combo called FBI.
One night in 1985 at a battle of the bands, Astley’s striking voice caught the attention of one of the judges, Pete Waterman. He, along with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken, produced some the biggest hits of the 80s for such superstars as Dead Or Alive, Bananarama, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.
Within months, the 19-year-old had signed with Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) and was living in Waterman’s flat in London.
But pop star dreams didn’t happen right away. In the doco Astley says he spent a year doing menial jobs and was essentially “a teaboy in the studio” because Waterman believed the teen needed to learn more about the recording business before making a single.
One morning while they were driving to the studio, Astley witnessed Waterman arguing on the phone with his girlfriend. After the call ended, the young man told him, “But you’re never gonna give her up, are ya?”
The offhand comment got Waterman’s creative juices flowing. He rushed to the studio and SAW began work on Never Gonna Give You Up.
But even after the track was laid down, the trio had doubts whether it was good enough to be released.
“They were unconvinced of my voice and the way I looked,” Astley says candidly, “and, to be honest, I think they were right.”
How the song made it onto radio before it was officially released, creating a tidal wave of interest, is a bizarre story by itself, part of the fascinating back story unfolded in The Story Of.
SAW was swiftly proven wrong as Never Gonna Give You Up became a worldwide smash hit and launched Astley into superstardom.
Almost as an afterthought came that infamous music video of the singer lip-synching in front of the camera, while doing an odd shuffle and wearing clothes he’d grabbed from his wardrobe.
“The whole thing is ridiculous,” he says.
Some people were shocked when they finally laid eyes on the teenager for the first time as they had assumed he was a Black American.
Astley agrees some listeners would have been disappointed when they discovered he was a redhead with freckles who looked 11 years old.
The episode also covers the downside of the singer’s sudden rise from obscurity to international fame, and why he decided to quit while on top in 1993.
Jump forward to 2007 and the former pop star was on holidays in Italy when a friend sent him an email with a link embedded in the text. When he clicked on it, he was sent straight to the video clip of Never Gonna Give You Up. He’d been Rickroll’d.
His reaction to the prank was unexpectedly positive, especially as it eventually sparked a renewed interest in the performer.
“I’ve embraced it,” Astley smiles. “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been paid money to do things with it.”
This included Rickrolling a float during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York one year.
Viewers who get a kick out of this episode will also enjoy the other four instalments in the second season of The Story Of... They reveal the behind-the-scenes story of several iconic songs – Afroman’s stoner anthem Because I Got High, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, Get Busy by Sean Paul and drag staple Man! I Feel Like A Woman by Shania Twain – and why they still resonate with many music fans today.
'The Story Of' explores the Shania Twain hit 'Man! I Feel Like A Woman' Source: VICE
Astley continues to make albums and tours regularly on the back of his meme-led comeback.
“The Rickroll started as a joke on Rick Astley,” says Cotter, “but now I think the joke is on anybody who’s not IN on the joke.”
Season two of The Story Of… premieres at 9.25pm on Saturday, 28 January on SBS VICELAND, with three episodes back-to back, including the Rick Astley episode. The other two episodes follow on Saturday 4 February. Season 1 is streaming at SBS On Demand, starting with the story of Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me':
