"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" is a song by English pop singer Samantha Fox from her 1987 eponymous second studio album. It was written and produced by English songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). The song was released as the lead single from the Samantha Fox album on 10 May 1987, by Jive Records. It became Fox's third and final Top 10 hit single in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1987.[2] In the United States, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" was released in the fall of 1987 and reached only No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 that October.[3] It was a Top 10 hit single in continental Europe, and also reached No. 28 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart.
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" was recorded after Fox's labelJive Records heavily lobbied songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) to work with Fox, who the trio had previously vowed not to work with due to her topless modeling past.[4] SAW agreed to work with Fox after being impressed with her during an initial meeting, with Mike Stock then writing lyrics inspired by Fox's comments to him about wanting to break free of her manager-father, John Fox.[4] Stock wrote most of the lyrics with Fox sitting beside him at the console, a process interrupted for a few hours when she spilt a cup of tea onto the mixing desk.[5] Fox and her father insisted on the inclusion of a guitar solo,[6][5] which was added – but the sound was simulated with a synthesizer.[7] Fox never knew the guitar was simulated until 2022, expressing her shock at the revelation.[5]
John Aizlewood of Number One magazine said that "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" is completely similar to "other hits" of Fox, and proposed to change profession to bar maid.[8]Cash Box magazine expressed opposite opinion, assuring that "this upbeat dance tune" will "generate instant dance club notoriety."[9] Barry McIlheney of Smash Hits magazine described it as a "typically catchypop/disco" song, which as a SAW production sounds similar to Mel & Kim's songs, but deemed that "the only difference though is that Mel & Kim do it a lot better".[10] Retrospectively, in 2021, Classic Pop magazine ranked "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" No. 40 in their list of "Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs", adding: "Page 3 girl Samantha Fox, the pin-up on many a pre-pubescent teen's bedroom wall, was hardly the pop sophisticate, but SAW gave her an exceptionally big hit with this inspiriting UK No. 8."[11]
In the United Kingdom, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" debuted at No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart on 30 May 1987, reached a peak of No. 8 in its fourth and fifth weeks, and charted for nine weeks.[12] In Ireland, it peaked at No. 5 and appeared on the Irish Singles Chart for five weeks.[13] Elsewhere in continental Europe, the single reached the Top 10 in ten countries, missing it by one place on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart.[14] It topped the Official Finnish Charts[15] and came very close to the top position on the Norwegian VG-lista chart, where it peaked within the Top 10 for ten weeks, and the Swiss Hitparade where it charted for 14 weeks; in both countries, it was No. 2 for two and three weeks, respectively, being blocked from the top slot by Whitney Houston's 1987 single "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".[16][17] "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" was also a Top 3 hit in Italy, peaking for three weeks out of a 16-week chart run,[18] reached No. 5 on the Danish Tracklisten chart and the Dutch Single Top 100 chart,[19][20] No. 6 in the Flanders region of Belgium, France and West Germany, charting for nine weeks in the Top 10 of the French Singles Chart,[21][22][23] and No. 7 in Sweden.[24] On the Pan-European Hot 100 Singles compiled by Music & Media magazine, the single entered at No. 92 on 6 June 1987, reached the Top 10 three weeks later, peaked at No. 2 and charted for a total of 27 weeks.[25] Outside Europe, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" was less successful, peaking within the Top 30 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart and the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart,[26][27] while it only reached No. 80 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[28]
The accompanying music video for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" was filmed in Marbella, Spain. Fox is shown using several forms of locomotion including a Sunseeker XPS 34motorboat, a horse, an Alfa Romeo Spider, a Cessna Skymaster and a BMX bike. She is also shown beside (and in) an outdoor swimming pool, wearing a "zebra-print" one-piece bathing suit with high-heeled shoes.[29] Fox had never ridden a horse before the video shoot and had only just qualified for her driver's license, having never driven a manual car before, despite the clip requiring her to drive on steep mountain roads.[5]
^ ab"Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 21 November 2023. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Samantha Fox" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
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