Sinitta!
Sinitta! is the debut studio album by American/British singer Sinitta, released in 1987. It features her biggest and best-known hit, "So Macho".
Album information
In 1987 Simon Cowell, then a talent scout, became closely associated with record producer Pete Waterman and would spend time with Waterman at his PWL studios complex, being mentored by him and learning about the effective running of a successful music business.
Around this time Cowell was desperate for Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) to write and produce for Sinitta. "Feels Like The First Time", Sinitta's subsequent single following "So Macho", had charted low (number 45 UK Oct 1986) and only spent 5 weeks on the chart, whereas, in contrast, "So Macho" had been on the UK chart for 28 weeks in 1986, where it had peaked at number 2. Initially Waterman declined to work with Sinitta, claiming that SAW were too busy. In the end though, SAW did work with Sinitta and her first single with the Hit Factory was "Toy Boy".
In his book, Simon Cowell claims to have come up with the song idea for "Toy Boy", coining the phrase 'toy boy' which described older women dating considerably younger guys. However, this is contradicted by writer/producer Mike Stock in his book The Hit Factory - The Stock Aitken Waterman Story as he claims that his inspiration came from the fact that Sinitta herself at the time was dating a younger man. Whichever way the story goes, "Toy Boy" was a massive hit reaching number 4 in the UK in July 1987, staying on the charts for 14 weeks. The song was the 26th best-selling single of 1987 in the UK, selling more than some number ones from that year, including Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett with "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and Steve 'Silk' Hurley with "Jack Your Body".