Burning The Ground Exclusive
“Say I’m Your No. 1”: How Princess Launched a Pop Revolution in 1985
The song that put Stock Aitken Waterman on the map — and gave British soul a new queen.
Some songs simply exist, and then some songs arrive — songs that feel, from the very first beat, like they were always meant to be. “Say I’m Your No. 1” by Princess is firmly in the second category. Released in the summer of 1985 as the lead single ahead of her self-titled debut album, it didn’t just introduce the world to a remarkable new voice. It quietly announced the arrival of one of pop music’s most consequential production teams, and helped reshape what British R&B and dance-pop could sound like.
Who Was Princess?
Born Desiree Heslop in Birmingham, England, Princess was a young British soul singer with a voice that belied her age — warm, assured, and capable of stretching from a tender whisper to a full-throated, emotionally charged belt. Before her solo career took off, she had been singing backing vocals, honing her craft in relative obscurity. But when she stepped in front of the microphone for “Say I’m Your No. 1,” it became immediately clear that obscurity was never going to be her permanent address.
She brought a sincerity to her delivery that was unusual in the increasingly glossy pop landscape of mid-1980s Britain. While so much of the era’s pop was cool and detached, Princess sang like she meant it — like the emotional stakes in every lyric were real and urgent.
The SAW Blueprint — Before Anyone Knew It Existed
“Say I’m Your No. 1” was written and produced by the trio of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman — collectively known as Stock Aitken Waterman, or simply SAW. In 1985, they were still largely unknown quantities. That was about to change dramatically.
The production on the track is a masterclass in sophisticated pop craftsmanship. Lush synthesizers, a sleek, pulsing rhythm track, and shimmering electronic textures create a soundscape that feels both warmly soulful and crisply modern. Unlike some of the more mechanical dance productions of the time, there’s an organic quality to it — a sense of breathing, of space. The arrangement lets Princess’s voice live at the centre of the record, elevated rather than buried.
What SAW achieved here foreshadowed everything they would go on to do with acts like Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue, and Bananarama — but with an R&B polish that distinguished this early work. There’s a sophistication and restraint in the production of “Say I’m Your No. 1” that the more factory-line pop hits of their later years would sometimes trade for sheer velocity. Here, they were still showing off.
The Song Itself
At its heart, “Say I’m Your No. 1” is a love song about the need for affirmation — the deeply human desire to know, without doubt, that you are the most important person to someone. The lyric is direct without being simplistic, romantic without being saccharine.
The chorus is an undeniable earworm: melodically memorable, emotionally resonant, and built for both the dancefloor and the bedroom. It has the quality that only the best pop songs possess — the sense that it could have been playing somewhere your whole life, even the first time you hear it.
The song builds beautifully, too. It doesn’t just explode out of the gate; it draws you in, lets the verses establish intimacy, and then opens up into something bigger and more euphoric. Princess earns that release through performance rather than relying on the production to do the work for her.
Chart Success and Cultural Impact
“Say I’m Your No. 1” was a significant commercial hit in the United Kingdom, reaching a peak of number seven on the UK Singles Chart, spending four weeks in the top ten and twelve weeks on the chart in total. It was a statement of arrival — proof that a young Black British woman with a powerful voice and the right song could cut through in a pop landscape that wasn’t always generous with that kind of space.
The song’s reach extended well beyond Britain. It climbed into the top ten in Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, and West Germany. It was, in the truest sense, an international hit.
Making Waves in the United States
The American story of the single is a revealing one. The song didn’t storm the Billboard Hot 100 — in 1985, a British soul record from an unknown singer on an independent label had a steep climb ahead of it in the US mainstream market. But where it did land was significant: in the United States, it reached number 20 on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles chart. That placing tells you something important about where the record found its audience — not on pop radio, but in the soul and R&B world, among listeners with exacting taste and a sharp ear for the real thing. Breaking into that chart as a British artist, with a record produced by a team that was still finding its feet, was no small achievement.
It also hinted at something SAW would increasingly lean into: the American R&B and dance influence that underpinned their best early work. Princess didn’t just make a record that charted in the US — she made one that was embraced by the community whose music had inspired it in the first place.
The single set up her debut album perfectly, establishing Princess as more than a novelty or a one-off. It created genuine anticipation for what came next, and the self-titled album that followed in 1986 delivered on that promise.
Why It Still Matters
Revisiting “Say I’m Your No. 1” today, what strikes you is how good it is — not in a nostalgic, rose-tinted way, but in a fundamental, musical sense. The production holds up. The vocal holds up. The songwriting holds up.
It occupies a specific and interesting place in pop history: it arrived at the intersection of classic soul tradition and the sleek new sounds of mid-1980s British pop, and it synthesized those influences into something that felt entirely its own. It is also a document of SAW before their formula hardened into an assembly line — a glimpse of genuine artistry at work.
For Princess herself, it remains a defining statement. A song that said, loudly and clearly:
I’m here. I’m serious. And yes — I am your No. 1.
SIDE A:
Say I’m Your No. 1 (H.R.H. Mix No.3) 8:58
SIDE B:
Say I’m Your No. 1 (H.R.H. Mix No.2) 9:02
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
| Chart | Peak Position | Date |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 12-Inch Singles Sales | #15 | 1985 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play | #15 | 1985 |
| US Billboard Hot Black Singles | #20 | 1985 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | #8 | 1985 |
| New Zealand | #2 | 1985 |
| Switzerland | #2 | 1985 |
| West Germany | #2 | 1985 |
| UK Singles | #7 | 1985 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | #6 | 1985 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: TELDEC – 6.20495
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: Germany
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul
Style: Soul, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
- Producer – Stock, Aitken & Waterman
- Remix – The Funky Sisters (3)
- Written-By – Stock – Aitken – Waterman*
NOTES:
Hammer Music
A PWL Production
Made in Germany – TELDEC Schallplatten GmbH – 2000 Hamburg 20.
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
for BURNING THE GROUND
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon Concorde Music Black
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
Audio Interface: MOTU M4
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 25 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
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Founded in Cologne in 1986 by Frank Schmitz (guitar, vocals) and Stephan Koch (keyboards, vocals, production), German synth-pop outfit State Of The Art came together with a clear vision: to shape their years of school band and local music experiences into a polished, professional project. In 1987, Stephan’s brother Georg Koch joined on drums, completing the trio.
