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PWL was initially championed by the music papers for their fresh sound and seemingly underground aesthetic, but not for long.

They incurred the wrath of the British music press when they strong-armed the group M / A / R / R / S into a legal settlement over a sample that M / A / R / R / S had taken from SAW's own recording, " Roadblock ", and used in their surprise hit " Pump Up the Volume ".

Pete Waterman wrote an open letter to the music press calling such things " wholesale theft ".

The press fired back that Waterman was currently using the bassline of Colonel Abrams's " Trapped " in Rick Astley's " Never Gonna Give You Up ".

Indeed " Roadblock " itself could be described as inspired by the classic Average White Band hit " Pick Up the Pieces ".

Waterman's production company even lifted the entire basic rhythm arrangement from " Pump Up the Volume " ( complete with the chorus ) in a remix for a Sybil record ( wisely titled the " Red Ink Remix ").

As a result, relations between PWL and much of the UK's music underground were for a long time acrimonious.

Waterman said it was a matter of principle rather than profit and promised to donate all royalties from the court case to charity.