Kylie Minogue – Spinning Around

The song 'Spinning Around' was written by Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, Ira Schickman, and Dinky Bingham. In her 2011 book "A Helluva High Note" Kara DioGuardi tells an interesting tale about exactly how this song originated. It's a fascinating story, and although she doesn't mention the person's name, I have a pretty good idea who she's talking about here:

"Paula Abdul had received a sampling of my music from a colleague of mine at Billboard magazine, where I was working at the time, and she reacted positively to the lyrical content. One of Paula's greatest qualities is that she is very giving and unguarded. So much so that she sometimes finds herself surrounded by the scavengers of the earth. Enter the just-released-from-prison cowriter, who somehow convinced Paula that he could give her the hit song she needed. There we were, all in a room together: ex-con, star, and ad sales rep at Billboard by day/wannabe artist by night. We hardly seemed like 3 of the 4 people responsible for making a number one hit in the UK called 'Spinning Around'. I actually knew this person before I met Paula, and had witnessed him trying to smooth-talk $60K out of my brother's best friend for a partnership and piece of his music business that, according to my brother's friend, ended up yielding no return on his investment. As far as I could see, it got this guy a fat new loft to live/work in and to shag girls in. This cowriter was brutal. He yelled and screamed at me. I think I even cried. 'No it's not a hit chorus' he determined, even though he had never written one. A hit chorus was the last thing I was worried about. I was trying to stay true to Paula's story. I had at least 400 unpublished songs to my name at the time. Clearly I had spent countless hours honing my craft and getting to know myself, so I could recognize and empathize with others' feelings. Together, Paula and I empowered each other and that's what 'Spinning Around' was all about. It represented our hope for the future and letting go of the past."