Stars on 45
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2010) |
Stars on 45 | |
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Origin | South Holland, Netherlands |
Genres | Pop |
Years active | 1980 | –1987
Labels | Radio/Atlantic Records |
Past members |
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Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty
History
Mark Haley & Lawrence Haley originated the "Stars on 45" concept after Willem van Kooten, managing director of the Dutch publishing company Red Bullet Productions, visited a
The
The first such release was an 11:30 12" single, issued in the aftermath of the so-called anti-disco backlash, and was released on the (at the time) minor label CNR Records in the Netherlands in December 1980. The single was simply entitled "Stars on 45" by Stars on 45, with no credits on the label or the cover as to who actually sang on the recording. When Dutch radio stations began playing the four-minute, eight-track Beatles segment of the medley, placed in the middle of the original, 12" mix, an edited 7" single with the Beatles part preceded by "Venus" and The Archies's "Sugar Sugar" was released and hit the #1 spot of the Dutch singles charts in February 1981. A few months later it also reached #2 in the UK, where it was released by the British subsidiary of CBS Records and credited to 'Starsound.' Shortly thereafter Eggermont created the first Stars on 45 album, Long Play Album, issued with an equally anonymous album cover and featuring a 16-minute side-long medley of Beatles titles. In June 1981 the "Stars on 45 Medley" single also went to #1 in the US where it was released by Radio Records, a sublabel of Atlantic Records. The track list for the 7" edit of the "Stars on 45 Medley" in the US was the names of all the songs that make up the medley as it appears on the actual record label (see image at left):
This single with its 41-word title continues to hold the record for a #1 single with the longest name on the Billboard charts, due to the legalities requiring each song title be listed. The Stars on 45 Long Play Album (US title: Stars on Long Play, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand: Stars on 45 — The Album) also became a massive seller worldwide, topping both the UK and Australian album charts, it was a Top 10 hit in most parts of Europe and also reached #9 on Billboard's album chart in the US.
The popularity of the album even resulted in it being given an official release in the Soviet Union, where it was issued by state-owned record label Melodiya under the title Discothèque Stars. The "Stars on 45 Medley" single was later awarded a platinum disc for one million copies sold in the US alone.[5]
A second Beatles medley went to #67 on the US charts. Another album followed later that same year,
In late 1981 Eggermont and Martin Duiser were awarded the Conamus Export Prize in the Netherlands in recognition of their contributions to Dutch culture and economy.
A third album, The Superstars (US title: Stars on Long Play III, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand: Stars Medley), featured medleys of The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder. The single "Stars on 45 III: A Tribute to Stevie Wonder" peaked at #28 in the US in 1982, where the act was now simply listed as Stars On. It also reached #14 in the UK where it was called "Stars Medley" — confusingly, exactly the same title as the third album in the British Isles and Australasia. In Continental Europe and most other parts of the world the Stevie Wonder medley was entitled "Stars on Stevie." In late 1982, Eggermont and Duiser again won the Conamus Export Prize, this time together with Tony Sherman, who sang lead vocals on "Stars on Stevie."
In 1982, there was a staged musical show at the
A spinoff group called The Star Sisters had a hit in Europe in 1983 with an Andrews Sisters medley. The albums were released under the moniker of Stars on 45 Presents the Star Sisters.[citation needed]
1985 saw the release of an album titled Stars on 45 — Soul Revue and a single called "The Sam & Dave Medley" credited to 'Stars on 45 featuring
Later European-only releases included Stars on Frankie released in 1987 and some ten years later Stars on 45: The Club Hits; the latter, however, was not produced by Eggermont. While none of the three original Stars on 45 albums have been reissued on CD in their entirety or in their original form, several CD compilations on European budget labels such as EMI's subsidiary Music Club, Arcade, Edel Records, Falcon Neuen Media, Bunny Music, and ZYX Music have been released under the non-copyrighted 'Stars on 45' moniker all through the 1990s and 2000s (decade). These include The Best of Stars on 45, The Very Best of Stars of 45, The Magic of Stars on 45, Stars on 45 Presents the Mighty Megamix Album, The Greatest Stars on 45, The Non-Stop Party Album, Greatest Stars on 45 Vol. 1, and Greatest Stars on 45 Vol. 2. It should, however, be noted that some of these compilations also feature titles such as "The Carpenters Medley," "Beach Boys Gold," "The Spencer Davis Group Medley," "Love Songs Are Forever," and the like—again, recordings that were neither produced by Jaap Eggermont nor originally released as by Stars on 45 in the 1980s. (See below.)
Similar acts and parodies
Before Stars on 45
In 1976, the
Four years before the release of the "Stars on 45", a similar medley named Rockollection was produced by the Frenchman Laurent Voulzy. Around the same time, Shalamar debuted with their single Uptown Festival, featuring a medley of Motown hits from the 60's. Dutch band Veronica Unlimited scored a big hit in 1977 in the Benelux countries and at home with the disco medley What Kind of Dance Is This. The band Café Crème played its Unlimited Citations (1977) by taking the original Beatles recordings, editing them into a sequence, overdubbing identical drum and bass parts, singing hit songs as faithfully as possible, and stringing them together, with a common tempo and relentless underlying drum track. The single, with its 45-word title,[9] was a hit throughout Europe (including Netherlands) and North Africa. The band acted playback on TV but played the medley live in a different place every night over more than 500 nights (almost two years) in multiple countries.[10]
After Stars on 45 (Volume 1)
The Top of the Pops chart of Thursday 13 August 1981 had seven medleys in the Top 40 (by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tight Fit, Gidea Park, Lobo, Starsound, Startrax and Enigma) with "Stars on 45 (Volume 2)" and "Startrax Club Disco", a Bee Gees medley, jointly holding the number 27 slot in the chart.[11]
Beginning in the late 1980s, a British novelty group,
Discography
- Long Play Album (1981)
- Longplay Album – Volume II (1981)
- The Superstars (1982)
- Stars on Frankie (1987)
- The ClubHits new '98 recordings (1998)
See also
- Stars on 54
References
- ^ "Red Bullet Productions, Willem van Kooten biography". Redbullet.nl. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Ben Liebrand "In The Mix"". Liebrand.nl. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ "Stars on 45 discography". RateYourMusic.com. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ "SHADES OF SEVENTIES - RESTRUCTURE MIXES". Shadesofseventies.com.
- ^ Below, Chr. "Ovations - Stars On 45, Star Sisters, Peter Douglas, Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers, Max Mix, Hooked On". Ovations.de. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
- ^ Ehrlich, Ken, Stars on 45, George Solomon, retrieved 2018-03-21
- ^ Congressional Testimony 5/21/1998 "Protection Against Artistic Knock-Off's: Sam Moore"
- ^ San Diego Union Tribune 9/25/85 "Singer Finds Sour Note in New Duo's Name" PP B1
- ^ Café Crème single, UK release, 1978 (Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ Unlimited Citations playlist Part 1 (slow) Part 2 (Disco) and Part 3 (Rock, Twist), Youtube
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0763rc3