The Very Best Of STARS ON 45

cover scan

Music Club MCCD 192
Music Collection International
Release: 1994
Total playing time: 53.07

Track Listing

1. Beatles Medley - 16:13
Stars On 45
No Reply
I'll Be Back
Drive My Car
Do You Want To Know A Secret
We Can Work It Out
I Should Have Known Better
Nowhere Man
You're Going To Lose That Girl
Ticket To Ride
The Word
Eleanor Rigby
Every Little Thing
And Your Bird Can Sing
Get Back
Eight Days A Week
It Won't Be Long
Day Tripper
Wait
Stars On 45
Good Day Sunshine
My Sweet Lord
Here Comes The Sun
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Taxman
A Hard Day's Night
Things We Said Today
If I Fell
You Can't Do That
Please Please Me
From Me To You
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Stars On 45
2.Abba Medley - 11:39
Stars On 45 (2)
Papa Was A Rolling Stone
Dance To The Music
Sugar Baby Love
Papa Was A Rolling Stone
Let's Go To San Francisco
A Morse With No Name
Monday Monday
San Francisco
California Dreamin'
Eve Of Destruction
Tears Of A Clown
Stop In The Name Of Love
Cracklin' Rose
Do-Wah Diddy Diddy
A Lover's Concerto
Reach Out I'll Be There
Sounds Of Silence
Stars On 45 (2)
Voulez-Vous
S.O.S.
Bang-A-Boomerang
Money, Money, Money
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Fernando
The Winner Takes It All
Super Trouper
Stars On 45 (2)
3. Stevie Wonder Medley - 7:49
Uptight (Everything's Alright)
My Cherie Amour
Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
Master Blaster
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
Isn't She Lovely
'Stars On' Jingle
Sir Duke
I Wish
I Was Made To Love Her
For Once In My Life
Superstition
Sir Duke
Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
A Place In The Sun
Fingertips
4. The Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band In The World - 5:17
The Stars Will Never Stop
Sympathy For The Devil
Brown Sugar
Jumpini Jack Flash
Under My Thumb
Honky Tonk Woman
Out Of Time
Emotional Rescue
She's A Rainbow
Start Me Up
Angie
5. Supremes Medley - 7:08
Stop In The Name Of Love
Love Child
Reflections
Someday Well Be Together
Stars On 45
Baby Love
Love Is Here And Now You're Gone
Where Did Our Love Go
I Hear A Symphony
You Keep Me Hanging On
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
6. Star Wars And Other Hits - 5:19
Star Wars (Main Title)
Can't Give You Anything But My Love
Kung-Fu Fighting
Layla
All Right Now
Fire
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy
Ma Baker
Y.M.C.A.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough)
Suicide Is Painless (Theme From M.A.S.H.)
The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore
Overture From 'Tommy'
Get Off
Stars On 45
Baker Street
Bette Davis' Eyes
Eve Of The War

Liner Notes

Everybody knows the Beatles learned their trade in Hamburg, Germany but when Merseybeat went Dutch 20 years later, the result was a sensation!

The story started in the early 1980s with a bootleg (illegally pressed) 12-inch single combining many hit songs of the 1960s. Offering over ten minutes of non-stop dancing, it was unsurprisingly popular with disco DJs in Holland. One of the songs it sampled was Shocking Blue's 'Venus', and it was when the copyright owner of that song decided to bootleg the bootleggers that Stars On 45 was born. Producer Jaap Eggermont, former drummer of Golden Earring, selected the cream of Dutch singers to contribute vocals to a new, legal version for public release - and in doing so altered the medley of songs to give it a decidedly Beatle-esque flavour.

The individual numbers, sometimes just a verse and chorus, were recorded separately and edited together, quite a feat in the days before current digital sound technology. When the resulting medley, all eleven and a half minutes of it, topped the Dutch chart, it seemed the bootleggers had been beaten fair and square... But that was just the start of the story as Stars On 45 went world- wide!

When released in the States, the single made Number 1 in the Billboard chart (though with a couple of songs dropped for copyright reasons), having already reached Number 2 in Britain and charted as far afield as Mexico and New Zealand. More than that, it started a medley craze that saw the Beach Boys, Hollies and even the Beatles themselves (a mix of movie music) jump on the bandwagon. Then-current teen heart-throbs Wham! followed suit with a 'Club Tropicana' megamix, while others to sample a winning formula included Boney M and Technotronic.

But the Stars On 45 hit machine rocked on regardless, with three more British Top 20 entries during 1981-82: most successful was a tribute to Abba which reached Number 2, the same position as the original, while other efforts included a second Beatles medley, Stars On Stevie (Wonder), the Rolling Stones, Supremes and more. Its continuing success even gave rise to a live act, the Star Sisters, who took the whole thing on the road.

Like any successful pop phenomenon, the format had its critics, who considered Stars on 45 'faceless' - the most polite of several adjectives used. But it was certainly far from voice-less, and while all the vocalists you'll hear here have an uncanny likeness to the originals it was the abilities of the very first 'Fab Three' that gave the concept the impetus it needed for lift-off.

So take a bow Bas Muys (Lennon), Hans Vermeuien (Harrison) and Okkie Huysdens (McCartney) - the original stars of Stars on 45!

Michael Heatley


My Comments

Here in Germany also, both the Beatles- and Abba-medley went straight to number one, back in the very early eighties. The Beatles-Medley remained in No.1 position for over 10 weeks, I think it was 12 weeks, almost beating Paul McCartney's record with Mull of Kintyre which remained number one for 13 weeks! - the best-selling single of all time, and remaining in that spot for over 15 years.
What's presented here is a bit different, that is extended, compared to the hit single. It combines both the first and 2nd Beatles medley, and leaves the omissions intact.
So it's over 16 minutes, underlayed with a steady disco beat, typical of the early 80s!
I still love it very much! The dutch singers and musicians really did an excellent job of imitating the original Fab Four. They manage to demonstrate the beauty of the Beatles songs very well!
Warning: Don't get addicted!


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