The Superstars

Infobox Album
Name = The Superstars
Type = studio
Artist = Stars on 45


Released = March 1982
Recorded = 1982
Genre = Pop
Length = 30:44
Label = CNR Records (NL)
Radio Records (US)
CBS Records (UK)
Melodiya (USSR)
Producer = Jaap Eggermont
Reviews =
Last album = "Longplay Album - Volume II"
(1981)
This album = "The Superstars"
(1982)
Next album = "Stars on Frankie"
(1987)

"The Superstars" was the third album by the Dutch soundalike studio group Stars on 45, released on the CNR Records label in The Netherlands in March 1982. In the US the album was retitled "Stars On Long Play III", released on Radio Records and credited to 'Stars On'. In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand the album was instead titled "Stars Medley", again credited to Starsound and released by CBS Records. Just like the two preceding Stars on 45 albums "The Superstars" was also released in the Soviet Union and large parts of the Eastern Bloc by state-owned label Melodiya, credited to Stars on 45 but released under the title "Discotheque Stars 3".

The fourth Stars On 45 single released in both Europe and the U.S. was "Stars on Stevie", paying tribute to Stevie Wonder and including a selection of his best-known songs, ranging from his first US #1 "Fingertips" (credited to Little Stevie Wonder) to his then most recent US charttopper "Master Blaster (Jammin)", also a #2 hit in the UK. The "Stars On Stevie" medley - in the UK confusingly released by CBS as Starsound: "Stars Medley", the exact same title as the album - became Stars On 45's fourth UK Top 20 hit, peaking at #14 in February 1982. In the US, where it was given a third title, "Stars On 45 III: In Tribute To Stevie Wonder", it reached #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

The extended 12" mix of "Stars On Stevie" was included on Stars On 45's third full-length release "The Superstars" where it was placed as the opening track on Side B, followed by an also extended version of the single's B-side, "It's Not A Wonder, It's A Miracle", written by producer Jaap Eggermont and musical arranger Martin Duiser.

For the A-side of the album Eggermont returned to the concept of the first Stars On 45 LP release by again creating a sixteen minute side-long medley, this time dedicated to "The Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band in the World"; The Rolling Stones. The twenty-five track medley charted the band's at the time seventeen year long career, from their 1965 breakthrough with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" via classic hits like "Ruby Tuesday", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Miss You", "Under My Thumb" and "Honky Tonk Women" all the way to 1980's "Emotional Rescue" and "Start Me Up", a UK and US Top Ten hit in August 1981 - only some six months before the release of the Stars On 45 Stones medley. "The Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band In The World" single didn't fare as well on the charts however; while it became another Top 20 hit in the Netherlands and a few other European countries it failed to chart in both the UK and the US and "The Superstars" album itself met with the same fate, only reaching #94 on the UK album's chart and failing to enter Billboard's album chart in the US. (The only version of the Stars On 45 Stones medley to have been re-released on CD is the heavily-edited 7" mix, only including ten of the original twenty-five titles and 5:09 in duration. The 12" mix featuring the majority of the Stones tracks in slightly abbreviated form clocked in at 9:40.)

Consequently, for the following album project producer Jaap Eggermont made a radical change of the Stars On 45 concept by launching the spin-off group The Star Sisters, mainly covering material made famous by The Andrews Sisters and other stars from the 1940's, 50's and early 60's - and without the disco beat accompaniment and the characteristic Stars On 45 "clap track". The Star Sisters went on to release three albums and a series of singles between the years 1983 and 1987 whose commercial success was limited to Continental Europe in general and the Benelux countries in particular.

The "Superstars"/"Stars On Longplay III"/"Stars Medley" album in its entirety and in its original form remains unreleased on CD.

Tracklisting

ide A

"The Greatest Rock 'n Roll Band In The World" - 15:54

"All tracks written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards unless otherwise noted"
* "The Stars Will Never Stop" (Eggermont, Duiser)
* "Sympathy for the Devil"
* "Miss Ann"
* "As Tears Go By" (Jagger, Richards, Oldham)
* "Brown Sugar"
* "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
* "Take It or Leave It"
* "Under My Thumb"
* "Honky Tonk Women"
* "Lady Jane"
* "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
* "Get off of My Cloud"
* "Stars On" Jingle (Eggermont, Duiser)
* "Under the Boardwalk" (Young, Resnick)
* "Out of Time"
* "Gimme Shelter"
* "Let's Spend the Night Together"
* "Tell Me (You're Coming Back)"
* "We Love You"
* "Play with Fire" (Nanker Phelge)
* "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"
* "Ruby Tuesday"
* "Star Star"
* "Emotional Rescue"
* "She's a Rainbow"
* "Start Me Up"
* "Angie"

ide B

1. "Stars on Stevie" - 7:42

"All tracks written by Stevie Wonder unless otherwise noted"
* "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (Moy, Cosby, Wonder)
* "My Chérie Amour"
* "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" (Miller, Wells)
* "Master Blaster (Jammin)"
* "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
* "Isn't She Lovely"
* "Stars On" Jingle (Eggermont, Duiser)
* "Sir Duke"
* "I Wish"
* "I Was Made to Love Her" (Wonder, Hardaway, Moy, Cosby)
* "For Once in My Life" (Miller, Murden)
* "Superstition"
* "Sir Duke"
* "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing"
* "A Place in the Sun" (Miller, Wells)
* "Fingertips" (Paul, Cosby) 2. "Stars On" Jingle (Eggermont, Duiser) - 0:07

3. "It's Not A Wonder, It's A Miracle" (Eggermont, Duiser) - 6:54

4. "Stars On" Jingle (Eggermont, Duiser) - 0:07

Personnel

* Peter Vermeij - vocals (Mick Jagger)
* Tony Sherman - vocals (Stevie Wonder)
* Jody Pijper - vocals

Production

* Jaap Eggermont - record producer
* Martin Duiser - musical arranger

ources and external links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll All Music biography and discography]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Stars+On+45 Discogs.com biography and discography]
* [http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/stars_on_45 Rateyourmusic.com biography and discography]
* [http://www.thestarson45.nl/ Dutch biography and discography]
* [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/bio/index.jsp?pid=165001 Billboard.com biography and chart history]
* [http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=3437 Chartstats, UK chart history]
* [http://dutchcharts.nl//showitem.asp?key=732&cat=s Dutch chart history]