Stars on 45 Medley

"Stars on 45 Medley"
The US Radio Records release with its famous forty-one word title.
Single by Stars on 45
from the album Long Play Album
Released	1981
Format	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1981
Genre	Disco
Length	7": 4:48 (US: 4:05) 12": 9:45 (West Germany 11:30, US: 10:15)
Label	CNR Records (NL) CBS Records (UK) Radio Records (US)
Producer	Jaap Eggermont
Stars on 45 singles chronology
"Stars on 45 Medley" (1981) "More Stars" (1981) Alternate covers Original Dutch 7" single sleeve. UK release credited to "Starsound."

"Stars on 45 Medley" was a song issued in 1981 by the studio group Stars on 45. It was originally released as "Stars on 45" by Stars on 45, in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand the band was credited to 'Starsound' and the medley itself was named "Stars on 45". Its official title in the US (as on the record and in Billboard) where it was credited to 'Stars On 45' (see image to right) was "Medley: Intro / Venus / Sugar Sugar / 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 / Stars on 45". It reached #1 in the Netherlands in February 1981, a few months later #2 in the UK and #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 20, 1981. It is (to date) the longest titled song to ever chart in Billboard, and is usually known by the shorter nickname, "Stars on 45 Medley". The reason for the long title was copyright requirements for the use of The Beatles' songs. On the US single, the initial "Stars on 45" intro is omitted on the 45 recording even though "Intro" appears on the title.

The origin of the single is the Netherlands where numerous bootleg disco singles were floating around and Willem van Kooten, the owner of one of the copyrights, decided to make a similar, legitimate record. He found singers who sounded similar to John Lennon and Paul McCartney and decided to make the single focus on The Beatles. The original version was a nine minute forty-five second 12" mix, then a 45 version was also released and the Beatles medley was later extended to a full sixteen-minute album side and appeared on the Stars on 45's first full-length release, Long Play Album (US title: Stars on Long Play, UK title: Stars on 45 - The Album).

The song was also a huge success in the UK where it kicked off a craze for medleys, with a large number of records in the Stars on 45 mold reaching the UK Top 40 in 1981.

Songs 1981 version

• "Venus" is the 1970 Shocking Blue song, written by the band's Robbie van Leeuwen and later covered by Bananarama.
• "Sugar Sugar" was originally recorded by The Archies (written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim).
• The next eight songs are Beatles songs (written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).
• The finale, "Stars on 45", was from the flip side of the single.

The album version of the song moved "Venus" and "Sugar Sugar" to Side Two into a different medley, and added several more Beatles songs as well as a 32 second instrumental extract from George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and even a fleeting reference to new wave band The Sparks for a total length of about fifteen minutes. The album version was also released as "Long Play Album"; a detailed listing of the source material can be found there.

"Stars on 45 Medley 2"

The success of the single in North America even resulted in Radio Records rush-releasing a second single for the US market. The last four minutes of the album version of the Beatles medley ("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"/"I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"Stars On 45") was released under the title "Stars On 45 Medley 2" but peaked at #67 on Billboard's Hot 100. The second Beatles medley single was not released in either the Netherlands, the UK or any other parts of the world.

1989 Remix

The Beatles medley was remixed and re-released in a house music version in Europe in 1989 under the title "Stars on '89 Remix", then featuring an alternate selection of Beatles tracks taken from the album version of the medley, coupled with a new "Stars on 45" theme called "Rock the House". The single was remixed and reproduced by Danny van Passel and Rutti Kroese and released on the Red Bullet label as a 7", 12" and CD single, all formats backed with an extended version of the "Rock the House" theme.

Track listing 1981 7" single

Side A

"Stars on 45" (Medley - 7" Mix) - 4:48 (US: - 4:05)

• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser - omitted on the US version)
• "Venus" (van Leeuwen)
• "Sugar, Sugar" (Kim, Barry)
• "No Reply" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I'll Be Back" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Drive My Car" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Nowhere Man" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser)
• Includes uncredited musical references to The Sparks' "Beat the Clock"

Side B

"Stars on 45" (Theme - 7" Mix) (Eggermont, Duiser) - 3:30

• Includes uncredited musical references to Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown" and The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star"´

Track listing 1981 12" single

Side A

"Stars on 45" (Medley - 12" Mix) - 9:45 (US: - 10:15, West Germany: - 11:30)

• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser)
• "Boogie Nights" (Temperton)
• "Funkytown" (Greenberg)
• "Video Killed the Radio Star" (Horn, Downes, Wooley)
• "Venus" (van Leeuwen)
• "Sugar, Sugar" (Kim, Barry)
• "No Reply" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I'll Be Back" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Drive My Car" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Nowhere Man" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Cathy's Clown" (Everly, Everly)
• "Only the Lonely" (Orbison, Melson)
• "Lady Bump" (Levay, Kunze)
• "Jimmy Mack" (Holland, Dozier, Holland)
• "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling" (Cook, Greenaway, Instone)
• "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (Vance, Pockriss)
• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser)
• Includes uncredited musical references to Sparks' "Beat the Clock", Ritz's "I Wanna Get With You", and The S.O.S. Band's "Take Your Time (Do It Right)"

Side B

"Stars on 45" (Theme - 12" Mix) (Eggermont, Duiser) - 6:18

• Includes uncredited musical references to Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown" and The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star"

Track listings "Stars on '89 Remix"

Radio version - 4:01

• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Nowhere Man" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "No Reply" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "Taxman" (Harrison)
• "Ticket to Ride" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Drive My Car" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)

Extended version - 6:17

• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "Stars on 45" (Eggermont, Duiser)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "A Hard Day's Night" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Please Please Me" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "From Me to You" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Ticket to Ride" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Drive My Car" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Do You Want to Know a Secret" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "I Should Have Known Better" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "Nowhere Man" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "No Reply" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "Taxman" (Harrison)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)
• "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (Lennon, McCartney)
• "Rock the House" (van Passel, van Passel, Kroese)

Chart peaks 1981 version

Sources and external links

• All Music biography and discography
• Discogs.com biography and discography
• Rateyourmusic.com biography and discography
• The Dutch Stars on 45 fansite
• Top4000.nl
• UK Top 40
• Irish Charts.ie
• AustrianCharts.at
• Hitparade.ch, Switzerland
• NorwegianCharts.com
• SwedishCharts.com
• West German charts

References

• Bronson, Fred. The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. New York. Billboard Books, 2003. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6