Baby, the Stars Shine Bright (album)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
Studio album by Everything but the Girl
Released	25 August 1986 (1986-08-25)
Recorded	March–April 1986
Studio	Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Pop [1]
Label	Blanco y Negro
Producer	Everything but the Girl Mike Hedges
Everything but the Girl chronology
Love Not Money (1985) Baby, the Stars Shine Bright (1986) Idlewild (1988)
Singles from Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
"Come on Home" Released: 1986 "Don't Leave Me Behind" Released: 1986 "Cross My Heart" Released: 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork	7.2/10 [3]
Q	[4]
Record Mirror	3+1⁄2/5 [5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10 [7]
Uncut	5/10 [8]

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright is the third studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 25 August 1986 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album was reissued in 2012 as a remastered two-disc deluxe set by Edsel Records.

Background

Following the duo's distinctively "anti-rock" approach and their unwillingness to adopt a synthetic sounding production that was fashionable at the time, the album took its influence from 1960s orchestrated music and the singer Dusty Springfield. ^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Come on Home"	Tracey Thorn Ben Watt	3:21
2.	"Don't Leave Me Behind"	Thorn Watt	3:15
3.	"A Country Mile"	Thorn	3:04
4.	"Cross My Heart"	Thorn Watt	3:41
5.	"Don't Let the Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart"	Watt	3:21
6.	"Careless"	Watt	3:26
7.	"Sugar Finney"	Thorn Watt	3:34
8.	"Come Hell or High Water"	Thorn Watt	3:22
9.	"Fighting Talk"	Thorn Watt	3:20
10.	"Little Hitler"	Thorn	4:05

2012 Edsel Records reissue

Disc 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Come on Home" (extended mix)	Thorn Watt	4:12
2.	"Draining the Bar"	Thorn	2:08
3.	"I Fall to Pieces"	Hank Cochran Harlan Howard	2:43
4.	"Come on Home" (acoustic)	Thorn Watt	2:36
5.	"Alfie"	Burt Bacharach Hal David	2:50
6.	"Where's the Playground Susie?"	Jimmy Webb	2:30
7.	"Almost Blue"	Declan MacManus	3:20
8.	"Come on Home" (home demo, 1985)	Thorn Watt	3:06
9.	"Sugar Finney" (home demo, 1985)	Thorn Watt	3:21
10.	"Careless" (home demo, 1985)	Watt	3:18
11.	"Cross My Heart" (home demo, 1985)	Thorn Watt	2:48
12.	"Little Hitler" (home demo, 1985)	Thorn	4:09

Personnel

Everything but the Girl

• Tracey Thorn – vocals
• Ben Watt – guitar, orchestral arrangements

Additional musicians

• Micky Harris – bass
• Cara Tivey – organ, piano
• Rob Peters – drums
• Jeff Daly, Philip Todd, Peter King, Nigel Nash, Ray Swinfield – saxophone
• Alan Downey, Derek Watkins, Luke Tunney, Stuart Brooks – trumpet
• Andy Fawbert, Peter Thoms, Chris Pyne, Alan Hutt – trombone
• James Handy, John Pigneguy – French horn
• Gavyn Wright, Wilfred Gibson, John Willison, Richard Studt, Dave Woodcock, James Archer, Levine Andrade, Basil Smart, Bill Benham, Peter Oxer, Tim Good – violin
• Kenneth Essex, George Robertson, Cathy Stevens, David Emanuel, Roger Garland – viola
• Chris Green, Paul Kegg, Helen Liebmann, Clive Anstee – cello
• Clare Torry, Linda Allen, Bob Saker, Lance Ellington, Gary Taylor, Tony Burrows, Vicky Silva, Tessa Niles – backing vocals
• Steve Henderson, Joao Bosco De Oliveira, Frank Ricotti, Martin Ditcham – percussion
• Nick Ingman – conductor, director

Technical

• Caryn Gough – artwork
• Richard Haughton – photography

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [10]	30
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [11]	40
UK Albums (OCC) [12]	22

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [13]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Harvell, Jess (9 July 2012). "Eden / Love Not Money / Baby the Stars Shine Bright / Idlewild". Pitchfork . Retrieved 7 July 2025.
2. Ruhlmann, William. "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright – Everything But the Girl". AllMusic . Retrieved 30 November 2017.
3. Harvell, Jess (9 July 2012). "Everything But the Girl: Reissues". Pitchfork . Retrieved 24 July 2017.
4. Rogers, Jude (July 2012). "Everything but the Girl: Eden / Love Not Money / Baby, the Stars Shine Bright / Idlewild". Q . No. 312.
5. Strickland, Andy (30 August 1986). "Everything but the Girl: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright". Record Mirror . p. 12.
6. Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp.  288–289. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.
7. Crist, Renée (1995). "Everything but the Girl". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 136–137. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
8. Richards, Sam (July 2012). "Everything but the Girl". Uncut . No. 182. p. 98.
9. Wade, Ian (19 June 2012). "From Eden With Love: Everything But The Girl Interviewed". The Quietus .
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Everything but the Girl – Baby the Stars Shine" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
11. "Charts.nz – Everything but the Girl – Baby the Stars Shine". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
12. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
13. "British album certifications – Everything but the Girl – Baby, the Stars Shine Bright". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 25 March 2018.