Radio Stars | |
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 From the "Dirty Pictures" session | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | UK |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Years active | 1977–1979, 1982–present |
| Labels | Chiswick, Snat Records, Moonlight Records, Ace, Radiant Future |
| Members | Andy Ellison Martin Gordon Ian MacLeod Steve Parry |
| Past members | Chris Townson Jamie Crompton Trevor White Paul Simon |
| Website | martingordon.de/radio-stars/ |
Radio Stars were an English punk rock band formed in early 1977. They released two albums and had one UK Top 40 single. [1]
Radio Stars were formed by Sparks exile Martin Gordon [2] (bass, songwriter) and also included ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison and Ian MacLeod (guitar) in 1977, following the end of their under-achieving glam supergroup, Jet, the previous year. [3]
The band signed to Chiswick Records and released their debut single, "Dirty Pictures", in April 1977. [3] This was included on the Chiswick various artists sampler, Submarine Tracks & Fool's Gold (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume One) and was later covered by Germany's Die Toten Hosen on Learning English Lesson 1 which went gold in 1991. Later in 1977, "Dirty Pictures" appeared at number 26 in the NME's end-of-year critics' chart. In May 1977, the band both performed live for the first time [4] and recorded the first of three sessions for John Peel at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios. [5] Later adding Steve Parry on drums, the band's second release came in August. Playing "No Russians in Russia", the Radio Stars made their TV debut on Marc , Marc Bolan's show. [6] The track later appeared on the 1978 Chiswick sampler Long Shots, Dead Certs And Odds On Favourites (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume Two). The performance was subsequently included in Columbia's DVD release Marc, [7] featuring all six episodes of the Marc show.
In January 1978, the band entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, with "Nervous Wreck", backed with "Horrible Breath". The single charted for three weeks and peaked at No. 39 on 4 February. [8] [1] The band performed the song on BBC's Top of the Pops on 19 January 1978, with newsreader Kelly St John. [9] [10] The B-side, "Horrible Breath", was a song written by Marc Bolan from his time with John's Children. [11]
The debut album, Songs for Swinging Lovers, [3] named in reference to the Frank Sinatra album, appeared in December 1977. [3] The band toured with Eddie and the Hot Rods and Squeeze, and played the Reading Festival in 1978. The Radio Stars released their second album in 1978, entitled Holiday Album. [3] The album included their live favourite "Sex in Chains Blues", about the exploits of the so-called 'Mormon kidnapper' Joyce McKinney. The band undertook an extensive UK tour in 1978, which also featured Trevor White (a former member of Sparks) and Chris Gent (saxophone/backing vocals), but Gordon left soon after. [3] The second album flopped, effectively ending the band, although Ellison attempted to revive the band's name to little success in the 1980s and 1990s. [3]
The group's recordings have been anthologised three times; on 1982's Two Minutes Mr. Smith by the Moonlight record label – Electric Light Orchestra's Hugh McDowell guested on cello – on 1992's (band-approved) Somewhere There's a Place for Us on Ace Records. In 2017 a 4-CD box set containing all the band's recordings, including a handful of singles, B-sides, BBC radio sessions and broadcasts and a specially-recorded revision of one of their greatest tunes, nowdubbed 'The Beast of Ankara', was released by Cherry Red/Anagram Records under the title of Thinking Inside the Box.
A one-off London concert performance took place in March 2008 in support of their live album (recorded in 1977/78) Something for the Weekend, released by Radiant Future Records that same month. The band played the Rebellion all-dayer at the Kentish Town Forum on Saturday 13 December 2008, alongside The Damned, Johnny Moped and Penetration. Their concert on 22 January 2010 (at the 100 Club in London) reprised their earlier tours as special guests of Eddie & the Hotrods.
Their 1978 single "The Real Me" appeared in the 2020 TV version of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity (Season 1, episode 1). [12]
Listing of those various artist compilation albums mentioned in the text of the main article:
The Adverts were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 that existed until late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to achieve mainstream success in the UK; their 1977 single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached No. 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music described bassist and founding member Gaye Advert as the "first female punk star".
Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". It released some of the earliest records recorded by The Hammersmith Gorillas, The Count Bishops, Motörhead, Joe Strummer’s The 101ers, The Damned, Skrewdriver, Billy Bragg, Kirsty MacColl, and Shane MacGowan.
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