Popular British group of the early fifties
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 03/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With two UK number one hits (Broken wings, I see the moon) and two other UK top ten hits (Close the door, Twenty tiny fingers) - and there would have been more had record sales charts started earlier in the UK - the Stargazers were very popular in the days prior to the rock'n'roll takeover of pop music. Apart from their own hits, they backed Dickie Valentine on Finger of suspicion (a number one UK hit) but you have to buy a Dickie Valentine compilation for that - it's not here.
The music is typical of the early fifties - easy listening with a few novelty songs. Most of the songs are of American origin, though Happy wanderer is a German song - it was a major UK hit for the Obernkirchen children's choir. The Stargazers couldn't compete with that although their version crept into the UK chart for one week while the original was in the charts for six months.
There are covers of four Guy Mitchell songs (Feet up, My truly truly fair, Look at that girl, Day of Jubilo) as well as covers of songs by Jo Stafford (A-round the corner), Rosemary Clooney (Mangos), Perry Como (Hot diggity) and Frankie Laine and Doris Day (Sugar bush).
The Stargazers eventually disbanded but two of their members went on to greater success. Cliff Adams became a radio broadcaster and also became leader of the Cliff Adams singers. Although they only had one minor UK hit, they were very popular for many years. Dick James had two UK top twenty hits of his own (Robin Hood, Garden of Eden) before becoming a successful music publisher. His company published Elton John's early classics.
This compilation is a reminder of how good the Stargazers were in the early fifties and it's not difficult to see why they were so popular."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1