Songoftheday - Baby, everything is alright....

Stars on 45 - "Stars On 45 III (A Tribute To Stevie Wonder)"

from the album Stars On Long Play III (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (two weeks)

weeks in the top-40: 5

Today's Song of the Day is by the Dutch tribute act Stars On 45, who had a left-field #1 hit in 1981 with their "Medley" of mostly 60's and Beatles songs set to a drum track. Co-opted from a bootleg release that mixed the original songs, the medley was recreated using studio soundalike singers like Bas Muys and Hans Vermeulen. That same years two follow up medleys ("Medley II" and "More Stars") were released, but missed the top 40 in the US but were still selling like hotcakes in Europe, and inspired a string of medley's like the Beatles' Movie Medley (posted earlier), the top-20 Beach Boys Medley, Meco's "Pop Goes The Movies", and the "Hooked On"... series.

In 1982, Star On released their third album, with a medley of Rolling Stones' covers on the A-side, and a flipside of Stevie Wonder songs. Recruited to impersonate Stevie was Curaçaoan R&B singer Tony Sherman, and he sounds remarkably like the legend. The songs covered on the full album version were:

"Up-Tight (Everything's Alright)"
"My Cherie Amour"
"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday"
"Master Blaster (Jammin')"
"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life"
"Isn't She Lovely"
Stars On theme
"Sir Duke"
"I Wish"
"I Was Made To Love Her"
"For Once In My Life"
"Superstition"
"Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing"
"A Place In The Sun"
and "Fingertips".

The 7" single and radio version cropped out "Don't You Worry..." and "Place In The Sun"...

Not bad. In Europe, this was released as "Stars On Stevie", and made the top-10 in Holland and top-20 in the UK. In the US, it would be their last Hot 100 hit, though they came close with a medley of Andrews Sisters songs a year later.

Up tomorrow: a Canadian guitarist's "fantasy"...