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Stars (Simply Red album)

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Stars
Studio album by
Simply Red
Released30 September 1991 (1991-09-30)
RecordedAugust 1990–June 1991
StudioCondulmer Studio, Venice, Italy
GenrePop, blue-eyed soul
Length41:17
LabelEastWest Records
ProducerStewart Levine
Simply Red chronology
A New Flame
(1989) 		Stars
(1991) 		The Montreux EP
(1992)
Singles from Stars
  1. "Something Got Me Started"
    Released: 9 September 1991
  2. "Stars"
    Released: 18 November 1991
  3. "For Your Babies"
    Released: 27 January 1992
  4. "Thrill Me"
    Released: 21 April 1992
  5. "Your Mirror"
    Released: 13 July 1992

Stars is the fourth album by British-based pop/soul/jazz band Simply Red, released on 30 September 1991.[1] Five singles were released from the album, including the UK top ten hits "Stars" and "For Your Babies". The album was a worldwide success, particularly in the band's home country where it has been certified twelve times platinum[2] and was the best-selling album of the year in the UK for both 1991 and 1992,[3][4] the first album to be the best-seller in two consecutive years since Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970–1971. As of April 2019 it is the 14th best-selling album of all time in the UK.[5]

The album was on the shortlist of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. In 2000 Q placed Stars at number 80 in its list of "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[6]

In 2000 it was voted number 258 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[7]

Composition and recording

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Recording for the album originally began in Paris in August 1990, but the initial sessions did not go well: the equipment in the studio did not live up to expectations, and with the Gulf War having just started and dominating television news reports, the band found the atmosphere in the bunker-like studios oppressive and not conducive to making music. The group moved to the more relaxed surroundings of Venice to resume recording in the Condulmer Studios.[8]

Simply Red's leader and singer Mick Hucknall had wanted the album to have a less electronic and more soulful sound than their previous work, and had recruited programmer Gota after hearing his work with Soul II Soul. Hucknall did not realise that Gota was also a drummer until he heard him jamming on the drum kit one evening in Venice, after which Gota also became the band's full-time drummer. The songs had been written over the previous year: "Something Got Me Started" and "Stars" had been written on the road during the group's previous tour. "Thrill Me" was based on a riff that McIntyre had come up with, while Hucknall described "Wonderland" as "probably the most political song I've written", documenting his dissatisfaction with the British Conservative government of the time.[9]

Artwork

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The album cover features a photograph of singer Hucknall in the Californian desert, wearing a Native American painted cloak that he had bought in Spain. Hucknall had insisted that in the shot he would be wearing the cloak and nothing else, displaying his bare legs. However, when photographer Zanna showed the photographs to EastWest Records, they were concerned that Hucknall's bare legs would offend sensibilities in the US, and Zanna had to digitally retouch the picture using a test photograph of her assistant's jeans-covered legs.[10]

Release

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Stars was released on 30 September 1991 and debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling around 150,000 copies in its first week.[11] After 12 months, the album had sold 2.4 million copies in the UK.[12]

Stars was re-issued in 2008 as a Collector's Edition 2CD with bonus DVD digipack.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Chicago Tribune[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[15]
NME4/10[16]
Q[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
Select2/5[19]
Smash Hits7/10[20]
Uncut[21]
Vox9/10[22]

The album received mixed reviews in the UK. The alternative music magazines were cool towards the record: in the NME Andrew Collins dismissed Stars as "an exercise in no-style over no-content" and "the sound of some technicians desperately fanning some smouldering ashes for people with central heating",[16] while in Select Graham Linehan disregarded the bulk of the album as "just Simply Red – uniquely anonymous and as flat as Iowa."[19] Caroline Sullivan simply stated in Melody Maker that "within his strictly-defined oeuvre – sleek, airbrushed music best described as soulette – [Hucknall]'s miles ahead of his competition ... Nor, on an objective level, can Stars be faulted ... This is a pleasant album, the sleeve is pretty, and now, at least, you've got a Christmas present for Gran."[23]

However, reviews from newspaper critics and other magazines were more positive. In The Guardian Adam Sweeting wrote that "the new songs sound relaxed, refreshed, and satisfyingly cohesive ... Easy to listen to but not easy listening, Stars keeps shining",[24] while The Independent's Andy Gill was similarly impressed, observing that "Hucknall's socialist soul-boy's conviction and his determination to write songs with stings in their tails place Simply Red several notches above the rest of the smooth soul genre ... And in simple evocations of love like 'Thrill Me' and 'For Your Babies', the spark of honesty sets them above the superficial, insincere protestations of love that dominate modern soul music."[25] In Q Ian Cranna hailed the album as "a long overdue change in musical direction, with Hucknall for the most part abandoning his undoubtedly sincere but inevitably fruitless attempts to re-create himself as a soul singer. Instead he's eased Simply Red down a couple of gears into a more relaxed and flowing style which owes as much towards current hip hop-inspired club rhythms as it does to old-style soul or funk." He ended his review by describing Stars as "Simply Red's most accessible and danceable work to date".[17] In the American press, the Chicago Tribune's Jan DeKnock said that Simply Red had moved "into a funkier groove that suits them well" on Stars,[14] while Entertainment Weekly's Dave DiMartino found that Hucknall's songwriting skills distinguished him from other "merely interpretive" singers;[15] a year after its release, Mark Coleman praised Stars in The Rolling Stone Album Guide as "a stripped-down set of originals, superbly sung without a trace of rootsy nostalgia or gross crossover ambition."[18]

In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Stars "Simply Red's best album since their debut. It's smoother and more polished than their previous work, yet Mick Hucknall is singing better than ever and his songwriting is improving ... Having absorbed his pop, soul, and reggae influences, Hucknall is now successfully writing songs in his own style, something that, with the exception of 'Holding Back the Years', he hadn't managed previously."[13]

The album was voted the second-worst record ever made in a 1998 Melody Maker poll of pop stars, DJs, and journalists.[26]

Track listing

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Original release

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All songs written and composed by Mick Hucknall, except where noted.

  1. "Something Got Me Started" (Hucknall, Fritz McIntyre) – 4:01
  2. "Stars" – 4:08
  3. "Thrill Me" (Hucknall, McIntyre) – 5:04
  4. "Your Mirror" – 3:59
  5. "She's Got It Bad" – 3:33
  6. "For Your Babies" – 4:17
  7. "Model" – 3:46
  8. "How Could I Fall" – 4:45
  9. "Freedom" – 3:52
  10. "Wonderland" – 3:49

2008 Collector's Edition bonus tracks

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Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales for Stars
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[60] 2× Platinum 140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[61] 2× Platinum 100,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[62] Platinum 250,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[63] Gold 50,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[64] Gold 34,401[64]
France (SNEP)[65] 2× Platinum 600,000*
Germany (BVMI)[66] 5× Gold 1,250,000^
Italy — 500,000[67]
Japan — 50,000[68]
Netherlands (NVPI)[69] 2× Platinum 200,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[70] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[71] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[72] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[2] 12× Platinum 3,450,000[73]
United States (RIAA)[75] Gold 579,000[74]
Summaries
Scandinavia — 150,000[68]
Worldwide — 9,000,000[74]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Simply Red – Stars (Advert)" (PDF). Music Week. 28 September 1991.
  2. ^ a b "British album certifications – Simply Red – Stars". British Phonographic Industry.
  3. ^ a b "1991 Top 100 Albums". Music Week. 11 January 1992. p. 21. ISSN 0144-5804.
  4. ^ a b "Year End Charts – Top Albums". Music Week. 16 January 1993. p. 10. ISSN 0144-5804.
  5. ^ Copsey, Rob (11 April 2019). "The best-selling albums of all time on the Official UK Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  6. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever!". Q (165). London, England: EMAP: 59–95. June 2000.
  7. ^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 2115. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  8. ^ Southall, Brian; Hucknall, Mick (2010). Simply Red: The Official Story. Carlton Books. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-84732-599-0.
  9. ^ Southall, Hucknall (2010). pp. 72–73.
  10. ^ Southall, Hucknall (2010). p. 80.
  11. ^ Jones, Alan (12 October 1991). "Chart Focus". Music Week. p. 15.
  12. ^ Jones, Paula (26 September 1992). "On View: Music Video Autumn Highlights". Music Week. p. 36.
  13. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Stars – Simply Red". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  14. ^ a b DeKnock, Jan (14 November 1991). "Simply Red: Stars (EastWest)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  15. ^ a b DiMartino, Dave (11 October 1991). "Stars". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  16. ^ a b Collins, Andrew (12 October 1991). "Simply Red: Stars". NME. p. 34.
  17. ^ a b Cranna, Ian (November 1991). "Simply Red: Stars". Q. No. 62. p. 131.
  18. ^ a b Coleman, Mark (1992). "Simply Red". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 639. ISBN 0-679-73729-4.
  19. ^ a b Linehan, Graham (November 1991). "Simply Red: Stars". Select. No. 17. p. 75.
  20. ^ Birkbeck, Polly (16–29 October 1991). "Simply Red: Stars (East West)". Smash Hits. Vol. 13, no. 20. p. 43.
  21. ^ "Simply Red: Stars". Uncut. p. 111. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  22. ^ Townsend, Martin (November 1991). "Red Stars at Night". Vox. No. 14. p. 82.
  23. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (12 October 1991). "Simply Red: Stars". Melody Maker. p. 38.
  24. ^ Sweeting, Adam (10 October 1991). "The Red flag keeps flying". The Guardian. London, England. p. 32.
  25. ^ Gill, Andy (3 October 1991). "Red all over and purple patches". The Independent. London, England. p. 22.
  26. ^ "Sgt Pepper scorned by new stars". BBC News. 9 December 1998. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  27. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Simply Red – Stars". Hung Medien.
  28. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Simply Red – Stars" (in German). Hung Medien.
  29. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe". Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 46. 16 November 1991. p. 29. OCLC 29800226.
  30. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1677". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  31. ^ a b c "Top 10 Sales in Europe". Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 12. 21 March 1992. p. 26. OCLC 29800226.
  32. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Simply Red – Stars" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  33. ^ "European Top 100 Albums". Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 15. 11 April 1992. p. 23. OCLC 29800226.
  34. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Simply Red". Sisältää hitin – Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish) (2nd ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 235. ISBN 978-952-7460-01-6.
  35. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Retrieved 20 March 2019. Select "SIMPLY RED" from the drop-down menu and click "OK".
  36. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Simply Red – Stars" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  37. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1992. 19. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  38. ^ "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). 25 October 1991. p. 34. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
  39. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 30 May 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Simply Red" in the "Artista" field, type "Stars" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
  40. ^ "Charts.nz – Simply Red – Stars". Hung Medien.
  41. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Simply Red – Stars". Hung Medien.
  42. ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe". Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 14. 4 April 1992. p. 14. OCLC 29800226.
  43. ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  44. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Simply Red – Stars". Hung Medien.
  45. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Simply Red – Stars". Hung Medien.
  46. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  47. ^ "Simply Red Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  48. ^ Kimberley, Christopher (2000). Zimbabwe Albums Chart Book: 1973–1998. Harare.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  49. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1991". austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  50. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1991" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  51. ^ "European Top 100 Albums – 1991". Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 51/52. 21 December 1991. p. 24. OCLC 29800226.
  52. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1991" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  53. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1991". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  54. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums for 1992". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  55. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1992". austriancharts.at (in German). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  56. ^ "1992 Year-End Sales Chart – Eurochart Top 100 Albums". Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 51/52. 19 December 1992. p. 17. OCLC 29800226.
  57. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1992" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  58. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1992". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  59. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992 – Alben". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  60. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1992 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  61. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Simply Red – Stars" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  62. ^ "Brazilian album certifications – Simply Red – Stars" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
  63. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Simply Red – Stars". Music Canada.
  64. ^ a b "Simply Red" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  65. ^ "French album certifications – Simply Red – Stars" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 19 November 2021. Select SIMPLY RED and click OK. 
  66. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Simply Red; 'Stars')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  67. ^ Startton, Sally (21 October 1995). "The Challenge of Marketing Post 'Stars'" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 11. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  68. ^ a b Meads, Jeff Clark (22 February 1992). "How Simply Red Simply Shoots For The 'Stars'" (PDF). Billboard. p. 12. Retrieved 3 January 2020 – via American Radio History.
  69. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Simply Red – Stars" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 9 July 2019. Enter Stars in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2005 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  70. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Simply Red – Stars". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  71. ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 933. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  72. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Stars')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  73. ^ Copsey, Rob (13 October 2018). "The UK's biggest studio albums of all time". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  74. ^ a b Sexton, Paul (16 September 1995). "Simply Red Comes Back to 'Life'". Billboard. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  75. ^ "American album certifications – Simply Red – Stars". Recording Industry Association of America.
[edit]
  • Albums at Simply Red official website
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