The Stargazers Broken Wings (CD)

(Hallmark Music) 22 tracks

The Stargazers were formed in 1949 and became Britain's most popular singing group in the early 1950s. The original lineup consisted of Dick James, Cliff Adams, Marie Benson, Fred Datchler and Ronnie Milne. They first gained attention on radio programs such as The Derek Roy Show and The Family Hour, and later on Top Score, the Goon Show and Take It From Here. Toward the end of 1949, the Stargazers began recording and working for various labels, including Decca Records, HMV Records, Columbia Records and Polygon, supporting artists such as Steve Conway and Benny Lee, and later Dennis Lotis and Jimmy Young. Their own releases included "Me And My Imagination," "Red Silken Stockings," "A-Round The Corner" and "Sugarbush." In April 1953, they became the first British band to reach #1 on the New Musical Express chart with "Broken Wings." Almost a year later, they reached the top spot again with Meredith Willson's "I See The Moon." Into the late 1950s, they recorded more titles, reaching the British charts with "The Happy Wanderer," "Somebody," "The Finger Of Suspicion" (with Dickie Valentine), "The Crazy Otto Rag," "Close The Door," "Twenty Tiny Fingers," and "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)."
They worked steadily on the radio, and their own radio series, The Stargazers' Music Shop, opened on Radio Luxembourg in 1952 and moved to the BBC almost five years later. The group also had a regular slot on the BBC's Band Show with Cyril Stapleton and toured the British variety circuit. The first permanent personnel change took place in 1953, when David Carey replaced Ronnie Milne. Milne emigrated to Canada and took a position with the Canadian Army, where he trained young musicians. Two years later the group performed at the Royal Variety Performance, and that same year Eula Parker replaced fellow Australian Marie Benson, who pursued a solo career and received a two-year contract with Philips Records. Parker herself was later replaced by June Marlow. Dick James, the original leader of the Stargazers, was replaced by Bob Brown and had solo hits with "Robin Hood" and "Garden Of Eden" before becoming a successful music publisher and owner of DJM Records. Cliff Adams founded the Sing Something Simple radio show in 1959, to which he and his Singers have remained loyal to this day. Fred Datchler became a member of the Polka Dots, a singing group that bore some resemblance to the Hi-Lo's. Datchler's son Clark was a member of the pop band Johnny Hates Jazz in the 1980s. The Stargazers have nothing to do with the '80s vocal group of the same name that recorded Back In Orbit! on Ace Records in 1991.