i'm almost too ashamed to admit this, but i have become obsessed with stars on 45.
i have several of their medleys on my ipod, and each time one comes up on random shuffle i am absolutely giddy.
stars on 45, in case you blocked it out, was an evil invention of a dutch guy named jaap eggermont (formerly of golden earring, i just learned). he took a theme ("beatles", "stevie wonder", "abba", etc.) and layered a medley of songs on top of a relentless disco beat.
listening to them today, there is nothing particularly inventive about these songs, but back in 1981 (when the beatles medley went to #1) it was pretty revolutionary.
hearing this stuff makes me smile... the dumb-sounding disco beat, the --at times-- awkward transitions from song to song (which often simply consist of a foreign-sounding dude saying "one, two, three, four" during a two-bar bridge). they also tend to use a lot of ratchet sounds to cover up jarring transitions.
it's all so goofy. and i love it.
Posted by xta at August 23, 2005 02:53 PM | TrackBackWow - I haven't thought of those in years! And I thought there was only one.
There was also a novelty single about Jaws, that I tend to lump in, since that was also a cut-and-paste kind of a deal.
Posted by: pinky at August 23, 2005 03:05 PMYa gotta have SOME guilty pleasures on the iPod, or the shuffle mode wouldn't be any fun. Those Spanish-language ABBA songs on mine ("Dame, Dame, Dame, amor esta noche...")...um, maybe they're helping me learn Spanish (with a Swedish accent)? They're educational. And your Stars on 45? Historical, of course!
Posted by: Penny at August 23, 2005 05:29 PMOh my. I remember the one that was "Hooked on Classics" (I think this is the same thing) and the one with the medley of Star Wars stuff (with the unforgettable R2D2 scream and the disco beat/Darth Vader breathing ending). Those were awesome. It's like we didn't have time to listen to all the good stuff out there so they gave us the whole thing in one three-minute package!
Posted by: Susan at August 24, 2005 09:00 AMOn the new Orange Juice CD there is a hilarious track, Blokes on 45 (complete with cheesey disco beat). I'll email it to you!
Posted by: Marianne at August 24, 2005 05:05 PMHey, that's funny. I just stumbled in here for the very first time and read some reference to the Netherlands. I am actually from the Netherlands and do remember the stars on 45 craze fondly (even though I was only in my teens then).
Posted by: Angelique at September 2, 2005 03:47 AMThat stuff has been stuck in my head for years...almost went phsyco.
Posted by: sinkodamino at December 14, 2005 10:31 PM