THE STARGAZERS

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In the beginning...1981

THE STARGAZERS Drums

Ricky's distinctive drum kit

The Stargazers were born of an unlikely chain of chance meetings of like-minded individuals. Pete Davenport (lead guitar) and Ricky Lee Brawn (drums) may well argue whose idea it originally was, but there is at least no doubt that they were the original members, hatching the plot in Pete's bedroom (surrounded by his underpants, Rick remembers) sometime in August 1980.

Prior to this, Pete had played bass in a band called "The Rhythm Cats" who had some releases on the Mr C label. John Wallace was found in a loud suit at a Royalty all dayer on August bank holiday Monday in 1980. Ricky didn't know him from Adam, but went up to him and asked him if he played the saxophone.Of all the people Ricky could have posed that question to on that day, John was the right one. The answer was an emphatic "yes!". Anders, the bass player, was a friend of Pete's from Pinner Grammar School, while Danny Brittain (vocals) was found through audition, though he hated the band's Bill Haley style tendencies.

January 1981 was the first Stargazers gig, at the Jubilee Hall, Maldon, Essex, a gig which has gone down in history as one of the great rock 'n' roll gigs of all time. The Stargazers were simply light years ahead of any other band on the rock 'n' roll circuit, both in terms of musical ability and polish, and also in appearance and authenticity, with all their equipment being original 1950's style.

This picture shows the fresh faced and innocent band at the start of their adventure. (left to right) John Wallace, Ricky Lee Brawn, Danny Brittain, Pete Davenport, Anders Janes.

THE STARGAZERS 1982a

Groove Baby, Groove...1982

This record, the Groove Baby Groove EP, is now a rare collectors' item, though it is how many people first came to notice the Stargazers. They were already "big" on the Rock 'n' Roll circuit, prime exponents of "big beat" Rock 'n' Roll, with an unrivalled reputation for authentic appearance, sound and equipment, when Muff Winwood took the bold step of signing them to Epic records for a one LP, four singles deal. In January 1982, Groove crept into the British charts at no. 85. Next week it had climbed to 56, but the week after, slipped down again. This was sadly the best the band would achieve in chart terms in the UK.
The Stargazers worked hard and played hard. Their 18 months with Epic were packed with recordings, tours and gigs. The biggest public exposure came on two nationwide tours, one with Elton John and one with Shakin' Stevens. No-one admits to having nailed Shaky's Green Door shut on the last night of that tour, but we have our suspicions....

The illustration of the record sleeve shows the original Stargazers line up (left to right) John Wallace, Anders Janes, Ricky Lee Brawn, Danny Brittain, Pete Davenport.

Hey Marie....1982

THE STARGAZERS Marie

For their second EP, Muff chose a cover of Louis Prima's Hey Marie. Again, this disc is a collectors'item, particularly the 10 inch version illustrated here.

As Ricky wrote later, "we had mixed feelings about this decision beause our version of this song was only intended to be an experiment to see how close we could get to the Louis Prima version. Our preferred choice was "Swingin' Aye", but CBS didn't like it. We also wanted to release our version of "True Love" from the film High Society, but the song was shelved as a potential single due to the recent untimely death of Grace Kelly who appeared in the film"

Allegedly, the record did well in Holland, getting into the pop charts, but it failed to chart here in the UK.

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Pete Leaves the Band...1982

THE STARGAZERS 1982car

An enormous shock came in the Summer of 1982, when, at the height of the band's success, Pete suddenly walked out.

Mark Bremen was brought in as replacement, a fact emphasised by this photo which shows his head superimposed on Pete's body.
There had been so-called "artistic" differences between the band members which contributed to this happening.

There is only room for so many large personalities in a band like The Stargazers where everyone was contributing material and had their own ideas of the direction the band should be heading in.
A number of recordings with Pete at this time (a whole album's worth, in fact) remained unissued until they came out many years later on Rock That Boogie on Vinyl Japan Records.
Pete went on to form The Roofraisers, who had a couple of tracks out on the Northwood LP Big Noise from Northwood, and who included Chris Gardner, a later Stargazer, in their ranks.

THE STARGAZERS Pete2

This is a shot of Pete at the Roofraisers recording session
for Northwood Records at University of East Anglia in Norwich......

THE STARGAZERS Petefran

And one of him on stage with one of his heroes, Franny Beecher,
the Comets' lead guitar player.

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CBS Records 1982 - 1983

THE STARGAZERS Tossin

The Stargazers were an enormous success on the rock 'n' roll and jive circuit, but did not keep a major record company happy in terms of sales success. Nevertheless, they were one of only a handful of bands (which included The Jets and Matchbox) to have emerged from the rock 'n' r oll circuit to taste chart success.
The Stargazers were an enormous success on the rock 'n' roll and jive circuit, but did not keep a major record company happy in terms of sales success. Nevertheless, they were one of only a handful of bands (which included The Jets and Matchbox) to have emerged from the rock 'n' r oll circuit to taste chart success.

Tossin' 'n' Turnin' was engineered by Nicky Graham, and recorded in the Autumn of 1982, shortly after Pete had left the band. He was replaced by Mark Bremen on guitar, although the record sleeve illustrated here shows Pete on guitar.

This photograph came from a session photographed by Pete Ashworth. The dust sheet on which it was staged should have been airbrushed out of the production artwork but never was.

THE STARGAZERS Chickens

The final CBS single release was There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, a cover version of the popular Louis Jordan number.
This was a brilliant record which can still be heard on the rock 'n' roll dance circuit, but again, the band were not happy. Ricky was particularly annoyed that producer Nicky Graham had replaced him with synthesised drums, though a more objective assessment puts this track as one of the most danceable of the Stargazers' records.

It got into the lower reaches of the top hundred, but could not break through. One story involves the record being discounted from the charts as rigging was suspected when one of the band's relatives bought a large batch from one of the "chart" shops.

THE STARGAZERS Space

Watch this Space was issued towards the end of the band's time with CBS, in 1983. By this time the band was not enjoying a great deal of CBS's promotional budget, and the album today is a valuable collectors' item.
In fact, such is the demand for it that it has been issued as a pirate release in Europe.

The band did split up completely after being dropped by Epic in early 1983 after the flop of their fourth single, 'There Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens'. The 'farewell' gig at the Nottingham rock'n'roll all-dayer that summer was the final gig of that era of the band.

A new line up - 1988

1988 - Re-Launch

In the years following the break up the band in 1983, their were periodic Stargazers reunions involving some or all of the original member. Most of these were shortlived. However, the longest-lived incarnation of the band came in November 1988 when Pete and Ricky once again made contact. The original intention had been to re-unite the first band, but John Wallace and Anders Janes had to turn down the invitation. Anders, of course, at this time, was heavily involved with the legendary Chevalier Brothers.
The reunited band therefore contained some new Stargazers. Here is a picture of the band at this time, showing (left to right, top row) Chris Gardner , Pete Davenport, Danny Brittain , and Tim Purkess (left to right bottom row) Clive Osborne and Ricky Lee Brawn.

THE STARGAZERS 1989_1

This shot was taken shortly before Ricky left the band temporarily for treatment on his cancerous hip.
It shows (l to r) Clive, Dan, Pete, Tim, Rick, Sam Gardner (Chris's son), & Chris.
At this time Clive, Pete and Tim were parents too. Ricky has since had a daughter.

THE STARGAZERS Sam

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Back in Orbit - 1990

THE STARGAZERS Orbit

Most of Back in Orbit was recorded in a great hurry in early 1990, at Survival Studios in Acton. Ricky had recently been diagnosed as having cancer, and was undergoing chemo-therapy at the time. For this reason, the sessions were a terrific act of bravery on his part. The cancer was in one of his legs, and was believed to have been caused by a spectacular fall from the stage at the end of a performance with Clive's Jive Five at the Rockhouse Festival in Holland in September 1989.

The album included seven new original songs, and a vigorous re-working of Bill Haley's The Walking Beat. This track, along with (It's Only A) Paper Moon and Feeling Happy had been recorded the previous summer at Summertime Studios in Luton, engineered by Pete Gage. The album was released as Ace CDCH 312 in 1991 (and also on Vinyl).

Ricky then spent some time out of the band, during which period he was replaced by Gary Richardson. Gary had been with The Stargazers during an earlier revival of the band, c1986, but now re-joined for several months while Ricky underwent treatment and then surgery. Nearly 200 people crammed the Dublin Castle on 27th January 1990 to see the Stargazers at what many feared, but didn't want to believe, would be Rick's "last gig".

At the Dublin Castle 1989 - 1994

The Gazers appeared 28 times at the Dublin Castle between September 1989 and March 1994. This was the nearest they got to a residency.
They enjoyed the gig, at which they always got a good onstage sound and pulled a good crowd.
On one memorable occasion, Tim's car broke down on the way up from his farm in Wales, and Anders stood in at the last moment.
For the first time since 1983 (and so far the last time), the original Stargazers appeared on stage together.

Here are two shots of the band at The Castle, the first showing Pete, the second (left to right) Tim, Clive, Chris, Dan, Ricky, Pete.

THE STARGAZERS Pete1

Here's another shot,at a sound check at the Dublin Castle on 16th September 1989.
Left to right are Tim, Chris, John, Ricky, Dan, Clive & Pete.

THE STARGAZERS Dublin2

The Comets & The Jodimars - 1989

You may know that amongst other things, Chris is a world expert on Bill Haley. One of his contacts from the 1970's was a New York attorney by the name of Dave Hirschberg, another Haley fan who had come to meet a number of original members of the Comets. In 1987, The Comets had given a reunion performance at the Annual Philadelphia Music Awards, and were keen to start working again.
Chris sent Dave Hirschberg some Stargazers tapes to listen to, and the outcome was that when The Comets appeared at the Brean Sands Rock 'n' Roll Weekender in November 1989, Pete played steel guitar for the Comets, and Pete, Ricky and Chris appeared with the Jodimars.

In this shot are (left to right) Joey Ambrose, Chris, Marshall Lytle, Rick, Dick Richards and Pete, rehearsing for the show. "Man we sound like The Jodimars" was Marshall's joyful exclamation as the 3 Stargazers laid into the original Jodimars' material.

THE STARGAZERS Jods2

Left is the poster for a famous gig in Munich in 1991 when the Gazers supported the original Comets.
It was a great show. You cannot blow the Comets off stage, but the Stargazers must have come close that night.

THE STARGAZERS Munich91

The men in red - 1991

THE STARGAZERS 1991col

"Time to brighten our image" thought the Stargazers, and in June 1991 they emerged in bright red tuxedos made for them by Cherry Parker of Hollywood House.
Later that month the Gazers were to be heard on Mary Costello's show on GLR. "My life is flashing before me" exclaimed Mary as all six Stargazers piled in to the tiny studio.

Pete explained that Stargazers recordings were generally done in one take, everyone playing at the same time
. "You all talk at the same time, too" was Mary's rejoinder. Rick's attempt to describe the suits on radio was met with the classic put down, as she held her forefinger and thumb about a millimetre apart,
"Ricky, that's about that interesting!" Live in the studio, the boys put down Pete's Loretta, Danny's Dig That Rock '''n' Roll (both from Back in Orbit)True Love from the album Watch this Space, and Florida Twist, a song which the boys had been performing live for some time and which came from the improbable source of Bill Haley's Mexican "twist" recordings from the early 1960's.
Florida Twist had been a fairly major hit for Haley in South America in 1961.

This picture shows (clockwise from top left) Ricky, John, Pete, Danny, Tim, Chris, which was the classic Stargazers line up from 1989 to December 1993.

THE STARGAZERS Munich

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The Speaking Clock says......."Rock!"....1992

THE STARGAZERS Speak

Boz Boorer, of the Polecats, appeared backstage at a Stargazers gig at the Mean Fiddler sometime in 1992, with the news that he could put the band in touch with a promoter who would take them to Japan, and would release a new album on a Japanese label. The opportunity was simply too good to miss, and the boys camped out in a retired Church on the campus of the Open University in Milton Keynes to record their third album. The Church was chosen for its acoustics by Ricky, and featured a wonderful Yamaha grand piano which Chris used. The album is chiefly of covers, though it does feature a John Wallace original (Ladykiller), written in the style of British instrumental jazz of the late 1950's/early 1960's, and named after the famous British film of the time (The Ladykillers).

A new image tried by the band at this time, tartan shirts and jeans, caused trouble at a gig in Sandiacre, where it was taken by the audience to be "taking the piss", and led to a temporary and dramatic reduction in the Stargazers' bookings in the North of England.

The picture, taken at Pathway Studios in North London, shows (left to right) Tim, Rick, Chris, Danny, John and Pete, sporting the new image.

A surprise inclusion in the album was a guest appearance from Marshall Lylte, the original bass player from Bill Haley's Comets, who sang his own song Eat Your Heart Out, Annie, dubbed onto a backing track made by The Stargazers and flown out to the States.

Ricky and Marshall took their association further by creating a "Western Swing" outfit called Marshall and the Shooting Stars, and releasing an album Airmail Special on Vinyl Japan. The recording of the album was jointly financed by Marshall, Ricky and Chris, although Chris had to pull out as a performer at the rehearsal stage owing to family commitments.

THE STARGAZERS Marshall

The invisible threat from Uranus

The Stargazers unfinished film project originated during a trip by minibus from South to North Germany, during which the world record for "Uranus" jokes was set. The film plot, created by Danny, concerns a gang of invisible teddy boys from Uranus who land on Earth and cause untold havoc. Their presence is revealed only by a rancid combination of the smell of brylcreem and methane, unless they can hear rock 'n' roll music, in which case they become visible, cease to smell and because they start bopping madly and uncontrollably, they cease to be any kind of threat. In order to save the planet, The Stargazers, having long since been forgotten by the fickle record-buying public, are called out of retirement to play some Rock 'n' Roll. Of course they succeed in their task, the Teddy Boys become visible, and are so excited by The Stargazers that they take them back to Uranus where they carry on playing rock 'n' roll for the rest of their years..... Nice one Danny. It has not made it onto the big screen.......yet, but Danny would like it to be known that the completed screenplay is available from him, and that he's surprised that Stephen Spielberg has not been in contact yet.
Maybe he didn't have your e-mail address, Dan. [dan@pbgames.com]

Give Me That Jive

1994 saw the band taking a new direction.
In late 1993, they were hard at work on new material. Ricky, John, Pete and Dan had been turning out new songs regularly.
They were rehearsed and some of them were even gigged. A few tracks were laid down at a session at Pathway Studios towards the end of the year.
As regular Stargazers fans will know, the individual influences in the band could often pull in opposite directions.
There was a determination in these months to break through again, to get a new record deal and to start penetrating new markets.
In the midst of this turmoil, Ricky left the band, to be replaced by Gary Richardson.
The culmination was the recording of an album in February 1994, which was not released until 1999.

The sleeve notes by Mark Selby on the Give Me That Jive album pick up the story:

"The Stargazers are back! Or that's how it should have read.

But after laying down these formidable tracks, the band all went their separate ways...Compared with earlier Stargazers' recording, we feel a new sophistication, opening up new possibilities and opportunities. Perhaps this was the beginning of the end - leaving us wanting more, and assuring us that there certainly was more."

The band toured this (then unreleased) album in Germany in early 1994, but we would have to admit that through this period, with the absence of Ricky, and the change of direction, that the band was losing some of its traditional fans.

The album Give Me That Jive finally saw the light of day in 1999, and judging by the critical acclaim it has received, is considered to be one of the finest, if not the finest of the six Stargazers' albums to date.

Rock That Boogie...1994

The second trip to Japan came in December 1993.
This was to promote a newly released album on Vinyl Japan, JRCD 7,
Rock That Boogie.

This album contained 21 ultra rare tracks which pre dated the CBS recordings, which remained in The Stargazers' possession,
but had never been released by the band.
The album was eagerly snapped up by Stargazers' fans all over the world, and remains the strongest selling album on Vinyl Japan.
The first four tracks feature Anders on bass guitar and trumpet.

The photo above shows the band on the 1993 tour of Japan.
Left to right are Danny, Gary, Pete, John and Tim.
Chris couldn't make the trip, but the boys were joined by Marshall Lytle,
of the Comets, who guested on a few numbers.

"We had a ball, didn't we".

THE STARGAZERS Rockthat

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Go Go Honey...1994

The Stargazers were "big in Japan". This involved visiting Japan twice, in 1992 and 1993, and making a number of albums and an EP for Vinyl Japan Records. The EP was specially recorded by special demand from Japan, where the favourite Stargazers' track was Go Go Honey, a Pete Davenport original which had only been available on the long deleted Hey Marie EP on Epic. This specially re-recorded version featured a new line up of Danny, Chris, Pete, Tim, with Sean O'Keeffe on drums and Simon Gilby on sax, and appeared on the Go Go Honey 10" EP (Vinyl Japan JRT7)

THE STARGAZERS Gogoht4

Froffee Coffee...1996

THE STARGAZERS Froffee

The final phase of The Stargazers career to date began when first John and Gary, and then Pete, left the band in 1994. Good old "artistic differences" were to blame. This left an album of completely original material unreleased, and some new musicians had to be found.

The final Stargazers line up consisted of Danny (vocals), Chris (piano), Tim (double bass), with the addition of Jim Knowler (lead guitar) Sean O'Keeffee (drums) - both from The Keytones, and Simon "Flaming Peaches" Gilbey on sax. This aggregation produced the album Froffee Coffee (Vinyl Japan JRCD27), which was released in early 1997.

The album is one of the most adventurous musically, containing a Bernard Cribbins style comedy vocal based on a poem Dan found in a Motrobike Mag, as well as some stong new original songs by Danny (What's the Matter With Music Now?, Where Would We Be Tonight?) and a startingly original doo-wop version of Chuck Berry's Oh, Baby Doll. The album was recorded in a big warehouse night club on Greenham Common airbase, using Ricky's mobile valve recording studio.

Into a New Millenium

In the Autumn of 1999, Bluelight Records in Finland secured the rights to re-issue the entire Stargzers Epic output on CD.

This magnificent release, Groove Baby Groove, on Bluelight BLR 3369 2 brings together everything which Epic had released between 1981 and 1983, the classic "early period" in the band's history.

Using the latest SBM ("super bit mapping") technology, this release finally meant that Stargazers' fans in the 90s could enjoy these historic tracks. Supplemented with a fascinating booklet about the band's early years, written by drummer Ricky Lee Brawn, and many previously unseen photographs from the archives, this CD is a fine tribute to the band's achievements.

The cover picture features a 1948-1952 Austin Atlantic Convertible, with a 2.7 litre four cylinder engine.

The end of the century also coincides with new activity on the Stargazers' front. The band had been booked for an appearance in Germany on 24th June 1999. Watch this space whilst details are confirmed and we can bring you news of what the band's line up will be on this historic date.

Pete and Danny, meanwhile, have been working together on new songs.....

Sujet: Re: THE STARGAZERS Dim 07 Oct 2007, 23:25

Ahhhh ! que de beaux souvenirs avec eux !!!! Cela ne nous rajeunis pas ma brave dame !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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