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7" Track Listing:
Nick Robson (Vocals & Backing Vocals) Andrew Hale (Piano & Synths) Alex Godson (Piano & Synths) Simon Kunz (Drums and Percussion) Gary Numan (Fretless Bass, Synths & Linn Drum programming, Backing Vocals on 'Stars') Written and composed by Nicky Robson and Andrew Hale Produced by Gary Numan Recorded and mixed at Rock City Sound Studios Released on Scratch Records
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| Catalogue No | Format | Label | Date |
| SCR 006 | Acetate | Scratch Records | 1981 |
| SCR 006 | 7" Inch Single | Scratch Records | 1981 |
| SCRT 006 | 12" Inch Promotional Single | Scratch Records | 1981 |
| C56CD003 | CD Album | Originals | TBC |
| NEP 003 | 12" Inch Reissue | Neppa Records | 2020 |
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Credits - Nick Robson |
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Credits - Nick Robson |
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 Nick Robson recalls: Fame by David Bowie is one of my favourite songs, period. I was 18 when I wrote Stars and I wanted to write something that was my version of Fame and quite honestly, as a tribute to the song. If you listen to the bass lines, there is a hint of similarity in the two. Even the lyric of Stars has a passing reference to Fame. Stars was one of four songs recorded at Gary’s Rock City studio to supply the first two singles and form the basis of the first album. The other three tracks were Eye To Eye, Boys and She’s Like Ice. Although all four tracks were finished, for one reason or another, Boys never made it to pressing and I walked away from the business to pursue a career in film.  Stars itself, was the most arduous and problematic track that I’ve ever recorded. It took around 14 days to finally get an agreed mix when the budget probably only ran to three days. Part of the reason for this is the enormous quantity of music tracks recorded in the song. In those days, we only had 24 recordable tracks available on the Otari, so once you had recorded 23 or less actually, you had to bounce down sub-mixes to a single track to free up another batch of tracks. I think that there are around 46 tracks of instruments alone on Stars so although that kind of track usage is not uncommon now, back then it was rare. It remains the single most expensive song I ever recorded. The B-side Eye To Eye, on the other hand, was written, recorded and mixed in one day. Gary and I fell out more than once during the recording, which to be fair, is not an unusual situation when you are in a studio for 20 hours a day. It happens all the time. The thing about Gary though, that not many people seem to respect, is that he is a brilliant producer for other artists, never short of an idea for improvement. Stars saw an amazing change through his production and it is a shame that it didn’t do much chart-wise. 
Alternative Cover Artwork. The cover of the 7-inch version was also a little light-fingered in originality. I liked the Pleasure Principle cover and decided to do a similar, albeit plagiaristic style. The cover design was done by me although I’m not particularly proud of it. The single was also launched as a 12-inch which is actually how long the original recording ran. The 7-inch was just an early fade-out of the 12-inch recording. The 12-inch did particularly well in Japan, if I remember correctly but there was no picture cover for the 12-inch, just a black RCA cover. As for my band, they all did pretty well for themselves. My first drummer, Terry Lee Miall went off and joined Adam & The Ants as one of the two drummers in the band, Andrew Hale went off to join Sade as her keyboard player, Alex Godson joined Eighth Wonder with Patsy Kensit and Simon Kunz, who replaced Terry Lee, became an actor. In fact, I last saw Simon this year on DVD in a movie called Match Point. As well as helping Gary lug gear and set up at various London gigs prior to his Beggars Banquet deal, (there was one particularly good gig somewhere near Watford where Gary was sharing the bill with The Skids) I was lucky enough to attend many of Gary’s sessions from the first ‘blue’ album, through Replicas, Pleasure Principle, Telekon and many others but the funniest time I ever had in any studio was when Gary was recording an album at the same studio where I was doing Stars. One night, Gary started putting together a B-side for Music For Chameleons, and along with Tereza Bazaar and David Van Day, the session was also attended by Mick Karn, the bassist and saxophonist from the band Japan who was playing on the album. Mick is a very funny guy and he and I started to do a kind of black version of the song in the control room while Gary was singing a guide vocal. Gary saw us in hysterics through the glass and wondered what was going on. When we explained what we were doing, he decided that this was how the song should continue and so four or five of us ended up adding the ‘blacker’ vocal elements that are on the song. I can’t recall the song entirely, but I believe my line at the end of the song “Hey, where is this bridge anyway?” was how the song got the title, Bridge? What Bridge? Also in the same time period, Gary’s bassist, the late Paul Gardiner recorded his first and only single. I really like both tracks on this record and there were two interesting points for me. One was that Paul and Gary swapped roles whereby Gary played bass and Paul played guitar and the other was that Paul did a really cool vocal. I was surprised because anyone that ever knew Paul, would also know how incredibly quiet he was as a person so his voice was rarely heard. |
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Stars Stars don’t walk in streets Stars don’t move their feet, they’re stars When stars are all alone They wait by telephones for stars to ring So stars must look their best (And we take dreams to bed tonight) I’d say you’re just the same (And we take dreams to bed tonight) Gone, gone star Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, there they go They can’t be forgotten Stars can leave some lasting scars They are so exciting Stars are so derisive like you and me Mere men, we want to be (And we take dreams to bed tonight) So please, you’ve got to hear (And we take dreams to bed tonight) Gone, gone star Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, there they go Boys in American suits Drink soft drinks - whiskey? Dream about living with a blonde girl Talk about men, then you talk about gods Talk about men, then you talk about gods Stars don’t need an ID Stars meet up by proxy in Cars Stars don’t need to eat Stars don’t need to sleep So stars, they aim to please (And we take dreams to bed tonight) They change their lives for you (And we take dreams to bed tonight) Gone, gone star Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, here they come, here they come Stars, there they go Nick Robson ©1981 Reproduced by kind permission. |
Eye To Eye Only time can tell how long we will see eye to eye Make love in slow motion, make love in freeze frame We’re eye to eye Eye to eye, why do I? Why do I? Picture this, picture a thousand faces staring at you See their eyes, they’re watching, see their eyes, they see you Eye to eye Why do I? Why do I? Move these faces and move these bodies We are eye to eye Move these faces and move these bodies Picture, eye to eye Move these times, move these times See the clock cries “Morning” and we’re broken With their “eye to eye” Eye to eye Love is all motion Seeing we’re eye to eye Nick Robson ©1981 Reproduced by kind permission. |
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