Venus Stars on 45

VENUS (Stars on 45) 
 
 
“Stars on 45”  is a song issued in January 1981 by the studio group Stars on 45.  Its official title in the US (as on the record and in Billboard) where it was credited to ‘Stars on 45’ was “Medley: Intro Venus / Sugar Sugar / No Reply / I’ll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want to Know a Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You’re Going to Lose That Girl / Stars on 45”.  It is (to date) the longest titled song to ever chart in Billboard, and is conveniently shortened to “Stars on 45 Medley”, or “‘Medley’ by Stars on 45”.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Everyone knows Shocking Blue’s big hit song “Venus”, a massive, worldwide Number One hit in 1970 and I believe the biggest-selling single ever by a Continental European band.  In 1986, “Venus” was Number One on the charts for a second time as performed by the British pop band Bananarama.  A third version of “Venus” by a Japanese singer named Hitomi came out in 2005; while not a hit song over here, her version was featured in commercials for the Gillette female razor line called Venus beginning in 2006 (it still is if I am not mistaken).  Finally, the curious band Stars on 45 (also from the Netherlands) had a Number One hit in 1981 consisting of a medley of Beatles songs.  The opening chords from Venus are played at or near the beginning of this song (often called “Stars on 45 Medley”); arguably, then, Venus made the top of the charts on three occasions – a feat no other song has ever achieved.   
 
(August 2012)
 
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Speaking of the Beatles, I mentioned Stars on 45 in passing in my last post, but they deserve more attention than that.  The “Stars on 45 Medley” (Beatles medley) that this Dutch band made into a Number One hit never got any respect, so you can imagine how their other albums were received.  
 
To begin with, there are other songs in the medley besides those by the Beatles.  I brought it up in the first place because the opening chords of the Shocking Blue hit Venus are given at or near the beginning of the song.
 
(September 2012)
 
Last edited: April 3, 2021