RADIO STARS – NERVOUS WRECK 12″ – Nr MINT UK PUNK 1977 CHISWICK

Radio Stars – Nervous Wreck
(Chiswick Records  1977  NST23)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– sticker discolouration mark top right corner, scratch mark on right near bottom and some discolouration marks on back cover

Radio Stars are an English New Wave group formed in early 1977. They released three albums and had one UK Top 40 single.

Radio Stars were formed by ex-John’s Children vocalist Andy Ellison, Sparks exile Martin Gordon (bass, songwriter), and Ian MacLeod (guitar) in 1977, following the end of their underachieving glam supergroup, Jet, the previous year.

The group signed to Chiswick Records and released their debut single in April 1977. “Dirty Pictures” was featured on the Chiswick various artists sampler Submarine Tracks & Fool’s Gold (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume One). Later that year, the same track came number 26 in the NME’s end-of-year critics’ chart. In May 1977, the band both performed live for the first time and recorded the first of three sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1. Later adding Steve Parry on drums, the band’s second release came in August. Playing “No Russians in Russia”, the Radio Stars made their TV debut on Marc, Marc Bolan’s show. The track later appeared on the 1978 Chiswick sampler Long Shots, Dead Certs And Odds On Favourites (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume Two). The performance was subsequently included in Columbia’s DVD release ‘Marc’, featuring all six episodes of the Marc Bolan show.

In October 1977, the band briefly entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. “Nervous Wreck” b/w “Horrible Breath” peaked at No. 39. The b-side, “Horrible Breath”, was a song written by Marc Bolan from his time with John’s Children.

The debut album, Songs for Swinging Lovers, named in reference to the Frank Sinatra album, finally appeared in December 1977. The band toured with Eddie and the Hot Rods and Squeeze, and played the Reading Festival in 1978. The Radio Stars released their second album in 1978, entitled Holiday Album. The band undertook an extensive UK tour in 1978, which also featured Trevor White (a member of both Sparks and Jet) and Chris Gent (saxophone/backing vocals), but Gordon left soon after. The second album flopped, effectively ending the band, although Ellison attempted to revive the band’s name to little success in the 1980s and 1990s.

The group’s recordings have been anthologised twice; firstly on 1982’s Two Minutes Mr. Smith by the Moonlight record label – Electric Light Orchestra’s Hugh McDowell guested on cello – and then on 1992’s (band-approved) Somewhere There’s a Place for Us on Ace Records.

A one-off London concert performance took place in March 2008 in support of their live album (recorded in 1977/78) Something for the Weekend, released by Radiant Future Records that same month. The band played the Rebellion all-dayer at the Kentish Town Forum on Saturday 13 December 2008 alongside the likes of The Damned, Johnny Moped and Penetration. They reprised their earlier tours with Eddie & the Hotrods as special guests of that band on January 22, 2010 at the 100 Club in London.

An official spokesperson indicates that “Radio Stars should not be confused with radio stars, namely stars that produce by means of chemical and electrical discharges, emissions of various radio frequencies, whether constant or pulsed. Radio Stars, no matter whether constant or pulsed, will under no circumstances produce discharges or emissions. Well, under no circumstances to which we can refer in polite company, at any rate”.

Credits