About
Adelaide band The Stars first came to prominence with Quick on the Draw produced by Beeb Birtles in 1976. Beeb along with rest of Little River Band were impressed with the Adelaide band and brought tapes back to Melbourne where they scored a contract with Mushroom records. The band sported a “cowboy” look wearing boots, checked shirts and cowboy hats. The band consisted of Mick Pealing (vocals), Mal Eastick (guitar), Glyn Dowling (drums) and Graham Thompson (bass).
After the success of their first single they added Andy Durant as a second guitarist. In 1977 they toured with Joe Cocker and in 1978, The Beach Boys and Linda Ronstadt.
Although not a teen band in the mould of Sherbet or Hush, The Stars appeared regularly on Countdown and scored a top 30 hit with the Andy Durant song “Mighty rock”.
Andy Durant died on 6 May 1980 aged 25. Later that year Stars guitarist Mal Eastick organised the Andrew Durant memorial concert in Melbourne. The concert featured Stars, Jimmy Barnes, Rene Geyer, Richard Clapton and many more. The profits from the concert and sale of the double album went to The Andrew Durant Cancer Research Centre.
from Countdown.com.au
Members
- Glyn Dowding – Drums
- Andrew Durant – Guitar
- Malcolm Eastick -Guitar
- Mick Elliot – Guitar
- J.J. Hackett – Drums
- Michael Hegerty – Bass
- Ian McDonald – Bass
- Roger McLachlan – Bass
- Mick Pealing – Vocals
- Graham Thompson- Bass
Recordings
- Paradise – 1978
- Land Of Fortune – 1979
- 1157 – 1980
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Why isn’t there any Stars CDs available besides the Andrew Durant concert ?
I don’t know Greg, you’d probably have to chase up the record company. It’s a familiar story. There are so many great Aussie albums that were originally on vinyl that have simply never made it to CD and have dissappeared. It’s sad really.
I know some bands are re-releasing their own old albums digitally but far too few.
can you give me a lead to where i can get the cd for the andrew durant memorial concert?
The Andy Durant memorial Concert is available on DVD. I purchased a copy at J.B. Hi Fi.
Hi Greg,
I Googled Stars and the results were 3 albums. Paradise, Land of Fortune and 1157 plus the Memorial Concert. I also recall seeing a “two albums on one disc” package some years ago and regret not purchasing it when i had the chance. Has anybody got a copy of this?
Paradise, Land of Fortune, 1157 and Andrew Durant memorial Concert were all released on CD in the early 90s – I have them all.
They were, however, an incredibly limited release and extremely difficult to find.
After 16 years of hunting, I finally scored my Land of Fortune last week.
And yes, the memorial concert has now been released on DVD, with a live Stars show as the bonus DVD.
The version of Rocky Mountain Way from the Paradise album (in a more complete form) has been released on the Nightmoves DVD.
cheers
Steve
I had a tape of ” Paradise ” many years ago , looked high and low trying to find a CD of it no luck as yet ,really good stuff on this. Found a clip on Utube of Broderick Smith & friends singing “Ocean Deep” at the memorial concert , just briliiant ,tears in me eyes .As soon as i,m near JB Hi fi im grabbing that DVD !!
Steve, I had “Paradise” on CD and I have the slick but ive lost the disc. I am prepared to pay for a burnt copy. Any chance?
Hey Glyn you loook hell cool bud…. Nah seriously you guys look like the beatles… Rock on.
Still reckon the ‘Stars’ version of ‘Rocky mountain way’ is the best I’ve ever heard
I have been trying to get the 3 albums for years with no luck at all.
Like Barry I would be prepared to part with some $’s to have them.
Same deal, tried digitising my albums to CDs but quality just not right.
Would sell my soul for copies of the 90′s cd releases. Even tried Mel Eastick & Mick Pealings Web sites to get info, but no replies.
If someone can help would be great!
If you have vinyl copies of the albums you can get them cleaned up and converted to CD at remasters.com.au…just had all mine done and a fantastic result, only $20 per LP
All of the Stars albums are available to download in FLAC (lossless format) at
http://www.demonoid.com
I had a chat with Mal Eastick at a gig a few years ago regarding the Stars albums. I can’t remember the detail but he cited the record company as being at fault and he wasn’t happy about the situation.
I’d like to buy (hope that’s not a dirty word any more…) the sheet music just for ‘Ocean Deep’.
Are there any decent online Aussie sites that sell sheet music, or are we still being ham-strung by retarded laws and ham-strung by ‘licensing’ being in the hands of ‘the few’ who couldn’t give a rat’s, like pretty much everything else?
HI there .I agree yes I agree with Mark Gibson comment about stars on cd
but really why don’t they release a best of stars on cd /over the years
I have looked so many times but no best of
just purchased the Andrew Durant Memorial Concert DVD – playing it for the first time tonight only to discover today is the 30th anniversary of the man’s death – May 6, 1980. I feel very honoured for the coincidence – May he rest in peace.
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