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.

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