Back in Orbit

Most of Back in Orbit was recorded in a great hurry in early 1990, at Survival Studios in Acton. Ricky had recently been diagnosed as having cancer, and was undergoing chemo-therapy at the time. For this reason, the sessions were a terrific act of bravery on his part. The cancer was in one of his legs, and was believed to have been caused by a spectacular fall from the stage at the end of a performance with Clive's Jive Five at the Rockhouse Festival in Holland in September 1989.

The album included seven new original songs, and a vigorous re-working of Bill Haley's The Walking Beat. This track, along with (It's Only A) Paper Moon and Feeling Happy had been recorded the previous summer at Summertime Studios in Luton, engineered by Pete Gage. The album was released as Ace CDCH 312 in 1991 (and also on Vinyl).

Ricky then spent some time out of the band, during which period he was replaced by Gary Richardson. Gary had been with The Stargazers during an earlier revival of the band, c1986, but now re-joined for several months while Ricky underwent treatment and then surgery. Nearly 200 people crammed the Dublin Castle on 27th January 1990 to see the Stargazers at what many feared, but didn't want to believe, would be Rick's "last gig".

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