The Speaking Clock says......."Rock!"

Boz Boorer, of the Polecats, appeared backstage at a Stargazers gig at the Mean Fiddler sometime in 1992, with the news that he could put the band in touch with a promoter who would take them to Japan, and would release a new album on a Japanese label. The opportunity was simply too good to miss, and the boys camped out in a retired Church on the campus of the Open University in Milton Keynes to record their third album. The Church was chosen for its acoustics by Ricky, and featured a wonderful Yamaha grand piano which Chris used. The album is chiefly of covers, though it does feature a John Wallace original (Ladykiller), written in the style of British instrumental jazz of the late 1950's/early 1960's, and named after the famous British film of the time (The Ladykillers).

A new image tried by the band at this time, tartan shirts and jeans, caused trouble at a gig in Sandiacre, where it was taken by the audience to be "taking the piss", and led to a temporary and dramatic reduction in the Stargazers' bookings in the North of England.

The picture, taken at Pathway Studios in North London, shows (left to right) Tim, Rick, Chris, Danny, John and Pete, sporting the new image.

A surprise inclusion in the album was a guest appearance from Marshall Lylte, the original bass player from Bill Haley's Comets, who sang his own song Eat Your Heart Out, Annie, dubbed onto a backing track made by The Stargazers and flown out to the States.

Ricky and Marshall took their association further by creating a "Western Swing" outfit called Marshall and the Shooting Stars, and releasing an album Airmail Special on Vinyl Japan. The recording of the album was jointly financed by Marshall, Ricky and Chris, although Chris had to pull out as a performer at the rehearsal stage owing to family commitments.






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