"Star" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

, released in May 1990 as the fourth European (and third American) single from the group's fourth studio album, ''

Wild! ''Wild!'' is the fourth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure. Released in October 1989, the album was produced by the band, along with Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders, and released by Mute Records in the UK and Sire Records in the U. ...

'' (1989). Described as a straightforward

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

track with

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

elements, it was written by group members

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

and Andy Bell. The lyrical content clearly referencing

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

; Erasure's own form of protest song. When released, the track was

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed slightly for radio, bringing acoustic

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

elements and various background vocal parts forward in the mix. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

John Maybury John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...

Critical reception

Steven McDonald from

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felt the song is "another one of those rip-roaring

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

compositions that's as much fun for the ears as it is for the feet". He described it as "stupendous". Bill Coleman from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' wrote, "Pop gem that should have kicked off campaign behind sorely overlooked ''

'' album is finally issued with club-ready remixes. He added, "Well-edited "Trafalmadore Mix" should satisfy

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-conscious jocks." Ian McCann from ''

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'' said, "With a bassline that sounds like it has just woken up with a hangover only to find that someone has been pouring Mescal on the cornflakes, the groove of 'Star' is delicious." Jaynie Senior from '' Number One'' remarked the "pure pop" of "Star". Christopher Smith from Talk About Pop Music stated that the song "returns us to more lively, energetic

as the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

comes in first then the song gathers pace with each successive verse and chorus." Troy J. Augusto from ''

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'' complimented it as "hook-filled".

Chart performance

"Star" became Erasure's 12th consecutive top-20 hit on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 11. It also peaked at number 33 in

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. In the United States, the song did not enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, although it became a popular club hit, climbing to number four on the ''Billboard''

Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart.

Music video

was produced to promote the single, directed by English filmmaker and artist

. It was later published on Erasure's official

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channel in September 2014. The video had generated more than five million views as of January 2023.

Track listings

* 7-inch and cassette single (MUTE111; CMUTE111) # "Star" # "Dreamlike State" * 12-inch single (12MUTE111) # "Star" (Trafalmadore mix) # "Star" (single mix) # "Dreamlike State" (The 12 Hour Technicolor mix) * Limited 12-inch single (L12MUTE111) # "Star" (Interstellar mix) # "Star" (Soul mix) # "Dreamlike State" (The 24 Hour Technicolor mix) * CD single (CDMUTE111) # "Star" (single mix) # "Dreamlike State" # "Star" (Trafalmadore mix) # "Star" (Soul mix) * US cassette single (Sire 9 19837-4) # "Star" # "Dreamlike State" * US CD maxi-single (21558-2) # "Star" (single mix) # "Star" (Trafalmadore mix) # "Star" (Interstellar mix) # "Dreamlike State" (The 24 Hour Technicolor mix) # "Star" (Soul mix) * Also released on 12-inch vinyl (Sire 92-15580) and cassette (Sire 21558-4), minus "Star" (single mix).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1989 songs 1990 singles Erasure songs Music videos directed by John Maybury Mute Records singles Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Gareth Jones Song recordings produced by Mark Saunders Songs written by Andy Bell (singer) Songs written by Vince Clarke