In the spring and well into the summer of 1981, Kim Carnes dominated the American charts with smash single, "Bette Davis Eyes." But for a single week in June 1981, Carnes' epic run was briefly interrupted by Stars on 45, a Dutch group that crashed the party with a wild disco remix of classic hits.
RELATED: May 1981: Kim Carnes Hits #1 with "Bette Davis Eyes"
The track in question was officially titled "Medley: Intro 'Venus' / Sugar Sugar / No Reply / I'll Be Back / Drive My Car / Do You Want to Know a Secret / We Can Work It Out / I Should Have Known Better / Nowhere Man / You're Going to Lose That Girl / Stars on 45." For brevity and sanity's sake, the tune was more popularly known as simply "Medley." It is (to date) the longest titled song to ever chart in Billboard.
The track's long and complicated history begins with Willem van Kooten, managing director of the Dutch publishing company Red Bullet Productions. In 1979, he was in a local record store when he heard a bootleg remix that incorporated a wide variety of music from throughout the years, including Shocking Blue's "Venus," the song's copyright belonging to Kooten. Tracking down the DJs responsible for the mix in Canada, he decided to craft an "official" version of the remix utilizing studio musicians playing the parts instead of using the actual music.
Whittled down from the 16-minute original to a more manageable radio edit heavy on Beatles hits, the song's popularity sent it around the world, hitting the charts in in the UK, where it peaked at #2. Released on Atlantic subsidiary Radio Records in America, the track flew up the charts to hit #1 for the week of June 20, 1980. This was after "Bette Davis Eyes" had been in the top spot for five straight weeks. Kim Carnes returned to #1 on the Hot 100 for the week of June 27, where it stayed for another another month.
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