Anyone here who know muich about Bas Muys? I think they're Bootleg but each time I listen to them, they sounded very much like the Beatles if indeed they're not.
@ ninejuicyjulius
Nice info. I was even too surprised to believe when Keith Moon (The Who) said he's favorite drummer is Ringo. They're just so amazing. They shaped the music of generations later
Bas Muys is a singer from The Netherlands. His voice sounds so uncannily like John Lennon. He recorded some albums in the 70s as a solo act (he once released an album that contains Beatles compositions not recorded by them - i.e. Bad To Me by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, A World Without Love by Peter & Gordon, etc..) and as the lead singer by the pop band Smyle (not to be confused with Smile - the band that came to be known as Queen in 1970).
In 1980, Jaap Eggermont, formerly of Golden Earring, heard a medley of Beatles tunes over an incessant disco drum beat. He also noticed that the medley has other songs preceding the Beatles tunes and heard Venus by Shocking Blue. He told his friend Willem Van Kooten to check the medley out and realized they did not give permission to the DJs who did the medley (Van Kooten owns the publushing and copyright to Venus). Realizing that it is a bootleg, they traced the origins of that Dub record and found out that it originated in Canada.
Because the medley is a hit in discos all around Holland, they decided to take matters into their own hands and do a legalized version of that same medley. Funny if you analyze now, they could have just sued the Canadian DJs and get away with a substantial amount - they did this all because of Venus. In all intents and purposes, Willem Van Kooten did a "bootleg of a bootleg". In order to make this a reality, he consulted again with Jaap Eggermont. Eggermont then contacted various session musicians in Holland to replicate the medley and make the contents sound as authentic as possible. To this he enlisted the following vocalist for the Beatles medley:
1. Paul McCartney - Hans Vermuelen
2. George Harrison - Okkie Huysdens
3. John Lennon -
Bas MuysIt was released by CNR Records in Holland late 1980. And it was an instant smash. It was regarded as one of the first disco records to be a certified worldwide smash after the Disco Backlash in late 1979 (triggered by The Knack's My Sharona and the onslaught of New Wave).
Came 1981 Atlantic Records released the medley in the US in its truncated version (only the first quarter of the medley was issued on the 7" version - so it contains No Reply to You're Going To Lose That Girl). Because of legalities encountered by Atlantic Records, they were forced to title the medley after
ALL THE SONGS CONTAINED IN IT. They then released it on their minor label Radio Records. The medley likewise became a smash therefore it owns the record of having the longest-titled number one single. The other parts of the medley was issued on another single but did not chart as well as the first one.
Now what am I talking about? This medley is so influential that it started a Medley Craze in the early 80s. Bands like the Beach Boys, The Carpenters, The Bee Gees, The Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones were all given a medley of their own hits done by session musicians and tribute bands. Even the Beatles did a medley themselves - albeit through the splicing of their own recordings by EMI engineers. Even then USSR permitted the official release of this medley - the very first time the Russian masses heard the music of the Beatles without the watchful eye of the KGB. Until this time, Beatles records are only sold on the Black Market in USSR and the cost of an LP is worth 2months salary of a common Russian worker.
Even better, to capitalize on the craze this medley brought about, several 60s bands reunited to do shows and festivals - the revival craze was on! It was called revival in the 80s, retro in the 90s.
So really what is this?
THE STARS ON 45 BEATLES MEDLEY!
The irony of this all is that since the phrase Stars On 45 was used only as a way to call this act, Jaap Eggermont forgot to copyright the phrase and therefore hundreds of bogus "stars on 45" medleys were issued everywhere in the 90s.
Sadly, the whole 15 medley has yet to be reissued on cd except by bootleggers.