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Star Guitar

{{Short description|2002 single by the Chemical Brothers}}

{{About|the record album|the electric guitar body style|star (guitar)|the horse|Star Guitar (horse)}}

{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Star Guitar

| cover = Star guitar.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = the Chemical Brothers

| album = Come with Us

| B-side = Base 6

| released = {{Start date|2002|1|14|df=yes}}

| recorded =

| studio = Miloco (South London, England)

| genre = Post-disco

| length =

  • 6:54 (original version)
  • 6:27 (album version)
  • 3:59 (radio edit)

| label =

| writer =

  • Tom Rowlands
  • Ed Simons

| producer = The Chemical Brothers

| prev_title = It Began in Afrika

| prev_year = 2001

| next_title = Come with Us

| next_title2 = The Test

| next_year = 2002

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|0S43IwBF0uM|"Star Guitar"}}}}

}}

"Star Guitar" is a song by English electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers, released as the second single from their fourth album, Come with Us (2002). It reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart, and number one on the UK Dance Chart. Critics generally liked the song.

Structure

"Star Guitar" is 127 beats per minute and in the key of F major.{{Cite web|date=25 July 2016|title=F Chord on Guitar: History, Relevance, Chord Shapes, Major Scale, & Songs in the Key of F|url=https://www.uberchord.com/blog/f-chord-on-guitar-chord-shapes-major-scale-songs-in-the-key-of-f/|access-date=2 October 2020|website=Uberchord App|language=en-US}} It contains a four measure-long acoustic guitar sample from the beginning of the David Bowie song, "Starman",{{Citation|title=David Bowie - Starman (Tab)|url=https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/david-bowie/starman-tabs-61224|language=en|access-date=2 October 2020}} hence the name, "Star Guitar". This sample is repeated throughout the majority of the track, with various musical elements playing over it as a main theme. The song also contains an electronic sample of "Fly to Venus" by Electronic System.{{Cite web|title=Shazam|url=https://www.shazam.com/gb/track/201233194/fly-to-venus|access-date=2 October 2020|website=Shazam}}

Music video

The music video, directed by Michel Gondry, features a continuous shot filmed from the window of a speeding train passing through towns and the countryside. However, the buildings and objects passing by appear exactly in time with the various musical elements of the song, including the beats. The video is based on DV footage Gondry shot while on vacation in France; the train ride between Nîmes and Valence was shot ten different times during the day to get different light gradients. The Pont du Robinet as well as Pierrelatte's station can be seen and the cities of Miramas and Avignon. Gondry had experimented with a different version of the same effect in his video for Daft Punk's "Around the World", where he had represented each element of the music with a dancer.

Gondry plotted out the synchronization of the song on graph paper before creating the video, eventually "modelling" the scenery with oranges, forks, tapes, books, glasses and tennis shoes.{{Cite web|title=making of Star Guitar| date=30 July 2008 |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=GF0-wGbRqEs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/GF0-wGbRqEs |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Reception

Upon the release of Come with Us, Nathan Rooney of Pitchfork, referring to its placement on the album, said the song was the "Chemical Brothers deviat[ing] from their role as Big Beat deities" and "it's slight, but not nearly as vapid as "Hoops," the song that follows it."{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1417-come-with-us/|title=The Chemical Brothers: Come with Us|website=Pitchfork }} Scott Plagenhoef, also of Pitchfork Media, originally said the track "doesn't leave much of an impression, but may as well be Beethoven's 9th next to the Richard Ashcroft collaboration "The Test".{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1413-singles-93-03/|title = The Chemical Brothers: Singles 93-03| website=Pitchfork }} However, he later changed his opinion, saying it is "a fantastic track I grossly underrated here at the time" and that it was among the "best of the group's work [in the 2000s]".{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12170-brotherhood/|title=The Chemical Brothers: Brotherhood|website=Pitchfork }}

After noting the album is "steeped in retro-synth glory", Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine said "Star Guitar" is "a crisp post-disco work-out featuring bristling guitars and a Giorgio Moroder-style synth-bass.{{cite web|first= Sal |last= Cinquemani |title= The Chemical Brothers – Come with Us |work= Slant Magazine |date= 27 January 2002 |accessdate= 26 October 2014 |url= http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-chemical-brothers-come-with-us}} Pat Blashall of Rolling Stone referred to the song as "slowly blooming", positively noting that within the track, "a dreamy melody hatches from an array of Ritalin beats, is evidence of a band that is increasingly drawn to disorientingly lush tunes rather than to mere adrenaline anthems."{{cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/149849/come_with_us |title=Come with Us : The Chemical Brothers : Review : Rolling Stone |website=www.rollingstone.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002075044/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/149849/come_with_us |archive-date=2 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}

In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song at number 23 in their list of the "100 Greatest Dance Songs",{{Cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/100-greatest-dance-songs/P8|title = The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time|website = Slant Magazine|date = 15 June 2020}} and, in 2010, ranked it at number 32 in their list of "The 250 Best Singles of the 2000s".{{Cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/best-of-the-aughts-singles|title=The 100 Best Singles of the Aughts|website=Slant Magazine|date=25 January 2010}} In 2009, Pitchfork ranked the song at number 398 in their list of The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.{{Cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/|title=The 200 Best Songs of the 2000s|website=Pitchfork }} Fatboy Slim revealed in 2012 that he had been asked to remix the song upon its release, but turned down the offer owing to his opinion that the song could not be improved.Fatboy Slim's Big Beats Boutique, MTV Dance special

Track listings

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

UK and Australian CD single; US 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=UK & Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=CHEMSD14, 7243 5 46169 2 1}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=US 12-inch single sleeve|publisher=Astralwerks|id=ASW 38812, 724383881215}}

  1. "Star Guitar" (edit)
  2. "Base 6"
  3. "Star Guitar" (Pete Heller's expanded mix)

UK 12-inch single{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=UK 12-inch single sleeve|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=CHEMST14, 7243 5 46169 6 9}}

:A. "Star Guitar"

:B. "Star Guitar" (Pete Heller's expanded mix)

UK DVD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=UK DVD single liner notes|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=CHEMSDVD14, 7243 4 92684 9 4}}

  1. "Star Guitar" (video)
  2. "Star Guitar" (audio)
  3. "Star Guitar" (Pete Heller's 303 dub audio)

{{col-2}}

European CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=European CD single liner notes|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=CHEMSDE14, 7243 5 46202 2 5}}

  1. "Star Guitar" (edit)
  2. "Base 6"

US, Canadian, and Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=US & Canadian CD single liner notes|publisher=Astralwerks|id=ASW 38812, 724383881222}}{{cite AV media notes|title=Star Guitar|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=VJCP-12153, 7243 5 46169 2 1}}

  1. "Star Guitar" (edit)
  2. "Star Guitar"
  3. "Star Guitar" (Pete Heller's expanded mix)
  4. "Star Guitar" (Pete Heller's 303 dub)
  5. "Base 6"

{{col-end}}

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Come with Us album booklet.{{cite AV media notes|title=Come with Us|title-link=Come with Us|others=The Chemical Brothers|year=2002|type=UK CD album booklet|publisher=Freestyle Dust, Virgin Records|id=XDUSTCD5, 7243 8 11682 2 6}}

Studios

  • Recorded at Miloco Studios (South London, England)
  • Edited in the Miloco Studios basement
  • Mastered at The Exchange (London, England)

Personnel

{{div col}}

  • The Chemical Brothers – production
  • Tom Rowlands – writing
  • Ed Simons – writing
  • Steve Dub – engineering
  • Greg Fleming – assistant engineering
  • Cheeky Paul – editing
  • Mike Marsh – mastering

{{div col end}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (2002)

!Peak
position

{{single chart|Australiapandora|52|url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020220130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020221-0000/www.aria.com.au/Issue621.pdf|urltitle=Issue 621|rowheader=true|access-date=22 September 2020}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{single chart|Flanders Tip|8|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Wallonia Tip|10|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Flanders Dance|19|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=22 September 2020}}
scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-chemical-brothers/chart-history/cns/|title=The Chemical Brothers Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=3 June 2019}}

|3

scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2002/MM-2002-02-02.pdf|title=Eurochart Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=20|issue=6|page=9|date=2 February 2002|access-date=28 June 2020}}

|37

{{single chart|Finland|15|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Germany|98|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|songid=5034|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Ireland2|10|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 January 2020}}
scope="row"|Ireland Dance (IRMA){{cite web|url=https://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p%2Fmusicvideo%2Fmusic%2Farchive%2Findex_test.jsp&ct=240004&arch=t&lyr=2002&year=2002&week=3|title=Top 10 Dance Singles, Week Ending 17 January 2002|publisher=GfK Chart-Track|access-date=3 June 2019}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}

|1

{{single chart|Italy|22|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Dutch100|76|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|New Zealand|49|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Scotland|8|date=20020126|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Spain|1|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Sweden|42|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Switzerland|73|artist=The Chemical Brothers|song=Star Guitar|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|UK|8|date=20020126|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|UKdance|1|date=20020126|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Billboarddanceclubplay|2|artist=The Chemical Brothers|rowheader=true|access-date=27 April 2018}}
{{single chart|Billboarddancesales|2|artist=The Chemical Brothers|rowheader=true|access-date=14 December 2021}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (2002)

!Position

scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan){{cite web|url=http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_singles.html|title=Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002|publisher=Jam!|date=14 January 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040906184715/http://www.jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2002_singles.html|archive-date=6 September 2004|access-date=22 March 2022}}

|76

scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC){{cite web|url=http://www.ukchartsplus.co.uk/ChartsPlusYE2002.pdf|title=The Official UK Singles Chart 2002|work=UKChartsPlus|access-date=3 June 2019}}

|194

{{col-end}}

Release history

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! Region

! Release date

! Format(s)

! Label(s)

! Catalogue

! {{abbr|Ref(s).|Reference(s)}}

scope="row" rowspan="3"| United Kingdom

| rowspan="4"| 14 January 2002

| CD

| rowspan="4"| {{hlist|Freestyle Dust|Virgin}}

| CHEMSD14

| align="center" rowspan="3"|{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/00s/2002/MM-2002-01-26.pdf|title=Airborne|last=Hubner|first=Miriam|magazine=Music & Media|volume=20|issue=5|page=30|date=26 January 2002|access-date=23 October 2020}}{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2002/Music-Week-2002-01-12.pdf|title=New Releases – For Week Starting January 14, 2001: Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=25|date=12 January 2002|access-date=21 August 2021}}

12-inch vinyl

| CHEMST14

DVD

| CHEMSDVD14

scope="row"| Australia

| rowspan="3"| CD

| CHEMSD14

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/Issue620.pdf|title=The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 14/01/2002|publisher=ARIA|page=23|date=14 January 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020220130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020221-0000/www.aria.com.au/Issue620.pdf|archive-date=20 February 2002|access-date=26 April 2021}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

scope="row"| United States

| 15 January 2002

| Astralwerks

| ASW 38812

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=http://www.astralwerks.com/chemical/latest.html|title=Star Guitar Single|publisher=Astralwerks|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020206225851/http://www.astralwerks.com/chemical/latest.html|archive-date=6 February 2002|access-date=28 February 2025}}

scope="row"| Japan

| 17 January 2002

| Virgin

| VJCP-12153

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/international/release/200201/vjcp12153.htm|title=Star Guitar|publisher=Toshiba-EMI|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020210054543/http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/international/release/200201/vjcp12153.htm|archive-date=10 February 2002|access-date=26 August 2023}}

scope="row"| United States

| 29 January 2002

| 12-inch vinyl

| Astralwerks

| ASW 38812

| align="center"|

Cover versions

Japanese electro musician Shin'ichi Ōsawa released a cover of "Star Guitar" in 2008.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{The Chemical Brothers songs}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2002 singles

Category:2002 songs

Category:Animated music videos

Category:Astralwerks singles

Category:The Chemical Brothers songs

Category:Music videos directed by Michel Gondry

Category:Number-one singles in Spain

Category:Post-disco songs

Category:Songs written by Ed Simons

Category:Songs written by Tom Rowlands

Category:Virgin Records singles