The Stargazers (vocal ensemble)

The Stargazers were a British vocal group, jointly founded in 1949 by Cliff Adams and Ronnie Milne.^[1] Other original members were Marie Benson, Fred Datchler and Dick James.^[1]

Very shortly after the group made their first broadcasts with BBC Radio on such programmes as Workers' Playtime and The Goon Show, Dick James decided to resume his career as a solo vocalist, left the group, and was replaced by Bob Brown. Ronnie Milne took care of the musical arranging, while Cliff Adams became their manager, in addition to contributing scores for the group. In September 1953, Milne left the Stargazers to emigrate to Canada, and was replaced in the group by Dave Carey. The group served as backing vocalists for Petula Clark on her first recordings.^[1]

Recording for Decca, The Stargazers enjoyed considerable commercial success during the 1950s, including two United Kingdom number one hit singles on their own, "Broken Wings",^[1] which was the first recording by a native British act to top the UK Singles Chart (all previous number one singles were by American artists),^[2] and "I See the Moon", along with a third number one hit with Dickie Valentine on "The Finger of Suspicion", and were much in demand for back-up work and broadcast work.^[1][3]

In 1954, The Stargazers recorded "The Happy Wanderer" by F.W. Möller with Syd Dean and His Band, which reached number 12 in April of that year.^[1][4] Other UK chart hits included "Close the Door" (by Fred Ebb and Paul Klein), which reached number 6 in September 1955, and "Twenty Tiny Fingers", which reached number 4 in November 1955.^[3] They were voted "most popular vocal group" by readers of the New Musical Express for five years running.

Stargazers' member Fred Datchler went on to form the Polkadots, who enjoyed success in their own right.^[1] Beyond their own hit singles and albums, which included a cover version of "April in Paris", the group recorded extensively with Jo Stafford, Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra. One of Datchler's sons is Clark Datchler of Johnny Hates Jazz.^[1]

• Eula Parker (born 9 May 1923 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia) died in Worthing, Sussex on 31 December 1985, aged 62.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}
• Dick James (born 12 December 1920 in London) died in London on 1 February 1986, aged 65.^[10]
• Fred Datchler (born 4 August 1921) died in 1998.
• Cliff Adams (born 21 August 1923 in Southwark) died on 22 October 2001 aged 78.^[11][12][13]
• Marie Benson (born 30 April 1926 or 1928 in Sydney, Australia) died in Australia in 2003.^[14][15]
• Ronnie Milne (born 11 April 1921 in Surrey) died in Ottawa, Canada on 9 February 2014, aged 92.
• Dave Carey (born 7 July 1925 in Warrington) died on 31 October 2015, aged 90.^[16][17]
• June Marlow (born 15 January 1931 in Plymouth) died in Plymouth on 22 February 2026, aged 95.^[18]
• Bob Brown was born in Sheffield in September 1918.^[19] His date of death is unknown.

• Presenting the Stargazers (Decca, 1954)
• South of the Border (Decca, 1959)
• Songs of Harry Lauder (with George Elrick) (London, 1960)
• The Very Best of the Stargazers (Universal/Spectrum, 1999)
• South of the Border and a Singles Compilation 1953–58 (Vocalion, 2003)

• List of artists under the Decca Records label
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart