For a brief, glorious time it actually looked like a band named the Fabulous Poodles might make it big, as this pub rock outfit-turned-new wave jokers Stateside debut album, 1978 s 'Mirror Stars' (a compilation of their prior two British albums released in limited-edition pink vinyl), outsold both debut albums by the Jam and the Clash, and landed the Poodles tour dates with Tom Petty, Sha Na Na and the Ramones. We ve paired it with their last album, 1979 s 'Think Pink', which was similarly inspired but failed to ignite commercially. Think Kinks mixed with The Who plus some Bonzo Dog absurdity! Includes Mirror Star; Work Shy; Chicago Boxcar; Oh Cheryl; Toytown People; Mr. Mike; Roll Your Own; B Movies; Tit Photographer Blues; Cherchez La Femme; Man with Money (the Everly Bros. tune, also covered by the Who); Bionic Man; Any Port in a Storm; (Hollywood) Dragnet; Bike Blood; Cossack Cowboy; Anna Rexia; You Wouldn t Listen; Suicide Bridge; Pink City Twist, and Vampire Rock. Exclusively from our American Beat imprint!

User Reviews about Mirror Stars Think Pink

I have continually scoured the Internet looking for Mirror Stars. When this album came out, I could not stop playing it. I eventually found four or five songs off of bootlegs, but the sound quality was awful. This is one of those albums that has never gotten old. -- Finally, It's Here!

Great double CD set. Mirrow Star is the pick of the two, but the package is faultless. Great sense of fun in the lyrics, strong melody and quality musicianship combine to make a fabulous sound, with the use of some different instruments (violin) providing a point of difference on occassion. Today their contemporaries would include Fountains of Wayne, Bishop Allen and maybe even the Killers. -- Fabulous Power Pop

Had the album on vinyl, then a bootleg CD, glad to finally get and official release on CD. This is a great old fun album -- Great Old Album

Read the history of this group in the Amazon description. It pretty much tells the story. A great, irreverent, funny group of musicians who could turn out tunes with some killer hooks. Fun, catchy music. -- Great old group

This was one of the many bizarrely monikered bands to pop onto the scene in the late seventies, when it looked like new wave was really going to take over the world. The Fabulous Poodles even appeared on the brink of having an American hit with "Mirror Stars'" title track. They dropped into the world with bands like The Boomtown Rats, Jules and The Polar Bears and The Psychedelic Furs. I remember writing an article for my college newspaper at the time with the headline "Critter Rock." The Fabs were in the best of the bunch.

The "Mirror Stars" debut was less skinny-tie new wave than Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds pub rock. Older types would have even heard a distinct Brinsley Schwartz echo in songs like "Toytown People" or perk up when you heard the Everly Brothers cover on the second album, "Think Pink." The songs were clever and smart, more so than angry. Songs like "Cherchez le Femme" and "Hollywood Dragnet" belie a sense of humor that takes the songs close to dancehall territory.

Ultimately, the unfortunate band name and lack of a connecting single drove the band to obscurity in America but they did have a fling at UK stardom. (Hey, The Who's John Entwistle produced some of those early singles!) Their best work seemed to be willing to pick up the mantle of The Kinks, but the band ultimately called it quits in 1980. This is the first USA CD issue for most of these songs, so snap it up if you're one of those new wave obsessionist types (like me!). -- They all called him crazy, kid