Wanna Be a Star
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Wanna Be a Star is the ninth album by the Canadian rock band Chilliwack, released in 1981. At this point, the band had collapsed into a trio, without a full-time drummer, but leader Bill Henderson and guitarist/keyboardist/drummer Brian MacLeod had become a powerful songwriting team during the interim. The album track: "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)", became the group's first hit since the 1979 collapse of their former label Mushroom Records, reaching #1 in Canada and giving Chilliwack their U.S. Top 40 breakthrough peaking at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100: "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)" also gave Chilliwack their only evident chart item outside North America reaching #57 in Australia with a disproportionately long chart run of 28 weeks. The success of "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)" led to a touring version of Chilliwack re-forming. The album's second single: "I Believe", was also a Top 10 Canadian hit and returned Chilliwack to the U.S. Top 40 at #33.
Overall the album is something of a concept album about the "rock and roll" lifestyle and the pursuit of fame. The leadoff track "Sign Here" is a reference to Chilliwack's new quest for mainstream success, tempered by their brush with fame on Mushroom. This was the first album they recorded with Solid Gold Records in Canada, a new Toronto-based label.
Track listing
All songs written by Bill Henderson and Brian MacLeod except where listed.
- "Sign Here" (2:57)
- "So You Wanna Be a Star" (4:29)
- "Tell It to the Telephone" (Henderson) (3:14)
- "Too Many Enemies" (4:39)
- "Living In Stereo" (4:49) (Henderson)
- "Mr. Rock" (3:51) (Henderson)
- "My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)" (4:16)
- "(Don't Wanna) Live for a Living" (MacLeod) (3:22)
- "Walk On" (Henderson) (3:38)
- "I Believe" (Henderson) (3:57)
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