[2] The US TV series Fame became an international success, most prominently in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, where the series debuted in June 1982 on BBC One and RTE One respectively, and achieved high ratings for both channels.

The first song from the series to be released in both countries, "Hi Fidelity", peaked at number five and number three on the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart respectively.

[3] Soon after, a second song "Starmaker" was released and became an even bigger success in the United Kingdom and Republic or Ireland than its predecessor, peaking at number three and number one on the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart respectively.

It remained on the UK Album Chart for 46 weeks and sold over a million copies - the biggest-selling album ever released by BBC Records (who had licensed the songs from RCA).

[5] The album was also a top 30 hit in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and New Zealand, but only managed to reach #146 in the US.