Marketed in 1979 as another in a glut of punkers, Northern Ireland's Starjets are really the biggest secret in Power Pop. And, they're still pluggin'! God Bless the Starjets, indeed!
This was fantastic Brad, thanks for the intro to a band I’d never heard of before. Another tale of wrong place, wrong time for a band that sounds, even today, like a band that should’ve hit it big. Glad to see/hear that they’re back and still sounding great. Hopefully they see success, albeit later than they should have.
Thanks, Mark! Like I've said before (somewhere), I was creating hits in my bedroom....with my relentless influx of major-label promo albums from late-'60s (courtesy of Dad) thru early-'80s (with me earning my own promos starting in mid-'70s when I entered radio), I wasn't forced to be tethered to Top 40 radio as my only source of new music. The Starjets had several "hits" in MY bedroom....pretty much the ones I highlighted here! The fact that AM nor FM saw fit to give them a spin is a shame.....
.....But, that's a large part of what I try to do here: Shine a light on that which was released, but never received airplay, which means radio listeners have no idea what to buy when they walk into a record store........except the Elton John, Bon Jovi, Journey, etc that radio played ad infinitum!
I like to think the players who've seen, read, and appreciated my articles about them (Paul Bowen/Starjets, Jason Singh/Taxiride, Gary Myrick) also appreciate the new ears that, now, are hearing, decades later, what radio turned down! And, they've been kind to tell me so! My favorite is from Jason: "Thanks, Brad! You reminded me how good we used to be!"
I always envy (in the best possible sense of the word) your ability to dig deep into the archives of the world wide web and then craft such a well-written story. Not just once--consistently. Chapeau!!
I obviously didn't know the band, so all new to me. The first track you embedded as a YouTube video gave me some whiff of INXS for some reason.
This thing about "American harmonies" is very interesting, and I agree. You guys perhaps don't realise, or don't fully appreciate what you have (I know you in particular do appreciate it, but I mean in general).
Thank you, Andy.....you know I appreciate how (and how much) you dig our factory's output!!
What benefits ME, anyway (despite my exposure to all these artists who got little to no airplay and/or no sales), is that the volumes of written content about these artists has rarely been plumbed, so there's lots out there!!
As much out there as your Bon Journeys, ad infinitum?!? No, hardly. But, if I wrote about those artists that everyone and his/her grandma has read volumes about already, I'd be all but useless (and needless)! So, THAT goes hand-in-hand with my absolute fist-in-the-air love for these artists whom I heard, but was but one of a handful on the planet who did! And, I love writing about them, and sharing my lone love for them as the artists we could've been, if we were that talented (and, had to endure the ignominy of major record deal that suddenly fizzled)!
Which is why the story of Stephen Michael Schwartz and I getting together on FR&B is so astounding! I had his '74 RCA album (at 19...he was 20) in real time, as I had just begun my radio career. When we meet online some 5 decades later, and he's willing to write 20 articles that detail his '70s/H-wood record biz journey, and he's eager to have them "housed" here, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE?!?! Amazing! https://bradkyle.substack.com/t/stephen-michael-schwartz
The industry knows how talented Stephen is, even though the record-buying public never got a chance to hear his album (looking at you, radio!!!)
Anyway, thanks again, Andy! Check my reply to Steve below (or wherever it lands)! I just perused his recent comment, and I think my reply might interest you, as well!
As for that first video (post-Starjets Tango Brigade song), I'd not heard that before, myself! It doesn't really sound like classic Starjets, which may have been their point. Landing on an INXS vibe....I can see it!
"American harmonies"----hats off to Paul for verbalizing their key influences! I think the west coast players, say, that were making acoustic/folk music, post-Beatles, brought Beatles/Everly harmonies into their Martin-driven songs, late-'60s to early-'70s. America, CSNY, Beach Boys, all seem to fit that paradigm. And, they're certainly easy to pinpoint in the Starjets' recipe!
Absolutely. I also think at this stage, you know you could write about anyone/anything, and I (as I’m sure many others) would still read attentively, but the fact that you go off the beaten track and write about artists who might have been neglected back in day makes it even more interesting (and has a lot more merit), because that’s when you really have to rely on your storytelling skills (of which you’ve got aplenty!).
Yep.....you got it....plus, it's organic: I heard, had, and loved these artists in the day, as I had gotten their promos upon release.....all whether they got airplay, got hits, or sold billions.....or didn't! In MY bedroom, many of these artists had hits!!! It's no accident (I don't think) my name has the first three letters of "radio": Bradio!!! KBRD....K-BRAD-io! We'll be back, right after this..................📻🎶😁👍
I know you gave it the modern FR&BS sheen, but it really reads like one of your more recent top-notch pieces of essential journalism. I’m gonna need a half day to play all the the clips you share, but they definitely sound like my kind of band. Hadn’t heard of them, but that’s not a surprise as in 1979 I was 12 and not at all into power pop or even punk. That would come about 5 years later.
Thanks, Steve! I was proud of this one, and as it originally drew breath about 3 months into FR&B existence....A) only about a dozen dozens had read the original, B) I recognized so much how my style had grown and become reliable...to write as well as read, and C) the band had done quite a bit in the past two years!
So, I only edited out a couple small paragraphs, while adding quite a few more videos, and tightening up some of my phrasing. Bottom line....I'd already done about 85% of the work 2 years, 3 months ago (with few eyeballs seeing it), so let's bring it up to par, and breathe some new life into it! Especially as so many new subscribers are on board now that weren't in Dec '21!
Plus (and this tacks onto the reply I just left for Andy, too), with these artists who got little to no airplay and sales, we've proven, here, that a good and thorough job on spotlighting these artists and their never-heard albums and songs, will usually bring them out to thank me for shining a light on their previous work, and I'm happy to do it!
If I wrote about the billion-sellers, the Bon Jovis, Eltons, and Journeys couldn't care less. Even "their people" would be too busy and uninterested to send anything resembling thanks in my general direction....not after billions of gallons of ink have been spilled on their employers for decades!
But, major label, respected artists like Gary Myrick (CBS Records), Jason Singh of Taxiride (Sire Records), and Paul Bowen of Starjets (CBS), have all responded, and offered their thanks (and, bonus "instant interviews")!!! And, of course, all the generous input Stephen has offered us (see SMS's link in Andy's reply)!!
Which, of course, makes me immensely proud!! Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the job these artists' record labels and/or local and national radio DIDN'T do!!! Give their signees some airplay!!
As for you and Starjets....I'm sure there are some devilish Earworms awaiting you, Steve!! And, as always..................thanks!😊👍
Thanks, Dan! Look up the top hits of 1979, and cast your eyes on the general dreck that passed for "hits" back then! That'll make the overlooking of, at least, a couple of their songs even more unbelievable (and unfortunate)! The good news is they're still pluggin' away! Interestingly enough, little (if any) of that album was digitized (they're not on Spotify, for instance), as they were about 3 years ahead of the intro of CDs. Hence, the preponderance of YT vids!
I know, they weren't on my radar in 1979 (which will be clear when my memoir hits that year!) but then I've discovered a lot of great stuff after radio shunned it.
The Starjets are one of many that are the perfect embodiment of major-label-product does not always equal sales. If you don't get airplay, record buyers can't know that you exist, and can't know to walk into a record store to buy your record!
BTW, if you haven't checked in on Stephen Michael Schwartz (1974 album on RCA Records at age 20), then I think you'd dig his exclusive '70s-Hollywood-record biz story, as he laid it out for FR&B in his 20 articles, here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/t/stephen-michael-schwartz
Four songs into his album #2 in '75, RCA cut him from his contract (lack of sales....15,000 units for debut album). Why low sales? No airplay!
The good news is he stayed true to his talents, and in the early '80s, he formed a trio, The Parachute Express, and they were tops in the children's music lane for a couple decades, recording for Disney Records, and others! Check out his site (where HE's digitized his debut album, 'cause again, a decade before CDs, with RCA not releasing Stephen's album on CD....his album was long before deleted from their catalog): https://www.stephenmichaelschwartz.com/
Check out how we met....it's in one of the first coupla articles! I interviewed David Cassidy in 1975 (you can hear that taped interview in one of the articles!), and Stephen's name came up! I'll leave you hanging here, but not in the articles! Enjoy!
This was fantastic Brad, thanks for the intro to a band I’d never heard of before. Another tale of wrong place, wrong time for a band that sounds, even today, like a band that should’ve hit it big. Glad to see/hear that they’re back and still sounding great. Hopefully they see success, albeit later than they should have.
Thanks, Mark! Like I've said before (somewhere), I was creating hits in my bedroom....with my relentless influx of major-label promo albums from late-'60s (courtesy of Dad) thru early-'80s (with me earning my own promos starting in mid-'70s when I entered radio), I wasn't forced to be tethered to Top 40 radio as my only source of new music. The Starjets had several "hits" in MY bedroom....pretty much the ones I highlighted here! The fact that AM nor FM saw fit to give them a spin is a shame.....
.....But, that's a large part of what I try to do here: Shine a light on that which was released, but never received airplay, which means radio listeners have no idea what to buy when they walk into a record store........except the Elton John, Bon Jovi, Journey, etc that radio played ad infinitum!
I like to think the players who've seen, read, and appreciated my articles about them (Paul Bowen/Starjets, Jason Singh/Taxiride, Gary Myrick) also appreciate the new ears that, now, are hearing, decades later, what radio turned down! And, they've been kind to tell me so! My favorite is from Jason: "Thanks, Brad! You reminded me how good we used to be!"
Taxiride piece: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/audio-autopsy-1999-what-drove-aussie
Thanks again, Mark! Glad you're on board!
I always envy (in the best possible sense of the word) your ability to dig deep into the archives of the world wide web and then craft such a well-written story. Not just once--consistently. Chapeau!!
I obviously didn't know the band, so all new to me. The first track you embedded as a YouTube video gave me some whiff of INXS for some reason.
This thing about "American harmonies" is very interesting, and I agree. You guys perhaps don't realise, or don't fully appreciate what you have (I know you in particular do appreciate it, but I mean in general).
Brilliant read, as always!!
Thank you, Andy.....you know I appreciate how (and how much) you dig our factory's output!!
What benefits ME, anyway (despite my exposure to all these artists who got little to no airplay and/or no sales), is that the volumes of written content about these artists has rarely been plumbed, so there's lots out there!!
As much out there as your Bon Journeys, ad infinitum?!? No, hardly. But, if I wrote about those artists that everyone and his/her grandma has read volumes about already, I'd be all but useless (and needless)! So, THAT goes hand-in-hand with my absolute fist-in-the-air love for these artists whom I heard, but was but one of a handful on the planet who did! And, I love writing about them, and sharing my lone love for them as the artists we could've been, if we were that talented (and, had to endure the ignominy of major record deal that suddenly fizzled)!
Which is why the story of Stephen Michael Schwartz and I getting together on FR&B is so astounding! I had his '74 RCA album (at 19...he was 20) in real time, as I had just begun my radio career. When we meet online some 5 decades later, and he's willing to write 20 articles that detail his '70s/H-wood record biz journey, and he's eager to have them "housed" here, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE?!?! Amazing! https://bradkyle.substack.com/t/stephen-michael-schwartz
The industry knows how talented Stephen is, even though the record-buying public never got a chance to hear his album (looking at you, radio!!!)
Anyway, thanks again, Andy! Check my reply to Steve below (or wherever it lands)! I just perused his recent comment, and I think my reply might interest you, as well!
As for that first video (post-Starjets Tango Brigade song), I'd not heard that before, myself! It doesn't really sound like classic Starjets, which may have been their point. Landing on an INXS vibe....I can see it!
"American harmonies"----hats off to Paul for verbalizing their key influences! I think the west coast players, say, that were making acoustic/folk music, post-Beatles, brought Beatles/Everly harmonies into their Martin-driven songs, late-'60s to early-'70s. America, CSNY, Beach Boys, all seem to fit that paradigm. And, they're certainly easy to pinpoint in the Starjets' recipe!
Absolutely. I also think at this stage, you know you could write about anyone/anything, and I (as I’m sure many others) would still read attentively, but the fact that you go off the beaten track and write about artists who might have been neglected back in day makes it even more interesting (and has a lot more merit), because that’s when you really have to rely on your storytelling skills (of which you’ve got aplenty!).
Yep.....you got it....plus, it's organic: I heard, had, and loved these artists in the day, as I had gotten their promos upon release.....all whether they got airplay, got hits, or sold billions.....or didn't! In MY bedroom, many of these artists had hits!!! It's no accident (I don't think) my name has the first three letters of "radio": Bradio!!! KBRD....K-BRAD-io! We'll be back, right after this..................📻🎶😁👍
You are everything that is right in this world (and then some).
I know you gave it the modern FR&BS sheen, but it really reads like one of your more recent top-notch pieces of essential journalism. I’m gonna need a half day to play all the the clips you share, but they definitely sound like my kind of band. Hadn’t heard of them, but that’s not a surprise as in 1979 I was 12 and not at all into power pop or even punk. That would come about 5 years later.
Thanks, Steve! I was proud of this one, and as it originally drew breath about 3 months into FR&B existence....A) only about a dozen dozens had read the original, B) I recognized so much how my style had grown and become reliable...to write as well as read, and C) the band had done quite a bit in the past two years!
So, I only edited out a couple small paragraphs, while adding quite a few more videos, and tightening up some of my phrasing. Bottom line....I'd already done about 85% of the work 2 years, 3 months ago (with few eyeballs seeing it), so let's bring it up to par, and breathe some new life into it! Especially as so many new subscribers are on board now that weren't in Dec '21!
Plus (and this tacks onto the reply I just left for Andy, too), with these artists who got little to no airplay and sales, we've proven, here, that a good and thorough job on spotlighting these artists and their never-heard albums and songs, will usually bring them out to thank me for shining a light on their previous work, and I'm happy to do it!
If I wrote about the billion-sellers, the Bon Jovis, Eltons, and Journeys couldn't care less. Even "their people" would be too busy and uninterested to send anything resembling thanks in my general direction....not after billions of gallons of ink have been spilled on their employers for decades!
But, major label, respected artists like Gary Myrick (CBS Records), Jason Singh of Taxiride (Sire Records), and Paul Bowen of Starjets (CBS), have all responded, and offered their thanks (and, bonus "instant interviews")!!! And, of course, all the generous input Stephen has offered us (see SMS's link in Andy's reply)!!
Which, of course, makes me immensely proud!! Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the job these artists' record labels and/or local and national radio DIDN'T do!!! Give their signees some airplay!!
As for you and Starjets....I'm sure there are some devilish Earworms awaiting you, Steve!! And, as always..................thanks!😊👍
Wow! Really interesting read! I've heard of these guys before. It's sad when such melodic music gets lost!
Thanks, Dan! Look up the top hits of 1979, and cast your eyes on the general dreck that passed for "hits" back then! That'll make the overlooking of, at least, a couple of their songs even more unbelievable (and unfortunate)! The good news is they're still pluggin' away! Interestingly enough, little (if any) of that album was digitized (they're not on Spotify, for instance), as they were about 3 years ahead of the intro of CDs. Hence, the preponderance of YT vids!
I know, they weren't on my radar in 1979 (which will be clear when my memoir hits that year!) but then I've discovered a lot of great stuff after radio shunned it.
The Starjets are one of many that are the perfect embodiment of major-label-product does not always equal sales. If you don't get airplay, record buyers can't know that you exist, and can't know to walk into a record store to buy your record!
BTW, if you haven't checked in on Stephen Michael Schwartz (1974 album on RCA Records at age 20), then I think you'd dig his exclusive '70s-Hollywood-record biz story, as he laid it out for FR&B in his 20 articles, here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/t/stephen-michael-schwartz
Four songs into his album #2 in '75, RCA cut him from his contract (lack of sales....15,000 units for debut album). Why low sales? No airplay!
The good news is he stayed true to his talents, and in the early '80s, he formed a trio, The Parachute Express, and they were tops in the children's music lane for a couple decades, recording for Disney Records, and others! Check out his site (where HE's digitized his debut album, 'cause again, a decade before CDs, with RCA not releasing Stephen's album on CD....his album was long before deleted from their catalog): https://www.stephenmichaelschwartz.com/
Check out how we met....it's in one of the first coupla articles! I interviewed David Cassidy in 1975 (you can hear that taped interview in one of the articles!), and Stephen's name came up! I'll leave you hanging here, but not in the articles! Enjoy!