Starshooter

Emerging from Lyon, the quartet Starshooter coalesced around Kent on guitars and vocals, Jello on guitars, Mickey Snack on bass, and Phil Pressing on drums, quickly establishing itself among France’s earliest and most prominent punk outfits with the 1977 release of its debut single “Pin-Up Blonde.” Far from the dour posture typical of the genre, the group projected an upbeat, celebratory spirit that aligned it more closely with unadorned rock & roll than with the nihilistic or overtly political strains usually associated with punk; as a result, its natural peers were Telephone rather than Metal Urbain. The follow-up EP issued in 1978, Get Baque—a tongue-in-cheek appropriation of the Beatles’ “Get Back”—lent the band a somewhat risqué reputation and prompted its swift removal from French retail. Later that same year, however, the single “Betsy Party” delivered the commercial breakthrough. Also in 1978 the musicians issued their self-titled debut album to favorable notices, then sustained an active touring schedule through 1981 while producing three additional long-players: Mode (1979), Chez Les Autres (1980), and Pas Fatigue (1981). Following the group’s dissolution, vocalist Kent launched a lengthy and productive solo trajectory under his own name.