Biography
Fronted by the veteran headbanger Lizzy Borden, Starwood emerged in 2004 as a Los Angeles foursome drawing from a broad palette of 1970s and 1980s hard rock, pop-metal, punk, and glam. The group took its name from the long-defunct Starwood club on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, once a landmark venue alongside the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, the Roxy, the Rainbow, the Troubadour, and Gazarri’s—the latter renamed the Key Club following owner Bill Gazarri’s death. Starwood’s sound channels both the club’s storied atmosphere and the wider era’s spirit, delivering hedonistic, decadent fun that stands apart from the introspective tone dominant in rock after Nirvana and Nevermind. Their influences surface clearly in echoes of the New York Dolls, Slade, Sweet, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Quiet Riot, Cheap Trick, and Guns N’ Roses.
The lineup at formation comprised Borden on lead vocals, electric rhythm guitar, and acoustic guitar; Joey Scott-Harges on drums, percussion, and background vocals; Joe Steals on electric lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and background vocals; and Swedish-born Marten Andersson on bass and background vocals. Although presented as a new act, Starwood essentially continued the band Lizzy Borden, which had existed since 1984 with Borden and Scott-Harges as founding members; Andersson, also known from Legacy, had joined them in 1992, while Steals had previously worked with Borden and Scott-Harges in the Diamond Dogs, the punk-tinged project titled after a David Bowie album.
Metal Blade Records, the same label that had released Lizzy Borden material throughout the 1980s, signed Starwood in 2004, issuing the debut album If It Ain’t Broke, Break It! that July. Press materials from the label referred to the singer simply as “Lizzy” and the drummer as “Joey Scott,” yet the connection to the earlier band—now free of power-metal elements associated with artists such as Iron Maiden—remained evident to informed listeners. In October 2004 the group announced a United Kingdom tour supporting Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil.
The lineup at formation comprised Borden on lead vocals, electric rhythm guitar, and acoustic guitar; Joey Scott-Harges on drums, percussion, and background vocals; Joe Steals on electric lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and background vocals; and Swedish-born Marten Andersson on bass and background vocals. Although presented as a new act, Starwood essentially continued the band Lizzy Borden, which had existed since 1984 with Borden and Scott-Harges as founding members; Andersson, also known from Legacy, had joined them in 1992, while Steals had previously worked with Borden and Scott-Harges in the Diamond Dogs, the punk-tinged project titled after a David Bowie album.
Metal Blade Records, the same label that had released Lizzy Borden material throughout the 1980s, signed Starwood in 2004, issuing the debut album If It Ain’t Broke, Break It! that July. Press materials from the label referred to the singer simply as “Lizzy” and the drummer as “Joey Scott,” yet the connection to the earlier band—now free of power-metal elements associated with artists such as Iron Maiden—remained evident to informed listeners. In October 2004 the group announced a United Kingdom tour supporting Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil.
Albums
