Starz

Starz possessed every advantage for arena dominance—melodic yet hard-charging tracks that fused the styles of Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, and Kiss, a charismatic lead singer, a stage production loaded with pyrotechnics and flying sparks, and even the same management team behind Kiss—yet the band never reached mainstream stardom. Their lineage extends to the early-1970s pop outfit Looking Glass, whose 1972 chart-topper “Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)” provided the foundation; that group’s rhythm section, bassist Peter Sweval and drummer Jeff Grob (who adopted the stage name Joe X. Dube), carried over to Starz and teamed with guitarists Richie Ranno and Brendan Harkin plus vocalist Michael Lee Smith, sibling of 1970s teen idol Rex Smith. Capitol Records released the self-titled debut album in 1976, followed by Violation in 1977, Attention Shoppers! in 1978, and Coliseum Rock in 1979. During this period the quintet delivered fist-pumping anthems such as “Detroit Girls” and “Violation,” came tantalizingly close to radio success with “Cherry Baby” and “Sing It, Shout It,” supported major acts including Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, and Rush, and saw Ranno contribute to Gene Simmons’ 1978 solo record. Despite these credentials, mass appeal remained elusive, and the band dissolved by 1980. A dedicated cult audience endured, later amplified when Poison, Cinderella, and Bon Jovi openly cited Starz as an influence. Archival material continued to surface, particularly after the band’s official website went live, most notably the 1978 concert recording Live in Louisville, reissued multiple times and demonstrating that Starz could hold its own with the decade’s leading rock acts even amid some of the most flamboyant between-song banter ever captured. In the early 2000s Rykodisc remastered and reissued the entire studio catalog, prompting sporadic reunion performances that have continued intermittently ever since.