The Radio Stars

After the 1976 breakup of their underachieving glam supergroup Jet, ex-John's Children vocalist Andy Ellison teamed with Sparks exile Martin Gordon, who contributed bass and songwriting, plus guitarist Ian MacLeod to launch the Radio Stars in 1977. Steve Perry joined on drums soon afterward, enabling the band to sign with Chiswick Records and issue its debut album, Songs for Swinging Lovers, the same year. Though situated on the edges of the punk and new wave scene, the Radio Stars functioned primarily as a quirky rock outfit centered on Gordon's compositions and Ellison's energetic vocals. In 1978 the lineup expanded with the addition of Trevor White, already a veteran of both Sparks and Jet, for the release of their follow-up effort, the somewhat disappointing Holiday Album. Gordon departed shortly after that record faltered commercially, bringing the group to an end, yet Ellison later tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the Radio Stars name during the 1980s. The band's material appeared in two compilations, beginning with 1982's Two Minutes Mr. Smith on the tiny Moonlight label and continuing with 1992's Somewhere There's a Place for Us on Ace.