Classic Rock Bottom

I’m wrapping up the space themed playlists this week with an Artist Showcase. That doesn’t mean we can’t come back to this topic later since there’s so many ways to go with space themed music… But for now I want to end on an Artist Showcase. The band Shooting Star seems like the most approriate band to highlight. I mean their name fits the theme, they are truly a hidden a treasure, and you all need to hear more of them.


I first heard this band on a local radio station back in the early 80’s. The station was broadcasting a live concert of theirs from Cincinnati. FM radio use to be so cool! Anyway… I was immediately taken with them, they were tight, not overly poppy, and unique. So they hit me right between the ears! At the time, they had just released an album titled “III Wishes.” I had to have it, so that was my starting point and I still listen to these guys frequently to this day… Now let’s listen and learn…


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/a1c3qpuh


The band formed in the late 1970s. After gaining popularity in the Kansas City area, Shooting Star became the first American group to sign with Virgin Records. They recorded their 1979 debut album in England with producer Gus Dudgeon, best known for his work with Elton John and David Bowie. The band gained national exposure when a number of songs garnered moderate air-play on album-oriented rock radio stations in the US. Shooting Star initially consisted of Van McLain (guitars, vocals), Bill Guffey (keyboards), Steve Thomas (drums), Ron Verlin (bass), Charles Waltz (violin, keyboards, vocals), and Gary West (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards).

Shooting Star
1979

1 - Last Chance

The album Shooting Star was released in January 1980, and the band embarked on a national tour opening for Robin Trower and Triumph. With their debut the band gained popularity with the songs "You Got What I Need," "Tonight," "Bring It On" and "Last Chance."

With radio success, Shooting Star returned to the studio in 1981 to record Hang On for Your Life with producer Dennis McKay.

Hang On For Your Life
1981

2 - Breakout

The album generated FM airplay with the songs "Flesh and Blood," "Breakout," and the title track. "Hollywood" was released as a single and climbed the Billboard Hot 100, topping out at #70. Meanwhile, the album logged a surprising 30 weeks on Billboard's album chart and sold a respectable 200,000 US copies. They appeared on the radio shows Rock Line, King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH), The Source and Westwood One and also began headlining showcase clubs across the United States, setting attendance records as they went.

In 1982 the band began recording their third album, III Wishes, at the legendary Caribou Ranch studio near Boulder, Colorado. At the helm was Journey producer Kevin Elson. Without missing a beat, they returned to touring with such acts as REO Speedwagon, John Mellencamp, Jefferson Starship, Kansas and others. Recorded at the storied Colorado studio Caribou Ranch, III Wishes captures this killer Kansas City sextet in a holding pattern, where the rootsy vocal of Gary West transmogrifies into Steve Perry's soaring croon. Even the usual expert musicianship resembles a certain Bay-Area phenomenon. Journey boardsman Kevin Elson shouldn't shoulder all the blame.

Burning
1983

3 - Straight Ahead

1983 saw their continued collaboration with Kevin Elson on their fourth album, Burning. This record produced radio hits "Straight Ahead," "Winner" and "Train Rolls On." After touring in support of this record, the band experienced the departure of bassist Ron Verlin, who had become disenchanted with the music industry.

In 1984 bassist Norm Dahlor was recruited to take over for Ron, and the band began to record their fifth album, Silent Scream, with producer Ron Nevison. It was released in 1985 and produced the radio hit "Summer Sun." The band's accompanying music video was popular on MTV and other video channels. After completing this record, the band was asked to record two songs for the movie soundtrack Up the Creek. The songs were "Get Ready Boy" and "Take It." Van, Norm and Steve were also the backing band on Ian Hunter's single "Great Expectations." The band then toured with Heart, Bryan Adams and ZZ Top. In 1986, after almost a decade of touring and five albums, Shooting Star decided to go on hiatus. A farewell show was played on December 27, 1986 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and after a few more concerts, Shooting Star went their separate ways in March 1987.


Gary West, with Van McLain's help, began work on demos that were more in a pop/rhythm and blues direction. CBS Records signed West but then lost interest. Guitarist McLain, in a 2013 interview with Goldmine Magazine, explained why the group disbanded: "We signed with Geffen and we put out Silent Scream. Geffen got into a fight with all the radio promo guys, and they fired them the week our album came out. We had 200 adds on radio, out of 300 reporting stations, the first week. 'Summer Sun' was being added everywhere, and it looked like the album would be a smash. After the fight with the promo guys, it dropped to 40 stations. What do you do?


In 1991 the band released their sixth effort, It's Not Over. During the recording of this project, Enigma Records went bankrupt and the group decided to finish it on their own. Released on their own V & R label, the album received critical acclaim throughout Europe and helped broaden the Shooting Star audience. After the album's release, Ron Verlin was replaced on bass by Eric Johnson (not the famous guitarist) and the band toured with Bad English, Bryan Adams and 38 Special. After selling about 10,000 copies of It's Not Over, the group was contacted by JRS Records (whose parent company was SCS Music), which agreed to take over distribution of the album nationally. But the group became dissatisfied with JRS, claiming they did very little to promote the album, and filed a lawsuit against them on October 14, 1992 in Johnson County, Kansas District Court.


By 1993, disappointed over the collapse of Enigma, the JRS fiasco and the general decline in popularity of classic rock music, the band went into semi-retirement but resurfaced each year to play occasional concerts with Verlin back on bass.

Leap of Faith
2000

4 - I Need Your Touch

In the summer of 1999, while vacationing in Nashville, Tennessee, Van was reunited with producer/engineer Kevin Beamish. Among many others, Kevin's list of credits include REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Starship, Elton John and Clint Black. Kevin and Van had met 20 years earlier while Shooting Star was recording its first album. At that time, Kevin was a young engineer for Gus Dudgeon. Out of this chance meeting grew the plans to record and release Shooting Star's seventh album, Leap of Faith. The recording took place at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee from December 1999 through February 2000.
Circles
2006

5 - George's Song (Video)

Circles is the seventh (and, to-date, final) album by the group Shooting Star. It is the first album to feature founding drummer Steve Thomas since 1985's Silent Scream; as well as the last album to feature original bassist Ron Verlin prior to his retirement from the band in 2009; and the only album to feature vocalist Kevin Chalfant and violinist Shane Michaels.

Shooting Star was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame in 2009. The band performed with the McLain, Thomas, Lafoon, Platt, Jameson lineup, with special guest Ron Verlin on bass, and for two songs, original vocalist Gary West. Other former members were on hand that evening, but did not perform.


Van McLain, Dennis Laffoon, and Steve Thomas also perform in the Overland Park, KS area as a trio – The Star Blues Band. Van McLain spent the first part of 2012 focusing on a solo project to be released by Alligator Records before returning to Shooting Star in the second half of 2012. Shooting Star returned to the UK in October 2013 to play "Firefest", the melodic rock festival that takes place each year at Nottingham Rock City.


In July 2014, former Shooting Star vocalist Ronnie Platt joined Kansas as the replacement for departing lead vocalist Steve Walsh.

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That first song would be a great song to include in an original, first-of-its-kind, best-final-tracks-on-an-album list.

Out of the albums I have, I like the first two the best. After those, they seemed to go in more of a pop direction. It wasn't bad, but there really wasn't an edge to the music like the first two albums. Plus the album cover of "Hang On For Your Life" is pretty cool. Only problem with that album title is that "Hang On To Your Life" always pops into my head even though it's a different band.   

I've only heard bad things about "It's Not Over" so never bothered with it. Thought I had "Leap Of Faith" but guess the motorcycle threw me off.

Still nothing to do with Major Tom. Quite sad, really.

It's Not Over is one 80s hair band cliche after another. I own it just because I'm a fan of the band but never spin it, though I did sample it again for this post. It hasn't aged well either....

I addressed the Major Tom omission last week , did you miss that?

It wasn't answered to my liking.

I may have to comment in pieces here as time is beginning to run short this morning.

Last Chance - What's wrong with this world today?  I actually agree with Jon's opening statement.  Maybe the Earth reversed it's rotation, I don't know.  But this sounds like a Kansas song.  But it's not, it's Shooting Star.  It has that awesome heavy/soft dichotomy.  Killer, absolutely killer bass work.  Very Kansas like track.  This is flat out terrific.  But can they keep up the pace?  By the way, that album cover sucks.

Breakout - Well, the answer is no, they can't keep up that pace.  This isn't a bad track, but it's definitely a product of it's time.  Sounds very 1981.  Like I've said many times, that is not a bad thing.  I loved the music of that time so why would I not want something to sound like that's where it came from?  The guitar work at the end is pretty phenomenal and should have been explored more.   The album cover is very cool.

Straight Ahead - Back on track a bit.  I agree that this sounds a lot more like Journey than Kansas.  Can't say it's a good thing or a bad thing.  Yet another period piece, but one much more to my liking than the previous track.  Another pretty cool album cover too.

I Need Your Touch - This is another good song.  My first thought is that this sounds more late 80's than 2000.  

Major computer glitch. Luckily, I didn't lose all that I just typed. Anyway, another cool album cover on that fourth track.

I'm officially out of time, so I'll check back in later on that last video.

LAST CHANCE - Yeah, well, it's okay, but they sound like a lot of other american bands. But I like the riff, but not the violin(s). The song makes me think of Toto, Stranger, Kansas (DUH!) and early Y&T. Not bad, but not exactly memorable.

BREAKOUT - A bit Leppard to this one, or MSG. Again it's okay, but not a song, that makes me want to check out the band further.

STRAIGHT AHEAD - Sounds VERY dated, but I like that sound around that time. This time I'm thinking of Jefferson Starship. Again with a bit Leppard and even Bryan Adams. I think, that Mutt Lange could had made them big stars.

I NEED YOUR TOUCH - Again the guitars remind me of Leppard. This one sounds a bit like a throw-away, though. And it is!!! Again those Leppard-backing vocals, but Leppard is also crap nowadays, like this one - CRAP!!

GEORGE's SONG - This better be good!! ....and it's definitely not!!! It's crap with a Beatles-touch (and a very strong Uriah Heep-touch in the middle and the end).

Again one of those bands, that should had quit, while they were good, and not keep on and on even though they stink now!! Compared to the first 3 songs, the last two should never had been made.

Definitely a slice of Americana and even more so since its one of several bands that came from the Mid West.  Bands like REO Speedwagon, Styx, Head East, Kansas, Chicago etc all sprang up in very close geographical proximity and timing...  I was caught in the middle of that sound and the NorthWest Seattle/Vancouver BC sounds of the 70's and so both really are etched into my musical DNA.  

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