Garbage Days Revisited #95: Starz - "Violation" (1977)

 

"I think your number's up/I see ya on a slab/You had the money Jack/You shoulda took a cab" - Starz - Subway Terror

I'm guessing most Wildhearts fans won't need any introduction to this album as Ginger has never made any secret of his love for this band and particularly this record but I'm going to give a tip of the hat to the guy anyway because it was his recommendation that made me check it out. So cheers Ginger, much appreciated as always.

Anyway, Starz. They were kind of part of that odd viral strain of '70s US FM rock which had a weird undercurrent running through it away from yer over-proficient snoreathons of Journey, Boston etc. For other examples, see the New York Dolls (obviously), Blue Oyster Cult and the early incarnations of Aerosmith and Kiss. Maybe even the Dictators before punk became a thing and they found their more obvious fit. Except that while all of the aforementioned (well, BOC, Aerosmith and Kiss anyway) went on to fame and fortune, Starz never really got off the launch pad and have remained pretty much one of the ultimate cult bands ever since.

The group would form in New Jersey in the early '70s and would unleash their debut album on the world in 1975. It's pretty much a sugar sweet '70s rock classic with the likes of Detroit Girls, Live Wire (no relation to the Crue song although given that Nikki Sixx is also a self-proclaimed fan, it wouldn't surprise me if that's where he cadged the title from), She's Just A Fallen Angel and the ominous Pull The Plug being classics. It seemed that if they continued on this route, it should be plain sailing for them.

So obviously what they actually did do was put out an absolutely bonkers part-concept album about an Orwell-style dystopian future which threw everyone for a loop. Imagine Stiv Bators in his Wanderers era writing an album for Aerosmith before they went all MOR and rubbish. That's Violation in a nutshell and it's brilliant. The supreme irony is that they could have probably got away with it - the opening song on here (and lead-off single) Cherry Baby is a full on power-pop classic powered along by Michael Lee Smith's soaring vocals which actually gave them a minor hit in the States and could easily have been an excellent gateway song into the sheer insanity of Violation.

It's second track Rock Six Times which pretty much sets the marker for the rest of this thing, seemingly about the protagonist finding a copy of Aerosmith's Walk This Way in a post-apocalyptic record store in a fascist future where rock 'n' roll has been outlawed (anyone else thinking of Keel's The Right To Rock video here?) over an absolute stormer of a hyperventilating riff from Richie Ranno. Sing It Shout It drops the tempo back down again to an almost funk style groove and again seems to be about the same girl mentioned in Cherry Baby ("I may never have much in this life but at least I'll have a memory")

It's a false lull though as Violation quickly ramps right back up again with the title track, another riffed-up stormer talking about "The Committee" and its 1984 style influence on the post-apocalyptic climate with its high-octane call and response chorus ("I wanna rock and roll...NO! THAT'S A VIOLATION!"). It's followed by the white-knuckle ride of Subway Terror which sees one of the Committee's hired thugs descending into the underground with bad things on his mind ("They look so lovely and pale/When they kiss the third rail/And they won't step blindly anymore...") before striking and getting his victim, presumably the protagonist from Rock Six Times ("It's been a pleasure son/And you were so polite/I'll tell your family you won't be home tonight")

Violation then kind of goes off-topic and I seem to remember an interview with Smith where he said that the group would ideally like to re-record the album missing the first two tracks off side two, All Night Long and Cool One. A shame if so though as they're classic Starz fodder, the former built around a gentle rolling groove designed to get you off your feet and dancing and the latter a hilariously OTT '50s style slice of pop about getting too frisky at the cinema with your other half and getting thrown out ("She leaned over, squeezed on my rocks/I lost it all in the popcorn box!")

S.T.E.A.D.Y. picks up the story again with the protagonist from side one being released by the Committee after being reprogrammed and heading back home to turn his friends over to them. A genuinely disturbing song lyrically but again built on a full throttle riff after riff after riff structure which properly shreds, leaving just the eerie stripped back string-led Is That A Streetlight Or The Moon? to finish the album off.

In a just world, Violation would have well and truly taken Starz overground and put Smith and Ranno up there with Stanley and Simmons and Tyler and Perry in the panthenon of '70s US rock greats. But the trouble is it was just too weird to really connect with people despite the absolutely killer tunes therein - I mean, there literally isn't a weak link here. Stung a bit, the band would limp on for two more albums but were slowly losing fire (1978's Attention Shoppers! had some good tunes like the bubblegum pop of Hold On To The Night but could only be a comedown after Violation and 1979's Coliseum Rock was recorded amid increasing instability with line-up changes and inferior tunes and was the sound of a band grinding to a halt).

Dropped by their label Capitol, Starz would split in 1980, reform later the same year to do a "Farewell Tour" and then changing their name to the Hellcats who would put out an EP with three fifths of the classic Starz line-up but then lose Smith before finally putting their debut album out in 1987. Have to be honest, I've not heard it but I intend to try and put that right. The group would reform properly just after the millennium and have remained active ever since, even making it over for a couple of UK shows including (unsurprisingly) a support slot for Ginger Wildheart at his Birthday Bash gig in 2016 where the G-man joined them on bass and the line-up also included Alex Kane (Life, Sex & Death and Antiproduct) on guitar. They've also had '80s Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick join the line-up for a few gigs and have been out there sharing bills with the likes of Frehley's Comet and one-time Kiss proteges Angel on various bills across the US revival circuit in recent years.

None of that changes the fact though that Violation is a genuinely great album and I thoroughly recommend it to you if you're unlucky enough not to have heard it already. Classic tuneful '70s rock with a VERY weird undercurrent, it really is in a class of its own and shows you why Starz are pretty much the ultimate 33 On The Charts (copyright Crash Kelly) cult band. Go investigate now - consider it your pre-Christmas treat from this 'ere webzine.