Starz

Starz

In a previous post, I mentioned how in the early 70’s punk rock arose in New York as a reaction to the over-indulgence and staleness of 70’s rock.  Rock no longer felt young or threatening or wild or rough or spontaneous.  Whatever else it was musically or politically, punk often was cruder and less technically driven, and often was a return to the rebellion and youthfulness of 50’s rock and roll.

However, there was another rock movement bubbling up throughout the 70’s, and that was heavy metal.  Some heavy metal acts were definitely popular, but it wasn’t many.  Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple (as well as Ritchie Blackmore’s subsequent band Rainbow) were international superstars and really defined the genre, although I have a problem describing most Zep as heavy metal; while they were clearly establishing some basic components of the metal aesthetic, Led Zeppelin transcended the genre, creating music that was truly non-categorizable.  Others, such as Budgie, UFO, and Uriah Heep, flirted with chart and touring success to greater or lesser degrees.  And during the early 70’s, two bands formed, the Scorpions and Judas Priest, that would become the prime movers in the metal field as the decade ended, though their earlier albums were still very much influenced by the major musical trends of the late 60’s, including jam, blues and psychedelia.  “I’m Going Mad”, off the Scorpions’ first album Lonesome Crow and “Speedy’s Coming” off 1974’s Fly To the Rainbow, in particular have a more blues/hard rock feel.  “I’m Going Mad” sounds like nothing more than Spinal Tap Mark II, where they do their extensive blues-jazz jam after being consigned to second bill to a puppet show—its only vaguely metallic, and sounds much more like a Cream-based jam.  “Catch Your Train”, another early cut from when Uli Roth was still a guitarist, is a little more metal-like, but it also draws heavily from standard 70’s guitar rock like Bachman Turner Overdrive or Steppenwolf. 

Uli Roth, by the way, is one of the unheralded geniuses/madmen of the 70’s.  He was supposedly obsessed with Hendrix (even dating his former girlfriend Monika Dannemann), and after leaving the Scorpions he formed the band Electric Sun that made music that was heavily blues and psychedelia influenced; “Burning Wheels Turning” off his 1979 album Earthquake is one such acid-drenched jam--it reminds me of some of the jazz/rock fusion stuff Al Dimeola and/or Pat Metheny were exploring around that time.   And Judas Priest’s 1974 debut album Rocka Rolla also emerged out of a very 60’s jam blues vibe.  There were definitely elements of Sabbath-influenced metal sludginess but as yet this was still music that did not transcend its time or influences. 

Heavy metal as a viable genre or sub-culture did not yet exist in the mid-70’s; indeed, metal’s heyday was still more than a decade off, and it was only in the late 80’s that heavy metal truly became ascendant as a musical discipline.  But that didn’t stop bands from exploring this genre throughout the 70’s, and several of them made some interesting forays into metal in general and in particular into the more melodic side of heavy metal that would eventually spawn Van Halen, Ratt, Poison, etc.  One such band was Legs Diamond, who formed in 1976 in the Bay Area but relocated to Los Angeles soon after, and who were often heralded as the “best undiscovered band in America”.  They released three albums in 1977-1978, none of which yielded much success.  Their sound was heavily influenced by Deep Purple but also had elements of Rush’s technical proficiency.  “Stage Fright” off their self-titled 1977 debut has a riff that sounds exactly like “Living in the Limelight” by Rush as interpreted by Ritchie Blackmore; “Satin Peacock” off the same album has a more driving beat like Purple’s “Highway Star”, with super high-pitched vocals that remind one of Rob Halford.  But one of their best songs is on the more melodic end of the spectrum, “Long Shot” off 1977’s follow-up A Diamond Is a Hard Rock, which has the lush guitar melodies and sweet riffs of classic 80’s hair metal, but also suggests the more pop work of UFO. Its also got a very catchy, soaring refrain.  Only the bizarre flute/synth solo in the middle mars the excellence of this song, otherwise its one of my current favorite songs.  Amazingly, all of Legs Diamond’s studio albums are available on iTunes.  Sadly, though they released albums well into the 80’s and beyond, they never were able to surf the hair metal wave they helped originate and achieved only minor success.  Its too bad that a band this talented and pioneering wasn’t able to cash in a little more, though they served as a major influence on subsequent bands like Van Halen, who opened for them early in their career.

On the opposite coast was another well respected but otherwise little known band making it in the genre of metal, and that’s Starz.  Formed in New York by the rhythm section of the early 70’s band Looking Glass (who had a hit with “Brandy”), Starz pursued a sound that hewed close to the melodic hard rock of Boston, with elements of metal and powerpop as well.  Like Legs Diamond, they released a handful of albums in the late 70’s which garnered little to no airplay.  “Detroit Girls” off their debut album was suitably hard rockin’, but most consider their second album Violation to be their best work, and indeed it has several outstanding, soaring, pop metal cuts, one of the best of which is “Cherry Baby”, which almost sounds like slightly metallic powerpop—I think as much of the Zippers and 20/20 as I do Deep Purple.  Actually, what it sounds a lot like is Cheap Trick in being just well-crafted pop hard rock (though admittedly without Rick Nielson’s manic new wave edginess), with the huge, soaring vocals of Dennis DeYoung of Styx.    If you download only one Starz song (and like Legs Diamond, all of their 70’s albums are available on iTunes), this is the one.  “Rock Six Times” is a little more rocking and suggests to me Sammy Hagar era Montrose, perhaps “Bad Motor Scooter”?), while “Sing It Shout It” starts out almost sounding like Steely Dan and then shifts into a big bridge and chorus that sound like “Shout it Out Loud” by Kiss.   “She” was another powerpop-influenced gem off 1978’s Attention Shoppers and “So Young, So Bad” is a little more hard rock sounding and again really evokes Boston’s first album. 

Another hard rock/heavy metal band out of NYC in the 70’s was Riot, who released Rock City in 1977.  “Desperation” sounds like the missing link between Deep Purple and Metallica; indeed, it could be slotted in between “Space Truckin’” and “Jump in the Fire” and you’d probably think you were listening to one long song.  “Rock City” has a similar NWOBHM feel, here edging closer to the melodic pop metal of Def Leppard (particularly their early stuff like “Let It Go”) crossed with hard stuff like Blitzkrieg and Holocaust.  Their 1981 album Fire Down Under really continues this NWOBM feel; “Swords and Tequila” and “Fire Down Under” really rock hard and make this sound like a missing NWOBM classic.

A couple of unheralded 70’s metal bands came from Canada.  Windsor, Ontario’s Teaze had a minor hit, the ballad “Sweet Misery” in 1978, but otherwise much of their music, like “Ready To Move” and “Rockin’ With the Music”, was also heavily influenced by Deep Purple and Judas Priest.  “Hot To Trot”, off their debut album Teaze has a raunchier glam feel, sounding more like Kiss in their heyday.  Again, all of their early albums are readily available on iTunes.

Another Canadian band, Toronto’s Moxy, leaned more towards Aerosmith.  “Can’t You See I’m a Star” off their self-titled album, is reminiscent of “Walk This Way” and of “Good Times Bad Times” or “The Ocean” by Led Zep; James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin lent his guitar prowess to this song. “Cause There’s Another” off Moxy II is more of a straightforward rocker that at times recalls “Head Out On the Highway” by Judas Priest crossed with “Ramblin’ Man” by the Allman Brothers. 

Britain’s Quartz came out of Birmingham like their heroes Black Sabbath and Judas Priest and played a heavy, Sabbath-influenced brand of metal.  “Mainline Riders” has this gloomy, heavy Sabbath feel, but also occasionally hints at “Hold Your Head Up” by Argent and “The Stroke” by Billy Squier.

Back in America’s Midwest, Cain was creating more Deep Purple-influenced metallic rock.  “Queen of the Night” sounds like Purple with Rob Halford-style vocals that almost approach the operatic majesty of Ronnie James Dio’s work with Rainbow, or even “Neon Nights” off Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell.  Good stuff if you like these bands.  Their album, a Pound of Flesh, is available on iTunes.

Finally, this is as good a place as any to sing the praises of Montrose.  Formed by lead guitarist Ronnie Monstrose, who had played with Van Morrison and Edgar Winter, in 1973, Montrose was another metal pioneer, taking the big riffs of Zep and Sabbath and wielding them to lead singer Sammy Hagar’s strong vocals. “Rock Candy” off their debut sounds like “The Ocean”, and seems to me at least to be a clear inspiration for the Masters of Reality’s “The Candy Song”.  “Space Station #5” starts with a freaky space rock beginning before its catchy riff sends the song strutting along like Sabbath’s “Paranoid”.  My favorite songs are “Bad Motor Scooter” and  “Rock the Nation”; the former starts out sounding like early Aerosmith before launching into its propulsive chorus, while the latter starts with another catchy, crunchy guitar hook that sounds like classic Deep Purple.

Most of these bands achieved only minor success beyond an occasional regional hit single, but their groundwork set the stage for the emergence of metal as a dominant musical and cultural force in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  In the late 70’s, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal emerged even as punk was peaking, and several bands emerged from this movement to become international superstars (most notably Def Leppard and Iron Maiden).  In America in the early 80’s several bands pursued a melodic pop-influenced hard rock similar to Starz and Legs Diamond, in particular Ratt, Quiet Riot, Poison, etc.