Tim From Wisconsin Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I saw Angel with their new lineup a couple of years ago at Shank Hall (Yes, It's named after the venue in the movie "Spinal Tap") in Milwaukee. Even though the only original members were Barry and Frank, I thought they sounded great! Frank's voice has really held up, and they played songs from their first album all the up to the new stuff. I love Starz! I wish I would have gone to the East Coast to see one of their reunion gigs. I did see them twice in the 70's and I was an instant fan. They never had a "flashy" stage show, but they were fantastic in concert. I have a rare album called "Live in Louisville" that was given to radio stations to play. As to a couple of suggestions I would recommend 707 and Spys - OK, throw in Shooting Star and Ultravox too.Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Funny story about Rex Smith - he's now a real estate agent near my home in Southern California. He also runs huge ads in local papers with his picture (he's not "fat," but definitely somewhat "follically-challenged"). His ad's tag line? "Results That Will 'Take Your Breath Away,'" of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregkevinw Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 aj and ted... just bought del amitri's best of and it has some great tunes. "not where it's at" is a song i had heard for a few years but had no idea who sang it..... great pop tune...aj i saw angel and starz at the same concert...even though they had experienced about the same success, angel was the headliner..i think the runaways opened....thats when angel would appear in boxes onstage instead of the usual lights down lights up thing....back then it was so cool!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I believe that part of Angel's stage show was the inspiration for the stage pods in "Spinal Tap."Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymooladi Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Jennifer I think you will probally go broke buying all these albums and go crazy trying to find them all. Good LuckI got some great ideas myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pierson Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 The Tremblers LP enjoyed many a spin on the Allen Bros's turntable back in the day Noone's solo LP, which came out in the early 80s also had some good stuff. Don't know whatever became of him (probably fat and bald somewhere -- like Punky). I think i 1st heard that Tremblers LP via that turntable... "ill be taking her..." is tops as well as 'you can't do that" and a decent cover of Elvis C's "Green Shirt"....On the Noone solo LP the single was his cover version of the Sutherland Bros 'hit' "I Don't Want To Love You But You Got Me Anyway'... WHICH, to make a feable connection to Rex Smith was "performed" on Solid Gold which Rex hosted for a brief time... he did end up on a soap opera in the '90s too, me thinks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Noone self-released The Tremblers' album on CD a few years back. Some great, new-wavey power pop on there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Tim - I would take a look at the reunion DVD that you can get from STARZCENTRAL, I think its only around $20 plus shipping. Almost as good as flying over to the east coast. I'm embarrassed to say that they played a reunion show in Cleveland and I didn't make it! Thanks for the 707 and Spys suggestion!GregKevinW - Del Amitri - If you don't have it and can find it cheap used, get "Waking Hours" - some really great tunes didn't make it on the "Hatful Of Rain" collection (which is discontinued and replaced with an inferior Millenium Collection disc). I remember getting sent the Gin Blossom's debut for replying to a survey about Del Amitri's "Waking Hours" album. Angel's Show - Remember the huge winged-head (for lack of an appropriate name) that lit up and introduced each member as they appeared out of the boxes. Plus the reversable Logo! For their SINFUL tour in Richfield, bad weather caused many people not to show - Frank DiMino told everyone to come down closer to the stage - great cause we were in the high altitiude section!Mannoman - I never caught that about some of the members of The A's becoming The Hooters - Guess I'm slipping with age....It is so great to talk about these bands and get feedback so fast!Unfortunately, the Artful Dodger forum (which has many great members) is still kinda small (but growing)and feedback can sometimes require a bit of a wait. I'd suggest that anyone interested, check it out. Gary Cox, Peter Bonta and Steve Cooper (all from the band) have posted some great information from their touring days and some of the acts they toured with. Peter Bonta owned a studio in Virginia - he's worked with many interesting people. Plus, like Eric Carmen and the rest of the Raspberries, it's great being able to talk to these guys (should I say e-chat?) - it never would have happened back in the day! Okay, a couple of exceptions, I did get to talk to members of Wild Horses while they were popular, and a cover-band named Champion that did the bar circuit in the Akron/Canton and Cleveland area - they were Artful Dodger fans (believe it or not)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Speaking of The A's/The Hooters, etc....Former Hooters member Fran Smith, Jr. has a VERY good solo CD out; it's called MAN MEETS MACHINE and it's chock full of great songs. Check it out (including soundclips) at: http://www.notlame.com/Fran_Smith_Jr./Ten_Cent_Millionaires/Page_1/CDSMITHJR1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiesjc Posted August 22, 2005 Author Share Posted August 22, 2005 June, I'm trying to get one thread that I can reference for such advice. I figured some groups' names would come up several times, from several people, and that I would remember some groups from previous postings. Those might be the ones to seek out first. There are so many, though, you could be right -- I might go broke and crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 The Five Clicks. M Sweet meets Rasberries meets The Knack meets the Bay City Rollers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 I mean The Click Five I now see there is already a thread about them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early Wynn Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Being from the Philly area, I loved both The A's and Hooters. But they were two distinct groups. The A's included guitarist Rick DiFonzo who went on to play with Cindy Lauper, Patti Smyth, and Roger Waters (during the famous "the Wall" concert in Berlin). Rob Hyman and Eric Brazilian were the main song writers in the Hooters. They were huge locally. They still are pretty big in Europe and they play there almost every summer. Their first local CD called "Amore" was great, as was their first Sony CD "Nervous Night". The A's first record was incredible. The second one "A Woman's Got the Power" had a few great songs on it, including the title track. They had an EP out in 1982 called Four Dances which contained the classic "Do the Dance". Too bad they broke up shortly after that was released. Can't tell I was a big fan of both groups, can you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early Wynn Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Has anyone mentioned the Gin Blossoms? Both of their CDs were, IMO, very good. They have a new one coming out soon. www.ginblossoms.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew Bundles Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 Didnt Early Wynn die about 10 years ago?...If so, you are a real trooper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannoman Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Early Wynn - you are correct, I misspoke - my apologies to AJ too. BTW, You were a mean pitcher in a former life.Ted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early Wynn Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Just for the record, I'm thinking about making a comeback. The Indians could probably use another starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregkevinw Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 early, i'm surprised the gin blossoms dont get more mention here because they wrote some beautiful music 'as long as it matters" is an excellent song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cartmill Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 But why did the writer of most of the Gin Blossom's hits kill himself? Does anybody know?And I thought Early Wynn was almost 50 when he quit the first time. That would make him...like...really old. Isn't the mound in the Indians bullpen where they buried him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougjack Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Hey, what a coincidence - I was just reading about Gin Blossoms and checking their site out yesterday. I had no idea they were back, but they have been for a couple of years and have a new CD in the works. Turns out Doug only wrote the 1st 2 of 7 hit records they had, so they've actually had more without him. But he wrote "Hey Jealousy", which is the song many remember them for. I didn't get into them until "Until I Hear It From You", which was later - after his suicide. Alchohol & depression were the main reasons given for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Some great acts have been mentioned here. Kudos to Greg, Ted and others who picked up on “As Long As it Matters†by Gin Blossoms, a truly great song, and “Not Where It’s At†by Del Amitri, which in my opinion is just as close to pop perfection as you can get. I’ve also got Starz’ “Attention Shoppers†album, and always loved “Hold On to the Night†and “Johnny All-Alone†from this album. Some trivia for you: Starz’ lead singer Michael Smith, is the brother of Rex (“You Take My Breath Awayâ€) Smith, and bassist, Peter Sweval used to be in the band Looking Glass. Remember “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)â€?Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 Marvin, all of STARZ except for Richie Ranno was in LOOKING GLASS - Michael Lee Smith, Dube, Peter, Brendan and Larry (keyboards). They recorded an album under the band name FALLEN ANGELS for Arista Records - it never was released. They advertised for a hard rock guitarist in 1975 and picked up Richie Ranno. They fired Larry and changed the name to STARZ. Listen to a sample of "Jimmie Loves Maryanne" by LOOKING GLASS - you'll hear Michael on backing vocals, Dube on drums. There was also a best of LOOKING GLASS release and you'll see Michael, Dube, Peter, etc. all dressed in pirate attire!Rykodisc released all 4 STARZ albums on disc and they're remastered in 20 or 24 bit digital. They added demos and songs from the "Requiem" CD and "Do it with the lights on" LP - Jack Douglas liked the tune to "Do it with the lights on" but the lyrics were to dirty, so Michael changed the song into "Rock Six Times". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted August 25, 2005 Share Posted August 25, 2005 AJ thanks for the clarification.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lew Bundles Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 Twilley, Badfinger,Pezband and John Waite of course...Tommy Hoehn and a number or two that were very Carmenish...Hudson Brothers,T-Rex,Nick Gilder,Joan Jett and the new band Jet has a track called COLD-HEARTED BITCH that is a deadringer Rapberries type... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregkevinw Posted September 2, 2005 Share Posted September 2, 2005 ......XTC.........................the band tony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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