Quelle Crise, Baby...The Story of Starshooter... Show # 310

Starshooter originate from Lyon, France. The band consisted of Kent Hutchinson on guitar/vocals, Mickey Snack on bass, Jello on guitar, and Phil Pressing on drums. They started out initially in 1975 when they were known as Scooters. Changing their name to Starshooter, the band released their first single in 1977 when they were signed to EMI records. The single was titled Pin-Up Blonde, it was backed by Quelle Crisis Baby (English translation meaning What Crisis Baby). Starshooter was not like the typical Punk band, they were often a band that seemed not unlike a happy gang of friends. Their music while the lyrics were sung in French and English, had all the aggression and anger of Rock & Roll mixed with Punk music.


The bands next release was released in 1978, it was entitled Get Baque. The song was actually a Punked up version of "Get Back" originally by The Beatles. In this version, the song is sung in both French and English. In the middle of the song, clips of a variety of Beatles songs are played in quick succession, keeping true to the style of the vicious cover. The single was actually pulled from shelves after a week of being available, this in turn added some venom to the bands image, which was previously seen as not the "typical" Punk image. The band then released a single for the song "Betsy Party", this song would be their big break in the French market, causing them to rise to the top of Europe 1, which is a privately owned French radio station that has its own music chart system. Along with fellow French Rock band Telephone, Starshooter were seen as a popular French Punk Rock band in 1978. A full album followed in the same year, it was simply titled Starshooter. The album was well received.

In 1979 a second full length album followed called Mode. This album mixed in more influences ranging from Disco, to New Wave. The albums cover was very bright and flashy, which guitarist Jello thinks hurt the sales a bit. Another album followed in 1980 entitled Chez Les Autres, Among the Other is the English translation. For this album the band mixed Folk based music elements in with Rock. The albums cover was done by famous French graphic artist Kiki Picasso. During 1979 until 1981, Starshooter kept touring in support of their albums, but the touring would stop shortly. In 1981, the band released their final full length album, Pas Fatigue (Not Tired, in English). This album would be released on CBS Records, not EMI. The band left due to the departure of their producer Philippe Constantin. For Not Tired, the bands sound was darker and was recorded in London, England. Following one more tour, which was titled Tora! Tora! Tora! The band broke up. Recordings from this tour were released in 2004 under the title Live! Following the end of Starshooter, Kent Hutchinson went on to have a successful solo career.

More information on the band can be found at:
starshooter.best.free.fr/ (use google translater if you do not understand French)

The Play List:

1. Jaill - Always Wrong
2. The Streets On Fire - Astronaut Love Triangle
3. Blondie - Platinum Blonde
4. Gentlemen of horror - Bank 
5. Deja Voodoo - Red Garlic Shoes
6. Brian James Gang - Method To My Madness
7. Verte Brats - Diamond in the Rough
8. Fang - Employee of the Month
9. Insect Surfers - Into the Action
10. Strangeways - Show Her You Care
11. Blades - Ghost of a Chance
12. Telephone - Regarde Moi
13. Starshooter - Get Baque
14. Starshooter - Week-End
15. Les Mods - What You Waitin' For?
16. The Golden Dogs -Lester
17. Dave Rave - Rain Song
18. The Shakers - My Mustang Ford
19. Bob Dylan & The Band - On A Night Like This
20. Patti Smith - Changing of the Guards
21. The Hammersmith Gorillas - Gatecrasher 
22. Wavves - Post-Acid
23. Leather Uppers - Supercar
24. Gregg Koval - Esther's In Town
25. Young Rival - A Few Things Left

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for July 27th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.