Radio Stars

about

Formed in London, UK in 1976, and disbanded for dental reasons in 1979, Radio Stars emerged from the tail-end of glam to seize the punk reins with abandon, albeit without the po-faced rigidity of their peers. Writer/bassist Martin Gordon was in Sparks during the Kimono My House era, and then formed Jet with former John's Children singer Andy Ellison. Jet became Radio Stars, with guitarist Ian Macleod replacing Jet's Davey O'List and drummer Steve Parry, and later Jamie Crompton, completing the line up. The first Radio Stars single ‘Dirty Pictures’ was championed by John Peel; their first EP, inspired by Germans and entitled ‘Stop It’, contained two tunes which were to become legendary live favourites, ‘No Russians in Russia’ and ‘Johnny Mekon’. Their first album ‘Songs For Swinging Lovers’ was described as ’sticking out from the fetid morass of garage bands on fly-by-night labels like Nureyev's whatsit through his leotard’, which seems to sum it up rather well. They toured endlessly, audiences invaded the stage, they even had hits and gained critical acclaim. Tickets for the shows were printed with the slogan ‘No riff-raff’ - no matter, the riff-raff turned up in droves, eager to get an earful of the band and an eyeful of Gordon’s soft-porn model girlfriend who stood obtrusively at the side of the stage. Their second album ‘Holiday Album’ contained equal amounts of pop gems for grown-ups, but the writing was on the wall, and molars were being ground down. Exhausted by

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