They also had the unique conundrum of having a distinct look, whilst the lead singer, Di Mino, was NOT the focal point, Meadows the guitarist was. It confused people, and made them a little anonymous. It also seems unfair to compare them to Kiss, as the scene was awash in bands trying to make it pre punk: Piper, Rex, Susan, Teaze, etc., Most were likable but generic,, there is only so much attention to be given and dollars to be spent.
Wow...I got that one wrong...not sure how I saw @carlwm as the thread starter but @healter skealter is totally trying to rip on KISS.
"The Fortune" from Helluva Band is even better than "The Tower" IMHO. It certainly isn't anything like the coattails of Kiss.
Maybe they're a "you had to be there" kind of thing, but I've listened to their best-of a few times, and the short answer is...their songs weren't as catchy, or immediate. (I also generally think that if you're tagged as a clone of an already and currently-popular band, it's very difficult to overcome that. Case and point: The Alarm)
Different ears and all that but I'm happy to stick to my guns and describe them as an excellent band. I agree that a lack of joined-up thinking had them hitch themselves to the KISS bandwagon which is a wrong-headed as, say, Starcastle developing links with The Knack.
Bad promotion? I don't ever recall hearing a song by them. I remember the print ads and I remember Punky's Whips but I don't ever remember hearing Angel on the radio.
It’s worth noting that several of those credits are from one song - “King Of the Night Time World”, which is a de-facto cover of a song by the Hollywood Stars that Paul and Ezrin made some minor tweaks to.
nah, they were seen as arty, and during their 70s heyday the hard rock crunch was not hidden, but always in balance
Exactly, that is why I didn't mention Mark Anthony, as Ezrin and Fowley have other writing credits on Destroyer.
Check out their first two, particularly Violation, which is better than any KISS album (apart from ACE FREHLEY)
I will give an endorsement for all 4 of the studio Starz albums...I was lucky enough to see Starz open for Be Bop Deluxe at the Calderone Theater 1977...
I wasn't overly whelmed by Attention Shoppers so I've been a bit reticent about checking out the others. Violation has been given several thumbs-ups on this thread though so I intend to hunt it out.
Yep, The Fortune is a Pomp-Rock classic! And it is obviously not derivative of Kiss (though they did have a few songs that were). I'm no Kiss expert, but even I recognize that they were genius at crafting catchy anthems -that put them in a league all their own. No shame that Angel could not find that ability to catch fire like Kiss -they still have some great songs and are well worth investigating.
They weren't exactly effeminate. They had some of the hairiest chests in rock, and displayed them constantly!
