Brett CallwoodThe Hollywood Stars
Sound City (Burger Records)
During a recent interview, Hollywood Stars singer Scott Phares told us that Kim Fowley put the band together with the idea in mind to create L.A.’s answer to the New York Dolls, though Phares added that it “went beyond that.”
“He wanted a group of heart throbs with genuine Hollywood street cred,” Phares told us. “The songs were to be catchy — no blues, no jams, no long solos.”
Listening to this “lost album,” recorded in 1976 and finally seeing the light of day on August 23, Fowley met at least some of his objectives. Any New York Dolls comparisons are superficial; the Stars had none of the Dolls’ sleazy, gutter-rock edge. You couldn’t imagine that the Hollywood Stars had spent the hours before recording this sifting through thrift stores for women’s clothes before going on a dope search. The Dolls were gloriously messy. The Stars are not.
That said, there’s much to love here. There are certainly no jams and long solos, but there are some blues influences on songs such as the opening “Sunrise on Sunset” and, obviously, “So Blue.” Not in a dull Clapton sort of slow hand way, but rather in a blue collar glitter manner.
Mott the Hoople and Starz would be solid reference points. These guys wrote catchy rock & roll songs with a slight glam (not punk) vibe that don’t sound horribly dated today.
“[Our biggest achievement was] getting a record deal with Columbia and headlining the Whisky over some great groups like Journey and The Tubes,” Phares said. “The incredible reception we got from our fans everywhere we played was amazing. I didn’t appreciate it as much back then, but to have a line outside The Whisky and to have girls screaming for us was fabulous.”
One can easily imagine kids in the Whisky going wild for tunes like “All the Kids on the Street” and “Habits” — wild, hard-rocking belters. And while there’s nothing on Sound City that will propel it into “classic” territory, it is a blessing that this lost album has been found and dusted off.
(Burger Records)
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