Shooting Star (Kansas City, MO AOR)

Shooting Star is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, formed in the late 1970s. After gaining popularity in the Kansas City area, Shooting Star became the first American group to sign with Virgin Records. They recorded their debut album in England in May and June of 1979 with producer Gus Dudgeon. The band gained national exposure when a number of songs garnered moderate airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations in the US. Shooting Star initially consisted of Van McLain (guitars, vocals), Bill Guffey (keyboards), Steve Thomas (drums), Ron Verlin (bass), Charles Waltz (violin, keyboards, vocals) and Gary West (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums). Shooting Star was formed in suburban Kansas City by next-door neighbors and childhood friends Ron Verlin and Van McLain (born Van Allen McElvain on May 3, 1955, in Kansas City, Missouri; died March 2, 2018). They created a band with their brothers, Craig McLain and John Verlin, and played Beatles records in Ron's grandmother's garage. Two years later, Van and Craig had moved to different school districts and the band split up. Upon entering Shawnee Mission South High School, Van and Ron met up again. With the 1950s nostalgia craze of 1971 brewing, they played classic 1950s hits. After seeing Sha Na Na in the movie Woodstock, they added three dancers to the act and called the band The Shooting Stars featuring The Galaxies, the name inspired by Bill Haley & His Comets. By 1974, Van began serious songwriting. The band decided to stop playing cover songs and perform their own music. Later that year, they recorded a four-song demo tape and planned a trip to London, England to shop their songs for a record deal. They left on January 6, 1975, and after three weeks of shopping their music to different record labels, they were offered a recording contract with Arista Records. Upon signing, The Shooting Stars were given the opportunity to play a showcase performance at the legendary Marquee Club in London. The band then made their way to Morgan Studios to record their first single, Take the Money & Run (shortly before the Steve Miller hit of the same name). Arista Records then released The Shooting Stars from their contract, and they returned to Kansas City. In 1977 Van and Ron persuaded fellow musician Gary West (born Gary Hodgden) to join them as a singer and songwriting partner. Gary, with his brother Ron West, had been a member of the premier Kansas City rock band of the 1960s, The Chesmann Square. After The Chesmann dissolved in 1974, Ron West formed the band Missouri and Gary West moved with the Chesmann's lead guitarist Jim McAllister to New York City. There they formed the group The Beckies with songwriter Michael Brown, formerly of the group The Left Banke, and former Kansas Citian Scott Trusty. The Beckies released one album on Sire Records. Upon Gary's return to Kansas City, he and Van began songwriting in earnest. Steve Thomas had already joined on drums by 1976 and in 1977 Bill Guffey was added on keyboards for a new lineup of The Shooting Stars. And with the addition of Charles Waltz on violin, keyboards and vocals in May 1977, the name was eventually shortened to Shooting Star later the following year and they started recording demos in Gary's garage, all the while playing gigs around the Midwest. After saving enough money and putting a press kit together they tried to secure another record deal in New York City. Through connections that Gary had made while a member of The Beckies, the band booked a showcase at the punk rock club CBGB. A representative for a new New York management firm, Golden Lion Entertainment, was in the crowd that night and offered them a contract. With a management deal secured, Shooting Star returned to Kansas City to continue writing new material. Six months later, the band's management arranged for them to play another showcase at the New York City club Tracks. Three record companies, Atlantic Records, Virgin Records and A&M Records, made offers to sign the band. Virgin, then a small British record label, succeeded. The label was looking for a rock group to break into the US market, and Shooting Star became the first American band on their roster. In May 1979 Shooting Star returned to London to record their eponymous debut album. The album Shooting Star was released in January 1980 and the band embarked on a national tour opening for Robin Trower and Triumph. "Wild In the Streets", a B-side release, was a staple of live show encores; the song was eventually released on CD as a bonus track. "You Got What I Need", from the debut, ended up peaking at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100. The debut album stalled out at #147 on the Billboard Top 200 and Van McLain explained his version as to why: We had the number one most played AOR song in the country with 'Last Chance' and our record company, Virgin, had gotten into a fight with Atlantic Records, who was their distribution. We ended up not being able to get our album in the stores for six months. We should have sold a ton of albums from having that popular of a song on the radio, but when people went to the stores, they couldn't buy the album because it was not in the stores. With the radio success, and Virgin switching over to Epic Records for their distribution, Shooting Star returned to the studio in 1981 to record Hang On for Your Life (July 1981). "Hollywood" was released as a single and climbed the Billboard Hot 100, topping out at #70. In support of the album, the band toured with ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, Todd Rundgren, Jefferson Starship and Journey. They appeared on the radio shows Rock Line, King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH), The Source and Westwood One.[citation needed] Keyboardist Bill Guffey left the group after the recording of Hang On for Your Life. In 1982 Shooting Star released their third album, III Wishes (July 1982), then returned to touring with such acts as REO Speedwagon, John Mellencamp, Jefferson Starship, Kansas and others. 1983 saw the release of their fourth album, Burning (June 1983) and the band once again embarked on a heavy touring schedule. But bassist Ron Verlin, who had become disenchanted with the music industry, departed in early 1984; Norm Dahlor was recruited to take over. That same year the band contributed two songs for the movie soundtrack Up the Creek (April 1984). The songs were "Get Ready Boy" and "Take It." Virgin Records then picked up Geffen Records as their distributor and Geffen's A&R executive, John Kalodner (who had earlier championed such hugely successful acts as Foreigner and Asia), got behind the group and they began to record their fifth album, Silent Scream (April 1985). Van, Norm and Steve were also the backing band on Ian Hunter's single "Great Expectations." The band then toured with Heart, Bryan Adams and ZZ Top. In 1986, after almost a decade of touring and five albums, Shooting Star decided to go on hiatus. A farewell show was played on December 27, 1986 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and after a few more concerts, Shooting Star went their separate ways in late spring of 1987. Guitarist McLain, in a 2013 interview with Goldmine Magazine, explained why the group disbanded: We signed with Geffen, and we put out Silent Scream. Geffen got into a fight with all the radio promo guys, and they fired them the week our album came out. We had 200 ads on the radio, out of 300 reporting stations, in the first week. [The album's first track] 'Summer Sun' was being added everywhere, and it looked like the album would be a smash. After the fight with the promo guys, it dropped to 40 stations. What do you do? We really worked hard on that record, and it was the one. It just crushed Gary when it all fell apart over something that ridiculous; it literally drove him out of the music business. You put your heart and soul into this stuff, and you expect these business guys to come through for you. We got hosed four or five times. Over the next several years fans from