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The Starjets

Background information
Also known as	Tango Brigade
Origin	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Genres	Punk rock, power pop
Years active	1976–1980; 2019–present
Labels	Epic

Members	Terry Sharpe Paul Bowen Liam L'Estrange Sean Martin

The Starjets are a power pop group from Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[1]

History

The band was formed in June 1976.^[1] The Starjets consists of guitarist/vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist/vocalist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L'Estrange.^[1] The group sported a mix of punk and mainstream pop influences.^[1] Early sets consisted of such 1960s pop standards as "Please Please Me" by The Beatles and "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies.^[1] They opened for groups as diverse as the Bay City Rollers and Stiff Little Fingers.

The group secured a major record label recording contract with Epic Records;^[1] they were signed by Muff Winwood. They released a number of singles in 1979, with their only chart hit being "War Stories" b/w "Do the Push", which peaked at No. 51^[2] on the UK Singles Chart.^[3] The A-side is a celebration of World War II comic book stories, such as those of Sgt. Fury. They released one album, 1979's God Bless the Starjets, but it failed commercially.^[1] Following the release of the "Shiraleo" single in March 1980, the band changed its name to Tango Brigade and released one more single, "Donegal", before finally splitting up.^[1] After a brief stint performing vocal duties with the Angelic Upstarts (most notably taking lead vocals on the song "Reason Why?" from the album of the same title), Sharpe went on co-write a couple of tracks on Bananarama's debut album Deep Sea Skiving,^[4]^[5] before scoring a Top 20 hit in 1988 with his new band The Adventures.^[6]^[7]^[1]

The Starjets reformed in January 2019 and are performing live again. In 2020, Billie Joe Armstrong recorded a version of "War Stories" for his covers album No Fun Mondays.^[8] In March 2022, they appeared on The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read,^[9]^[10]^[11] as broadcast on Local and Talking Pictures TV,^[12] performing live in the studio. The Starjets were voted the most successful Heritage Chart Act of 2021,^[13] with singles such as 2020's "Geordie Best"^[8] and 2022's "King Upon a London Hill" making it to the number one spot.^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2365. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
^ "STARJETS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 524. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "Record Review: Bananarama – Deep Sea Skiving". 9 May 2017.
^ "Bananarama are back: 'It was every bit as intense as a marriage, but without the sex'". The Irish Times.
^ "Adventures man Terry Sharpe on 'final' gigs and memories of 1980s pop success". 28 December 2018.
^ "ADVENTURES | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
^ ^a ^b "The Starjets Band News".
^ "The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read (TV Series)".
^ "New Heritage Chart TV show airs". 27 January 2022.
^ "Issue of the day: The Heritage Chart taps into nostalgia".
^ "Home". heritagechart.co.uk.
^ "Home". thestarjets.com.
^ "Week 86 13 March 2022".

External links

Official website
Biography on the Mod-Pop-Punk Archives (via the Wayback Machine)
Discussion on BBC Northern Ireland's "The Saturday Magazine"
Review of God Bless the Starjets in AllMusic
Review of God Bless the Starjets in Trouser Press

Categories:

Hidden categories:

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States