The Starjets | |
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| 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]
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]
As of 2025, the Starjets [15] is comprised only of Paul Bowen, as Terry Sharpe has reformed The Adventures [16] with Pat and Eileen Gribben, for a new album called Once More With Feeling.
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