huppophonic
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- Jul 23, 2011
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Re: Starz
Hi Everyone,
I'm totally new here. I didn't even know this forum existed until abut 10 minutes ago. I stumbled in here while doing one of those endless wandering around the internet things that I'm sure all of us do now and again.
I registered to throw in my memories of Starz and blow my horn a tiny bit. I was a teenager into most of the same bands you guys were into in the 70s, Aerosmith, KISS, Angel, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Queen, BOC, etc etc. I also bought the first Starz LP when it came out, based on the cover illustration and the names of the songs, the way I bought a lot of music back before you could hear it before you bought it (remember those days?) I was immediately a fan and was also a fan of Rex, Micheal Lee Smith's brother's band before he became a teen idol.
Imagine my excitement when my local venue, the Springfield (Mass) Civic Center announced a concert with Starz opening for Aerosmith! I've seen Aerosmith 7 times, all before 1978, but still caught them whenever they were in town. I was there, right up front as always. I took pictures, which you can find posted here:
Fuzzy Concert Photos From the 70s ---- STARZ
The Aerosmith pics from the same show and some other stuff from that era are linked there, too.
After seeing them, I wrote to the band, telling them that apart from "that superstar feeling", they were every bit as exciting to see as Aerosmith. Much to my surprise, I got a handwritten postcard back from Michael Lee Smith, further along in the tour (in TX I think) saying "That Superstar feeling is on the way". I haven't seen that postcard in 25 or more years, but I never throw anything away, so maybe it will turn up again someday when I'm rummaging around at my Father's house. If I find it, I'll scan it and post it here.
As you can see on the page above, the story doesn't end there. I scanned those pics and put them up on the net a LONG time ago, probably the late 90s. I got an email from Richie Ranno that pretty much said "What's your problem?" because I put some snide stuff about how they didn't become "starz." I can see why that would bother him! In response I changed the page and linked to his Starz site and made him a little present. This:
I did it by scanning the cover of the first LP, then importing the image into Caligari TruSpace (a cool 3D rendering prog bought and killed by Microsoft) and virtually 'tracing' the contours of the logo, then turning into a 3D object and animating it spinning around. He liked the spinning logo enough that it became part of the 'official' Starz website. It's a great feeling for me to see that it's still bumping around the internet. I saw someone include it in a post farther up the thread.
Richie had turned over communication with me to his wife, who worked at a NY ad agency or something. She loved the logo and asked if I had any more stuff to show her as she might be able to get me some freelance work through her agency. I never got back to her on that since I have no confidence in my abilities and never follow through with anything.
Who knows where that might have led?
Anywho, I hope you like my pics. I saw most every popular band from that era, not just the ones in the pics. But pics were a lot harder to come by back then. Crappy little instamatic cameras with 110 film, it cost as much to develop the film as a concert ticket. Anyone else remember $4.50, $5.50 concert tickets for top bands? No wonder I don't go to concerts anymore!
Hi Everyone,
I'm totally new here. I didn't even know this forum existed until abut 10 minutes ago. I stumbled in here while doing one of those endless wandering around the internet things that I'm sure all of us do now and again.
I registered to throw in my memories of Starz and blow my horn a tiny bit. I was a teenager into most of the same bands you guys were into in the 70s, Aerosmith, KISS, Angel, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Queen, BOC, etc etc. I also bought the first Starz LP when it came out, based on the cover illustration and the names of the songs, the way I bought a lot of music back before you could hear it before you bought it (remember those days?) I was immediately a fan and was also a fan of Rex, Micheal Lee Smith's brother's band before he became a teen idol.
Imagine my excitement when my local venue, the Springfield (Mass) Civic Center announced a concert with Starz opening for Aerosmith! I've seen Aerosmith 7 times, all before 1978, but still caught them whenever they were in town. I was there, right up front as always. I took pictures, which you can find posted here:
Fuzzy Concert Photos From the 70s ---- STARZ
The Aerosmith pics from the same show and some other stuff from that era are linked there, too.
After seeing them, I wrote to the band, telling them that apart from "that superstar feeling", they were every bit as exciting to see as Aerosmith. Much to my surprise, I got a handwritten postcard back from Michael Lee Smith, further along in the tour (in TX I think) saying "That Superstar feeling is on the way". I haven't seen that postcard in 25 or more years, but I never throw anything away, so maybe it will turn up again someday when I'm rummaging around at my Father's house. If I find it, I'll scan it and post it here.
As you can see on the page above, the story doesn't end there. I scanned those pics and put them up on the net a LONG time ago, probably the late 90s. I got an email from Richie Ranno that pretty much said "What's your problem?" because I put some snide stuff about how they didn't become "starz." I can see why that would bother him! In response I changed the page and linked to his Starz site and made him a little present. This:
I did it by scanning the cover of the first LP, then importing the image into Caligari TruSpace (a cool 3D rendering prog bought and killed by Microsoft) and virtually 'tracing' the contours of the logo, then turning into a 3D object and animating it spinning around. He liked the spinning logo enough that it became part of the 'official' Starz website. It's a great feeling for me to see that it's still bumping around the internet. I saw someone include it in a post farther up the thread.
Richie had turned over communication with me to his wife, who worked at a NY ad agency or something. She loved the logo and asked if I had any more stuff to show her as she might be able to get me some freelance work through her agency. I never got back to her on that since I have no confidence in my abilities and never follow through with anything.
Who knows where that might have led?Anywho, I hope you like my pics. I saw most every popular band from that era, not just the ones in the pics. But pics were a lot harder to come by back then. Crappy little instamatic cameras with 110 film, it cost as much to develop the film as a concert ticket. Anyone else remember $4.50, $5.50 concert tickets for top bands? No wonder I don't go to concerts anymore!
