Abitaman wrote:You keep me waiting on the news
. When, where, and how about some background on the group, if you know any-ERIC
As posted to one of the Kevin Chalfant mailing lists on Yahoo...
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Hi Mary,
Just wanted to say thank you for inviting me into the Kevin Chalfant mailing list. And I wanted to let you in on what Kevin will be doing for (hopefully) many years to come.
Shooting Star was founded in 1977 by a pair of musicians who've been playing for years in the Kansas City music scene: Van McLain (Shooting Star & The Galaxies) & Gary West (The Chesmann, The Beckies). Together they brought in more local talent and toured under the name Shooting Star.
Then in 1979, they became the very first US band to sign for Virgin Records, who had wanted to make headways into the American market. In 1980, Virgin-Epic released their self-titled, debut album to critically rave reviews. In 1981, they released Hang On For Your Life which featured their signiture song. From 1980-1985, they released five studio albums: Shooting Star, Hang On For Your Life, III Wishes, Burning, & Silent Scream. Unfortunately, bad management deals and poor representation from their record labels made their attempts for success nearly impossible. So in March of 1987, the band (with no record deal) broke up.
But in 1989, something interesting happened. Van McLain knew that CDs were the latest thing. And he was disappointed that none of their classic albums were available on CD for fans to enjoy. So with the assistance of band member Ron Verlin, they got with both Virgin and Epic Records to gather some of their best material to make a compilation album.
They also invited some new musicians, including Keith Mitchell on lead vocals, to record a brand new song called "Touch Me Tonight" for the greatest hits CD. The CD, called The Best of Shooting Star, was released on their own label V&R Records, and 10,000 copies were printed. And all of them sold out within a week! After that, Van & Ron decided that maybe Shooting Star could be reborn after all.
Then Enigma Records, known for their pop metal acts like Poison, asked V&R Records if they would let them release the CD on their label. After Enigma released their version, called Touch Me Tonight: The Best Of Shooting Star, the CD made Billboard Chart history! The CD became the first ever album to chart on the Billboard Top 200 album chart without the benefit of being available on 33 1/3 RPM vinyl format. It was a big deal back in 1989 as it signaled the beginning of the end of vinyl records.
Unfortunately, Enigma Records dropped the ball on Shooting Star as the label's fortunes waned with the end of pop metal. So in 1991, the band released It's Not Over - once again on V&R Records. And once again, regional album sales prompted a big record label (JRS Records, then subsidiary to SBK Records) to take a chance on Shooting Star. Unfortunately, JRS turned out to be a losing label. Just as JRS couldn't get Asia's Aqua into the Billboard Charts, they failed to do anything for Shooting Star. The label filed for bankruptcy in 1992 still owing the band more than $180,000!
V&R Records finally got the rights to release their original 5 albums in 1997. The year before, they released their first live record. And they toured off and on through the 90s. In 1998, I founded a mailing list for Shooting Star called the Shooting Star Maniac Asylum on Listbot. During that time, dozens signed up including band members old and new. Van McLain, co-founder of the band, & Bill Guffey, keyboardist on the first era of Shooting Star, are regular contributors to the Asylum.
In 2002, Shooting Star released their seventh studio album Leap Of Faith. In '03, they released their second greatest hits album: The Best Of Shooting Star v.2. But in late 2005, Shooting Star went to the studio to record their eighth studio album when Keith Mitchell left the band due to personal and professional reasons. So Van McLain sought out a new lead singer. On February 10th, 2006, MelodicRock.com announced that the band had invited Kevin Chalfant (707, The Storm, Two Fires) to be their third lead singer.
A good way to find out what Kevin will be doing, you can visit the Shooting Star Maniac Asylum, the "official" fan web site & the only officially sanctioned mailing list, by heading over to
http://www.geocities.com/ssmaniac_2000 and taking a look. We have tons of pictures and sound bytes. And we feature a weekly MP3 Of The Week that features live lesser known tracks from Shooting Star's history. All of you on the Kevin Chalfant mailing list are invited to join the list.
And, once again, thank you for inviting me into your community. I'm sure that both the band and Kevin Chalfant will have a wonderful time together.
Take care,
Robert Landrum
List/Web Master
The Shooting Star Maniac Asylum
http://www.geocities.com/ssmaniac_2000
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:25 am
-ERIC
