STARZ - Pull The Plug

[izzinami]

michael lee smith is one of rocks most under-rated singers......top ten in my book !!!

[deejer67]

Damn, you know, that was a pretty damned good show! Why have I never heard of this group?

[astonsfan]

this is way bettter then anything out there now-ah-days!!!this rocks!!! this is art!!!

[Starzcentral]

Don't miss Starz live on Friday, May 21 at Mexicali Blues in Teaneck, NJ! This is a rare East coast appearance by the band.

[m00nracer]

i remember when they played this on Don Kirshner, it blew me away. Still sounds so great !! Too bad these guys never got the aclaim they deserved. Very very creative songwriting that was way ahead of their time

[brooklynstudio]

ive never heard of this band until now, and I am wowed, this is great

[TheJetfighter666]

Their first and forth albums are two for the ages.The other two have bits and pieces.I also have their fifth L.P. which I think is a radio only LIVE album that kicks ass! Living in N.J. most of my life I am surprised that I only saw them once, With Angel and Piper. I wish I had seen them after they put out Coliseum Rock because that is their fucking masterpiece!! Side Two needs to be heard to be believed!!!-SMOKIN"!!!

[chefstarz]

I agree. This band was and is one of the best. I still tell people about themall the time.

[bushsucksit]

This song still rocks even after all these years. Great song. Great singer.

[Mystic458]

Man...I played this in a cover band in 76...

[MrLocostSeven]

first time ive came across these guys there good

[xSpiritWithinx]

I thought i ran into Death cover xD

[TaylorTacoFoo]

Same here haha!

[oldeskoole623]

Nice song and performance. You guys should check the song: Death - "Pull the Plug," sort of the same theme, but totally different genre, read the lyrics with the song and I hope you all can appreciate it.

[gene921]

Does anyone have the Don Kirschner footage?

[hanky2112]

@gene921 this is the Don Kirschner footag

[ProperGroupie]

Actually it's NOT the DK footage. I had that up a couple of years ago and it was pulled for copyright infringement in about 24 hours. He's very careful about what gets posted. It can be found on StarzStuff or the band website.

[Nic1973KISS]

6 months ago was the last time you ate

[Rockbringer1]

Their singer reminds me of Steven Tyler (in appearance more than sound), awesome album!

[ProperGroupie]

His name is Michael Lee Smith, older brother of teen idol Rex Smith. Starz played Detroit and Cleveland over the weekend and by all reports, Michael Lee Smith has still 'got it'.

[ProperGroupie]

For unusual and rare Starz collectibles, check out StarzStuff . . . a joint charity venture from guitarist Brendan Harkin and the family of Piet Sweval. A new LIVE cd, ringtones, one of a kind items. Google it. YouTube won't let me post a URL . . .

[billypeak1]

I totally agre with all. I've been playing in bands for years and we used to play Monkey Business, Sing It Shout It, and a couple of other Starz songs. I was elated to find their albums re-issued on cd. Starz ROCKS!!

[CJ101nicKA]

Richie Ranno is my guitar teacher XDDDDD

[johnschirmer1]

what is the connection with the 70's group angel?

[ProperGroupie]

I believe they played a few dates together back in the 70's and the Casablanca label was set up by Bill Aucoin who managed Starz. Also, Angel and Starz played a gig in Fremont, CA in April, 2008!

[Brian0blivion]

This is so cool, one of my all time favourites.

[440gtxblewbyyou]

It would be nice to see a video of Johnny all alone.these Guy's are great I seen them at boogie hill.years ago in the 70's

[TheRisingforce2000]

starz was a favorite band of mine i used to listen to them on 8track in my mustang

[B4493]

Starz is playing near Detroit very soon. I'm gonna drive there and see them and tell them what they meant to me. It's a suburb. I saw it somewhere, I swear. I'm going. i gotta meet Michael and Ricky.

[ProperGroupie]

Starz is playing at the Token Lounge (Westland) on Friday, November 13th. Small place, great for interaction with the band.

[whoreratio]

I'm listening to Starz 1 right now. I love this old album. Sends me back to the days of REAL frikken music. Saw them on Don Kirschners Rock Concert.

Michael Lee Smith, brother of Sexy Rexy Smith.

Looks alot like Steven Tyler only a better singer !!

Richie Ranno lookin alot like Ritchie Blackmore

[GP4T]

What a great band these guys were!!!!

Have all the lp's,loved the CD reissues w/

all the bonus tracks.Finally got to see them when Attention Shoppers came out.

[dougs26602626]

HELL YES !!!! 1977,Starz opened the show for Ted Nugent.....WHAT A FREAKIN' AWESOME CONCERT THAT WAS,,,the good old days

[slammer153]

I forgot all about this band had one album by them way back, just heard this song on xm radio the boneyard channel 53 they rock!

[mosirati]

Fuck ya......take me back to my 69 Chevelle SS...HIGH school.......Amazing that there are STARZ fans out there....Still have col. rock on album

[grayrider1862]

Thanks for adding this video! These dudes are great! I just recently got all of their CD's (used to have the albums!). Thanks again.

[bluesman209]

Thanks for posting all these great Starz videos. This instantly takes me back to high school and my early days as a guitarist with a rock n' roll dream.

[twistedvincent]

Fucking Awesome!!!!

Angel,Starz,The Godz.....Great fucking music and great times!!

[revup67]

Yeah - I second that statement. Saw all those bands you mentioned. I remember going to see the Godz and before the show had to take a wizz and so did the guitarist from the Godz. What about Rex ? Rex Smith (Michael's brother) another great bands that went nowhere. Rex featured Orville Davis originally from the southern band Hydra--miss the 70s. DEATH TO HIP-HOP!

[noashamed]

I saw them in Phila. They backed up Ted Nuggent. It was supposed to be Foreigner but one of the band broke their arm or something. It was a tough concert! The crowd was rough, some of Starz wound up spitting on some of the crowd. Ted Nuggent got hit in the mouth with a Frisbee. General Admission concerts in Phila. were wild!!!

[ProperGroupie]

I have a 3 part interview on YouTube with Orville Davis and a very quick one with Mike Ratti (REX - drums). You can find them under my user name.

[ProperGroupie]

I did the same thing - I thought it was my computer or something! No harm done! These ARE great old videos. Have you seen the Gildersleeves one yet? Very good fun.

[ProperGroupie]

Sorry, due to a glut of spam advertising porn sites, I changed the option on comments, so that I read what goes up before it gets posted. Not sure USA Today would run that story but you can try!

[vascmana]

This band had some classics. This one with its still current topic and the awesome rock presentation is one of their best. Few songs say something this potent and rock, too.

[rokdog97]

Had this song in my head out of nowhere ! Glad to see the video

[Petethesnowdog]

I know Richie Ranno and I must say he is probably the nicest and sweetest guy that youy could ever meet. We kept in touch and he would call me, write letters to me and i would see him at music conventions. I also saw STARZ in concert as they backed up RUSH in Springfield, MA. Great, great rock group. I will always love their music.

[40fordcoop]

same manager as kiss, bill aucoin. too bad they didn't get the same push.great band!

[Doobie1975]

These guys should've been in the same league as Aerosmith and KISS, it's a shame Capitol didn't promote this band very well, their first two albums were definitely killer.

[hippiedustydave]

They were in the same league. Seen them in 75(?-too many trips ago) warm up for Foghat in Indianapolis

[MadisonCutlass44057]

Thanks for posting, same here, never thought I'd find this. Great band for the day.

This song was banned in most areas after its release . Erie resemblence to Mick Jagger in his youth dont you think?

[waynewyant]

Thanks for the upload. I saw these guys in August 76 with Rick Derringer and Aerosmith. Their first album kicked arse!

[tmthord]

starz is the best

[Manoreid]

It's funny - a band like Starz & Angel should worshipped. Great based blue's based hard rock with an edge. This is the shit!!!!

[macher93]

where is JOHNNY ALL ALONE?

[alexfanx]

Cool.

[die4tomarrow2day]

Dr. K rules the pre-dead.

[sbillyblues]

WOW ! I thought I would never find this song. There best !!!

[cricketplus]

there is a god never thought id find this

[onebobtwo]

who is that shreddin that axe? kickass!

[highwaymaintainer]

richie ranno

[Oxbloodred]

Never knew MLS was so COOL! We only had the photos on the back of albums and had to use our imaginations about what they were like in person..that is, until they came to town...but they never did :( Good to see the video after all these years..

[rocked6timestonight]

These guys still kick ass!! My how have times have changed! These news related lyrics really upset some folks back in the day!

Now ya don't even have to sing or play an instrument! Just blab some crap 'bout rape'n your ho, or cap'in a po po, and nobody even raises an eyebrow, hell, you'll probably get a record deal! WTF?

[astonsfan]

LOL!!!S true..so true!!!

[rocknrollphilip]

at the time of it's release, wnew=fm(new york)program director, vin schelsa, wouldn't play this track. rolling stone magazine quoted him as referring to the tune, and the band, as being, in his opinion, shit. schelsa's always tried to pass himself off as some sort of hipster, but, to quote starz in that same rolling stone article, he's worse than lawrence welk. rock on.

[crankerny]

saw Starz in Rochester, N.Y. open for Reo Speedwagon back in 1977 at the Auditorium Theatre. When they played pull the plug the crowd went nut's. Got to meet the band at the Holiday Inn after the show. Dube & Richie were really cool guy's. They really spoke highly of Judas Priest at the time !!!!!.

[Flip4LifeProductions]

I know the guitarist he is my guitar teacher i take lessons from him he is a really nice guy

[ProperGroupie]

The band often looked to the headlines for song ideas. It's true that the lyrics were inspired by the Karen Ann Quinlen case, which was very controversial at the time. The song followed suit. But in the song it IS about a guy who releases his girlfriend from the same fate.

[fasteddie777666]

this song is about pulling the plug on karen ann quinlen, cause she was brain dead...her parents had to make the landmark decision in the 70's....starz got heat for this...thats the real story buddy...nice try though

[joeradio]

i believe the song came out a few weeks before the quinlan incident & they tried to "take credit" for the timing to sound badass... i still love them & the song though

[charliedontsurf70]

did you know the song is about releasing his girlfriend from the misery of being hooked up to life support?

[RickZed]

I saw this band in Detroit at Ford Auditorium at the time of their first album. Admission was free. The band got no respect or appreciation from the crowd. They were great though. Very polished with great songs that I liked the first time I heard them.

[TaoBurp]

Oh man! I forgot all about these guys! Bought their Lps during the late 70s. Awesome lyrics and get riffs. Thanks for putting this on the tube.

[Mistral8Wind]

Is that a street light or the moon?

Thanks for putting some Starz on YouTube!

[1975teen]

this song brings some very goooood romantic memories thank you 4 bringin them back

[ShortbusMooner]

i had all of these guys records. they were a part of my musical youth. god bless em

[StrippingFleshFromBo]

Awesome song. Awesome lyrics. Awesome video. Awesome band. Simple as that.

[robertalva1]

STARZ official website is starzcentral dot com

[billwinfw]

I never heard of these guys when I seen them for the first time in July 1976. They did an outdoor show with johnny & edgar Winter, Heart , REO and Nils Lofgren. They were 1st to play and I was just floored, their sound & lyrics just grabbed my attention in minutes, even already being baked.

[MRGXX64]

STARZ DID NOT GET ENOUGH RESPECT.

[aphasia2]

can i buy the hole concert from you on dvd

[MemMan47]

Thanks for posting , these guys were great in there time . I wore out several of there LP'sin the 70's and 80's Capitol should have promoted them alot more

[astonsfan]

better then 90% of the crap out now!!!

[danelectroman70]

i like this song a lot, but these guys are a bunch of posers. the singer looks like Steven Tyler with a perm. LOLOL!

[KISS1975]

Far from posers! They were just not promoted right! Check out their first two albums their Brilliant!Check out my KISS vids!

[VanHalenBalance]

First concert i ever went to was Starz warmed up for Ted Nugent in 77 i think, did some trip

[GreenManalichi]

I saw them with Nugent too. Was it at the Capitol Center in D.C.?

[eltonlover234]

did u no that Ted Nugent ripped off Richies guitar part from monkey buisness to catsctrach fever?

[sbach56]

MLS...RR....JXD....You can pull my plug anytime...(helluva lot better than pulling my finger! LOl)

[db201830]

I saw them open for Seger in "76"....

[db201830]

Cool song, I remember when that came out and had to go buy the "album"...LOL

[crossroader]

One of...if not THE coolest songs of the 1970s....PERIOD!

[drummerbuzz]

hell yeah! I loved Satrz, I wore out several copies of Coliseum Rock! thanks for posting

[WaTiNoNyOu]

I re-mixed a few of these sountracks for these videos for Ritchie Ranno, looks like he liked 'em enough to post them here. I can tell that they're my work because I used the CD tracks to re-mix them into the videos on Pulled The Plug, Cherry Baby, and Tear It Down, as well as the old Don Kirshner videos. I couldn't do anything with the sound on Sing It Shout due to the video having a different time-line then the CD audio track. My older brother got me into this band during the mid-seventies.

[jv22204]

I saw this band in 1976 at an outdoor concert with Seger/Blue Oyester Cult and J Giels - Kicked ASS

[kiss4sale]

GOOD STUFF!

[markdehamel]

More 70s leather and some amazing heels, too!

[diamonddog61]

one of the greatest fucking rock tunes ever ritten

[BRITTANYDED13]

this band should have been huge!

[alexleehooker]

Anyone heard the reggae version of this that they did called "Reggae Plug"? It's very funny!

[Darrylb500]

Yeah I've got that album with "Reggae Plug" on it, what they did was grind the song down forever in concert (usually 10 minutes worth!) so they decided to do a funny version of it.

Loved this band, never heard of them until the 80s with the Brightest Starz import, bought it and got hooked! Too bad they didn't get real big...

[GreenBayLA]

Don't forget the infamous "Piss Party" on yellow vinyl.

[hassel5hof]

Thanks for posting all the great rock material on u tube. Dont watch tv anymore. If only we could get some good rock these days.

[Lilactears]

I have this vintage live footage of STARZ on VHS that includes a brief interview w/the Boys In Action hard Rockers from New Jersey! Great legendary band & Classic song "Pull the Plug": Michael, Richie, Dube', Brendan and the late great Peter Sweval may he rest in peace will always be treasured.

[PacoPapo]

All their cd's have been re-released with bonus tracks! I LOVE THIS BAND!! Peter Sweval RIP....Great bassist.

[sltgb62]

Thanks PG, Still listening to the boys after all these years.. great videos... keep them coming...Yeah starzcentral has great stuff...rock on STARZ Fans!!

[ABear7806]

SURE WISH I COULD GET AHOLD OF THE CD & OR LYRICS!

[ozbocfan]

Hey thanks so much for putting this up. I've been a huge Starz fan for 30 years and it's tremendous to see Richie and the boys on video for the first time! (Starz were unknowns in Australia as you can probably guess). Thanks again !!

[cdjunky41]

Great BLOOZY number! Lyrics are funny as hell.