The Fabulous Jake Starr
The Story So Far. . .
Howdy, kids! After almost 17 years of being the throat in Adam West, I broke up the band in late 2008 and retired from rock-n-roll. But I always wanted to do a solo 7" single of a couple of my favorite cover songs. I was very fortunate that several record labels had offered to do a post-Adam West solo project if I were interested, so I decided to go for it. I approached the The Hall Monitors, a kick-ass local DC garage band that were friends of mine, and asked them to go into the studio with me to record the Small Faces "I've Got Mine" and the Easybeats "Sorry" as my mod tribute single. I also enlisted my buddy Bobby Belfiore from the fabulous Optic Nerve to assist on backing vocals. After maintaining a long relationship with Bootleg Booze Records in Sweden, who had released several Adam West records, I had my first solo 7" come out in January 2010. Limited to 500 copies total with 300 on white wax, 100 on red wax, and 100 on blue wax, good luck getting all three versions!
Chapter two actually goes back to 2003 when Dan-O Deckelman was guitarist in Adam West. Dan-O and I had many musical tastes that weren't necessarily shared by the other band members. Once of these was Joy Division. Dan-O and I discussed doing a cover of "Ice Age" when we were in Adam West together, but it never panned out. Many years later in 2009, I brought the idea up to Dan-O to form a Jewish Joy Division cover band called Goy Division. Haha. Dan-O agreed and we both decided to ask his current band, The Rats, to join us in the studio to record three Joy Division tunes: "Ice Age," "Warsaw," and "Failures." Once again, after maintaining a long relationship with No Balls Records in Germany, who had also released several Adam West records, my second solo 7" came out in April 2010. Including "Ice Age" and "Warsaw," the Goy Division 7" was limited to 200 copies total with the first 100 in a see-through folio sleeve. It sold out in one week, so No Balls is planning a second pressing sometime in 2010. Also, they plan to release "Failures" as a split 7" with TBA sometime in 2010.
What's next? Well, it looks like the Hall Monitors and I may be going into the studio again to record a bunch of songs for some future 7"s. Ghost Highway Recordings in Spain has expressed interest in releasing a 7", which flatters me to no end because they just released a 7" for Nicke Andersson's post-Hellacopters project Imperial State Electric. Nice! So keep checking back to see how long I stay "retired" from rock-n-roll. :-)
~Jake
JAKE STARR I've Got Mine 7" (Booze032)
Limited to 500 copies total: 300 on white wax, 100 on transparent red wax (mailorder only), and 100 on transparent blue wax (Boozers Singles Club only).
Release Date: January 29, 2010, on Bootleg Booze Records
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Description: Solo 7" single by Jake Starr (Adam West) together with The Hall Monitors from Washington DC. The Hall Monitors are a high-energy rocking garage band that are one of Little Steven's favorites. Also helping out is Bobby Belfiore of The Optic Nerve, a seminal NYC garage band that are featured on the "Nuggets" Volume #3 box set. They covered the Small Faces "I've Got Mine" and the Easybeats "Sorry". It's 1966 again, folks! This is the most MODtastic single of Jake's career.
GOY DIVISION Ice Age 7" (NBR 035)
First pressing limited to 200 copies total on transparent blue wax; first 100 come with see-through folio sleeve, second 100 come with regular heavy paper sleeve.
Release Date: April 17, 2010, on No Balls Records
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Description: What happens when two Jews who used to play in Adam West get together to record a couple early Joy Division cover songs for fun? Well, it's GOY DIVISION, of course! Singer Jake Starr and guitarist Dan-O Deckelman, with the help of The Rats from Norfolk, Va., have put together a kosher supergroup of biblical (Old Testament, naturally) proportions! With a cover sleeve that spoofs the insanely rare Sordide Sentimental Joy Division "Licht und Blindheit" 7" that came out decades ago, this single will undoubtedly raise the musical awareness of all the unfortunate kids born too late to appreciate the genius of Joy Division.
[E-mail] | Last updated July 10, 2010