Starcastle was an American
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band from
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...
, United States. Formed in 1969, the group played many shows under the names Pegasus and Mad John Fever before eventually settling on Starcastle. They signed their first record deal with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
in 1974,
and received extensive airplay and frequently played in the
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
area. The original lineup included former
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon), or simply REO, was an American Rock music, rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial suc ...
vocalist
Terry Luttrell and computing author/programmer
Herb Schildt. They released four albums on both the Epic
and CBS labels. The band's debut album ''
Starcastle'' sold well, garnering worldwide airplay.
Their later albums ''Fountains of Light'', ''Citadel'', and ''Real to Reel'' did not sell as well as the first and they were often criticized for sounding too musically similar to
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US
* Young Ep ...
.
They were opening acts for such bands as
Jethro Tull,
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. They were known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied musical skills of the members. All of the band members were multi-instrument ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
,
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Rush,
Journey, and others. After several line-up changes, the band went on a ten-year hiatus from 1987.
In 2002, Gary Strater, Steve Tassler and Steve Hagler all released solo albums on the band's own Sunsinger label. This led to work on the band's final album ''
Song of Times'', before Gary Strater's death on September 19, 2004, from pancreatic cancer. ''Song of Times'' was released in 2007.
In November 2018, the band's official website announced the release of ''
Alchemy
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
'', an archive release of studio and live material from the band's 1980s line-up. Additionally, their website announced a new line-up of the band consisting of George Harp (vocals) and Bruce Botts (guitar), both of whom were in the 1980s line-up.
Players
Past
* Gary Strater – bass,
Moog taurus
The Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music. It was originally conceived as a part of the Constellation series of synthesizers. The initial Taurus I was manufactured from 1975 to 1981; a less pop ...
, backing vocals
(1969–1987, 1997–2004; died 2004)
* Matt Stewart – guitar, backing vocals
(1969–1981, 1997–2006)
* Steve Hagler – guitar, backing vocals
(1969–1980, 2006)
* Steve Tassler – drums, backing vocals
(1969–1980, 2006)
*
Herb Schildt – keyboards
(1969–1978, 1997–2006)
*
Terry Luttrell – lead vocals
(1973–1978, 2006)
* Ralph Goldheim ("Caribou Ralph") – lead vocals, keyboards
(1979–1981)
* Bruce Botts – guitar, keyboards, vocals
(1982–2019)
* Scott McKenzie – drums, backing vocals
(1982–1987)
* Mark McGee – guitar
(1985–1986)
* George Harp - lead vocals
(1982–1986, 2015–2019)
Timeline
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PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:20
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/2008
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums
id:bars value:gray(0.9)
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1969
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1969
BarData =
bar:Terry text:Terry Luttrell
bar:Ralph text:Ralph Goldhiem
bar:George text:George Harp
bar:Matt text:Matt Stewart
bar:SteveH text:Steve Hagler
bar:Bruce text:Bruce Botts
bar:Mark text:Mark McGee
bar:Herb text:Herb Schildt
bar:Gary text:Gary Strater
bar:SteveT text:Steve Tassler
bar:Mauro text:Mauro Magellan
bar:Scott text:Scott McKenzie
PlotData=
width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Ralph from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1981 color:keys
bar:Gary from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1987 color:keys
bar:Bruce from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1985 color:keys
width:13 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Terry from:01/01/1973 till:12/01/1978 color:vocals
bar:Ralph from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1981 color:vocals
bar:George from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1987 color:vocals
bar:Terry from:01/01/2004 till:end color:vocals
bar:Gary from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1987 color:bass
bar:Gary from:01/01/2002 till:09/17/2004 color:bass
bar:Herb from:01/01/1969 till:12/01/1978 color:keys
bar:Herb from:01/01/2002 till:end color:keys
bar:Matt from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1981 color:guitar
bar:SteveH from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1980 color:guitar
bar:Bruce from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1985 color:guitar
bar:Mark from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 color:guitar
bar:Matt from:01/01/2002 till:end color:guitar
bar:Bruce from:01/01/2002 till:end color:guitar
bar:SteveH from:01/01/2004 till:end color:guitar
bar:SteveT from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1980 color:drums
bar:SteveT from:01/01/2004 till:end color:drums
bar:Mauro from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:drums
bar:Scott from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1987 color:drums
LineData =
at:02/01/1976 color:lines1 layer:back
at:01/01/1977 color:lines1 layer:back
at:10/01/1977 color:lines1 layer:back
at:10/21/1978 color:lines1 layer:back
at:01/01/2007 color:lines1 layer:back
Discography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Champaign, Illinois
Progressive rock musical groups from Illinois