Zolar X is an American

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band founded in 1973. Zolar X became known in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

club scene for dressing and acting like space-aliens. They spoke an 'alien language' of their own invention. They are referred to as "Los Angeles' first

band" in the 1998 book ''Glam! Bowie, Bolan and the Glitter Rock Revolution'' by

Barney Hoskyns Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages. Biography Hoskyns graduated from the University of Oxford with a first class degree in English. He began ...

. Zolar X were the house band at Rodney's English Disco, which was depicted in

George Hickenlooper George Loening Hickenlooper III (May 25, 1963 – October 29, 2010) was an American narrative and documentary filmmaker. Early life Hickenlooper was born in St. Louis, the son of Barbara Jo Wenger, a social worker and stage actress, and George ...

's 2004 documentary ''Mayor Of The Sunset Strip''. Zolar X played gigs with Shady Lady,

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

Michael Des Barres Michael Philip Des Barres, 26th Marquis Des Barres, (born 24 January 1948) is an English actor and pop singer. He appeared as Murdoc in the original ''MacGyver'', Lenny Stoke in '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', and Murdoc's m ...

, Jobriath Boone, and the

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground, the MC5, and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved ...

History

Coming to Earth: 1973–1975

Zolar X enjoyed regional success as a live act, and national exposure via

Lenny Kaye Lenny Kaye (''né'' Kusikoff; born December 27, 1946) is an American guitarist, composer, and writer, notable for his work with the Patti Smith Group, his contributions to music magazines, and his garage rock retrospective anthology '' Nuggets' ...

's ''Rock Scene Magazine'', but commercial success eluded them. Zolar X were unable to get signed to a record label. In 1982 they released one independent record, ''Timeless'', a collection of demos, on Pyramid Records. Zolar X's founder was vocalist, composer, and pianist Stephen Della Bosca, who renamed himself "Ygarr Ygarrist" upon forming Zolar X. Ygarrist had previously played in San Francisco bands The Hedge and Bosca before moving to Los Angeles in 1972 with Bruce Courtois (Zany Zatovian). Ygarrist and Zatovian met singer Zory Zenith at Rodney's English Disco. Zenith was the former drummer for the Los Angeles rock band Shady Lady. Zenith not only sang in Zolar X, but performed intricate mime routines onstage. The lineup was completed by drummer Craig Rhinehart (Eon Flash), a former member of San Francisco hard rock band

Legs Diamond Jack "Legs" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed; July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as John Nolan and Gentleman Jack, was an Irish Americans, Irish-American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during ...

. Zolar X's week-long stint at the

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

with

Jobriath Bruce Wayne Campbell (December 14, 1946 – August 3, 1983), known by his stage name Jobriath, was an American rock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label and one of the first internatio ...

was televised locally in Los Angeles. Zolar X were interviewed on one of the first episodes of

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...

's ''

The Tomorrow Show ''The Tomorrow Show'' (also known as ''Tomorrow with Tom Snyder'' or ''Tomorrow'' and, after 1980, ''Tomorrow Coast to Coast'') is an American late-night television talk show hosted by Tom Snyder that aired on NBC in first-run form from October ...

'' in 1974, along with

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he als ...

Sable Starr Sabel Hay Shields (August 15, 1957 – April 18, 2009), better known as Sable Starr, was an American groupie, often described as the "queen of the groupie scene" in Los Angeles during the early 1970s. She claimed during an interview published in ...

and Chuck E. Starr. In 1974, Zolar X recorded a two-song demo, "Space Age Love" b/w "Energize Me", at Crystal Studios. They pressed approximately ten 7" singles of these tracks, which were given to various record companies. Ygarrist's sister kept one of them, which in 2005 was used to press a limited edition 45 of this rare artifact.

1976–1977

Zatovian and Flash's departure in 1975 resulted in Ygarrist recruiting bass player Ufoian Ufar (Tom Lee) and drummer Romm Eclipse (Ron Eiseman). Zory left to pursue religious studies. Ygarr, Ufoian, and Romm briefly played and recorded as The Spacers. Zory soon rejoined and Zolar X recorded with producer and audio engineer Jim Dickenson at Memphis'

Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...

. Romm left, and Eon rejoined in 1977.

Downfall: 1978–1981

While Zolar X were on hiatus, Ygarr formed another Los Angeles punk band, The Spys, with Rock Bottom. The two wrote a collection of new songs in one night, which they released as the single "Rich Girl" b/w "No Good, Deathtrap". Around this time, Ygarr began to spiral into excessive drug/alcohol abuse. Zolar X regrouped in 1979, but Zory Zenith was promptly fired for having an affair with their manager's girlfriend, and dancing on top of the manager's limousine. Zolar X recorded as a three piece, with Ygarr handling all the lead vocals. Zory was asked to rejoin, and in 1980, Zolar X recorded one last time at Army St. Studios in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Return: 2004–present

Longtime fan

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Init ...

released a deluxe edition of ''Timeless'' in late 2004. Zolar X reformed in 2005. Zolar X have been critically re-evaluated, with praise from the worldwide press. Zolar X articles appeared in the UK's rock magazine ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'', plus ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...

'', ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

,'' and the ''

New Yorker Magazine ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York ...

''. ''Timeless'' and demos of newly recorded Zolar X material have received frequent airplay on

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guitar ...

of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

' radio show, ''Jonesy's Jukebox'' on

Indie 103.1 KDLD is a commercial FM radio station in Santa Monica, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area on 103.1 MHz. KDLE is a commercial FM radio station in Newport Beach, California, broadcasting to the Orange County area on 103.1& ...

, as well as on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

radio show. The band reunited in 2005, and played for the first time since 1981. Zory Zenith was unable to participate because he received a 10-year sentence in Oregon for repeated instances of domestic violence. Ygarr and Eon Flash were joined by new bass player Jett Starsystems, previously knowns as Jeff Porter aka Jett Black, a former DJ at Rodney's English Disco and founding member of Voodoo Church. Zolar X still play with metallic amp casings, silver platforms and backdrops, antennae headgear, and ever-changing outfits faithful to the 1970s glam era. Zolar X showcased at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Music Festival in March 2006. They were introduced by

, and Canadian TV personality

Nardwuar Nardwuar the Human Serviette (born John Andrew Vernon Ruskin, July 5, 1968), or simply Nardwuar, is a Canadian celebrity journalist and musician.Doug Ward, "Trudeau rolled by Human Serviette", ''Vancouver Sun'', November 17, 1993. p. A1 He forme ...

. Shortly after SXSW, Zolar X appeared on Canadian TV channel ''

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

'', subject of a full-length feature, interviewed by

. On April 30, 2006, at the Avalon in Hollywood, Zolar X received a "lifetime achievement award" at the first annual LARPY ( live action role playing) AWARDS, for their dedication to role playing, both on-stage and off. Presenters included

José Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...

and

Deborah Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' (1987) at age 16, writing and largely producing the material. The album spawned several international hit ...

. They toured nationally in the United States in 2005 and 2006. In June 2007, Zolar X self-released a limited edition 00 onlyCD compilation entitled ''ZAP! You're Zolarized'', which previewed four songs from the upcoming Alternative Tentacles release, contained unreleased vintage Zolar X music, and also soundtrack music from the upcoming Zolar X documentary. In October 2007, ''X Marks the Spot (''CD/LP) was released. Zolar X were featured on a 2007 episode of ''

The Next Great American Band ''The Next Great American Band'' is a reality television talent show. The show premiered on October 19, 2007 and aired on Fox at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times Friday nights. The show was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles on Wednesd ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

, in which judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson proceeded to insult them. Zolar X is the subject of an unreleased documentary titled ''Starmen On Sunset''. The film was directed by Chuck Nolan, and was produced/edited by Rhaine Della Bosca.

Discography

* ''Timeless'' lear vinyl LP(1982) Pyramid Records * ''Timeless'' D/LP(2004) Alternative Tentacles - '' US CMJ #145'' * "Space Age Love '74" / "Energize Me '74" 5(2006) Deliar Spacer Core (500 only) * ''ZAP! You're Zolarized!'' D(2007) Deliar Spacer Core (500 only) * ''X Marks The Spot'' (2007) D/LPAlternative Tentacles * ''Life Signs from the Stars'' (2012) D-RDeliar Spacer Corporation (100 only) * ''Urban Myths'' (2014) D-RDeliar Spacer Corporation

References

External links

* {{Authority control American glam rock musical groups Punk rock groups from California Musical groups established in 1973 Bands with fictional stage personas American protopunk groups Alternative Tentacles artists