Richie Ranno (Starz) Interview
A few months ago, I got into Starz from a friend who put up a photo of the Coliseum Rock LP. I Googled and bought digital copies of all the albums and loved them. I managed to find vocalist Michael Lee Smith (Rex Smith’s brother) and Richie on Facebook, and Richie and I spoke about Starz history and general guitar playing, as well as many other things. I originally asked him to interview the whole band, which he said might be a bit hard so I just interviewed him, and here it is, about 50 questions later….
Introduce yourself? Richie Ranno from the band, Starz.
How did your interest begin in music and guitars? I always loved music ever since I can remember. I gravitated to musical instruments when I was very young — 3 or 4 years old. In 1964 I saw The Beatles on TV and I knew that guitar was the instrument for me.
What was the first song you ever learned and how did you learn it? Sorry, I don’t remember the first song but I had a guitar teacher for about 5 months. A jazz guitarist who really knew how to play. He taught me well but wasn’t into rock music. After that I just listened to guitar players constantly and learned. I played for hours every day. Still do.
What was your first guitar? The worst acoustic guitar ever made — bought at Macy’s when it was called Bamberger’s Dept Store. After about 6 weeks my parents bought me a Japanese made Kent electric guitar. It was pretty cool for its time.
What sort of stuff were you learning/listening to at the time? The Ventures and the Beatles, then right into Rolling Stones & Young Rascals. Also the whole British Invasion genre of the mid-60s.
You were once in band called Stories that had a number one hit. Tell us about that. In 1973 I auditioned for them when their guitarist, Steve Love quit the band. They had a #1 hit that summer called “Brother Louie.” I was one of about 15 guitarists to audition. It was great to get the gig. Kenny Aaronson was the bassist & Ian Lloyd on vocals. We toured the country & played on American Bandstand. It was a great experience for me.
How did your time with Stories end? The band split up. Ian went off to do solo work and I went with him for a while but I quit after a few months due to drug use by the drummer/producer. I don’t play in bands with people who take drugs.
Fair enough. And then you joined Starz? I did a few other things and then my former guitar tech from Stories, Tom Butler, read in a NY magazine, The Village Voice, that there was a band managed by Bill Aucoin who managed Kiss (Kiss was not real big at the time) was looking for a guitarist. He knew that I was friends with the guys in Kiss and that I had been trying to put a band together to be managed by Bill but was having a hard time finding the right people. So, I went to audition for them. I was the 75th guitarist to audition for them and I got that gig.
Did you know any members of Starz before you became a member? No.
Did they already have songs written? A few, but they were writing a song they called “She’s Just A Fallen Angel” and had gotten stuck. The first they asked me to do was help write it. They were looking for a hard rock guitarist who wrote songs. I told them I wrote and we finished that song up right away. The band was called The Fallen Angels at that time. We changed our name about 2 months later to Starz.
Speaking of the name change, who came up with Starz, and why with a Z? Sean Delaney did. He was part of the management team. He had worked with Kiss for the previous year and a half and was now working with Fallen Angels. He said there was a new band in LA called Angel and another band in Australia I think called Angel City. We had to change our name. He came up with Starz with the ‘z’. We didn’t like it but he went and got a logo made up. (by Michael Doret) We loved the logo and never looked back. [JK: That band Angel City, were known as The Angels here.]
How were songs written? Mostly, we would throw riffs or chord changes out there and play them. Then toss around arrangement ideas. Michael would listen to what we were playing and start singing along until he came up with something he liked.
What was Bill Aucoin like as a manager? And Jack Douglas like as a producer? Bill was a great manager but when Kiss got to be the biggest band in the world, it was difficult for him to devote enough attention to Starz. Jack was a fantastic producer — still is!
So, why didn’t you get a new manger? Maybe get released from contracts? Once you sign a management contract, that’s it. There’s no getting out.
You were known for live shows being very energetic and very fun to watch and hear.
Do you think that your studio albums reflect how you were live? No band’s studio albums reflect how they are live. Our 1st album sounds more live than the others because there were very few overdubs.
Whats your favorite Starz album? The first one. JK: Why? RR: Better songs — better sound — I like the fact that there are less overdubs. JK: I love Coliseum Rock. RR: Thanks
How come you think Starz didn’t become as big as KISS or Led Zeppelin? Management was neglectful and the record company was terrible. We should have signed with Atlantic Records but hindsight is 20/20.
So Altanic offered you a deal? Every major label was interested but Bill wanted to go with Capitol. They didn’t know anything about hard rock groups. We didn’t realize that when we signed with them. They were a pop/top 40 label.
Why did he want to go with Capitol? I don’t remember.
Are you proud of Starz? The legacy you’ve left. You have fans in Nikki Sixx, Bon Jovi among others. Absolutely.
So , what’s your proudest moment? Having children.
What do you think of today’s music scene? Well, that’s a tough question to answer. The audience is the first problem. People are listening to music on tiny little, crappy devices and listening to MP3s, which suck. There was a time when everyone had big speakers and powerful amplifiers and music had a big sound. Music has gone backwards since that time.
JK: What are the second and third problems, if there are any? RR: The problems are endless and unfixable. No one is buying CDs or any other kind of media. People expect music to be free. Why would that be? Do people expect food and rent to be free? No. With that attitude there is no way for the music biz to get any better.
What advice do you have for young musicians, in the garage learning their favorite songs, trying to form a band and hoping to make it? Forget about “making it.” Play for the love of music. I never played to “make it.” Good things happen when you play for the love of music.
How does it feel knowing that there’s a kid in Australia, where no one has heard of Starz, minus a few hundred, playing their songs and hoping that he will see them someday? (Laughs) Great question — it’s always great to have people out there who appreciate the music that you have made. Thanks again.
Funny/awesome stories from Starz days? We had great times on tour and in the recording studio. It’s all kind of one big blur!
Where were you raised? I was born in the Bronx, New York City. My family moved to the NYC suburbs when I was — Teaneck, NJ.
Before Stories were you in any other bands? Oh yeah — right before Stories I had a band in Madison, Wisconsin — a trio called, Bungi. We were together for 3 years and did very well. Released a couple of singles (45s).
How were the albums recorded, live in the studio or mulitrack? RR: You want to know how Starz was recorded? JK: Yea Multi-track — 24 track Studer tape machines. That’s how all albums were recorded until this digital crap started
So, that left room for overdubs.
What had to be overdubbed? The vocals and an occasional guitar solo. Some solos were actually recorded live. The vocals were also recorded live so we could have the feel of the song. Then they we erased and overdubbed for better quality.
What was working with Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas like? Great experience. He worked out one of the best recording studios in the world, at the time: The Record Plant in NYC. He also had ace recording engineer, Jay Messina. One of the best in his field to this day. When we signed our Capitol Records recording contract we were asked who we would like to have produce us. No one really came up with anyone except for me. I was a big fan of Aerosmith’s “Get Your Wings” album. It was their 2nd album. Jack produced it but didn’t produce their first album which is one of the worst sounding records I’ve ever heard. So, I just figured he must be one great producer to change the sound of that band from crap to great in one album.
How did Starz become Hellcats? Starz split up in April 1979. Dube & I formed a band called Hard Core, a trio with Peter Scance. Then about a year later we reformed Starz but with Orville Davis on bass and Brendan Harkin on guitar. Orville left after a month or so and we replaced him with Scance. Then Brendan left but we didn’t replace him at all. Then when Dube left a few months later we replaced him with Doug Madick and changed the name to Hellcats. Starz has always been Michael Lee Smith, Dube & Myself with other members. We didn’t feel right keeping the name. Here we are all these years later and the 3 of us are still doing it together. Now only health issues can stop us.
Why did Starz split up? In 1979 we split up because we had left Capitol Records a few months earlier and now we were having a hard time getting another label involved. Our manager told us Capitol wanted us to record another album but we didn’t like their label and said no. He should have explained to us that labels were only signing those silly “New Wave” bands. We would have made another album for the label had we known that the alternative was nothing. We hadn’t noticed that the New Wave thing was happening. We just thought those bands like The Talking Heads were a bad joke. Not that they weren’t!
How did the Starz reunion come about? I remember that the city of New York tracked me down and said that the band owed them some back city taxes. Something we were unaware of. Our manager had always taken care of them and never told us about it and, at some point, stopped paying them, also without letting us know. I thought it would be a good idea to get back together and play a handful of gigs to raise the money for the taxes and maybe make a few bucks. We did that, had a great time and kept going for about 8 months until the name change.
What year was that? 1980 was the year we reunited and 1981 was the year we morphed into Hellcats.
And you’ve been together since? 2003.
Career highlights? Hmm… playing on TV was always cool — with Stories, I was on American Bandstand which was hugely popular at the time. And later with Starz we were on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert with Led Zeppelin. Playing on Gene Simmons’ 1st solo Kiss album. Playing stadium shows with Aerosmith & Jeff Beck — lots of things, actually. Oh — playing London in 2013 with Ginger Wildheart playing bass with us!
How did you get the gig with Gene Simmons? Kind of a long story but we were friends back then. Joe Perry had played on Tunnel of Love but he and the producers didn’t like it so they got Jeff Baxter of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers to replace it. They didn’t like that either so they got me on it and were happy with what I played.
Do you get royalties for that album, or was it like a session payment? Both — I did get royalties for the next 5 years.
How were those Gene Simmons sessions? Oh, great — Mike Stone was engineering & co-producing with Sean Delaney. Mike produced Queen among others. Everyone was very easy to work with.
How many takes did it take you? I don’t remember but I usually do solos in 1 to 3 takes.
Would there ever be a new Starz album? Sorry, been busy — yes, there should be. We signed a recording contract with Frontiers Records from Europe for a new Starz album and are currently working on writing the songs.
Will there be a tour? No idea.
What does it take for a guitarist to get good? Lots of practice — repetition !! LOTS! Every day total dedication.
What should a good practice session focus on? Always playing in perfect (or as close as possible) time. Practicing picking and moving the fingers. Switching chords. Always adding more chords to switch to. Studying music theory such as the Circle of Fifths, scales, & exercises.
Can you read sheet music? Yes, reading is good for understanding music. Not necessarily important for playing rock n’ roll but a good thing to know. JK: Huh, my teacher is making me learn it. RR: It’s really not difficult. You just have to put your mind to it.
JK: I embed a cover of Starz classic ‘So Young So Bad’ from Coliseum Rock, I did earlier in the year at the Barmera Greek Hall, as apart of my solo show. Richie Ranno approved this video too!!!
Edited by Casey Newbold-Kerr.
Text/Video Copyright Jakam Kourasanis 2015. I do not own any photos.
