1973–1974: Formation The Hollywood Stars were the first "conceptual band" that Kim Fowley assembled, predating Fowley's groups
The Runaways,
Venus and the Razorblades, and The Orchids. In the early 1970s, Fowley was a regular at
Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, a Los Angeles-based club that specialized in British
glam rock and occasionally featured live acts such as
Iggy and the Stooges and
Zolar X, the latter being Los Angeles' first glam rock band. During this period, he saw a need for a West Coast rock band that would fill the same void as the
New York Dolls. Musician, songwriter and future Hollywood Stars member Mark Anthony was working as Fowley's chauffeur at the time. At one point, Anthony spoke to New York Dolls manager
Marty Thau at a party, and asked him how the New York Dolls were formed. Thau stated that the members were "a bunch of broke street kids hanging around." Upon hearing this, Fowley decided to create a West Coast answer to the New York Dolls in a similar manner, taking the band name from the now-defunct
minor league baseball team of the same name. In November 1973, Fowley approached singer Scott Phares at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco about being the group's vocalist, having seen him perform a year prior at a swinger's ball with his previous band, the Boston-based group Adrian. He also approached drummer Terry Rae, who at the time was working with San Francisco-based rock band
Flamin' Groovies. Rae had also worked with
The Palace Guard,
Strawberry Alarm Clock Both musicians agreed to join the group. They next added Gary Van Dyke on bass. Mark Anthony was added last due to Fowley's wish to give the group more of a
Beatles-like sound. on December 17, 1973. The club invited them back for a run of shows on December 26–31,
Angela Bowie attended their December 28 appearance and
John Lennon attended their December 29 appearance, both at Fowley's invitation. Angela Bowie spoke favorably of the band's song "Shine Like a Radio" (written by Fowley and Lion), calling the song a "#1 record." Although Ezrin initially passed on working with the band further, he expressed interest in using two of the band's songs. Fowley sent the Hollywood Stars to Boulder, Colorado in February 1974 in an effort to galvanize the band. There they opened for the
James Gang and
Roy Buchanan. and returned to the Whisky a Go Go on March 27
1974: Columbia Records period and first breakup Columbia Records signed The Hollywood Stars on March 28, 1974.
Bill Szymczyk was brought in to produce the band's debut album, which was recorded at
The Record Plant over the course of 34 days. decided not to release the album and dropped the group from the label. The band headlined the Whisky a Go Go July 29–31 with
Journey as opening act. On one occasion,
Iggy Pop introduced the band to the audience, stating, "I didn't useta like the Hollywood Stars, I useta like the New York Dolls. Then I heard [The Hollywood Stars] play '
Satisfaction,' now I wanna [expletive] 'em." Pop also performed as an impromptu guest during the band's set. On October 11, The Hollywood Stars performed at the Hollywood Street Revival and Trash Dance, a glam rock concert organized by Kim Fowley and held at the
Hollywood Palladium. Despite the band's local popularity, internal tensions and industry stigma from the failure of the Columbia Records deal led to the decision to break up the band. and then played their final performance at the Whisky a Go Go on November 10. who would go on to found the punk rock label
Frontier Records. Just before the band's breakup, Fowley went back to Bob Ezrin and offered him the songs "Escape" and "King of the Night Time World." Ezrin took "Escape" to
Alice Cooper. Cooper made changes to the lyrics and included the song on
Welcome to My Nightmare (1975). Similarly, Ezrin took "King of the Night Time World" to
Kiss, who altered the lyrics slightly and recorded the song for the album
Destroyer (1976). After the breakup of the Hollywood Stars, Terry Rae and Ruben De Fuentes joined
Blue Cheer, who had reformed earlier in 1974. In 1974, Blue Cheer worked with Kim Fowley on an album project that was ultimately abandoned. Scott Phares joined the band Hero, and
Boys Will be Boys (1978) with 20th Century Fox Records. Both albums were produced by
Michael Lloyd. debuting at No. 63 on the
Billboard 200 chart on March 23 and working its way up to No. 5 on June 21. The inclusion of "Escape" on the album encouraged The Hollywood Stars to reform. The new lineup featured original members Mark Anthony (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Reuben De Fuentes (lead guitar) and Terry Rae (drums), along with new members Michael Rummans (bass, previously with
The Sloths) and second drummer Bobby Drier. Dubbed "The Stars," the band played the Whisky a Go Go September 28–29 with The Runaways opening, followed by the
Starwood October 20–21 as opening act for disco singer
Sylvester. In February 1976,
Phonograph Record magazine reported on Los Angeles' then-emerging rock scene, describing what would later be considered
proto-punk. The Stars were listed among the best of the upcoming groups, alongside
Iggy Pop,
The Runaways and
The New Order (the latter featuring
Ron Asheton of
The Stooges and
Dennis Thompson of the
MC5). The article reported that the Stars "are currently at work on a demo." with
Neil Merryweather producing. The album was intended to be a finished project that could attract interest from major record companies. The band then signed a record deal with
Clive Davis'
Arista Records. Upon signing the band, Davis demanded that the band rerecord their album.
The Hollywood Stars was recorded at
Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles with
Harry Maslin producing. The Hollywood Stars opened for the
Ramones at
La Paloma Theatre in
Encinitas, California on March 10, 1977 and at The Backdoor, a venue located on the
San Diego State University campus, on March 12. This was followed in April by a run of appearances on the West Coast and in Canada supporting
The Kinks on their
Sleepwalker tour. The Hollywood Stars played the Starwood July 5–6 with
Quiet Riot opening. Disagreements regarding the direction the band should take
2013: Shine Like a Radio release In 2013, producer and musician Robin Wills (
The Barracudas) connected with Hollywood Stars drummer Terry Rae via a UK
power pop blog run by Wills. Soon after, Scott Phares' son wrote and directed a video for "King of the Night Time World" featuring original members of the band. Although the band discussed performing live, Phares was initially unable to rehearse with the band due to being located on the East Coast while the remaining members lived in Los Angeles.
Shindig! rated
Sound City 4 out of 5 stars and complimented the album's "raunchy rockers and crowd-pleasing anthems," while
AllMusic rated the album 3 1/2 out of 5 stars and referred to the album as "top-notch power pop." The band performed at the Whisky a Go Go on July 18, 2019, and recorded the show. Initially planning to release the Whisky a Go Go recording as a live album with Burger Records, the band ended their affiliation with the label upon learning of the scandal surrounding the label. The band signed with Golden Robot Records in mid-2020, They followed this in March 2023 with an EP of new material entitled
Still Around. In 2023, the band announced the addition of guitarists George Keller in April In June of 2024, the band released their first studio album of new material in 47 years,
Starstruck.
Shindig! magazine gave the album a 5-star review calling it "...the best powerpop album of the year to date."
Musoscribe declared, "Thirteen songs (plus a couple of alt versions) are all killer and no filler." {{cite web == Band members ==