Starlings "Valid" 199

The Starlings were a nom de studio for singer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Sheehan, a New Zealand native who released two albums under this name in the early '90s as but one stop on a surprisingly varied musical journey...

…Sheehan was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1965 and taught himself guitar as a teenager. At the tender age of 18, Sheehan joined the already successful new wave band the Dance Exponents as a second guitarist in 1983, staying long enough to record three albums with them: Prayers Be Answered, Great Expectations, and Amplifier. Facing slipping popularity, the group split up and Sheehan followed the group's drummer, ex-Psychedelic Furs Vince Ely, to Los Angeles, where both guested on the first solo album by Ely's then-girlfriend, Jane Wiedlin. Sheehan moved from Los Angeles to London in 1987 and began recording one-man-band records under the Starlings name two years later. After a promising first EP, Letters From Heaven, released through the Rough Trade label in 1990 (which gained some indie chart notoriety for a ripping cover of the Byrds' classic "Wasn't Born to Follow"), Sheehan signed to Anxious Records, the vanity label founded by ex-Eurythmics Dave Stewart. (Sheehan had become the house engineer at Stewart's studio.) The Starlings' first full-length release, Valid, wasn't released until 1992, however, not least because Sheehan had become a fairly serious heroin addict during his early years in England. The album was written and recorded while Sheehan was still using, but he successfully completed rehab the same week the album was released. - discogs - to be continued...

trax:
01. Now Take That 02. That's it, you're still in Trouble 03. Unhealthy 04. Start Again 05. Bad Dad 06. Right School 07. Shoot Up Hill 08. Sick Puppy 09. Jack
…served by Gaius...