| The Starjets | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Alias: | Tango Brigade |
| Origin: | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Genre: | Punk rock, power pop |
| Years Active: | 1976–1980; 2019–present |
| Label: | Epic |
| Associated Acts: | The Adventures |
| Current Members: | Terry Sharpe Paul Bowen Liam L'Estrange Sean Martin |
The Starjets are a power pop group from Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1]
The band was formed in June 1976.[1] The Starjets consists of guitarist/vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist/vocalist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L'Estrange.[1] The group sported a mix of punk and mainstream pop influences.[1] Early sets consisted of such 1960s pop standards as "Please Please Me" by The Beatles and "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies.[1] They opened for groups as diverse as the Bay City Rollers and Stiff Little Fingers.
The group secured a major record label recording contract with Epic Records;[1] they were signed by Muff Winwood. They released a number of singles in 1979, with their only chart hit being "War Stories" b/w "Do the Push", which peaked at No. 51[2] on the UK Singles Chart.[3] The A-side is a celebration of World War II comic book stories, such as those of Sgt. Fury. They released one album, 1979's God Bless the Starjets, but it failed commercially.[1] Following the release of the "Shiraleo" single in March 1980, the band changed its name to Tango Brigade and released one more single, "Donegal", before finally splitting up.[1] After a brief stint performing vocal duties with the Angelic Upstarts (most notably taking lead vocals on the song "Reason Why?" from the album of the same title), Sharpe went on co-write a couple of tracks on Bananarama's debut album Deep Sea Skiving,[4] [5] before scoring a Top 20 hit in 1988 with his new band The Adventures.[6] [7] [1]
The Starjets reformed in January 2019 and are performing live again. In 2020, Billie Joe Armstrong recorded a version of "War Stories" for his covers album No Fun Mondays.[8] In March 2022, they appeared on The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read,[9] [10] [11] as broadcast on Local and Talking Pictures TV,[12] performing live in the studio. The Starjets were voted the most successful Heritage Chart Act of 2021,[13] with singles such as 2020's "Geordie Best"[8] and 2022's "King Upon a London Hill" making it to the number one spot.[14]