“THE mighty rock, the mighty roll, once it’s got you…” Those lyrics from Mighty Rock, the popular Stars single from the 1977 album Paradise, are familiar to people of a certain age.
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When questioned on the state of rock’n’roll for a documentary, Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards lamented: “There’s too much rock, not enough roll. I like the roll.”
The Stars know where “Keef” is coming from and have aligned for a new album, Boundary Rider. The line-up contains the core members of Mick Pealing (vocals), Mal Eastick (guitar), Roger McLachlan (bass) and Glyn Dowding (drums), who played on the classic Paradise album.
They are joined 40 years later by guitarist Nick Charles, who co-wrote seven of Boundary Rider’s tracks.
The country-rockers shone brightly in the late ‘70s. Originally from Adelaide, they supported many established interstate bands before the Little River Band’s Beeb Birtles convinced them to move to Melbourne.
“Mushroom management convinced us to adopt a cowboy image,” Pealing says. “We were serious about our music and thought that was a bit gimmicky.”
But the four-piece knew they needed something extra, and it arrived, not in the form of dressing as cowboys, but with Andy Durant, who returned from an overseas sojourn.
“Our first single Quick on the Draw was recorded as a four-piece, and after it became a hit we knew we needed more songs,” Pealing says. “Mal and I weren’t quite equipped to write an album. We asked Andy to join and bring his songs, and he was keen. We matured quickly as a band after he joined.”
The result was Paradise, which spawned four singles including Mighty Rock and Look After Yourself. Second album, Land Of Fortune, was again full of quality songs and the band supported international acts The Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, and Joe Cocker. They were also touring extensively to sell-out performances Australia-wide and called their third album 1157 after the number of live gigs they had played.
Then on May 6, 1980, Andy Durant died of cancer aged 25. A shooting Star that dazzled us was gone. Eastick organised the Andrew Durant memorial concert in Melbourne and the big names of the Australian music industry offered their support.
The tribute performance on August 19, 1980 produced the double live album Andrew Durant Memorial Concert and profits from the concert and album went to The Andrew Durant Cancer Research Centre.
“Andy’s death, Stars breaking up, the memorial concert – it all happened so quickly,” Pealing says.
Individually the former members continued to have great success with other bands and ventures, but they knew Stars weren’t completely burnt out.
“The new album Boundary Rider features seven new songs written by Nick Charles and myself,” Pealing says. “It also features four songs written by Andy Durant from around the time of Land Of Fortune including the unfinished title track, which Mal Eastick completed after Andy’s passing.”
Stars perform at Lizotte’s on April 22.
