Fallen Angels "The Kid Gets Hot"

Fallen Angels
The Kid Gets Hot
7" promo single
(Arista Records, 1975)

I know what you're all saying, now that LGBT History Month is over; "Hey, Lightning, so Looking Glass eventually evolved into Starz, right? What was the missing link? What transitional fossil can you provide to prove your claim? How do we know Starz didn't just spring, fully-formed from the fingertips of God?"

Well . . . here it is! The second (of two) promo-only singles released by the Fallen Angels way back in 1975 on Arista Records. The first was a cover of "(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet", by the way, except they slyly dropped the parentheses.

First, note the songwriting credits: P. Sweval and M.L. Smith. Those are Pieter Sweval and Michael Lee Smith, respectively. Pieter had been been the bassist (and writer of several songs) of Looking Glass, and Michael was the future vocalist for Starz. Now, you can't tell from this single, but the other members of Fallen Angels were drummer Joe Dube and keyboardist Larry Gonsky, both ex-Looking Glass, and guitarist Brenden Harkin, future Starzer. For historicity's sake, I must divulge that Smith and Harkin were both members of the final line-up of Looking Glass, after vocalist/guitarist Elliot Lurie (the one who wrote and sang their mega-smash hit "Brandy") left to go solo. Gonsky was replaced with a smokin' guitarist named Richie Ranno, Joe added the mysterious middle initial X, and the Fallen Angels became Starz.

I know of at least one Looking Glass single recorded with the final, post-Lurie line-up, but I can't tell you much about it 'cause I only just bought it off eBay a few minutes ago. The A-side is "Highway to Hollywood," written by Gonsky, and the b-side is "Rock This Town," which was later recorded by Starz for a demo in 1975. Maybe I'll post the single after it comes in the mail.

According to an interview that I skimmed an hour or so ago with Starz guitarist Richie Ranno, there were two post-Lurie Looking Glass singles; no info yet on what the other was, sadly.