Morningstarr Virgin Lover B/W If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore Lion Records 1969

Morningstarr Virgin Lover B/W If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore Lion Records 1969 CAT# L-45-1003

This is the very same band that went on to become Morningstar and record two albums for Columbia in the late-70s...Well, mostly the same, give or take a few members, or all but one. Initially members were in the KC band, 19th Century Sound Affair, but broke off to to form a heavy psych cover band before coming upon the name, Morningstarr (the pic sleeve of this actually says, Morning Starr) in the late 60's. The group was spotted by former White Sox short stop, Lou Rennau, who took them in to record for his Lion Records label out of Columbia, Missouri. Rennau also had some connections with Topeka band, The Morning Dew, and was a musician himself.

"Virgin Lover" is a pretty bizarre psych nugget and an original by Morningstarr member, Greg Soto. The groove is right, feels 1969 with a bit of British influence. The lyrics and the idea of a Virgin Lover are a bit off putting, though. Like if that's what you're seeking out, you're kind of a creep, you know?

The flip side, "If I Didn't Want to See You Anymore" was actually a song intended for the prior band, 19th Century Sound Affair. It's actually co-written by Larry Sands who fronted the 19th Century. The track features the band's female singer, Melissa Mendenhall. It has a nice baroque-pop sound and not as heavy as "Virgin Lover." Both tracks are solid.

The release earned the band enough attention to open some shows for Led Zeppelin. Due to the travel associated with being in a band, Mendenhall would quit. But, the band trudged on for a decade. Legend states that it was this early stuff that brought them to Columbia records almost decade latter. The Columbia exec that signed the band had seen the band 7 years prior to signing them, which would have been a lineup similar to the one featured on this 45 versus the group that cut Columbia LPs.

Virgin Lover

Morningstar S/T Columbia 1978

Morningstar S/T Columbia 1978 CAT # JC35316

This is the debut album from Morningstar.  I was hoping after the dreadful experience of their second album for Columbia, this would be better.

Good news, it's better.  Bad news, it's still cheeseball, pomp-rock.  You could tell, the second album was based on the commercial failure of this LP.  This album appears to be a bit truer to the band.  You can actually feel the energy and nothing sounds forced.  The band attempts to rock and at times it sounds kind of Kiss-esque, 70's metal.  Most of the time, however, it sounds similar to other studio rockers of the time. The album is also sprinkled with a bunch of synth driven mid-tempo, sappy, chick tunes.  I'm sure they got laid a lot at bars and such, but they probably would have been a more successful band had they concentrated on straight ahead rock n' roll.

Worst of it, the lyrics these guys (or guy) wrote are awful.  I mean, there's a lot of stuff out there that borders on bad teenage poetry, but this does it the whole way through.  Half this shit doesn't even make sense.  Here's the chorus from the tune, Sweet Georgia Peach, "Like a Sweet Georgia Peach, I got a line on you but my ten foot pole won't reach."  Really?  This is not clever.  I mean, I get it, the cliche, "I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole," but it doesn't make it clever to say you can't touch something with something you'd never touch it with in the first place.  It's like that the whole way through, a bunch of lines that just leave you scratching your head trying to figure out if they were attempting to be clever or if they were really that stuck for things to write about.

Props, though.  They mention KC numerous times throughout the LP credits.  The booking company is listed in Shawnee Mission, KS.  They thanked local radio stations.  And, they just gave a straight shout out to Kansas City in the thank you's on the liner.

Morningstar Venus Columbia 1979

Morningstar Venus Columbia 1979 CAT # JC 35713

I can tolerate Kansas City's brief foray into the realms of arena and studio rock.  Shooting Star, whatever.  Missouri, better than you think.  Kansas, they got the prog rock thing and that's cool.  But, this band is awful.  The Kansas Music Hall of Fame states they barely missed their moment.  The band's contemporaries like Styx, Journey, and Foreigner had all opted for a ballad driven sound while the rest of the musical landscape was filled with disco and punk--the hard rock sound of Morningstar was destined to be overlooked.  Really?  That may have been true on the pop charts, but last I checked, AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Who, and Led Zeppelin were putting out "hard rock" albums and staying both successful and enjoyable without support of pop radio.  Last I checked, most of those bands put out good music in the late 70's.  Morningstar just isn't that good.

I mean, they seem like competent players.  They sound slick and polished.  They have cool facial hair and great bangs on the back cover.  One problem, they didn't write good songs.  What they do well is showcase the ineptitude of major labels, even at a time when record labels were still successful. The band  appears to be a case of major labels keeping up with the Joneses.  Whenever and wherever something is successful, the labels always find a way to saturate the market with sound alikes.  The band Kansas scored substantial hits in the mid-70's.  Shooting Star was signed by Virgin and being thrown out there in heavy doses.  The band Missouri had a moderate hit without even having major label support.  So, Morningstar seems like Columbia's attempt to cash in on the Kansas/Missouri rock sound.

Even worse, the label just threw them into the melting pot.  You can tell the band was forced to step outside their comfort zone in hopes of finding a hit song.  There's the Styx moments on the record, the moments that try to be the working man's tune, and the moments that get sappy.  This was their second album, so they tried everything.  Overall, it just created an uneven album and history suggests that Columbia gave up on the band shortly after it's release.

Angel