ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=5259117
mp3 Rick Starr was this strange anachronistic weirdo (who was likely mentall y ill) who used to sing bizarre songs from the 50s and 60s on the UC-Be rkeley campus. He was tall, skinny, with a really red face, dressed up in a cowboy hat and a cheap suit, and he sang into a mic that wasn't ho oked up to anything. It was hard to pin an age on him, but I'm sure he was in his late 40s or 50s (I'm almost positive he grew up in the 1950s and 1960s). As a student I used to throw him quarters because he gave the campus a certain funny edge. Even though he was almost always out o f tune and often made what now would be considered rather misogynistic comments to women, he had a unique charm and presence that is difficult to explain. He had sung on campus for probably 20 years or so, but one morning, Rick didn't show up on campus, and has never been seen since. Anyway, I found out from a friend that Rick Starr recorded some material at some point, and the local college radio station KALX had played it. My friend happened to tape it off the radio and turned it into an MP3 (which can be downloaded above). I was shocked to hear that the song wa s really good and sounded like it could have easily been a classic. it almost sounds too go od to be an original, but I couldn't find this song's lyrics anywhere e lse. I know this is a long shot, but does anyone have any information about w hether this song came from a 45 or a full album, or have any other info rmation about Rick Starr's recording output? Also, does anyone know if the song above, "Mr Astrologer" is an original or not? i remember on in, uh, about 1998 that broke down hi s whole career. i think his parents sort of pushed him into it, he got an album deal, re corded an album as a teenager, and when it went nowhere he basically cr acked up.
i think his parents sort of pushed him into it, he got an album deal, re corded an album as a teenager, and when it went nowhere he basically cr acked up. If that song's original, shouldn't it have gotten him somewhere? But then, maybe it came out afte r that style became passe.
I used to work in the student store and he used to come in and curse at us. It was pretty funny, but sadly random people yelling in there wasn' t rare. I heard he got banned from campus because he tried to kiss some girl who was walking by him.
I thought Stoney was pretty funny, but getting back to RICK STARR... He seemed so hopelessly down-and-out, in a roman tic kind of way. I feel like he deserves one of those dramatic biopics dedicated to forgotten heroes.
"He has been interviewed and has had his song from the '60s, "Mr Astrol oger" played on KALX on numerous occasions. I after my sophomore year (1998 -99) I never saw the guy again. I actually going to the campus on Friday if I see him I'll ask him about.
Perhaps it's because the track is of a well-worn style, but also because the lyrics seem a bit too luc id and poetic for Rick Starr to have written-- although I could be tota lly off about that, since I have only spoken to him once or twice, and very briefly.
If that song's original, shouldn't it have gotten him somewhere? But then, maybe it came out afte r that style became passe. the bay area press has always seemed extremely pop -unfriendly to me so i'm not surprised that they'd have that take on it . thing is i'm sort of skeptical of that narrative because hell, i'd th ink being extremely derivative would have been an advantage for starr, not a disadvantage. anwyay i wish i could find that article but i can't remember which weekl y alt-rag it was in and i don't have time today to do a full-blown lit search.
btw on the subject of STONEY, stoney apparently had a public television show at U of MI ann arbor that supposedly was a big influence on michae l moore. so yeah, unfunny, but marginally semi-famous in the history of left-wing public access TV.
xpost I was a DJ at KALX as an undergraduate there in 1989-1992, and have Djed there off and on ever since. Sadly, some awesome 7"s from the KALX library (immortal mod band Daisy Spot, and the Jim Bacchus "Delic ious!" spoken word 7") have gone missing, so there's no telling if Rick Starr will still be there. he'd nod at you and mutter "Thank you, we 're going to be doing this all day" and then carry on crooning. guy in the Coolie hat that rants a bout US/China relations?
Since we're talking about this, here's a list of the Berkeley regulars I remember. " guy who bellows fundamentalist Judaism at students 4) Pink Man, the man with a tight pink leotard who rides a unicycle arou nd town 5) Stoney Burke, the elderly blue haired comedian who cracks jokes out o f stuff in the newspaper. " at everyone (actually, I think he s topped doing this by the late 90s) 8) Aaron, the undergraduate who went through 4 years of college without wearing clothes 9) The guy who rants about US/China relations and screams "Happy, Happy, Happy" 10) The neurotic middle-aged hick who sleeps in a tent, and who wears a cowboy hat and rails about how communists are going to ruin everything 11) Hijack, the smartass punk guy who wasn't really funny or clever, or even notable 12) Gary Otto, the homeless MIT graduate who spent his days on the stree ts performing advanced mathematical operations on historical texts to p rove that the Jews are behind it all Did I miss anyone?
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