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The Starjets

The Starjets were a late 1970s group from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The band consisted of guitarist/vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist/vocalist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L'Estrange. 

The group sported a mix of punk and mainstream pop influences. Early sets consisted of such 1960s pop standards as "Please Please Me" by The Beatles and "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies at a time when such light, happy fare did not go down well with in the punk scene.

The band also stood out from their punk contemporaries with their tight, sophisticated harmonies. I saw them at Uni in Reading and loved their energy and humour, believe that they were supporting Joe Jackson at the time.

Again a band that suffered because they were not Stiff Little Fingers, a band that had cornered the market singing about the Irish 'Troubles'. In many ways the Starjets paved the way for The Undertones, in that they expressed that life went on despite the 'Troubles'.

I have only one entry for this group and it has to be 'War Stories', from late 1979.



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