An Interview With Richie Ranno On Starz’s Influence Over Hair Metal

In the ‘70s, while slaying the proverbial six-stringed dragon with Starz, Richie Ranno couldn’t have known that through songs like “Detroit Girls,” “Live Wire,” and “Boys in Action,” that he was setting the template for a slew of hair metal bands who took the world by storm in the ‘80s.

But it goes deeper than that. Ranno and Starz didn’t just influence ‘80s rock, they all but wrote the book. And yet, most people forget how great they were, and too few of those bands gave them credit at the time. “I have two theories on that,” Ranno tells ClassicRockHistory.com.

“First,” he says. “We weren’t big enough in the ‘70s for the average person in the ‘80s to know who they’d be talking about, even if they did credit us. Second, they’d be letting out a secret that people would realize, and say, ‘We need to go back and listen,’ and then, they’d know what band they took from.”

It’s a raw deal, as Starz was not only a cut above their ‘70s peers, but also the ‘80s bands that stole their thunder. “That’s okay,” Ranno says. “I’m not upset about it. None of us in the band is upset about it. But I do think that a lot of bands didn’t want people to know.”

Ranno says that the tide began to turn after Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx started outwardly championing Starz. “Nikki was the first one who came out of the closet,” the guitarist laughs. “He talked about us, which I liked. That was very nice of him.”

Since then, bands like Black N’ Blue, Poison, Warrant, Guns N’ Roses, and others that we’ll cover with Ranno in just a bit have jumped on the Starz bandwagon. Ranno laughs, saying that if they didn’t, “Everyone would have been wearing Kiss makeup in the ‘80s.”

“Kiss would have gotten all the credit,” he says. “All those bands woulda been dressed like Kiss in the ‘70s, except Kiss, obviously, because they took all that off in the ‘80s. [laughs]”

“But there’s no question about it,” Ranno insists. “Starz influenced so many bands. I’ve traveled around the country, and I’ve had people tell me as much. And why not? A lot of teenage kids who were just learning their instruments saw us as a great band. I have to say, Starz was a geat band, and out stage show was fantastic.”

During a break in the action, Starz founder and lead guitarist Richie Ranno dialed in with ClassicRockHistory.com to share anecdotal stories about the band’s influence on the heaviest of heavy hair metal hitters.

Van Halen

The first real influence from us was Van Halen. I know people are gonna pin me to the wall on that, but that’s a fact. I’m not saying Eddie played guitar like me; he played like Eddie. I’m just saying that Starz had an influence over Van Halen, for sure. If you think about Van Halen, I mean, there are a lot of similarities there.

But, I mean, Eddie Van Halen is Eddie Van Halen. That guy was a freak. He was doing things that nobody has seen since. A lot of people try, and they fail miserably. In my opinion, they should just play like they play, instead of trying to play like Eddie. Eddie had something so magical and so great. Every time I watch a video of him, I’m just blown away.

Motley Crue

I think Nikki Sixx really brought this to the forefront, and the other guys followed, you know, other bands followed suit, and mentioned us, too. And when I got to meet Nikki, he didn’t stop telling me that. We spoke for hours on the phone, and then, I went out to LA in ’91, when he invited me out to a rehearsal.

He said to me that Starz was important to them, and that he used to go see us in LA and just got so much from us. And I mean… you can hear it, you know? You can see it, and you can hear it with them, but I thought they had a couple of really fantastic albums. They were a great live band in their day.

Bon Jovi

It’s interesting, when Jon [Bon Jovi] met me, I had no idea that he was going to be tapping on my shoulder; it took me by surprise. I just went, “Oh, hi Jon…’ Then I said, ‘This is my son, he’s a big Bon Jovi fan.” And Jon started talking to my son, who was 11 at the time, and he basically said, “Hey, Starz is my favorite band.”

He told my son this. Now, I don’t know if this is true or not, but Jon said they painted a Starz logo on the bass drum at one point or another when they used to play in the basement and were practicing. I don’t know if the band was called Bon Jovi at that point, but that’s what he said they used to do. But Jon knew everything about Starz. He’s a diehard fan.

I thought it was really funny, and it was kind of cute, you know? To hear this from John Bon Jovi at his peak, you know, in 1989, I was like, “Wow…” I thought he was very humble, and when he got up on stage, he even talked about meeting me, but not by name. He said, “Tonight, I got to meet with on of my idols,” or something like that.

Then he said, “It doesn’t matter how old you get, always reach for the stars.” I was like, “How cool was that?” It made me feel good. I was going through a divorce, and it was not a great time in my life, so that was a really nice boost.

Skid Row

Another band was Skid Row, who I met back then, too. I’d go to the show, and go backstage, and I’d always bring photos to the bands and have the guys in the bands sign them for my song. I’d just say, “Hi, my name’s Rich,” and have them sign. And one time, I was in this giant backstage area, washing my hands, and getting ready to leave, and some guy with long hair comes running in.

The guy goes, “Hey, are you Richie Ranno?” I go, “Yeah…” And he goes, “My name’s Sebastian Bach. I’m in a new group called Skid Row.” I said, “Oh, yeah… I’ve heard about you guys.” He said, “Man, Starz was one of my favorite groups…” He said, “When I was 11, Starz was playing a show, and you signed a piece of paper for me.” I thought, “Wow, how funny is that?”

Warrant

At that same show, as I was walking out, Jani Lane from Warrant came in because Sebastian Bach told him I was there. Sebastian said to Jani, “Hey, that’s Richie Ranno from Starz.” I was leaving, and Jani yelled to me, “Wait! You have to come back, you have no idea the influence you had on Warrant.” I said, “No, I do. I’ve seen you.” We both laughed.

Metallica

I was in a VIP room in a nightclub on Long Island, and I was sitting on a couch, again, with Sebastian Bach, who I’d become friends with. Sebastian goes, “Hey, are you gonna be here for a while?” I said, “Yeah…” Sebastian goes, “Okay, wait a second,” and he comes back with Lars Ulrich from Metallica. [Laughs] And Lars gets down on his knees, grabs my calf, and starts kissing my knee, saying, “You can’t imagine the influence Starz had on us.” I said, “Wow… I guess so,” and started laughing.

I was really shocked, and I said, “I don’t hear any of Starz in Metallica, but thank you. That’s really nice of you to say.” I said, “That’s cool, but I don’t really hear it.” He’s said that if you listen to Coliseum Rock in particular, if you think about that, there’s some stuff in there that’s very similar to what Metallica did later on.

Poison

I love “Talk Dirty to Me,” I think that song’s fucking great by the way. I’ve hung out with them so many times, and I’m telling you, they’re fantastic. Bret Michaels is the number one frontman from that time period based on what he is; nobody from that time period was as good as he was. And the guys in Poison are really nice people, and they still sound and perform great.

Kiss

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley think they created all things in life, that they are the creators of everything. Kiss is all. Kiss is God. [Laughs] But listen, I love Kiss, and I’m not putting Kiss down, but they hate Starz’s guts. Gene and Paul, I don’t care if you print it or not; they just hate our guts.

And that’s fine. But Starz influenced them. You can hear it in their ‘80s records. But I don’t think of music in terms of who is stealing my riffs, or who is borrowing my style, you know what I mean? I don’t think about that when I listen to other people’s music.

Black N’ Blue

Funny thing is, the same week that I flew out to see Nikki Sixx, that same week, I went to a bar with my buddy, and two guys in Kiss outfits and makeup walked in. They saw me, and they came running over, and started talking to me, and, of course, it’s Tommy Thayer, and Jamie St. James. They’d put a Kiss tribute band together called Cold Gin, and we got to talking and became friendly.

I ended up having Jamie as a guest at a Kiss expo, and he’s a very nice guy. Tommy is a very nice guy, too. And yeah, there’s that famous photo of Black N’ Blue, where Tommy is wearing a Starz shirt, so we definitely influenced them. They were definitely fans. So, I was happy to meet them, and they were just really nice guys.

Guns N’ Roses

Steven Adler told me that he and Slash used to sneak into Starz’s Starwood shows. They were like 15, or something, and they loved us. And I think Guns N’ Roses was fantastic. Their album Appetite for Destruction is one of the greatest rock albums ever. The guitar playing on it is great, and I always noticed that those guys had a lot of similarities to Starz’s music, especially with the guitar playing.

And I just wonder… I guess it was a coincidence, is what I’m saying. But I’m not trying… I’m not full of myself, believe me. I am as distanced as I can from success. I don’t mean by not being successful, I’m just saying that I don’t even live that life. That’s not my life, you know? I have a nice family, and I’m happy just playing guitar locally.

That’s all good. No complaints, no bitterness, nothing. But the list goes on and on. That’s the whole point, you know? To give awareness to the fans that everybody has influences, and everyone takes influence from others who came before them. Starz definitely influenced a lot of bands, which makes me happy. I’m proud of it.

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