Mike Starrs

Who is Mike Starrs?

Mike Starrs is a vocalist of Scottish origin. He left Scotland for London in the late 1960s and worked in various minor bands. Starrs was signed by the record producer Tony Atkins for Marquee Productions and released several unsuccessful singles. He joined Colosseum II in 1975 after being spotted singing in a local pub and featured on their first album, Strange New Flesh in 1976. Starrs' powerful and distinctive singing style, complimented the guitar work of Gary Moore, the keyboards of Don Airey and the rhythm section of Neil Murray and Jon Hiseman and the end result was a potential British supergroup in the making.

The album was not a commercial success but the band was already working on the follow-up, when Starrs was sacked, when it seemed the Record label owners wife did not appreciate his flamboyant stage performance. Colosseum II went on to produce two further, largely instrumental albums, with a different record label and without Starrs, which also failed to achieve a commercial breakthrough.

Starrs toured Europe and the United States with Colosseum II in 1975-76, and also had a spell with a version of The Animals.