Bassist and co-founder of the power-pop group Shooting
Star.The foundation for the
band was laid in 1964 when childhood friends Van McLain and Ron Verlin lived a block away from each other in Kansas
City and watched The Beatles on The
Ed Sullivan Show.They
began playing guitar and, along with their respective brothers, started a
garage band called The Shooting Stars.Fame would have to wait for the elementary schoolchildren, however,
as the McLains moved away.As luck would have it, McLain and Verlin wound up going to the same high school.They quickly got the band back
together, along with dancing girls The Galaxys,
no less, and sock-hopped onto the '50s nostalgia bandwagon in the
early '70s.A few years
later, as the singer-songwriter trend was in full swing, McLain started
crafting radio-friendly pop songs and the band eventually landed a contract
with Virgin Records.Gus
Dudgeon produced their eponymous debut in 1979.They released an album a year until
1983, when Verlin quit the band, disenchanted by
their lack of success and the record industry in general.He was one of the first to sign up,
however, when the band re-united for the aptly titled It's Not Over in 1991, and has performed and recorded
with them, off and on, ever since.He also appeared in 2003's Winston
Apple Sessions with fellow band-members Van McLain and Steve Thomas.In 2006, the band was signed by
Sandman Music Management.The
same year saw the release of a new album entitled Circles.Fans will
be happy to know an Anthology is
now available.
