Stardrive -

Stardrive was an American electro-jazz/funk band that released the album Intergalactic Trot on Elektra in 1973, followed by a self-titled album on Columbia in 1974.

Members: Harvey Sarch (Guitar), Howard Rego (Drums), Jaime Austria (Bass), Robert Mason (Synthesizer)

Background

Stardrive was named after a hybrid synthesizer created by Robert Mason (b. 1946), a classically trained keyboardist with a B.A. in composition from the Oberlin Conservatory.

In the late Sixties, Mason composed at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and worked at the New York University Electronic Music Workshop, where he befriended Steve Reich and arranged mixed-media events with Free Life Communications, an avant-garde music/theater cooperative.

Mason had access to early-model synthesizers, which found little use outside laboratories due to their heaviness, high cost, and sonic restrictions (which limited them to one note at a time). After two years of tech work on an ARP 2500, he modified the instrument into the world’s first polyphonic synth, dubbed ‘Stardrive.’ He assembled a namesake band with guitarist Harvey Sarch and Danser’s Inferno bassist Jaime Austria.

Intergalactic Trot

Stardrive released their debut album, Intergalactic Trot, in May 1973 on Elektra.

The album contains five Robert Mason originals and covers of The Beatles and Sly & The Family Stone.

Mason recorded the album with Sarch, Austria, and jazz percussionist Bruce Ditmas, a recent Gil Evans sideman. Trot also features two White Elephant alumni: saxophonist Michael Brecker (ex-Dreams) and drummer Steve Gadd, a prior sideman of the Mangione brothers.

A1. “Rushes” (4:06)
A2. “Strawberry Fields Forever” (3:57)
A3. “Stardrive” (9:38)

B1. “Dr. Tandem (Takes a Ride)” (2:56)
B2. “Want to Take You Higher” (3:20)
B3. “Everything at Once” (6:12)
B4. “Intergalactic Trot” (8:57)

Sessions occurred in New York with Elektra staff producer Robert W. Zachary Jr. (Crabby Appleton, Ronee Blakley) and Record Plant engineer Jay Messina, a current soundman for East Coast, Lou Reed, Ten Wheel Drive, and Zulema.

Intergalactic Trot is an early on-record credit for Gadd, a prolific session drummer who appears on 1973 albums by Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Rusty Bryant, and the Bill Watrous Combo. Brecker’s nascent profile included recent albums by Hal Galper, The Section, and the 1972/73 Todd Rundgren titles Something / Anything? and A Wizard, a True Star.

Intergalactic Trot appeared in a cosmic blue cover designed by illustrator Gene Szafran (Ars Nova, Earth Opera, Rhinoceros). The backside features liner notes and a photo of Mason seated beside his creation.

Stardrive were among several ‘edgy’ post-Doors acts signed to Elektra, which also issued 1972/73 albums by GoodThunder and Jobriath, a Manhattan glam-rock performer. “Rushes” appears on The One That Got Away, a 1973 Elektra comp with cuts by Carly Simon (“You’re So Vain”), Iain Matthews (“These Day”), McGuiness Flint member Dennis Coulson (“What Went Wrong”), and Dennis Coulson’s original version of “Hello I Am Your Heart” (later covered by Bette Bright and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band).

Mason played auxiliary synth on the 1974/75 Blood, Sweat & Tears albums Mirror Image and New City. For the second Stardrive album, he moved to BST’s label, Columbia.

Stardrive

Stardrive released their self-titled second album in September 1974 on Columbia.

The album contains eight Robert Mason originals with titular references to his fusion of jazz-funk (“Funkascensions”) and space-rock (“Jupiterjump,” “Pulsar”).

Mason retained Harvey Sarch and Jaime Austria for this Stardrive iteration, rounded by drummer Howard Rego.

A1. “Funkascensions” (5:28)
A2. “Ballad I” (2:23)
A3. “Jupiterjump” (7:40)

B1. “Pulsar” (5:47)
B2. “Ballad II” (2:36)
B3. “Air Sauce” (5:37)
B4. “Ballad III” (3:14)
B5. “Journey” (6:55)

Stardrive was the inaugural production credit of Columbia A&R man Don DeVito, who produced the 1976 Bob Dylan titles Desire and Hard Rain. CBS Studios soundman Jerry Smith engineered Stardrive in sequence with Secret Treaties, the third album by Blue Oyster Cult.

Stardrive appeared in a silver cosmic cover designed by John Berg and Nick Fasciano, the team behind Chicago‘s logo-themed covers. The backside again shows Mason seated beside his Stardrive synthesizer, captured by veteran cameraman David Gahr, whose photography also appears on War Babies, the synth-laden 1974 third album by Hall & Oates.

Mason and his band supported Stardrive with a series of live performances. They opened for Jefferson Starship at Radio City Music Hall, where an over-zealous fan back-rushed Mason and toppled the synthesizer.

Post-Stardrive

Robert Mason opened a New York recording studio, which he stocked with a vast collection of customized microphones. For years, rumors circulated that he either died or suffered disfigurement in the RCMH incident – rumors abetted by his low profile and the lack of public biographical information. As the age of mp3s loomed, he sold his studio arsenal to a millionaire’s son in Las Vegas.

Discography: