Sable Starr

Sabel Hay Shields (August 15, 1957 – April 18, 2009),[1] better known as Sable Starr, was a famous American groupie, often described as the "queen of the groupie scene" in Los Angeles during the early 1970s. She claimed during an interview published in the June 1973 edition of Star magazine that she had sexual relationships with Iggy Pop, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, and Marc Bolan.[2]

Sable Starr
Sable Starr, taken in 1973 at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco
Born
Sabel Hay Shields

(1957-08-15)August 15, 1957
Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedApril 18, 2009 (aged 51)
Reno, Washoe County, Nevada, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationRock and roll groupie
Children2

Life as a groupie

Starr first attended concerts around Los Angeles with older friends who had dropped out of school in late 1968. She claimed to have lost her virginity when she was 12, with Spirit guitarist Randy California after a gig at Topanga, California.[3] She had a younger sister, Corel Shields (born 1959), who according to Chris Charlesworth was involved with Iggy Pop in autumn 1973,[4] when Corel was 13-14. Pop later immortalized his involvement with Starr herself in the 1996 song "Look Away". It refers to Sable being thirteen, which would be in 1970 or 1971.

I slept with Sable when she was 13,

Her parents were too rich to do anything,
She rocked her way around L.A.,

'Til a New York Doll carried her away…

Starr became one of the first "baby groupies" who in the early 1970s frequented the Rainbow Bar and Grill, the Whisky A Go Go, and Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco; these were trendy nightclubs on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip. The girls were named as such because of their young age. She got started after a friend invited her to the Whisky A Go Go at the age of 14.[5] Starr later described herself at that period as having been "nuts to begin with. I always liked getting into trouble".[5] She had considered herself unattractive, so she had a nose job when she was 15.[5] During the time Starr was a groupie, she continued to live at home with her family and attended Palos Verdes High School to placate her parents.[2][5]

In 1973 she gave a candid interview for the short-lived Los Angeles-based Star magazine, and boasted to the journalist that she considered herself to be "the best" of all the local groupies.[2] She also claimed that she was closely acquainted with some of rock music's leading musicians, such as Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Marc Bolan, and Alice Cooper. She added that her favorite rock star acquaintance was Led Zeppelin's lead singer, Robert Plant.[2] When asked how she attracted the attention of the musicians, she maintained it was because of the outrageous glam rock clothing she habitually wore.[2] She was often photographed alongside well-known rock musicians; these photos appeared in American rock magazines such as Creem and Rock Scene.

Starr admitted to having gotten into fights with rival groupies. Lori Mattix, a fellow baby groupie, claimed that Starr once told her to "keep her hands" off of Jimmy Page, saying "if you touch him, I will shoot you. He's mine."[6] Her closest friends in Los Angeles were fellow groupies Shray Mecham and "Queenie".[2] Model Bebe Buell described Starr as having been one of the two top Los Angeles groupies of the era, adding that "every rock star who came to Los Angeles wanted to meet her".[5]

She ran away from home when she was 16 after meeting Johnny Thunders, guitarist in the glam rock band the New York Dolls.[7] She went to live with him in New York City. Their relationship didn't last, mainly due to his violent jealousy and drug addiction.[8] He had wanted to marry her after she became pregnant with his child, but she refused and instead had an abortion.[8] Tired of the physical abuse Thunders often inflicted upon her, and unable to adjust to the New York lifestyle, Starr moved back to Los Angeles. She claimed that "he [Thunders] tried to destroy my personality. After I was with him, I just wasn't Sable Starr anymore. He really destroyed the Sable Starr thing".[8] She made frequent visits to New York where she had an affair with Richard Hell, befriended Nancy Spungen, and participated in the local burgeoning punk rock scene. By the early 1980s, she was no longer part of the groupie milieu.[8]

Later years and death

She later moved to Lake Tahoe, Nevada. She became a table game dealer at Carson Valley Inn in Minden until shortly before her death.

Starr died at her home in Nevada on April 18, 2009, of brain cancer at the age of 51.[1] She was survived by her partner, her daughter, and her son.[1]

References
  1. "Sabel Shields's Obituary on Reno Gazette-Journal". Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. "Sunset Strip Groupies". Star Magazine. No. 5. Los Angeles: Petersen Publishing. June 1973. pp. 59–61.
  3. "Sable". Star Magazine. No. 4. Los Angeles: Petersen Publishing. May 1973. p. 23.
  4. Ambrose, Joe (2002). "12". Gimme Danger: the Story of Iggy Pop. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1847721167.
  5. McNeil, Legs; McCain, Gillian (1996). Please Kill Me: the Uncensored Oral History of Punk. New York City: Grove Press. pp. 137–139. ISBN 978-0802125361.
  6. Mattix, Lori (November 3, 2015). "I Lost My Virginity to David Bowie". Thrillist. New York City: Group Nine Media. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  7. McNeil, Legs, McCain, Gillian (1996). Please Kill Me: the Uncensored Oral History of Punk. New York: Grove Press. p.150-151
  8. McNeil, Legs; McCain, Gillian (1996). Please Kill Me: the Uncensored History of Punk. new York City: Grove Press. pp. 151–154.
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