The Indie Sound with Jimmy Star
The Indie Sound with Jimmy Star

The Indie Sound With Jimmy Star No Authority/ Ricky Rebel

10 min
•Oct 24, 20256 months ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Jimmy Starr features No Authority, a 1990s boy band signed to Michael Jackson's MJJ Music label, and interviews member Ricky Rebel about his solo career. The episode explores the band's history, major collaborations with artists like Britney Spears and Destiny's Child, and Rebel's continued music releases as a solo artist.

Insights
  • 1990s boy bands leveraged major label partnerships (MJJ Music, Maverick Records) to secure high-profile touring opportunities and soundtrack placements
  • Band members successfully transitioned to solo careers, demonstrating the value of early industry connections and sustained relationship-building
  • Independent artists benefit from podcast platforms and direct audience engagement as distribution channels for new music releases
  • Entertainment industry veterans like Jimmy Starr leverage personal relationships and prior collaborations to build authentic podcast content
Trends
1990s nostalgia and boy band revival in independent music discourseSolo artist pivots from former band members maintaining relevance through streaming and podcast featuresPodcast as primary discovery and promotion channel for independent and legacy artistsCross-genre touring collaborations between pop, R&B, and emerging artists in late 1990sMusic video integration with podcast content for multi-platform artist promotion
Topics
1990s Boy Band HistoryMusic Label Partnerships (MJJ Music, Maverick Records)Artist Touring and CollaborationSolo Artist Career TransitionsMusic Soundtrack PlacementsIndependent Music DistributionPodcast as Artist Discovery PlatformMusic Video Production and ReleaseEntertainment Industry NetworkingChart Performance and Radio Play
Companies
MJJ Music
Michael Jackson's record label that signed No Authority for their debut album in the 1990s
Maverick Records
Madonna's record label that signed No Authority after their first album and facilitated major touring opportunities
Spectre Music
Label where Jimmy Starr helped release a solo record for No Authority member Tommy McCarthy
People
Jimmy Starr
Podcast host and entertainment industry veteran who worked with No Authority members and features them on his show
Ricky Rebel
Lead singer of 1990s boy band No Authority, now pursuing solo music career with recent releases
Tommy McCarthy
No Authority member who released a solo record on Spectre Music with Jimmy Starr's assistance
Eric Stretch
No Authority band member active from 1996 to 2001
Danny Zawatzke
No Authority band member active from 1996 to 2001
Josh Keaton
Past member of No Authority boy band
Quotes
"The Indie Sound with Jimmy Starr is your backstage pass to the global independent music scene. Short form episodes, spotlight fresh, fearless artists from around the world, spinning every genre from alt pop to hip hop to cinematic rock."
Jimmy Starr•Opening
"I'm basically featuring people that I know and I've worked with first on the show"
Jimmy Starr•Early episode
"They were basically active from 1996 to 2001. They were signed to Michael Jackson's record label MJJ Music."
Jimmy Starr•Mid-episode
Full Transcript
Hey everybody, welcome to episode two of the Indie Sound with Jimmy Starr. I'm getting a little bit better with my voice. I'm still getting over a cold. But this is our second episode today and we're going to feature the boy band No Authority from the 1990s and one of their singers, Ricky Rebel, as a solo artist. The Indie Sound with Jimmy Starr is your backstage pass to the global independent music scene. Short form episodes, spotlight fresh, fearless artists from around the world, spinning every genre from alt pop to hip hop to cinematic rock. Hosted by me, entertainment veteran Jimmy Starr, the show drops a quick high energy segments packed with new releases, artist stories and the kind of unfiltered conversation you won't get anywhere else. Think of it as your daily dose of discovery, raw talent, zero filler. So you guys, I'm basically featuring people that I know and I've worked with first on the show and so we have this great boy band called No Authority. They were basically active from 1996 to 2001. They were signed to Michael Jackson's record label MJJ Music. They had a bunch of singles, Don't Stop, One More Time, Girlfriend, which was featured on the trip in soundtrack, which was a movie. Can I get your number and what I want to do? The members, Tommy McCarthy, who I actually helped put out a solo record on Spectre Music, Ricky Rebel, Eric Stretch, Danny Zawatzke, and they had a past member, Josh Keaton. I've remained friends with Ricky Rebel, worked with him as a publicist, see him at events. He's been on my other podcast, the Jimmy Starr show with Ron Russell many, many times. And one of their biggest hits as a group was called Can I Get Your Number? It's a lot of fun. They're like cute young guys and so I think you guys will dig us a check out. No Authority, Can I Get Your Number? Can I Get Your Number, Baby? Can I Get Your Number, Baby? Girl like you, I've seen boys and brunettes and some really hot red heads, but I've never seen a girl like you, a girl like you. Can I Get Your Number, Baby? Dizzy with the seven digits. Must be a super model, you're a perfect tenor. Your body's off the hook and girl I must confess. If you were on display, I'd wait a week in line. Please check my vision, cause I can't believe my eyes. Cause I've never fallen in love before. With a girl I didn't even know. And it's something about you that tells me that I should be down, down, down. I've been east, I've been west, even all around the world. But I've never seen a girl like you, I've seen boys and brunettes and some really hot red heads, but I've never seen a girl like you, a girl like you. Can I Get Your Number, Baby? Dizzy with the seven digits. Can I Get Your Number, Baby? Dizzy with the seven digits. I've never fallen in love before. With a girl I didn't even know. But there's something about you that tells me that I should be down, down, down. I've been east, I've been west, even all around the world. But I've never seen a girl like you, I've seen boys and brunettes and some really hot red heads, but I've never seen a girl like you, I've been east, I've been west, even all around the world. But I've never seen a girl like you, I've seen boys and brunettes and some really hot red heads, but I've never seen a girl like you, like you. So you guys then as a solo artist, well first of all, after their first album, their second album, they got picked up by Madonna's Record Label, Maverick Records, they went on tour with Britney Spears. They did a whole bunch of stuff. They had a song in the Rugrats movie in Paris. They toured with Destiny's Child 98 degrees Jessica Simpson. And they did a bunch of great stuff. Ricky Rebel was in a bunch of videos from My Chemical Romance. He's done a whole bunch of great things and he's fun. He puts out new music all the time. Now he performs as Ricky Rebel and he had another song that was on the media base chart for 10 weeks with On Air with Ryan Seacrest. He's just a really cool guy. He has another song, came out not too long ago. I featured a bunch of his songs on my podcast, the Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell, but this is one that came out not too long ago. It's called Don't Give Up on Me. Here it is with the official music video. This is Ricky Rebel who was the lead singer for the boy band No Authority. Alright, check it out. This is Ricky Rebel. This is Ricky Rebel. This is Ricky Rebel. This is Ricky Rebel. This is Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Ricky Rebel. Hey everybody, so that's Ricky Rebel, no authority. Hope you enjoyed our second episode of the Indie Sound with Jimmy Starr and we'll see you next time. Have a good one everybody.