I have a love-hate relationship with "We Built This City." I hate it because it was so overplayed but I like it because, whenever I hear it, I bop along with it. My husband, on the other hand, acts like his balls have retracted as soon as he hears those first few notes. He definitely hates it. In turn, that makes me sing along with it even louder, lol!
My father, born in 1921, was childhood friends with Bob Sproul, whose father was president of University of California at Berkeley. He used to tell a story about playing catch with Sproul one day on the lawn of the Sproul home. They had been told that “Marconi was coming to dinner” that night, and at 5 pm or so, a nondescript guy drove up, parked and went inside. “I guess that’s Marconi,” said Bob, and they kept playing catch.
An hour later a motorcade pulled up - sirens going, lights flashing - and a group of bodyguards escorted the great Marconi into the house.
My father preferred the idea of the first Marconi they saw - just a guy showing up in his car, rather than a rah-rah whooptedoodle big deal motorcade delivering a person who was Clearly Important.
You have built enough good will that I can ignore that you like “We Built This City” which all hearing people know is one of the worst things ever recorded by the Jefferson Airplane/Starship/Whatever conglomerate.
I sorta remembered the song because I'm sure it was (over)played on my favorite radio stations back in the day. But I had to refresh my memory, so I headed on over to YouTube and played the "official video." The song (and 80s hair) are like cotton candy; spun into a froth with no substance.
It's what you'd get if spoiled rich kids tried to write a protest song, which, it turns out, is exactly what happened. It was mediocre when Elton's Bernie Taupin and Martin Page wrote it. When nobody else would touch it, Starship's Grace Slick figured she could make a buck off it, so they ground out the "electronified" version that did exactly what Slick hoped it would.
The song is fun to listen to if you just let the words blur into Peanuts grownup-speak. But as an actual song, it's shit. To be fair, almost all of 80s pop music was self-indulgent shit.
But Starship (not that "Starship", but the semi-resuscitated, semi-original version) is coming to our town with three-figure VIP tickets. Sans Kantner (sigh) and Slick.
🎶 "The sound of the thunderin' electrical energy / Calls us to the park in the noon / ... / C'mon, free minds / Free bodies / Free dope / Free music / The day is on the way..."
Another great article, James!
I have a love-hate relationship with "We Built This City." I hate it because it was so overplayed but I like it because, whenever I hear it, I bop along with it. My husband, on the other hand, acts like his balls have retracted as soon as he hears those first few notes. He definitely hates it. In turn, that makes me sing along with it even louder, lol!
I feel sorry for your husband!! I’m not a fan of Starship but I still like Grace Slick.
I definitely like Jefferson Airplane/Starship’s music for the simple reason it has and still does stand the test of time!!
My father, born in 1921, was childhood friends with Bob Sproul, whose father was president of University of California at Berkeley. He used to tell a story about playing catch with Sproul one day on the lawn of the Sproul home. They had been told that “Marconi was coming to dinner” that night, and at 5 pm or so, a nondescript guy drove up, parked and went inside. “I guess that’s Marconi,” said Bob, and they kept playing catch.
An hour later a motorcade pulled up - sirens going, lights flashing - and a group of bodyguards escorted the great Marconi into the house.
My father preferred the idea of the first Marconi they saw - just a guy showing up in his car, rather than a rah-rah whooptedoodle big deal motorcade delivering a person who was Clearly Important.
I will never forgive Bernie Taupin and Martin Page for this...
Excellent article. As always, I learned something.
As for We Built This City, I can understand why you like it -- I've been wrong about stuff too.
Cheers!
I like “We Built This City” as well. In my young (at the time) eyes, it was hopeful. Still is.
Confession: I like “We Built This City.” Hah! Your taste is in your mouth.
We have a Marconi tower in the local city. For transmitting/receiving to passing trains, it is the only/one of a few left.
You have built enough good will that I can ignore that you like “We Built This City” which all hearing people know is one of the worst things ever recorded by the Jefferson Airplane/Starship/Whatever conglomerate.
I had to go listen to "We Built this City" as soon as I read the first few lines of your post. It's a classic!
I remember the story from the Canadian Heritage Foundation “Heritage Minute”.
I sorta remembered the song because I'm sure it was (over)played on my favorite radio stations back in the day. But I had to refresh my memory, so I headed on over to YouTube and played the "official video." The song (and 80s hair) are like cotton candy; spun into a froth with no substance.
It's what you'd get if spoiled rich kids tried to write a protest song, which, it turns out, is exactly what happened. It was mediocre when Elton's Bernie Taupin and Martin Page wrote it. When nobody else would touch it, Starship's Grace Slick figured she could make a buck off it, so they ground out the "electronified" version that did exactly what Slick hoped it would.
The song is fun to listen to if you just let the words blur into Peanuts grownup-speak. But as an actual song, it's shit. To be fair, almost all of 80s pop music was self-indulgent shit.
This guy's analysis is pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=036UwpAtmes
I like it too.
But Starship (not that "Starship", but the semi-resuscitated, semi-original version) is coming to our town with three-figure VIP tickets. Sans Kantner (sigh) and Slick.
🎶 "The sound of the thunderin' electrical energy / Calls us to the park in the noon / ... / C'mon, free minds / Free bodies / Free dope / Free music / The day is on the way..."
The free music part came and went, it seems 🙉