Starship – Nostalgia Central

Formed in 1984, this American band is the direct musical and legal successor to the 1970s arena rock band Jefferson Starship, which itself evolved from 1960s psychedelic rock icons Jefferson Airplane.

In June 1984, Paul Kantner- the last remaining founding member of Jefferson Airplane – left Jefferson Starship due to his frustration with the band’s increasingly commercial direction. When the remaining members decided to continue without him, Kantner sued them for the rights to the name.

An out-of-court settlement in March 1985 forced the group to rebrand simply as Starship.

With Kantner’s departure, the band completely abandoned their experimental, progressive rock roots in favour of a sleek, keyboard-driven, radio-friendly pop-rock sound, based around the dual vocals of Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas.

Their debut album, Knee Deep in the Hoopla (1985), went platinum and launched two consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits – the anthemic ⁠We Built This City and the ballad Sara.

Their second album, No Protection (1987), featured their third #1 single, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.

Ironically, the chart-topping singles destroyed much of the group’s credibility among their loyal fanbase and drew heavy criticism and increasing hostility from former band members over the band’s new hyper-commercialised “corporate rock” image.

The single We Built This City was labelled “the most detested song in human history” by GQ and “the worst song of the 80s” by Rolling Stone readers. Grace Slick herself called it the “worst song ever”.

Bassist Pete Sears quit during the No Protection sessions, later describing the music as “vacuous and sterilised”. Grace Slick left permanently in 1988 for similar reasons, vowing never to perform pop music again.

The band released one more album, Love Among the Cannibals (1989), but their commercial momentum stalled.

Following an infamous 1989 backstage fight in which drummer Donny Baldwin severely beat Mickey Thomas, Baldwin was fired, and the band subsequently dissolved in 1991.

Thomas revived the brand in 1992, touring with a rotating cast of touring musicians as ‘Starship featuring Mickey Thomas’.

Paul Kantner revived Jefferson Starship in 1992. The band continued after Kantner’s death in 2016.

Mickey Thomas
Vocals
Grace Slick
Vocals
Craig Chaquico
Guitar
David Freiberg
Keyboards
Pete Sears
Bass
Donny Baldwin
Drums
Brett Bloomfield
Bass
Mark Morgan
Keyboards
Kenny Stavropoulos
Drums

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