Starship (band)
| Starship | |
|---|---|
 Starship (2010) |
|
| General information | |
| origin | United States |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 1985 |
| Website | www.starshipcontrol.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Mickey Thomas | |
| Stephanie Calvert | |
| Phil Bennett | |
| Darrell Verdusco | |
| Jeff Adams | |
| John Roth | |
Starship is an American rock band formed in 1985 . By changing the musical style and losing important members, the band Jefferson Starship , formerly Jefferson Airplane , created a new identity with the name change.
history
In June 1984 Paul Kantner , the last remaining founding member of Jefferson Airplane or Jefferson Starship, left the band and took legal action against his former bandmates because of the name. An out-of-court settlement was reached and an agreement was signed that neither the terms “Jefferson” nor “Airplane” could be used.
The band then had to change their name in 1985; she left out the "Jefferson" and was henceforth simply called "Starship". Keyboardist David Freiberg stayed with the band after the trial and visited the studio for the first album. He was dissatisfied with the sessions because all the keyboard work was done in Peter Wolf's studio (he played in the sessions for Jefferson Starship's Nuclear Furniture album and supported the band on the tour that followed). Freiberg left the band and the album was completed with the five remaining members, consisting of singer Grace Slick , singer Mickey Thomas, guitarist Craig Chaquico, bassist Pete Sears and drummer Donny Baldwin. In the same year Gabriel Katona joined the band and played keyboard and saxophone until the end of 1986.
The first album, Knee Deep in the Hoopla , was released in September 1985 and included two US number one hits: The first is We Built This City , written by Bernie Taupin , Martin Page, Dennis Lambert and Peter Wolf and awarded the Grammy - Winner Bill Bottrell and produced by Jasun Martz; the second is the song Sara . The album itself reached number 7 in the US, where it was certified platinum, and two more singles were released with Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight (number 26) and Before I Go (number 68).
In January 1987, her song Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now came straight to number one through the movie Mannequin . At 47, Grace Slick was the oldest woman to ever sang a number one song in the United States. She held this record until the then 52-year-old singer Cher broke it in 1998 with her song Believe .
When the second album No Protection was released in July 1987 , Pete Sears had already left the band. He then played with the former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady for ten years. No Protection was released six months after Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now and reached number 12 in the charts. Two more singles then appeared with It's Not Over ('Til It's Over) (number 9) and Beat Patrol (number 46) . The last song on the album, Set the Night to Music , later became a huge hit, re-recorded as a duet between Roberta Flack and Maxi Priest . For the subsequent "No Protection Tour", Brett Bloomfield was hired as the new bassist and Mark Morgan as the new keyboardist.
In 1988 Grace Slick left Starship to record an album with the newly reformed Jefferson Airplane, before announcing her musical retirement. After Kantner, Sears and Freiberg left the band, all new and remaining members were more than a decade younger than them. To this day, Slick believes that old people no longer belong on a rock and roll stage. Then the single Wild Again was released , which despite the help of the film Cocktail only reached number 73 in the American charts.
With Mickey Thomas now the only singer in the band, the album Love Among the Cannibals was released in August 1989 , and Starship went on tour to promote the album, but the tour was unsuccessful. The album only reached number 64 on the charts. In late September 1989, while the band was in Scranton , Pennsylvania for a concert, Donny Baldwin and Mickey Thomas got into a heated argument in which Thomas was seriously injured and two titanium plates had to be implanted in his skull. Baldwin was fired from the band immediately afterwards. The rest of the tour was postponed until Thomas recovered and was able to perform again.
After Thomas recovered, the group continued their tour. With It's Not Enough , a second single, the No. 12 appeared on the US charts reached, while the third, I Did not Mean to Stay All Night , it only managed to place 75th With Kenny Stayripolous a new drummer has been hired, and two female backing singers , Christina Marie Saxton and Melisa Kary, have been added. After the "Cannibals Tour 1990" ended, Craig Chaquico, the last remaining original Jefferson Starship member, announced that the band was making losses. Thomas blamed the interruption of the tour, among other things, but Love Among the Cannibals remained his favorite Starship album.
In May 1991, the record company RCA released a greatest hits album. Greatest Hits (Ten Years and Change 1979-1991) includes two new tracks, one recorded with Thomas and Chaquico, the other only with Thomas and some studio musicians. The only single was released with Good Heart (81st place). For a short time it was thought that Starship and Mickey Thomas would continue, but manager Bill Thompson and the record company RCA decided to break up the band. From 1992, Thomas went on tour regularly under the name Starship featuring Mickey Thomas with various staff. Meanwhile, Jefferson Starship was revived by Paul Kantner .
In 2006, Stephanie Calvert, a singer, joined the band again. In November 2010, Mickey Thomas announced on his website that a new Starship album called Loveless Fascination would be released in summer or fall 2011. The album didn't come out until September 2013. Like the single It's Not the Same as Love , it couldn't make it into the charts.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1985 | Knee Deep In The Hoopla |
DE45 (14 weeks) DE |
- |
CH29 (2 weeks) CH |
- |
US7th  (50 weeks)US |
First published: September 10, 1985
|
| 1987 | No protection |
DE20 (9 weeks) DE |
- |
CH11 (3 weeks) CH |
UK26 (5 weeks) UK |
US12  (25 weeks)US |
First published: July 27, 1987
|
| 1989 | Love Among The Cannibals | - | - | - | - |
US64 (18 weeks) US |
First published: August 15, 1989
|
| 2013 | Loveless Fascination | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: September 17, 2013
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1985 |
We Built This City Knee Deep In The Hoopla |
DE10 (12 weeks) DE |
AT21 (6 weeks) AT |
CH8 (10 weeks) CH |
UK12 (16 weeks)UK |
US1 (24 weeks)US |
First published: August 1, 1985
|
|
Sara Knee Deep In The Hoopla |
DE15 (12 weeks) DE |
AT15 (10 weeks) AT |
CH9 (7 weeks) CH |
UK66 (7 weeks) UK |
US1 (20 weeks) US |
First published: December 1985
|
|
| 1986 | Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight Knee Deep In The Hoopla |
- | - | - | - |
US26 (13 weeks) US |
First published: 1986
|
| Before I Go Knee Deep In The Hoopla |
- | - | - | - |
US68 (7 weeks) US |
First published: 1986
|
|
| 1987 |
Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now No Protection |
DE3 (20 weeks) DE |
AT3 (16 weeks) AT |
CH4 (18 weeks) CH |
UK1 (20 weeks)UK |
US1 (22 weeks)US |
First published: January 30, 1987
|
| It's Not Over ('Til It's Over) No Protection |
DE57 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK86 (4 weeks) UK |
US9 (16 weeks) US |
First published: 1987
|
|
| Beat Patrol No Protection |
- | - | - | - |
US46 (10 weeks) US |
First published: 1987
|
|
| 1988 | Wild Again Love Among The Cannibals |
- | - | - | - |
US73 (8 weeks) US |
First published: 1988
|
| 1989 | It's Not Enough Love Among The Cannibals |
- | - | - |
UK87 (2 weeks) UK |
US12 (16 weeks) US |
First published: 1989
|
| I Didn't Mean To Stay All Night Love Among The Cannibals |
- | - | - | - |
US75 (8 weeks) US |
First published: 1989
|
|
| 1991 | Good Heart Greatest Hits (Ten Years And Change 1979-1991) |
- | - | - | - |
US81 (4 weeks) US |
First published: April 19, 1991
|
| 2013 | It's Not The Same As Love Loveless Facination |
- | - | - | - | - |
First published: 2013
|