Here is the Demo of “We Built This City”.
My vote for most cringy song/video combo of the 80s is Journey’s “Separate Ways.” I’d rather listen to Milli Vanilli.
It sucks.
IMHO the demo is much better. Much less Pop.
San Francisco was fun to live in during the 90s up to about 2000. One was seeing the old rockers at bars on Saturday or more likely Sunday afternoon - Paul Kantner as an example, it was no surprise to see them there, not playing just listening to live music.
“We Are the World” is right up there in the “Sucky 80s song/video” category, IMO.
It goes without saying that anything Springsteen or Bon Jovi released in the 80s sucks way more than this tripe.
Agree
The demo sucks less than the released version.
Jefferson airplane was never really all that good to begin with. There is only so much you can do with a screamy female leas singer. So the Starship era was a mediocre band that turned 80s.
A rule of thumb that works pretty well is that the worst song on any given album is the one that will get the most airplay.
Sorry, ‘Nebraska’ and ‘Tunnel Of Love’ were pretty damn good albums by Springsteen.
That Journey song isn’t too bad, at least until they start singing.
It was all over the radio when my friends and I were adolescents.
We would sing: “we milked this titty.”
When Marty Balin left the band went downhill, IMHO.
People who have short memories or never lived through the 80’s forget one very important aspect of that song. In “We Built..,”, there’s a radio station ID dropped in. Radio stations would drop in their OWN station ids in the song. So tah-dah, the song becomes an advertisement for the radio station—and they played it ENDLESSLY, on EVERY pop station with a different station id in the commercial jingle bit. That’s a major reason why this song was so loathed, you couldn’t get away from it!
Grace Slick is still my all time favorite female vocalists. Jefferson Airplane was the best. Never liked Starship. Favorite album is “Manhole.” Song “Theme from Manhole” is the best ever. Her vocals are like butter.
“Miracles” is the most gawd awful song from Jefferson Starship.
“He felt that Taupin’s use of the word “city” was “an allegory for any collection of people anywhere who came together to express themselves through the power of music. … It was both a celebration of rock ‘n’ roll and a protest against those who try and tame it.”
Jefferson Airplane/Starship were strongly associated with San Francisco.
Anyone who was familiar with the roots of the band likely took that lyric to mean they thought they built the San Francisco rock scene. And they did ... to a certain extent along with the Dead and others.
They. ound a formula for making commercially successful music that made them a lot of money. That said, it sucks.
“It’s just another Sunday in a tired old street
Police have got the choke hold, oh, then we just lost the beat”
It’s not my favorite, but I’ve never understood why it stands out as being exceptionally bad. I have heard worse, including some songs that are celebrated as “iconic.”