11 Thoughts on the Mid-'80s to Late-Mid-'80s Discography of Starship

1. Does anybody else remember when 98 FM would play “We Built This City” and over the intro of the song, they would play, “We built Philly on rock and roll! WCAU-FM!”? I still can’t hear this song without the local intro. Then at the bridge when the DJ talks about San Francisco, 98 would play some stuff about Philadelphia over it, I think substituting the Walt Whitman Bridge for the Golden Gate Bridge from the original.

2. I remember being bitter when 98 switched from Top 40 to an oldies format. Now we’ve come full circle and the station is playing Starship songs and other ‘80s hits because they’re old enough to be oldies.

3. Some polls over the years have said “We Built This City” is the worst song of the ‘80s or even ever. It’s pretty bad but I don’t know about the worst. Not when “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and “Dear Mr. Jesus” came out in the ‘80s.

4. Sara … Sara … STORMS! Are brewing in your eyes …

5. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” is apparently from Mannequin. I don’t remember this very well. My strong knowledge of ‘80s music is a contrast with my dim remembrance of ‘80s movies.

6. God, all the artwork from these singles is terrible. It looks like cut-out Shrinky-Dinks just thrown onto a piece of paper.

7. Did you know “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was songwriter Diane Warren’s first number 1 hit? It’s the first of nine. Her first hit song was “Solitaire” by Laura Branigan.

8. I don’t know: did they really build San Francisco on rock and roll? I know the band has a soft spot for their city but I could think of better cities to illustrate this idea: Detroit, London, Philadelphia, etc.

9. I don’t know what horrible necromancy or alignment of the stars led Starship to score three number 1 hits on the Hot 100 from 1985 to 1987. It just shows that the doling out of number 1 hits can be random and not always indicate material that endures: Starship had three and Roxette had four. Aretha Franklin only had two.

10. No time … is a good time … for goodbye …

11. A few years ago, I drove past a sign saying Starship was playing in a park near work. Just a random park. It was 100 degrees that day. This was a 6:30 concert in June, so it wouldn’t even have been dark yet. Pass.