Althouse: "What band claimed to have 'built this city on rock n' roll'?"

February 17, 2008

"What band claimed to have 'built this city on rock n' roll'?"

Google search that's bringing me traffic today. Must be in some Sunday crossword puzzle.

20 comments:

Bob said...: Starship.; 2/17/08, 10:46 AM
Ron said...: What bob said!; 2/17/08, 10:49 AM
IgnatzEsq said...: Maybe they're trying to be tricky and use old names of the band... I always liked the name Jefferson Starship myself.

Of course, I like how the Wikipedia article refers to the inevitable reunion tour that took place. Jefferson Starship: The Next Generation.; 2/17/08, 10:53 AM
Bissage said...: "Grand Funk Railroad paved the way for Jefferson Airplane which cleared the way for Jefferson Starship. The stage was now set for the Alan Parson’s Project, which I believe was some sort of hovercraft."

-- H. Simpson (on the history of rock and roll); 2/17/08, 10:59 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Volunteers; 2/17/08, 11:01 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Jefferson Starship which used to be Jefferson Airplane.

BTW: Jorma Kaukonen was my guitar teacher back in "the day" in San Jose in a music store where I bought my guitar (that I still have) Martin D-18; 2/17/08, 11:38 AM
Elliott A said...: Jorma now plays a lot of "pickin" contry music. Go figure; 2/17/08, 12:00 PM
Bob said...: Jorma plays a lot of everything. He plays Piedmont Blues á la his mentor Rev. Gary Davis, he plays old country tunes, and he still straps on his electric and plays thunderous hard rock with Jack Casady in Hot Tuna.; 2/17/08, 12:10 PM
EnigmatiCore said...: Worst song ever by a band that had, at one point, put out some really good music.; 2/17/08, 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Worst song ever by someone who used to be in a band that had, at one point, put out some really good music.

Fixed it for ya.; 2/17/08, 1:21 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: Crossword puzzles are passe.

Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) was recently seen on an Airplane doing Sudoku.

Do as she does.; 2/17/08, 1:42 PM
Clyde said...: Yeah, we all knew that it was Starship. Circa 1985 or so.

Did you ever see the video of Grace Slick singing "White Rabbit"? She doesn't blink ONCE during the entire song. She must have been seriously stoned. It really creeped me out, watching her with that lidless, snake-eye stare.; 2/17/08, 3:20 PM
Bissage said...: Clyde, this one’s for you! Link.

(Who knew Winnie the Pooh could be so evil?); 2/17/08, 4:25 PM
MadisonMan said...: Dear Althouse: Are you going to tell us who visitor # 12,345,678 is? I hope they show up at 9:10

dreadful song, btw.; 2/17/08, 4:48 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Unblinking Grace

And when the truth is found to be lies, Dick Smothers tells everyone to trip...; 2/17/08, 4:55 PM
Paco Wové said...: dreadful song, btw.

And the video was even worse. <shudder>; 2/17/08, 6:02 PM
Trooper York said...: Sky Marshal Dienes: We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy *now and always*!

Newsreel announcer: Young people all over the globe are joining up to save the future. Stop the insectoid former first lady! Vote Obama, save the world.
(Starship Troopers, 1998); 2/17/08, 7:04 PM
EnigmatiCore said...: "Did you ever see the video of Grace Slick singing "White Rabbit"?"

Was it on American Bandstand?

The Mrs. and I were watching some interview show about 3 or 4 years ago, with Slick on it. They asked her about her performance on American Bandstand, and she swore up and down she had never been on it.

Then they played the clip for her.

She said she was shocked, because she had absolutely no memory if it, at all. She truly believed it had never happened.; 2/17/08, 8:05 PM
sonicfrog said...: "We Built This City" - What a wretched piece of garbage that song is. A little bile comes up in my throat just thinking about that song. And wasn't it just soooooo cute that each large market city (San Diego, Chicago, etc.) had a version of the song with it's name inserted in the lyrics.

Jefferson Airplane was a very good band. Even JS had their moments, though in hindsight you could see where things were going. It was all about the record sales, and by the late 80's, big, unchallenging, mindless, by the numbers, ghost-written-by-commitee finger painted songs were being churned out by the industry. When bands devolve musically to this point, we give them the "Phat" label. The term derived from the 80's version of Heart, and no, it had nothing to do with Ann Wilson's size. It was based on that huge, booming, cookie cutter song writing template they adopted after they found their 70's success had faded. This sound became typical of "comeback" bands during the 80's. This metamorphosis brought us "What About Love" and the catchy titled "All I Wanna do is Make Love to You". You had Phat Chicago playing "Stay The Night", Phat REO Speedwagon with "I Can't Fight this Feeling Anymore". Genesis, though not a comeback band, gave us "Invisible Touch".

Don't get me wrong, I love the 80's. There were some great new bands - Mr. Mister, Crowded House, Oingo Boingo to name a few, and some of the older guys were recording good stuff - Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, Sting all shined during this period, but man, some of the stuff that emanated from my radio just makes my head hurt.; 2/18/08, 1:21 PM
Trooper York said...: That's why Hot Tuna should only be used in reference to Britney's snatch. Just sayn'; 2/18/08, 2:20 PM