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Thread: Why Did Jefferson Airplane Change to Jefferson Starship?

  1. #126
    Pendulumswingingdoomsday Rune Blackwings's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    I'm not going to make friends here, but.... I was always somewhat surprised that with the amount of talent like Kantner, Slick, Balin, Chaquico, Dunbar (or Barbata before him)... and to a lesser extent Feiberg , they never managed to do better music than relatively insipid AOR

    I'm very surprised to see in RYM that Casady played with them during the 90's (was it just live or on their two 90's albums as well?) and to a lesser extent Signe Anderson as well.

    Keep in mind that, for several of these musicians, by the time JS was formed and started churning out the "insipid AOR" material, most of the band had been active for over a decade. Sears came over from Rod Stewart (and others), Freiburg had been with Quick Silver Messenger Service and of course Slick, Balin and Kantner from JA (Slick originating from yet another band, the Great Society, and having a brief modeling career before, Balin started with the Town criers and Kantner began as a solo folk singer). While they were far from being "burned out" or "past their peak", they were in a later, matured phase of their careers.
    "Alienated-so alien I go!"

  2. #127
    Pendulumswingingdoomsday Rune Blackwings's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    Here in Norway Kantner's passing actually DID receive a bit of attention, as parts of his generation are still somewhat present in media circles and the general status of the Airplane's countercultural heritage has taken on a new force of sorts in younger folks in accordance with the vinyl resurgence. I mean, the 60s were kinda cool already since the early 90s (when I went to university and we started collecting music through both second hand market dynamics and the reissue campaigns happening in the UK at the time), but nowadays I think it's more about "historical credibility" and stuff like that. It's not that hip to know just the Beatles, Hendrix, Janis and Jimbo anymore; the "authenticity" conundrum demands deeper digging and eventually leads to the damnations of obscure and transcendent hippydom. I think artists like the Airplane and Love will always generate some interest due to their apparent breaching of historical stereotype, in that their merits reveal an array of insights not usually channelled by more superficial versions of events. In that respect, few if any late 60s US rock group represented and exemplified the turmoil of the day more literally than JA.
    I am actually amazed at the music tastes of Norwegians and this was before I read this. I think it first struck me when having dinner with Aura Noir and Blasphemer was happy to hear "The Sound of Silence" on the restaurant's sound system. Also, Hellhammer seems to like a considerable range of music and Knut Valle's daughter admits her father plays "cool music". Ulver has a fantastic version of "Today" (although I thought they would have been more likely to cover "Share a Little Joke").
    "Alienated-so alien I go!"

  3. #128
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    No it wasn't you mofo icewhole! 'twas someone named Diana Mangano!! Why donna you go Foochs yeself!
    I saw the JS with Diana Mangano in 2007, with Balin and Freiberg also in the lineup. It was very much an oldies set, consisting mostly of Airplane repertoire and Blows Against the Empire material.

    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Of all the famous dead people this year, Kantner was the one that touched me most (and the most since Daevid's passing away), but he went totally un-noticed by the mainstream ... partly of course because it happened two days after Bowie's, so it was totally over-shadowed.... But I can't help but wonder how much a reaction from the media would that story have made outside of Bowie's shadow... Not sure it would've made the 8 PM headlines.
    18 days after Bowie, actually. Living in the Bay Area, of course I saw a lot of media attention to Kantner's death myself. It was the weird and sad coincidence of Signe Anderson's passing the same day that was overlooked, partly because her daughter didn't reveal it right away.
    Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
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  4. #129
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    how does that album sound?? Hopefully worthy of 70's JS rather than 80's JS or even Starship crap.

    TBH, I was not impressed by the Airplane reunion album of 89 (or so)...

    But I've never heard the KBC albums (I did try in the early 00's but found nothing back then)... I guess it's time to search YT
    I quite like “Windows Of Heaven”. It is definitely a throwback to their pre- Mickey Thomas sound. Kantner and Balin wrote everything but two tracks and the songs are very much in the style that they typically write in. Personally, I like the Kantner songs better than the Balin tracks, but opinions will vary on that.

    I have mixed feelings on the Airplane reunion album. It has some really strong tracks on it, but as a whole was a bit of a letdown.

    I enjoyed the KBC album, although it has been a long time since I listened to it.

  5. #130
    I remember when the KBC album came out, there was an interview with Jack Casady in one of the guitar magazines. I remember the introduction to the piece joked about Paul, Jack, and Marty "sitting around on the front porch, plotting like Hewlett-Packard", with a theoretical bit of "dialog" to illustrate the point: "We're going to do it right. This time, we're going to do it without Grace Slick!". I always found that amusing.

  6. #131
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rune Blackwings View Post
    Keep in mind that, for several of these musicians, by the time JS was formed and started churning out the "insipid AOR" material, most of the band had been active for over a decade. While they were far from being "burned out" or "past their peak", they were in a later, matured phase of their careers.
    Well "matured" doesn't necessarily mean insipid in other arts or in culinary terms, but all too often in music (especially on rock circles), it's kind of similar or even redundant.

    Sorry, but all this thread has managed to do is confirm that I'm right in not owning any post-74 stuff from that gang (except for Grace's Dreams album and some Hot Tuna). It's not like I don't like any of that stuff, but on the whole, there is simply not enough to make it worth owning any of it and having cluttering it my living spaces

    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    I remember when the KBC album came out, there was an interview with Jack Casady in one of the guitar magazines. I remember the introduction to the piece joked about Paul, Jack, and Marty "sitting around on the front porch, plotting like Hewlett-Packard", with a theoretical bit of "dialog" to illustrate the point: "We're going to do it right. This time, we're going to do it without Grace Slick!". I always found that amusing.
    Difficult to YT anything than the dreadful America hit of theirs (I always figured that was JS instead of KBC) other than the following



    And one of the greatest bassist ever is almost invisible (read inaudible as well) in that band...

    From whatever few I heard of them, I don't think KBC is really any better (or worse) than later 70's JS ... Boooring... and most likely Grace might've made it more interesting ... or at least livelier.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  7. #132
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    No it wasn't you mofo icewhole! 'twas someone named Diana Mangano!! Why donna you go Foochs yeself!
    You must have been confused by Grace’s brother-in-law, Darby Slick, who used to do animations for Sesame Street. And someone else...um...Jay Gould?
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  8. #133
    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    You must have been confused by Grace’s brother-in-law, Darby Slick, who used to do animations for Sesame Street.
    Is that right? That would explain how Grace ended up doing the vocals for the one series of animations from the early 70's. Sesame Street (and children's entertainment in general) was way psychedelic back in the day.

  9. #134
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    GQ magazine put together "An Oral History of “We Built This City,” the Worst Song of All Time" - a really great and revealing story on this era - and this song in particular - all from quotes by the band members, lyricist, producers, etc. Really interesting:

    http://www.gq.com/story/oral-history...ng-of-all-time

    One thing I learned from this - Chicago was trying to get Mickey Thomas to replace Peter Cetera. That would not have been a good fit, imho.

    My favorite quote: Mickey Thomas: When the song went to No. 1, I said to Bernie Taupin, “More than ever, people are gonna ask what ‘Marconi plays the mamba’ means.” He said, “I have no fucking idea, mate.”

  10. #135
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    Craig Chaquico, Pete Sears and Johny Barbata are reuniting as a new band. Marty Balin may be on board as well after he deals with a medical issue:

    http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/1...fter-40-years/

  11. #136
    Member Mythos's Avatar
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    I recall them wanting to go with Jefferson Couger-Mellencamp but were afraid of the legal ramifications and they just went with "Starship" instead...

  12. #137
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Just watched them in the beloved Star Wars Holiday Special the other day. The Rifftrax version.

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