Starship biography
Starship was a band created by the settlement of a lawsuit. Notwithstanding
this curious beginning, the group went on to a series of hits in the mid-'80s,
including the chart-toppers "We Built This City," "Sara,"
and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" in a polished, mainstream pop/rock
style before splitting up in the early '90s.
Starship was the remaining sextet of musicians that, with Paul
Kantner, had made up Jefferson Starship until the rhythm
guitarist/singer's exit from that band in June 1984. Kantner, a founding
member of Jefferson Airplane, the precursor to Jefferson Starship,
had also helped found Jefferson Starship in 1974. Ten years
later, Kantner decried the band's tilt toward commercial rock and
decided that it was time for the group to dissolve. His bandmates disagreed,
and Kantner sued over money and the ownership of the band's name in
October 1984. The suit was settled in March 1985, resulting in a cash payment
to Kantner and the agreement that the name "Jefferson
Starship" would be retired, while the band would change its name to
simply Starship (with that name owned by singer Grace
Slick and manager Bill Thompson).
Thus, at its inception under its new
moniker, Starship consisted of Slick (born Grace
Barnett Wing in or near Chicago, IL, October 30, 1939), co-lead
singer Mickey Thomas (born in Cairo, GA, December 3, 1949),
guitarist Craig Chaquico (born September 25, 1954),
keyboardist David Freiberg (born in Boston, MA, August 24, 1938),
bassist Pete Sears (born May 27, 1948), and drummer Donny
Baldwin.
The record sales established Starship as a separate entity
with a new audience. The group was reduced to a quartet with the departure
of Pete Sears prior to their next recording, a song from the movie
Mannequin. Released as a single in January 1987, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us
Now," written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond,
became Starship's third number one hit in April and eventually was
certified as their second gold 45. The second album, No Protection,
released in July 1987, was prefaced by the single "It's Not Over ('Til
It's Over)," which reached the Top Ten as the album peaked at number 12
and went gold.
At the start of
1988, Grace Slick left Starship, reducing the band to the trio
of Thomas, Chaquico, and Baldwin. They added two new members,
keyboard player Mark Morgan and bassist Brett Bloomfield, and in
the summer of 1989 released their third album, Love Among
the Cannibals, which boasted the Top 20 hit "It's Not Enough" but
sold disappointingly. The band was set to tour from mid-August to the end of
September, but on September 24, Thomas was involved in a fight that
left him severely beaten, suffering serious facial injuries that required
surgery. Although no charges were filed, it eventually emerged that he had been
beaten by Baldwin, who immediately left the band. While Thomas recovered, Chaquico also
departed in 1990. In the spring of 1991, the band's label, RCA,
released Greatest Hits (Ten Years and Change 1979-1991), which featured
one new track, "Good Heart," written by Martin Page and
performed by Thomas, Page, Wolf, and guitarist Peter Maunu.
Released as a single, it reached number 81. With
that, Bill Thompsondeclared Starship to be inactive.
In 1992, Thomas organized a band that began playing dates
billed as "Mickey Thomas' Starship" or
"Starship Featuring Mickey Thomas." Although Thomas did
not own the right to use the name
"Starship," Thompson and Grace Slick, the co-owners of
the name, took no action to stop him, and he continued to perform using the
name. In 2003, the Brilliant label issued an album credited simply
to Starship called Greatest Hits on which a Thomas-led
band re-recorded Starship's biggest hits and some songs from Thomas'
tenure in Jefferson Starship as well as "Fooled Around and Fell
in Love," the hit Thomas sang with the Elvin Bishop Group in
1976. Ten years later, Thomas was back with
another Starship album, 2013's Loveless Fascination, recorded and
produced by Foreigner's Jeff Pilson.