We Built This City
| "We Built This City" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Starship | ||||||||
| from the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla | ||||||||
| B-side | Private Room (Instrumental) | |||||||
| Released | August 1, 1985 [1] | |||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||
| Recorded | December 1984 | |||||||
| Genre | Pop rock | |||||||
| Length | 4:56 | |||||||
| Label | Grunt | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, Peter Wolf | |||||||
| Producer | Peter Wolf, Jeremy Smith | |||||||
| Starship singles chronology | ||||||||
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"We Built This City" is the title of a song written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf, and originally recorded by the American pop rock group Starship and released as its debut single on August 1, 1985.
The single version reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 16, 1985, and also number one on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart and number twelve in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Content
The lyrics describe a city built on rock n' roll music. The lyrics explicitly mention the Golden Gate Bridge and refer to "The City By The Bay" (a common reference to San Francisco, CA). Further, Starship was from San Francisco. However, the DJ also refers to the city as "The City That Never Sleeps" (a common reference to New York, New York) and "The City That Rocks" (a common reference to Cleveland, OH). Furthering this creative ambiguity as to which city the group hails, several radio stations added descriptions of their own local areas when they ran the song.[2]
[edit] Production
The song was engineered by Grammy-winning producer Bill Bottrell and arranged by Bottrell and Jasun Martz.
The song features Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick on lead vocals. MTV executive and former D.J. Les Garland provided the D.J. voice-over during the song's bridge.[3]
[edit] Covers and parodies
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This "In popular culture" section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivial references. (February 2012) |
During the era that this song was popular on the radio, some radio stations such as U93 in South Bend, Indiana would overdub the radio station sample of the song with their own radio station DJs talking about their station and city during the song's regular broadcast. This was actually encouraged by the band as versions of the song without the original radio broadcast were released to radio stations.[2]
In a viral video made by Melissa Lanzourakis-Joens, the town of Sioux City used the song while replacing the words "this city" with "Sioux City" in the chorus. The video has been featured on MTV and Comedy Central's Tosh.0.[4]
The song is featured, along with many other 1980s and early 1990s hits, in the Broadway musical Rock of Ages.[5]
Rap group The Diplomats released a rap adaption of the song entitled "Built Dis City" on their 2003 album Diplomatic Immunity.
This song is featured in a prominent scene in the 2011 film The Muppets. As Gary (Jason Segel), Mary (Amy Adams), and the entire Muppet crew clean up the Muppet Theatre, Dr. Teeth activates this song on his boombox to set perfect clean-up music.
[edit] Reception
Starship received a Grammy nomination for best rock vocal performance (by duo or group) for the song in 1986.[6]
[edit] Blender magazine's "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever"
The defunct magazine Blender's ranking of the song as the worst song ever was in conjunction with a VH1 Special of The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs...Ever.[7] In order to qualify for the distinction, the songs on the list had to be a popular hit at some point, thus disqualifying many songs that would by consensus be considered much worse. Blender editor Craig Marks said of the song, "It purports to be anti-commercial but reeks of '80s corporate-rock commercialism. It's a real reflection of what practically killed rock music in the '80s."[8]
However, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald pointed out that "Blender's list - compiled via an arbitrary and anecdotal data collection process and ranked by Marks - included several whimsical criteria. One was to go easy on novelty songs." In a discussion with the band's manager, Bill Thompson, he was surprised at the ranking, but also "thrilled" because of the other high-profile groups on the list, saying, "I wish Blender had called us for a group shot. I'd love to have my picture taken with Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney."[9] Mickey Thomas, one of the singers of Starship, stated in regards to the review from the, by then folded, Blender magazine, "From what I heard, they got so much flack about it that they sort of retracted their statements in a way about the song. And not only that, but Blender's folded, and we're still here."[10]
When asked about why the song was listed as #1 on the review, the editor of Blender magazine, Craig Marks, referenced the line of the song "Marconi plays the mamba" by asking, "Who is Marconi? And what is the mamba? The mamba is the deadliest snake in the world, so he must have meant the mambo, but it sounds so much like 'mamba' that every lyric web site writes it that way. It makes sense neither way."[9] The Richmond Times listed other songs by Starship that would have made more sense for being on the top of the list than "We Built This City", concluding that "No, no. They chose the song that references Marconi, the father of the radio. The song that inserted a cool snippet of DJ chatter from the band's beloved San Francisco. The song that found Grace Slick enunciating the phrase "corporation games" with nutty abandon."[11]
[edit] Rolling Stone Top Ten Worst Songs of the 1980s
In 2011 a Rolling Stone magazine online poll named "We Built This City" as the worst song of the 1980s. The song's winning margin was so large that the magazine reported it "could be the biggest blow-out victory in the history of the Rolling Stone Readers Poll".[12]
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1985–86) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report Top Singles | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[13] | 21 |
| Canadian RPM Top 100 Singles[14] | 1 |
| Dutch Top 40[15] | 21 |
| UK Singles Chart[16] | 12 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[17] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs[17] | 37 |
[edit] References
- ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Database
- ^ a b ""We Built This City On Rock and Roll"", OddCulture, Retrieved Jun 2, 2011.
- ^ "We Built This S**tty", Radio & Records, May 14, 2004 (PDF)
- ^ "Criticism brushed aside, 'We Built Sioux City' sequel filmed", Sioux City Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
- ^ "Rock of Ages Song List". Internet Broadway Database. http://ibdb.com/production-songs.php?ShowNo=482290&ProdNo=482291. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ Richard De Atley (10 January 1985). "Dire Straits, Tina Turner, Sting lead performer nominations". The Times-News. Associated Press: p. 23. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oqojAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LyQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4623,1962537.
- ^ "The 50 Worst Songs Ever! Watch, Listen and Cringe!". Blender.com. http://www.blender.com/lists/61412/the50worstsongseverwatchlistenandcringe.html?p=10.[dead link]
- ^ "10 Really, Really Bad Songs, CBSNews.com
- ^ a b "We built this city on detestable lyrics". Sydney Morning Herald. April 27, 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/26/1082831484662.html. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ Rachael Recker (May 2, 2010). "It's not Jefferson, but it is 'Starship starring Mickey Thomas' at 2010 Tulip Time". Booth Newspapers. http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/05/its_not_jefferson_but_it_is_st.html. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ E. Franklin (April 29, 2004). "Are you kidding me?; Many tunes are obviously inferior to Blender's50 Worst Songs of All Time". Richmond Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/timesdispatch/access/626257461.html?dids=626257461:626257461&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+29%2C+2004&author=Melissa+Ruggieri%3B+Write+to+Melissa+Ruggieri+at+the+Richmond+Times-+Dispatch%2C+300+E.+Franklin+St.%2C+Richmond%2C+VA+23219%2C+call+(804)+649-+6120+or+e-mail+mruggieri%40timesdispatch.com&pub=Richmond+Times+-+Dispatch&desc=ARE+YOU+KIDDING+ME%3F+%3B+MANY+TUNES+ARE+OBVIOUSLY+INFERIOR+TO+BLENDER'S+50+WORST+SONGS+OF+ALL+TIME&pqatl=google. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ Readers' Poll: The 10 Worst Songs of the 1980s
- ^ "Starship - We Built This City (song)". Ö3 Austria Top 40. March 1, 1986. http://www.austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Starship&titel=We+Built+This+City&cat=s. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "RPM 100 Singles". RPM (Library and Archives Canada) 43 (13): 6. December 7, 1985. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.0608&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=p54betteieq1te8mdgn9b7rdu3. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- ^ "We Built This City - Starship". Dutch Top 40. RTL Nederland. 1986. http://www.top40.nl/bundle.aspx?bundle_id=334671&tid=12&jaar=2012&maand=1&week=1. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ UK Singles Chart (November 16, 1985). "Starship". The Official Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/starship/. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- ^ a b "We Built This City - Starship". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/song/starship/we-built-this-city/475036. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
| Preceded by "Miami Vice Theme" by Jan Hammer |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 16, 1985 – November 23, 1985 |
Succeeded by "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin |
| Preceded by "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin |
Canadian RPM Singles Chart number-one single December 7, 1985 |
Succeeded by "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister |
| Preceded by "Species Deceases" by Midnight Oil |
Australian Kent Music Report number one single January 20, 1986 – February 10, 1986 |
Succeeded by "A Good Heart" by Feargal Sharkey |
