CoronaVinyl Day 356 (S): Knee Deep in the Hoopla by Starship

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "S," and we're going with Starship's debut album, 1985's Knee Deep in the Hoopla.

Starship, of course, was the third incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.  After Jefferson Starship broke up in 1984, there was a lawsuit over the name Jefferson Starship that was resolved by an agreement that the words "Jefferson" or "Airplane" could not be used by any group unless the members of Jefferson Airplane all agreed.  Hence, the "Jefferson" was dropped and the band just called themselves Starship.

Knee Deep in the Hoopla was their first album as Starship, and with it the band went in a decided AOR direction.  Produced by Peter Wolf -- the producer, not the former lead singer of the J. Geils Band -- the album was a big success, reaching #7 on the Billboard album chart and eventually going platinum in the U.S.  The first two singles from the album, "We Built This City" and "Sara," both topped the Billboard Hot 100, and two other singles charted, with "Tomorrow Doesn't Matter Tonight" going to #26" and "Before I Go" reaching #68.

"We Built This City," while catchy as hell, has to have some of the most nonsensical lyrics of any song to hit #1.  I mean, it's like the songwriters -- longtime Elton John songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, Wolf, Dennis Lambert, and veteran songwriter Martin Page -- just cobbled together some words that rhymed so that they could remind everyone that Jefferson Airplane helped make San Francisco a rock mecca in the '60s.  

"Marconi plays the mamba / Listen to the radio / Don't you remember? / We built this city on rock and roll"  What does Gugliemo Marconi have to do with anything, and why is he playing the mamba?  

"Someone's always playing corporation games / Who cares, they're always changing corporation names."  What the hell are corporation games?  And what corporations are changing names?  And yes, who cares?

"Who counts the money underneath the bar? / Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars? / Don't tell us you need us 'cause we're the ship of fools / Looking for America, coming through your schools."  What bar?  And until I just looked up the lyrics, I always thought they were saying "in two-part guitars," but either way, it makes no sense.  And was Starship telling us they were planning on a barnstorming tour of American elementary schools?

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Rock Myself to Sleep"
Co-written by Katrina & The Waves members Kimberley Rew and Vince De la Cruz (and The Waves would record it themselves a couple years later), this one features Quiet Riot lead singer Kevin Dubrow on backing vocals.  Grace Slick handles lead vocals, which makes me assume this song is about fervent female masturbation while listening to Metal Health right before bed.  There is no other reasonable interpretation.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Private Room"
This one was co-written by band members Craig Chaquico and Mickey Thomas, and Thomas handles lead vocals on it.  It's clearly about the false hope that strippers provide, and it's an otherwise solid '80s pop rock song.