I see what you mean but if you never listen to contemporary pop,, you really can't offer a credible critique on "all" pop... The problem a lot of times is rotation, I can remember tunes from about 2010 that were excellent tunes and I can't find them at all because I can't remember their name... They go in and out of "First Run" while playing them so much that you get sick of them,, and then just disappear from the playlist... Songs like Brand New by Ben Rector,, *absolutely sublime songs that have their fifteen minutes of fame, usually about 3 to 8 weeks* of saturation promotion (play about once an hour if it's a top-20),, *then slip off the playlist even though they will be played if someone requests them..* Point is a lot of modern music especially the hip-hop and rap inclusions into pop I think are kind of bogus but there's some that are pretty good...
Moral of the story, Never take music critics at face value. Listen and be your own judge. You will be surprised at how many other people like the same song.
This song was voted worst song by listeners not critic's because it's cheesy. Sounds hypocritical . It's was also overplayed. People love and hate this song at the same time either way they keep listening .
I used to watch Siskel and Ebert movie reviews and the ones they gave two thumbs down to were always my favorites. I suppose the same can be said for music reviews, though I personally never paid attention to them.
I’m terrified of going to hell because my vision of hell is having to listen to a rock critic angrily lecturing me and having to listen to his album collection for eternity
The worst people voting, then they choose this brilliant tune as their bully target. This music is for forever. Powerful, melodic, catchy. I was a child and remember this on the radios in my country. I love it! Thanks Starship!
My Uncle was a record industry marketing guy in the 70s and 80s. He passed away last year and I was give two of my most cherished possessions of his: A gold record for Queen's A Night at the Opera, and a gold record for Starship's Knee Deep in the Hoopla. That's right; a gold record honoring one of the greatest albums of all time and another one honoring what is considered one of the worst. My uncle, in some small way, was partially responsible for both!
This is just a super-fun song, which is why the critics hate it. .....they allow no fun...no smiling.....no celebration or jubilation....As a side note, thanks so much, Professor, for putting this together - very interesting insights and interviews. You are the man.
No fun? No celebration or jubilation? Au contraire, mon frere! Here's some joy and celebration from the real thing: th-cam.com/video/cxA3Q96a8XE/w-d-xo.html "We are all outlaws in the eyes of America, In order to survive we steal, cheat, lie, forge, f**k, hide, and deal, We are obscene, lawless, hideous, dangerous, dirty, violent... and young!" "We are forces of chaos and anarchy, Everything they say we are we are, And we are very proud of ourselves!" What could be more celebratory of the mood of the 60s before the suits co-opted and killed it? "Tear down the wall, motherf**ker!"
We will have to agree to disagree on this. To me, this song sucks balls. The real twist of the knife is that the same band produced the psychedelic masterpiece “white rabbit”. It represents what I can only describe as disappointing decline into lameness. If this was their only hit, I wouldn’t feel so upset.
@@crankyoldperson6871 The world moved on, you obviously didn't. I love Genesis from the 70's, I love Genesis from the 80's too. Songs like this are a product of their time. I loved Abba - Name of the Game. #4 in UK November 77; that week I was also going to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall. That is the beauty of music. You're entitled not to like Starship, I commend them for at least changing the name through the decades.
My brother used to torment me singing Having My Baby. He sang both parts with falsetto for female vocal. He even went as far as stuffing a pillow up this shirt.
In my opinion Mikey Thomas is on of the best vocalists of all time. We first heard his voice when he was with Elvin Bishop singing "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" back in 1976. Then he moved on to Jefferson Starship and again we heard "Find Your Way Back" in 1981 Followed by Sara and many more. His is a voice that no one will ever forget! R.I.P. Tina Turner!
I saw Starship featuring Mickey Thomas perform a few months ago in Epcot. The whole audience sang along and loved it when they did We Built this City. I absolutely loved it! ⭐️ 🚢 ❤Jenn
He performed at my towns music festival. It was his first performance going as Starship and he told us before he started performing that he was going to get sued for it, but screw it. It was a great performance.
I have fond memories whenever I hear this song. my husband and I visited San Francisco when this song was popular in 1985.. I have great memories of the city, a clean city sparkling by the bay, and our drive up thru Northern Californias beautiful forested areas and majestic redwoods. He passed away suddenly about a month later. The happy energy from the song always remind me of the good times we shared on that trip. Music can be such a gift when it’s written well.
I never went to San Francisco, but when I hear the radio part, it takes me back to actually hearing this song on the radio when it was brand new. I always picture a sunny day in a time before the authoritarianism started to become obvious.
The culture of San Francisco brought us music sent straight from the gods, and something significant exploded there beyond rock music. To think at one time one could see the Grateful Dead, Janis, and the Airplane sharing a bill in a ballroom, playing shows to a thriving (though often misguided) youth culture. Now all that's left are the walking dead sharing a tent.
I taught this song to my 7th-grade ESL students in Mongolia seven years ago. They were doing a presentation on building a new school and wanted to do a song and dance to accompany it. My friend suggested this song since it was the only one we knew about building something. It actually gave me a new appreciation for the song.
@@frzstatwell, I don’t know about the others, but Grace Slick publicly disavowed it. I think Mickey Thomas’ version of Starship (I think he’s the only one left from that era) might still be playing it, if he’s still performing as Starship. Most of the original Jefferson Airplane & 70s-era Jefferson Starship are either deceased or were gone from the band before they recorded this.
White Rabbit was the epitome of the late 60s and We Built this City is the epitome of the early 80s, this band was terrific at capturing the zeitgeist of an era
White Rabbit was the epitome of music that really mattered, music that was great art, in the 60s. We Built was the epitome of corporate schlock packaged for mass consumption and sold to the gullible in the sellout 80s. The music that really mattered in the 80s sounded more like this: th-cam.com/video/Gx6_wrFZcu0/w-d-xo.html or this: th-cam.com/video/sd3TS1Wn6is/w-d-xo.html
I saw them at Merriweather Post. When they played White Rabbit and Somebody to Love, this mother and daughter next to us were the only ones sitting and looking annoyed.
Mickey and Chuck joined Starship and saved it from disappearing forever. We built this city... is an awesome song. I have loved it since the first day I heard it. Another thing; Why this channel doesn't have 10 million subscribers is a total mystery to me. Adam is covering every single thing that anybody would ever wanna know about classic rock and roll. This is the ultimate Rock 'N' Roll encyclopedia channel. Thank you, Adam.
@@paulperkins1615I disagree. They deserved to go with some big hits, as they had (mostly) eluded the band throughout their career. In a perfect world, those big #1 hits would’ve happened sooner, somewhere between Miracles (which came real close, #3) and No Way Out (which actually DID hit #1 - on the mainstream rock charts)! And their legacy didn’t end there. In 1989, the original Airplane reunited for an album and tour. It was no Surrealistic Pillow, but it had some tasty tidbits, worthy of the original band! And Paul Kantner brought Jefferson Starship back in the mid-90s to remind us why they were great in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Their recorded output was spotty and nothing to get excited about, but they still rocked live!
A few years ago I saw Mickey's version of Starship in concert with Stephanie Calvert singing in Slick's place. Gotta say it was a great show. She sang White Rabbit and Somebody To Love. They did We Built This City and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now...the venue went crazy. Stephanie nailed it all.
I will forever love Mickey Thomas. In 1981 he came into my movie theater and my friend told him that if he said hi to her friend behind the popcorn stand that she would give him a free ticket. Well he didn’t need a free ticket, but he came up to me and said hello to me by name and made my life at the time. We built this city came out while I was in law school and I loved it and I love Mickey Thomas.
We Built This City hit #1 for a reason; it's a GOOD song! Who cares what critics, especially Rolling Stone magazine, thinks about it? It's the fans who buy the records and requested the song on the radio that love the song and made it a hit. 38 years later I'm still hearing it being played on the radio. That kind of staying power proves how good the song is.
Martin Page is one of the nicest people in music. Years ago when my grandma passed away I wrote him a note on Myspace about how "In the House of Stone and Light" was one of the few 90s songs that she and I really connected on, and he wrote a really nice note back. Sadly, that note disappeared along with the original Myspace long ago, but I really appreciated it. The other song he and Bernie Taupin wrote for that Starship album, "Love Rusts", is also great. As for "We Built This City", it's one of the first songs I can ever remember hearing on the radio as a little kid and one of my favorites from the 80s. And even if it wasn't, it would be virtually impossible for it or anything else to be even the worst #1 song of 1985, let alone the worst ever, simply because "Sussudio" exists.
Another great video, Professor of Rock! Makes me think that sometimes what makes a song great isn’t actually the song itself but what it represents: in this case, the exuberant fun of creative exploration of new technology, which is what 80s pop music was all about. Sigh… Back then, when I was a teen, I thought music was always going to be that way. The comparison to Wang Chung totally cracked me up! Ironically, music today is waaaayyy more corporate than it was back then. I sense a singer-songwriter backlash about to break loose any moment now…
When Kelsey Grammer as "Frasier Crane" on "Cheers" quoted The Chorus from "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight!" before The Good Doctor's Bachelor Party that was the group's apex moment in Pop Culture!😂😉🎤🎼🎵🎶🎸🥁👨🎓B.W.
We built this city is one of my all time fave songs, I'm 50 now and love my 80's. How they could say this is the worst song is beyond me, it's so catchy and just a great song! Starship had a number of hits around that time, I don't understand why they picked on them, very cruel and unwarranted.
Iconic song. Best part for those of us fortunate enough to hear it on live radio, was to hear your local radio station dub their own station’s call letters into the song.
My mother, who was in high school in the 1950s, says she never understood how rock 'n' roll became so popular. I always point out that "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" was the Billboard number one song for eight weeks in 1953. Two years later, Bill Haley and the Comets hit number one with "Rock Around the Clock". The rest, as they say, is history. BTW, people may argue over whether this is a good song, bad song, or whatever, but it introduced another generation to amazing talent of Grace Slick. Pick whoever you want as the Queen of Rock, Grace will always be the Queen Mum to me.
I am so glad that you tell people that they don't have to apologize for the music they like. My ex used to mock me for my tastes. Yeah, I have some songs I like that North Americans may not (I listen to music from many cultures), but most of the songs I love are ones you talk about on this channel. I am glad you give people such a positive message about varying tastes
In the past, I've often felt guilty for liking this song because so many people I knew hated it. Truth be told, I think it was because it was over-played and people didn't really listen to the lyrics. I like it more now because it brings me back to that year when I was 12-13 years old. And the good parts of the year (not the yucky 7th grade stuff).
I've never understood how this being the worst song or even a bad song came about I've always loved this song! I'm a big fan of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship alike! Thanks for keeping the music alive Professor!
Imagine my surprise watching VH1's top 50 worst songs as a massive Jefferson Airplane fan expecting Achy Breaky Heart to be #1 and I see We Built This City as their pick. I was in shock lol. For me, not my favorite song by any stretch but FAR from the worst and I've found that I like it more and more as time goes on.
It's not a terrible song, just a terrible disappointment that the artist who gave us the genius of White Rabbit and the absolutely divine vocal performance of Triad would sink to this mediocrity.
"We Built This City" called the worst song? I love this song! It makes me feel proud. I used to feel like I had helped build the city I lived in then. A rock song with good energy and a positive message that we are all winners. How could anyone not like this song?
Good observation. It is a great song and from a UK perspective a great example of the promise of America in terms of its scale and ambition, and the type of song usually only America can produce.
In my late 20's I dyed my hair black for a month or two. I lived in SF. One morning, on my commute on Muni, a man sat down next to me and asked for my autograph. I said I was just going to work, but he thought I was Grace Slick and insisted I was Grace Slick. I said I was not her, but he had me pinned in my seat. I finally gave him a Grace Slick autograph. He was so happy with that autograph. I am not Grace Slick! 😅
This song was great and I absolutely loved "No Way Out" around the same time. What a lot of critics forget is that in 1985 a totally new generation was listening to the radio and to have a band that was huge 15 years earlier still being relevant and having a #1 hit is really something big and impressive. To me, this was what made Starship popular and I only found out about Jefferson Airplane and the Jefferson Starship and the relationship after the fact.
"No Way Out" is one of my fav songs of all time - just a cool musical sound and Mickey's voice is just soooo perfect accross the entire vocal range of the song - just never tire of it...good call on your part !!
@@EternallyThankful-os6pz Thank you. I agree totally on "No Way Out". On the last day of my junior year in High School, which was the end of May 1985, my alarm clock awoke me playing that song and I fell in love with it right there. I still go right back to that very moment every time I hear it!!!
“No Way Out” is one of my favorite songs of all time”! I was in high school when it came out. It is one of those songs that just rips your soul out. A guy cheats on his girlfriend and tries to convince his girlfriend nothing happened. “There’s no way out! She doesn’t buy my story”. “She’s a little bit colder”. And when the song gets to the end and Mickey let’s out that long , long wail 😢! You can just feel how the guy is in so much pain because he lied to her and she is probably going to leave. 😢
The 80s were the very best decade to have lived through. All the music was great, all the movies we're the very best of their kind and true originals. The 80s we're colorful, women were the most beautiful they have ever been in all of history in my opinion. Much of the technology we now take for granted and under appreciate, was epic and amazing back then and we all dreamed about the future rather than dread it like we do now. We were hopeful, playful, and in many ways more graceful in those days. I could go on for hours about why the 80s wete the best. I wish everyone could love life like we did then.
@@rockbass7027 sometimes I think the 80s were even more open minded than today, it's just that alot of new things we're emerging back then, and people were more willing to see where things went before jumping to conclusions and judging everything. We took a big misstep somewhere around or after 9/11 that sent us and the world down a dark path we didn't recognize in time. Now, everyone is suspicious of one another, everyone only sees the bad in others, everyone is considered potentially dangerous, and the saddest part is, it's because everyone IS now a potential danger to others like never before in modern history. What happened? This is the future, we were supposed to be better.
The 80's were the best decade, in part due to the fact that the Internet was not around. Amazing how much one technology can twist society on its head and expect everyone to follow in line, or else.
Given that there is no presence of adult contemporary being produced now, it puts into perspective for me how good this song and many others like it were. Boomers coming and age and selling out is still better than autotune and whatever is passed for music now.
There were people (boomers and younger folks) making GREAT music in the 1980s, but this ain't it, and of course boomers have never been willing to admit that anyone else (but especially Gen Xers) could do anything important. Just consider that in the same year has-beens Starship were slinging this schlock the Smiths were recording "How Soon Is Now", LL Cool J recorded "I Can't Live Without My Radio", the Cocteau Twins recorded "Pink Orange Red", Kate Bush recorded "Running Up that Hill", and the Dream Academy recorded "Life In a Northern Town" - all artists and songs that pushed the boundaries of popular music as an art form (in very different ways) and all fantastic works of art in their own right. (And don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jefferson Airplane - which is why this song and album make me so sad.)
@@brucetucker4847 Actually what makes me sad is hearing sonic pollution like Cardi B and anyone with the prefix 'Lil.' Sure, they were sell outs. But at least they produced music with a good melody and coherent lyrics.
For those who say that this song represents Jefferson Airplane singing "Corporate Pop", you need to remember that the lyrics were written by the man who penned "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Rocket Man", and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" as well as "Crocodile Rock". Bernie can do cynicism and irony as well as the best of them.
Firstly, I am never reluctant to state to anyone that I love "We Built This City." It is a hard driving song of irresistible sing-a-along charm. When I heard that Rolling Stone had named it as the worst song ever recorded in the Rock Era, I laughed out loud! Frankly, I have ignored Rolling Stone Magazine for decades and pretty much any other critic, be it cinema, theater, or music. I am my own critic. The irony is that back when Rolling Stone began they were the promoter of liberal expression and diversity in music in the face of intolerance from the older generations of fans and artists, but now that the Rock Era has conquered the world, Rolling Stone Magazine has become the self-righteous snob that they once fought against. I don't believe in "Worst Song Ever" lists, because I have learned several times over that what I don't fancy myself, is someone else's treasure.
@@EdwardWLynn- That’s your opinion. The Melody is very memorable decades later and lyrics is complex and the singing and mix excellent. Most modern songs are more shallow, simplistic and quite forgettable. Might as well say Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik is the worst classical music for being pop. upbeat.
It's extremely musically competent and very listenable, if not necessarily brilliant. These were good musicians who were expert in their craft. Not a bad song by any means and understandable why it went to #1 and is still popular now. For me the video is actually the most terrible part, so wretched. I would imagine the "sellout factor" and/or "corporate sound" is what irks people most about it, depending on your generation. But I wouldn't change the station if it came on while I was driving!
This is a great song. I don't understand how people could vote for this song as the worst, when you have songs like "Disco Duck" and "What Does The Fox Say," to name a couple.
It was very interesting to learn that they had left that open area for radio stations to plug in their own thing in this song. I used to listen to U93 FM out of a city in Indiana (lived in Michigan but was able to pick up their waves) and I thought it was so cool that a hit song like that had put a local radio station in it. But then when I heard it again as an adult with the "city by the bay" radio announcer I thought that U93 had like stolen a piece of the song. So I was today old when I learned that it was designed that way and that is just a really cool thing to learn!
Starship is one of the bands whose name I didn't know while I was in single digits but whose songs I loved hearing when they came on the air. Learning who they were definitely helped me enjoy the music even more as a teen. I never thought for a moment that I shouldn't enjoy "We Built This City". Nor did I think it should've been more realistic. I was 5 years old and in kindergarten. I was one of those uncool kids to begin with, one reason of which was that I was a boy who enjoyed watching Jem. That kind of boy isn't going to care about realism, the cheese factor or anyting negative that's historically connected with the song like this. The Feelgood factor is all that all that matters at that age.
Learning later on about Bernie and Martin having participated in writing this song only served to reinforce how much I like it. Martin is someone who was little bit more latent in arriving on the scene, but Bernie definitely is someone I have a lifelong respect for, even though I was a teenager in the 90s before I learn about everything he and Elton have done together.
This song is like "Walking on Sunshine". Pure joy in sonic form. Nobody turns it off. Nobody doesn't sing along ... at least, when they're alone. No matter what they say.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I never liked this song. I find it very grating, and ALWAYS used to change the channel immediately when it came on the radio (back when I listed to FM radio) - Truly awful song...
Wow... That is a major insult to Walking on Sunshine. We Built This City is as about as uninspired and paint by numbers as you get. It doesn't even compare to Creed's offerings, that have a genuine - sing-along when nobody is watching - factor.
Oh my, I hated, hated, hated, hated this song whenever it came on the radio. I never saw Starship live, but I could just imagine the spoken mid-song set-up (that all great bands do in concert) where Mickey Thomas is preaching to the audience some story about how the band got dissed in their home town, and then he would punctuate the tale with, "But that's okay, right? And you know why? Because WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROOOOOLLLLL!" (crowd goes crazy) Just the imagining of this moment made my head spin. I never thought I would hear a worse song in the '80's until Europe's "The Final Countdown" with that whiny testosterone-depleting synth line hit the airwaves.
I get the hate directed at this song. Dude, not everyone has to feel that same way you do about something. Do you see folks that don't like this song as bad people? I think serial killers are bad people. Not everything is about you and not everyone likes what you like, get over it. I hope you are not as snow-flakish about everything in life but if so, go curl up in a ball somewhere.
I think it’s less about the song and more about the band that recorded it. It’s literally impossible to square “White Rabbit” with this bubblegum pop ridiculousness.
@rapid13 Sure you can, because bands change. People like you who are so full of themselves like you and think they have the right to tell them they can't do that or that they're wrong for it.
I grew up in San Jose and only ever heard the original DJ voiceover. I never knew they allowed other local stations do their own bumpers until this video. Thanks, Prof!
I got to see Starship last year at a music festival, and the entire crowd sang this tune WORD FOR WORD!!! I have loved this tune for years simply for its ordinary lyrics and upbeat music... Nothing is wrong with it! I am not even thirty and I love this song!
...who YOU tellin'!?? ....when I researched the 50's C&W charts to give to the Prof., he sent me down a rabbitt hole of 50's 60's Music! ....educating us, as ALWAYS, Prof. .... ; )
I have always found it interesting that this song and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (a soundtrack single from the movie Mannequin) are exactly what Jefferson Airplane wasn't--commercially driven hits. I remember seeing an interview of Paul Kantner in which he was asked about how he felt about Starship taking that direction. His answer was, basically, "We Built this City? Yeah, F*** You," while flipping off the camera.
@@TheKeymaster316 no. My subscription expired about 30 years ago. What's your point? I was a teenager when this song came out. It sucked then, it sucks now and it will always suck.
I still remember this joke from David Letterman at the time: "Even if you could build a city on rock 'n' roll, you would still need a foundation of mob concrete." 😂
Hi. Thank you, Professor of Rock, for your great interviews and reiterating that music is always subjective! My Top 5 worst of their respective decades are: 1. 80s - Hangin' Tough - NKOTB. 2. 70s - Billy Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods. 3. - 2010s - Gangnam Style - PSY. 4. 2010s - WAP - Cardi B. 5. 90s - Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice. PS...I am someone who has validated less-than-subpar acts like NKOTB, Paula Abdul and even Milli Vanilli...but ONLY if their stuff was catchy! Thanks again!
We Built This City is an amazing song! It's a rocker and by no means the worst song. We listened to this all the time back in the 80s. Plus with the vocals of Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick, it was amazing. I saw Mickey Thomas and the Starship years ago in Kansas City (after Grace left), and his vocals were just powerful. Also, love the album name. Knee Deep in the Hoopla.
@@feliscoraxHow the heck can you listen to We Built This City and, on hearing the female vocals, not realize that it was Grace Slick. She has an automatically recognizable one-of-a-kind voice. I mean honestly, what other female vocalist, then or now, even remotely sound like her?
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers "Heathens" - Twenty One Pilots "Sugar, We're Goin Down" - Fall Out Boy "Fly" - Sugar Ray "Freebird" - Lynard Skynard If I could snap my fingers and erase these bands from history, the world would be a better place. Humanity has suffered for their popularity. You should feel guilty if any of these are your pleasure. These are not the only bands that should never have coalesced and recorded; just the five worst.
I loved this song. It came out when I was first getting into music myself and not just what my parents listened to. I was 11 and it was just fun. I was watching a music video show out of Canada after school. We didn't have cable so it was cool to be able to watch these new things lol. There were some benefits of living across the river from Ontario. Lol that wang chung song was the 2nd 45 I ever bought.
I was 15 years old in 1986. I remember being made fun of for liking the Fabulous Thunderbirds song Tuff Enough. The 80s were great, somewhat cheesy looking back. Maybe a future band to cover Professor. Thanks again for the great content!
@@screwyootube1probably “good” “serious” rock like Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, etc that have barely if any chart success for a reason: they’re not all that tuneful. Melody matters, it just does! Journey, Foreigner, Boston, and the AOR bands got that. Then there’s the U2, Springsteen tier that were able to create hooks and catchy anthems while being “important”- they’re the best of the best of a great decade for rock music.
I absolutely love this song we built this city. When I was a teenager, this was one of my favorite songs to crank up and listen to. I think my favorite part was in the center where the DJ talks to me that just is the Highpoint of the song flow so well together. There’s so much energy and excitement in this song. I know it has a message but as a teenager, I didn’t care. I just knew that this was a song that I loved and it made me get up and move. And would never be on one of my worst songs for the 1980s list.in fact, it would probably be within my top 15 favorite songs of the 80s. Wonderful song. Wonderful wonderful wonderful. I have nothing but great things to say about it.
Great memories of that song for me in 8th grade in late 1985 (October to December) ! Especially the video on MTV ! A great period too ! Karate Kid came out on HBO in late 1985 , Dire Straits had a awesome comeback with a new album , and Rocky 4 in the theaters, and me getting awesome grades at school (I gotta wear shades !)
We Built This City is *not* the worst song of the 1980s. There are a list of songs that could duke it out for worst, but this isn't one of them. I have to say that I'm stunned that White 🐇 Rabbit didn't hit #1. I still love that Alice in Wonderland song.
I’ll forgive any pop song J-Starship did, no matter how commercial, because of Slick on White Rabbit alone. I still think of her as THE greatest female rock singer.
@@carlodave9 It's precisely because she was so fantastic in JA that I find it hard to forgive her for this. If you had played it for her in 1970 and said "this is what you'll be releasing in 15 years" she probably would have jumped off a cliff. Not that I'd wish that for her, but she and the rest should have retired after "Miracles".
My vote is The Macarena, closely followed by I Touch Myself. But there are many more that could interchange with either (You Spin Me Round, Barbie Girl, Hot Child In The City, I Love The Nightlife, on and hurl-worthy, on)
I TOTALLY agree that the "worst song of all time" is being written 15 times a week. As far as "We Built This City"... I can understand when people want to compare this with earlier Jefferson & Grace Slick. For the people who grew up listening to "Somebody To Love" & "White Rabbit", "We Built This City" must seem like it's an atrocity. But the fact is, it's an 80's song and a very memorable one at that. Grace Slick knew how to adapt to the times she was in and sing music accordingly. The 80's had it's own style just like any other decade and in the 80's, the cheesier the song and the bigger the hair, the better. This song fits right in with the times and people like me who grew up in the 80's still love this song. And yes, I also love the music that they sang in the 60's. I just respect the fact that they were two totally different decades.
Thanks for giving this song its due. I always hear how bad it is but I loved it in the 80s and still love it today. Not even close to the worst song ever.
I was a teen in the 80s who discovered music of the 60s. Had gone to a flea market and bought Jefferson airplane’s flight log on eight track and played on my brothers old stereo. Fell in love with the band. At the same time I was in love with The Split Enz and Cindy Lauper. I could not watch enough MTV. But I’m sorry, l Built This City on Rock ‘n’ Roll but horrified and disappointing me when it came out. There were some seriously lame music to come out in the 80s, and for one of the lamest songs to been sung by Grace Slick, just broke my 16-year-old heart. Even as a teen on my first hearing, I knew that song was garbage. But, what do I know? I also hate the insipid songs, Imagine by John Lennon and Cat’s in the Cradle by Henry Chapin Carpenter.
Mickey Thomas is another on my long all-timer list. Bobby Kimball and I went to see Mickey play Pershing Square in DTLA. One of my many musical memories. Grateful.
I watched a movie with English actors that was about a bad relationship. And the best part of the movie is where the man got upset with the woman who always sang the song chorus as this "We built this city , we built this city on the wrong damn road" now every time I hear it that all I can hear now with a chuckle!
It's more of a pop hit than most people would expect from those band members but it's still a good representation of pop music all they showed was that they could sing more than one style
For anyone who lived during the time - you had to experience it - the absolute ad nauseam repeat of it: You light up. My life - it still causes me to shiver to this day. Seriously: it played twice every hour of every day for well over 6 months. It was torture. (That’s over 48 times a day for long over 180 days. -over 8,000 times) …I challenge anyone to still like that song after so many plays
I personally don’t care for the Starship sound, I prefer their earlier sound. But I don’t think it’s the worst song! The 80’s had incredible music and equally terrible music!
@@TJ-ht3jb There was some horrific music in the 60s, it's just that few people remember it anymore. And don't even get me started on the 70s. Every decade had great music and terrible music. And this song may not be the worst ever, but it's on the terrible end of that spectrum for the 1980s.
I am a fellow Gen Xer who grew up on MTV and watching music videos. When this first came out I thought it was OK but I was more into bands like Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, and Thompson twins in the 80’s, and then more into Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins in the 90’s always like rock classics like Elton John, Queen, and Neil Young as well. In the early 2000’s I thought this was catchy but kind of cheesy certainly not a bad song. Nowadays here in 2023 I like it even more and it now a classic and i even saw Starship perform it at a theme park. It’s on commercials, the Muppets, and Glee it is officially a classic. In doubt anyone would say it is the worst song today. I mean have you heard the garbage played on the radio today? This song is easily better than 90% of the top 40 today. It’s funny that it was labeled corporate rock because if you listen to the lyrics you will learn the meaning of the song is just the opposite. I guess that went over the heads of the critics. 😂
I have loved "We Built This City" since it came out. I was fortunate to see Starship live during the Knee Deep In The Hoopla tour. Great show. Great song! Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
Back in 2011 I went to a company Christmas party with all of my colleagues, which took place at a bowling alley/restaurant/bar. While everyone was bowling, the song "We Built This City" began playing over the speaker system and everyone (literally everyone) started dancing and singing along. When the general manager cut the song off before it could finish to give a speech, everyone became upset and told her to put it back on. She turned it back on and waited for the song to end before a riot took place lol. That said, "We Built This City" is for sure NOT the worst song of all time! I personally would give that award to Cardi B. for her atrocious song WAP.
I cannot choose the worst song ever, but I can easily choose "We built this city" as one of my favorites ever. When it came out, I was a teenager and I was studying English here in Brazil, and it was amazing to sing along, practicing the English language, singing along, completely out of tune, the lyrics of "We built this city".
I know lots of people who hate stuff just because the media told them to. We like what we like....it's as simple as that. Learning not to care if other people judge you because of it is a difficult thing, that's why the term "guilty pleasure" was invented. I've been around long enough not to worry much about other people's opinions of me or my likes/dislikes and try my best not to judge others for theirs.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 My vote for worst song ever was Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers. We Built This City is not the worst song ever......... but it is a clunker. I couldn't picture Marty Balin singing this. Thanks for this funny episode, Professor. Have a great Friday!
I disagree that the song is judged more harshly for being recorded by Starship. I think it's judged harshly because it was so ubiquitous. I judge it harshly because it was constantly being played in the 80s and we were constant being subjected to it. If any other band had recorded it it probably would not have been as popular. I was 13 in 1985 and found this song slightly annoying (mostly for it's chaotic melody than for any other reason) the firs time I heard it. But as it became more widely and played and more often, it became like a stone in your shoe or a mosquito bite that you couldn't get relief from. Personally, this is my least favorite pop song of the 80s (hate is too strong a word for any music) followed by "I Would Walk 500 Miles", "The Goonies R Good Enough" by Cindy Lauper, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison, and "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, even though technically it was released in 1990.
Totally agree. It was overplayed, and something about it was pure, soulless, corporate, pre-meditated, factory built radio hit, where you knew you were listening more to a "product" than a song. I knew a young woman law student from NJ who said, without any irony, that "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" was the greatest song ever, and that hair metal rock ballads were the highest evolution of music. I was speechless. Also don't forget Come On Eileen, and Hey Mickey as candidates for the most annoying 80s songs.
Having been a kid in the eighties I was spared much of the worst of it because my parents usually listened to classical music, though my Mother occasionally put some folk or Simon and Garfunkel. I think the first time I heard this song was in middle school when the choir covered and I distinctly remember not liking it at all. I didn't and still don't like the sound of it and the chorus just seems to drag on forever. I wouldn't say it's the worst song ever, I'm not even sure if I had to make a list that I'd think of it.
Many of those polls were reader/listener polls, not just a couple of music critics sitting around griping. Whether it was because it was played 6 times an hour. Or that it was made by a band playing the same corporation games the professed to critique. Or that the song itself was the epitome of corporate pop-rock that spread like gangrene through the genre. Or how glaring all of this was next to some other tracks off the album, like 'Sara'.
I am not ashamed to say that I have always loved "We Build This City" and have no regard for the self-styled tastemakers who seem to love things they consider "avant garde" no matter what. They can't give solid rationales for downgrading this song.
I think the song gets its attention because very few people could have imagined that Grace Slick would go from the psychedelic era to singing that type of song... I actually kind of liked it... Wow, Q-Feel's "Dancing in Heaven" was immensely popular at the roller rink back then!
So much for me to unpack here. I was thirteen when this song came out and starship was instantly my favorite band. They were, in fact, my first concert at the county fair in the summer of '86, something I don't generally advertise until I realize I can say I saw Grace Slick live. To one point, the whole flower children moving to pop thing isn't how I remember it. If I recall, Grace was the only member of the airplane by the time starship came around, so the connection gets a bit thin. For this eighties teen though, my uncle clued me in to who Grace Slick was, I found myself in possession of Surrealistic Pillow, and began decades of diving down the rabbit hole of any and all music I could get my hands on. So in a way, I owe my many years of music exploration to this song. What I find fairly amusing is that the other tape I played so much that year that I warped it out of key was Songs from the Big Chair. I was eclectic from the beginning! And because of how I warped that tape, to this day, I still hear Mother's Talk as flat and warbly any time I hear it because that's how my tape played it!
There is a metric ton of terrible songs that were written in the 80's. This is nowhere near being the worst, let alone being a bad song. Those who don't like it can kick rocks and change the station
I saw Starship play at our county fair a few years ago, just a couple blocks from my house, and they killed! So many amazing hits, including this one. I get that some people don't appreciate it because it has sort of a commercial sound, but it gets stuck in your head and makes you think. And it's hard driving rock, which has great energy. And... it's about San Francisco. SF in the 60's. You know, Starship, The Animals, Janice, The Dead... do I need to say more? They didn't just build that city, they rebuilt the country with a new way of thinking. 😊
Turn on top 40 radio and any song you'll hear is not only a better candidate for worst song of all time, you'll have forgotten the soing 5 minutes later.
You know Professor, I've been watching you now for nearly a year maybe. I've been impressed since the first episode (forgot which one it was actually) but you're who presence, articulation of the facts, stage presence and voice just is utter perfection for this format and material. I enjoy your wealth of knowledge and appreciation for "music". You rarely have negative things to say instead choosing to highlight the good and some of the bad in every genre of music you present. You do this quite well and accurately imo. I don't know you personally of course and I have no idea how you are as a person in real life. My only hope is that you are saved. Yes, I mean by the blood of Jesus Christ who loved you so much he died on the cross and was resurrected again because he is God. The fact that God would allow this to happen to himself, in the form of his creation, is the proof of the enormous extent of that love. If you accept you are a sinner (that you've lied, lusted after a woman who is not your wife, may have stolen something before, had hate or envy in your heart, then you are admitting to have been a thief, liar, fornicator, and murderer (because the Bible says hate is the same as murder). We are all sinners if we are honest. If we can admit that and that we need salvation and accept Christ you too can be saved. It is a privilege and honor and humbling to know that the God of the Universe loves you so much he would die for you and that he would give you this gift of salvation so that he could spend eternity with you. I hope you are saved. God bless you and your loved ones.
Poll: I don't like going negative but just for today... What is your pick for the WORST song ever?
John Lennon - Imagine
“Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus
Anything by Kiss.
Anything by Adele grates.
Ditto Coldplay
Travis Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
Two Princes The Spin Doctors.
"Turning Japanese" by The Vapors
"The worst song is being written 15 times a day on modern radio." I see what you did there, good one professor!
Sad but true.
Absolutely true.
Products should get better the longer they get produced. Seems to be true of most everything except movies and music.
I see what you mean but if you never listen to contemporary pop,, you really can't offer a credible critique on "all" pop... The problem a lot of times is rotation, I can remember tunes from about 2010 that were excellent tunes and I can't find them at all because I can't remember their name... They go in and out of "First Run" while playing them so much that you get sick of them,, and then just disappear from the playlist... Songs like Brand New by Ben Rector,, *absolutely sublime songs that have their fifteen minutes of fame, usually about 3 to 8 weeks* of saturation promotion (play about once an hour if it's a top-20),, *then slip off the playlist even though they will be played if someone requests them..* Point is a lot of modern music especially the hip-hop and rap inclusions into pop I think are kind of bogus but there's some that are pretty good...
Facts!
Moral of the story, Never take music critics at face value. Listen and be your own judge. You will be surprised at how many other people like the same song.
This song was voted worst song by listeners not critic's because it's cheesy. Sounds hypocritical . It's was also overplayed. People love and hate this song at the same time either way they keep listening .
Especially the Marxist Rolling Stone.
That is so true. Not everyone has to be on the same page.
I used to watch Siskel and Ebert movie reviews and the ones they gave two thumbs down to were always my favorites. I suppose the same can be said for music reviews, though I personally never paid attention to them.
I’m terrified of going to hell because my vision of hell is having to listen to a rock critic angrily lecturing me and having to listen to his album collection for eternity
The worst people voting, then they choose this brilliant tune as their bully target.
This music is for forever. Powerful, melodic, catchy. I was a child and remember this on the radios in my country. I love it! Thanks Starship!
My Uncle was a record industry marketing guy in the 70s and 80s. He passed away last year and I was give two of my most cherished possessions of his: A gold record for Queen's A Night at the Opera, and a gold record for Starship's Knee Deep in the Hoopla. That's right; a gold record honoring one of the greatest albums of all time and another one honoring what is considered one of the worst. My uncle, in some small way, was partially responsible for both!
The Night At the Opera one belongs in a museum. Congrats on having that...I would love to just see it.
How about that!
That is Bit@#&n! What a cool story and cool possessions you have!
That is extra cool! Fantastic legacy. RIP to your uncle.
Knee Deep in the Hoopla did exactly what it set out to do. It was played everywhere and sold millions of copies. It embodies the ‘80s, like it or not.
This is just a super-fun song, which is why the critics hate it. .....they allow no fun...no smiling.....no celebration or jubilation....As a side note, thanks so much, Professor, for putting this together - very interesting insights and interviews. You are the man.
Critics have always known squat. Listen and think for yourself. Worse thing is to be a parrot for critics. They can go to hell.
No fun? No celebration or jubilation? Au contraire, mon frere! Here's some joy and celebration from the real thing: th-cam.com/video/cxA3Q96a8XE/w-d-xo.html
"We are all outlaws in the eyes of America,
In order to survive we steal, cheat, lie, forge, f**k, hide, and deal,
We are obscene, lawless, hideous, dangerous, dirty, violent... and young!"
"We are forces of chaos and anarchy,
Everything they say we are we are,
And we are very proud of ourselves!"
What could be more celebratory of the mood of the 60s before the suits co-opted and killed it?
"Tear down the wall, motherf**ker!"
This is a really stupid comment. You have no idea what a "critic" is, do you?
Here's a hint. The "Professor of Rock" is a critic.
We will have to agree to disagree on this. To me, this song sucks balls. The real twist of the knife is that the same band produced the psychedelic masterpiece “white rabbit”. It represents what I can only describe as disappointing decline into lameness. If this was their only hit, I wouldn’t feel so upset.
@@crankyoldperson6871 The world moved on, you obviously didn't. I love Genesis from the 70's, I love Genesis from the 80's too. Songs like this are a product of their time. I loved Abba - Name of the Game. #4 in UK November 77; that week I was also going to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall. That is the beauty of music. You're entitled not to like Starship, I commend them for at least changing the name through the decades.
My brother used to torment me singing Having My Baby. He sang both parts with falsetto for female vocal. He even went as far as stuffing a pillow up this shirt.
😂😂😂
He so craaaaazy...
That’s so funny!
Terrible song
In my opinion Mikey Thomas is on of the best vocalists of all time. We first heard his voice when he was with Elvin Bishop singing "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" back in 1976. Then he moved on to Jefferson Starship and again we heard "Find Your Way Back" in 1981 Followed by Sara and many more. His is a voice that no one will ever forget!
R.I.P. Tina Turner!
Also "Jane" is a great song.
Jane is my favorite from JS.
@@jameskipp1657 Don't forget about Sara that's a good one. My favorite JS song thought is Miracle Marty Balin was the man in those days. R.I.P.
@@johnglielmi6428 I love Miracles. Great song. Has a soulful feel to it.
No Way Out is fire also.
I saw Starship featuring Mickey Thomas perform a few months ago in Epcot. The whole audience sang along and loved it when they did We Built this City. I absolutely loved it! ⭐️ 🚢 ❤Jenn
He performed at my towns music festival. It was his first performance going as Starship and he told us before he started performing that he was going to get sued for it, but screw it. It was a great performance.
I have fond memories whenever I hear this song. my husband and I visited San Francisco when this song was popular in 1985.. I have great memories of the city, a clean city sparkling by the bay, and our drive up thru Northern Californias beautiful forested areas and majestic redwoods. He passed away suddenly about a month later. The happy energy from the song always remind me of the good times we shared on that trip. Music can be such a gift when it’s written well.
I never went to San Francisco, but when I hear the radio part, it takes me back to actually hearing this song on the radio when it was brand new. I always picture a sunny day in a time before the authoritarianism started to become obvious.
The culture of San Francisco brought us music sent straight from the gods, and something significant exploded there beyond rock music. To think at one time one could see the Grateful Dead, Janis, and the Airplane sharing a bill in a ballroom, playing shows to a thriving (though often misguided) youth culture. Now all that's left are the walking dead sharing a tent.
I taught this song to my 7th-grade ESL students in Mongolia seven years ago. They were doing a presentation on building a new school and wanted to do a song and dance to accompany it. My friend suggested this song since it was the only one we knew about building something. It actually gave me a new appreciation for the song.
That’s a knock your socks off presentation!
I’ll bet Starship would be happy to hear that! (I always liked the song.)
I love it! ❤
@@frzstatwell, I don’t know about the others, but Grace Slick publicly disavowed it. I think Mickey Thomas’ version of Starship (I think he’s the only one left from that era) might still be playing it, if he’s still performing as Starship. Most of the original Jefferson Airplane & 70s-era Jefferson Starship are either deceased or were gone from the band before they recorded this.
White Rabbit was the epitome of the late 60s and We Built this City is the epitome of the early 80s, this band was terrific at capturing the zeitgeist of an era
Those are good points...
And the other "one". Nothing's gonna stop me now with the fabulous Narada Micheal Walden!
Most of my peers don’t realize they had been around for decades.
White Rabbit was the epitome of music that really mattered, music that was great art, in the 60s. We Built was the epitome of corporate schlock packaged for mass consumption and sold to the gullible in the sellout 80s. The music that really mattered in the 80s sounded more like this: th-cam.com/video/Gx6_wrFZcu0/w-d-xo.html or this: th-cam.com/video/sd3TS1Wn6is/w-d-xo.html
@@jasfan8247 Yet another song that has outlasted the movie it was written for. Mannequin.
So Blessed to have gone to this concert back in ‘85. The Outfield was the opening act with their Play Deep album. Great time! Thanks Professor!
Saw the same tour...outfield was amazing.
I saw them at Merriweather Post. When they played White Rabbit and Somebody to Love, this mother and daughter next to us were the only ones sitting and looking annoyed.
With the outfield that must have been great
Mickey and Chuck joined Starship and saved it from disappearing forever.
We built this city... is an awesome song.
I have loved it since the first day I heard it.
Another thing;
Why this channel doesn't have 10 million subscribers is a total mystery to me.
Adam is covering every single thing that anybody would ever wanna know about classic rock and roll.
This is the ultimate Rock 'N' Roll encyclopedia channel.
Thank you, Adam.
No song sung by Mickey Thomas is even close to the worst of it's month, much less ever.
@sspaay
Mickey Thomas, singing...
Fooled around and fell in love.
Huh? Huh? Lemme hear it?
Oh, but Starship did come to an end, as all things must. If it had ended a bit sooner, it would have left behind a better legacy.
@@paulperkins1615I disagree. They deserved to go with some big hits, as they had (mostly) eluded the band throughout their career. In a perfect world, those big #1 hits would’ve happened sooner, somewhere between Miracles (which came real close, #3) and No Way Out (which actually DID hit #1 - on the mainstream rock charts)! And their legacy didn’t end there. In 1989, the original Airplane reunited for an album and tour. It was no Surrealistic Pillow, but it had some tasty tidbits, worthy of the original band! And Paul Kantner brought Jefferson Starship back in the mid-90s to remind us why they were great in the mid-70s to mid-80s. Their recorded output was spotty and nothing to get excited about, but they still rocked live!
A few years ago I saw Mickey's version of Starship in concert with Stephanie Calvert singing in Slick's place. Gotta say it was a great show. She sang White Rabbit and Somebody To Love. They did We Built This City and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now...the venue went crazy. Stephanie nailed it all.
I will forever love Mickey Thomas. In 1981 he came into my movie theater and my friend told him that if he said hi to her friend behind the popcorn stand that she would give him a free ticket. Well he didn’t need a free ticket, but he came up to me and said hello to me by name and made my life at the time. We built this city came out while I was in law school and I loved it and I love Mickey Thomas.
We Built This City hit #1 for a reason; it's a GOOD song! Who cares what critics, especially Rolling Stone magazine, thinks about it? It's the fans who buy the records and requested the song on the radio that love the song and made it a hit. 38 years later I'm still hearing it being played on the radio. That kind of staying power proves how good the song is.
th-cam.com/video/faSHV6bBZWI/w-d-xo.html
I don't particulary like that song, but I have never understood why it is considered so awful.
Didn’t it literally get slammed really hard because it got stuck in everyone’s heads too?
The song sucks, they were right, but I still hate Rolling Stone.
i think it sucks and im not a critic
Martin Page is one of the nicest people in music. Years ago when my grandma passed away I wrote him a note on Myspace about how "In the House of Stone and Light" was one of the few 90s songs that she and I really connected on, and he wrote a really nice note back. Sadly, that note disappeared along with the original Myspace long ago, but I really appreciated it. The other song he and Bernie Taupin wrote for that Starship album, "Love Rusts", is also great.
As for "We Built This City", it's one of the first songs I can ever remember hearing on the radio as a little kid and one of my favorites from the 80s. And even if it wasn't, it would be virtually impossible for it or anything else to be even the worst #1 song of 1985, let alone the worst ever, simply because "Sussudio" exists.
Great, poignant comment. Thanks for sharing, I am sorry for your loss.
Ha! Ha! Yes, sususdio is a terrible song imo.
@@maryarnold1426Why Phil Collins coulda made it an instrumental is a big mystery.
Sussudio should have never left the studio.
Another great video, Professor of Rock! Makes me think that sometimes what makes a song great isn’t actually the song itself but what it represents: in this case, the exuberant fun of creative exploration of new technology, which is what 80s pop music was all about. Sigh… Back then, when I was a teen, I thought music was always going to be that way. The comparison to Wang Chung totally cracked me up! Ironically, music today is waaaayyy more corporate than it was back then. I sense a singer-songwriter backlash about to break loose any moment now…
When Kelsey Grammer as "Frasier Crane" on "Cheers" quoted The Chorus from "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight!" before The Good Doctor's Bachelor Party that was the group's apex moment in Pop Culture!😂😉🎤🎼🎵🎶🎸🥁👨🎓B.W.
We built this city is one of my all time fave songs, I'm 50 now and love my 80's. How they could say this is the worst song is beyond me, it's so catchy and just a great song! Starship had a number of hits around that time, I don't understand why they picked on them, very cruel and unwarranted.
Agreed. Always loved this song, and it's always on my playlists.
It was all the jerks that were stuck in the past. Just like today
Iconic song. Best part for those of us fortunate enough to hear it on live radio, was to hear your local radio station dub their own station’s call letters into the song.
My mother, who was in high school in the 1950s, says she never understood how rock 'n' roll became so popular. I always point out that "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" was the Billboard number one song for eight weeks in 1953. Two years later, Bill Haley and the Comets hit number one with "Rock Around the Clock". The rest, as they say, is history.
BTW, people may argue over whether this is a good song, bad song, or whatever, but it introduced another generation to amazing talent of Grace Slick. Pick whoever you want as the Queen of Rock, Grace will always be the Queen Mum to me.
Good points!
I am so glad that you tell people that they don't have to apologize for the music they like. My ex used to mock me for my tastes. Yeah, I have some songs I like that North Americans may not (I listen to music from many cultures), but most of the songs I love are ones you talk about on this channel. I am glad you give people such a positive message about varying tastes
In the past, I've often felt guilty for liking this song because so many people I knew hated it. Truth be told, I think it was because it was over-played and people didn't really listen to the lyrics. I like it more now because it brings me back to that year when I was 12-13 years old. And the good parts of the year (not the yucky 7th grade stuff).
I've never understood how this being the worst song or even a bad song came about I've always loved this song! I'm a big fan of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship alike! Thanks for keeping the music alive Professor!
This was in the middle of the MTV era and I have to say the video for the song is really cheesy.
Imagine my surprise watching VH1's top 50 worst songs as a massive Jefferson Airplane fan expecting Achy Breaky Heart to be #1 and I see We Built This City as their pick. I was in shock lol. For me, not my favorite song by any stretch but FAR from the worst and I've found that I like it more and more as time goes on.
@@Protometal66 😊👍
It's not a terrible song, just a terrible disappointment that the artist who gave us the genius of White Rabbit and the absolutely divine vocal performance of Triad would sink to this mediocrity.
I think it was started by metal heads dissing radio oriented rock.
"We Built This City" called the worst song? I love this song! It makes me feel proud. I used to feel like I had helped build the city I lived in then. A rock song with good energy and a positive message that we are all winners. How could anyone not like this song?
Good observation. It is a great song and from a UK perspective a great example of the promise of America in terms of its scale and ambition, and the type of song usually only America can produce.
I think it’s a silly song, but gloriously so.
Even the Wilson,sisters hated it! Meaning all I wana do is make love to you.! Ha ha
We called it b liltl this shifty, if you get my drift.
I love Airplane, Starship. I even loved Mickey with Elvin Bishop. But yes, that song sucks. It’s horrible.
In my late 20's I dyed my hair black for a month or two. I lived in SF. One morning, on my commute on Muni, a man sat down next to me and asked for my autograph. I said I was just going to work, but he thought I was Grace Slick and insisted I was Grace Slick. I said I was not her, but he had me pinned in my seat. I finally gave him a Grace Slick autograph. He was so happy with that autograph.
I am not Grace Slick! 😅
If you're gonna call this song the worst, you've clearly never heard of rap "music"
This song was great and I absolutely loved "No Way Out" around the same time. What a lot of critics forget is that in 1985 a totally new generation was listening to the radio and to have a band that was huge 15 years earlier still being relevant and having a #1 hit is really something big and impressive. To me, this was what made Starship popular and I only found out about Jefferson Airplane and the Jefferson Starship and the relationship after the fact.
"No Way Out" is one of my fav songs of all time - just a cool musical sound and Mickey's voice is just soooo perfect accross the entire vocal range of the song - just never tire of it...good call on your part !!
@@EternallyThankful-os6pz Thank you. I agree totally on "No Way Out". On the last day of my junior year in High School, which was the end of May 1985, my alarm clock awoke me playing that song and I fell in love with it right there. I still go right back to that very moment every time I hear it!!!
“No Way Out” is one of my favorite songs of all time”! I was in high school when it came out. It is one of those songs that just rips your soul out. A guy cheats on his girlfriend and tries to convince his girlfriend nothing happened. “There’s no way out! She doesn’t buy my story”. “She’s a little bit colder”. And when the song gets to the end and Mickey let’s out that long , long wail 😢! You can just feel how the guy is in so much pain because he lied to her and she is probably going to leave. 😢
It's the same kind of people who live in the past I think anything after a certain time...
I had never heard about the airplane I didn't know who the hell they were
The 80s were the very best decade to have lived through. All the music was great, all the movies we're the very best of their kind and true originals. The 80s we're colorful, women were the most beautiful they have ever been in all of history in my opinion. Much of the technology we now take for granted and under appreciate, was epic and amazing back then and we all dreamed about the future rather than dread it like we do now. We were hopeful, playful, and in many ways more graceful in those days. I could go on for hours about why the 80s wete the best. I wish everyone could love life like we did then.
Agreed, loved the 80s. People had thicker skin and we had the best music. We're never going to see those times again and it's sad.
@@rockbass7027 sometimes I think the 80s were even more open minded than today, it's just that alot of new things we're emerging back then, and people were more willing to see where things went before jumping to conclusions and judging everything. We took a big misstep somewhere around or after 9/11 that sent us and the world down a dark path we didn't recognize in time. Now, everyone is suspicious of one another, everyone only sees the bad in others, everyone is considered potentially dangerous, and the saddest part is, it's because everyone IS now a potential danger to others like never before in modern history. What happened? This is the future, we were supposed to be better.
The 80's were the best decade, in part due to the fact that the Internet was not around. Amazing how much one technology can twist society on its head and expect everyone to follow in line, or else.
@@Isekai_Fan I agree. If the internet went away today, I'd be totally over it by tomorrow.
@@Rek_Rc What did the Internet lead to? Media pirating, emotion policing, and the weakening of the American family.
Given that there is no presence of adult contemporary being produced now, it puts into perspective for me how good this song and many others like it were. Boomers coming and age and selling out is still better than autotune and whatever is passed for music now.
Listen to " in chains" by War On Drugs
There were people (boomers and younger folks) making GREAT music in the 1980s, but this ain't it, and of course boomers have never been willing to admit that anyone else (but especially Gen Xers) could do anything important. Just consider that in the same year has-beens Starship were slinging this schlock the Smiths were recording "How Soon Is Now", LL Cool J recorded "I Can't Live Without My Radio", the Cocteau Twins recorded "Pink Orange Red", Kate Bush recorded "Running Up that Hill", and the Dream Academy recorded "Life In a Northern Town" - all artists and songs that pushed the boundaries of popular music as an art form (in very different ways) and all fantastic works of art in their own right.
(And don't get me wrong, I LOVE Jefferson Airplane - which is why this song and album make me so sad.)
@@brucetucker4847 Actually what makes me sad is hearing sonic pollution like Cardi B and anyone with the prefix 'Lil.' Sure, they were sell outs. But at least they produced music with a good melody and coherent lyrics.
@@dawnpatrol700 Sounds like a good song as far as I can tell listening to it
For those who say that this song represents Jefferson Airplane singing "Corporate Pop", you need to remember that the lyrics were written by the man who penned "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Rocket Man", and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" as well as "Crocodile Rock". Bernie can do cynicism and irony as well as the best of them.
Wow I did not know that
Corporate pop or indie rock, bah! If it sounds good, it sounds good.
Firstly, I am never reluctant to state to anyone that I love "We Built This City." It is a hard driving song of irresistible sing-a-along charm. When I heard that Rolling Stone had named it as the worst song ever recorded in the Rock Era, I laughed out loud! Frankly, I have ignored Rolling Stone Magazine for decades and pretty much any other critic, be it cinema, theater, or music. I am my own critic. The irony is that back when Rolling Stone began they were the promoter of liberal expression and diversity in music in the face of intolerance from the older generations of fans and artists, but now that the Rock Era has conquered the world, Rolling Stone Magazine has become the self-righteous snob that they once fought against. I don't believe in "Worst Song Ever" lists, because I have learned several times over that what I don't fancy myself, is someone else's treasure.
Worst song? It's not even a bad song. Very catchy, memorable and now nostalgic!
It's a terrible song in every respect I always imagined other musicians making fun of that band for how terrible this song was.
@@EdwardWLynn- That’s your opinion. The Melody is very memorable decades later and lyrics is complex and the singing and mix excellent. Most modern songs are more shallow, simplistic and quite forgettable.
Might as well say Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik is the worst classical music for being pop. upbeat.
@@inisipisTV You're joking or insane
It's extremely musically competent and very listenable, if not necessarily brilliant. These were good musicians who were expert in their craft. Not a bad song by any means and understandable why it went to #1 and is still popular now. For me the video is actually the most terrible part, so wretched. I would imagine the "sellout factor" and/or "corporate sound" is what irks people most about it, depending on your generation. But I wouldn't change the station if it came on while I was driving!
@EdwardWLynn And yet, it's still being played today. Thomas and Slick. Doesn't get better.
This is a great song. I don't understand how people could vote for this song as the worst, when you have songs like "Disco Duck" and "What Does The Fox Say," to name a couple.
'Dancing with the Captain' and 'Agagoo' do it for me!
"Mr. Roboto" is my oersonal pick for Worst Of The Eighties...this song makes sense to me now...
@@stinkypinkeee5085 I love Mr. Roboto!!!
....aaaaaaaand, we were around for "Rock Me Amadeus", "Don't Worry Be Happy", & "Tarzan Boy", TOO!?? ....whaddaTHEYtalkin'about!???? ...ha-HAA!!
@@RBS_ 3 more great songs! I'm looking in the comments section & I see a lot of hate towards songs I love. I mean, WHO hates "Macarena"!!!???
It was very interesting to learn that they had left that open area for radio stations to plug in their own thing in this song. I used to listen to U93 FM out of a city in Indiana (lived in Michigan but was able to pick up their waves) and I thought it was so cool that a hit song like that had put a local radio station in it. But then when I heard it again as an adult with the "city by the bay" radio announcer I thought that U93 had like stolen a piece of the song. So I was today old when I learned that it was designed that way and that is just a really cool thing to learn!
A lot of stations did that I think it cheapened the song.
Huey Lewis and the News did that same thing with "Heart of Rock and Roll".
Starship is one of the bands whose name I didn't know while I was in single digits but whose songs I loved hearing when they came on the air. Learning who they were definitely helped me enjoy the music even more as a teen.
I never thought for a moment that I shouldn't enjoy "We Built This City". Nor did I think it should've been more realistic. I was 5 years old and in kindergarten. I was one of those uncool kids to begin with, one reason of which was that I was a boy who enjoyed watching Jem. That kind of boy isn't going to care about realism, the cheese factor or anyting negative that's historically connected with the song like this. The Feelgood factor is all that all that matters at that age.
Learning later on about Bernie and Martin having participated in writing this song only served to reinforce how much I like it. Martin is someone who was little bit more latent in arriving on the scene, but Bernie definitely is someone I have a lifelong respect for, even though I was a teenager in the 90s before I learn about everything he and Elton have done together.
I’m a girl, and I watched Jem too!
Jem is legit. I saw a doll nib, the same one I had, but it was truly outrageous what they wanted for it 😆
A fantasy, @@teal_panda_8434.
Jem, totally outrageous!!!! ❤
This song is like "Walking on Sunshine". Pure joy in sonic form. Nobody turns it off. Nobody doesn't sing along ... at least, when they're alone. No matter what they say.
Do you remember Syrup of Ipecac? You can't get it anymore, but if I ever accidentally ingest poison, I'll just play this song.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I never liked this song. I find it very grating, and ALWAYS used to change the channel immediately when it came on the radio (back when I listed to FM radio) - Truly awful song...
Wow... That is a major insult to Walking on Sunshine. We Built This City is as about as uninspired and paint by numbers as you get. It doesn't even compare to Creed's offerings, that have a genuine - sing-along when nobody is watching - factor.
Catrina and the Waves don't compare to Starship!
Wanna bet 😏
Oh my, I hated, hated, hated, hated this song whenever it came on the radio. I never saw Starship live, but I could just imagine the spoken mid-song set-up (that all great bands do in concert) where Mickey Thomas is preaching to the audience some story about how the band got dissed in their home town, and then he would punctuate the tale with, "But that's okay, right? And you know why? Because WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROOOOOLLLLL!" (crowd goes crazy) Just the imagining of this moment made my head spin. I never thought I would hear a worse song in the '80's until Europe's "The Final Countdown" with that whiny testosterone-depleting synth line hit the airwaves.
Finally, a comment I agree with!👍
Nothing wrong with Final Countdown except its sheer overplay.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 for me, it was the synth. Take out the synth and play that riff with a grungy guitar, and the song would kick ass.
@@theunsweetkarmaway Naaaawww, the synth riff is cool.
I never got the hate directed at this song. It's bridge and chorus are insanely infectious. Very well written song.
I get the hate directed at this song. Dude, not everyone has to feel that same way you do about something. Do you see folks that don't like this song as bad people? I think serial killers are bad people. Not everything is about you and not everyone likes what you like, get over it. I hope you are not as snow-flakish about everything in life but if so, go curl up in a ball somewhere.
@stephenmiller2337
Like Mr. Gazzo said to Rocky... "Some people just hate for no reason". Case in point - the comment right before mine.
@@bobbluefordyup. that was like true mexican hate!
I think it’s less about the song and more about the band that recorded it. It’s literally impossible to square “White Rabbit” with this bubblegum pop ridiculousness.
@rapid13 Sure you can, because bands change. People like you who are so full of themselves like you and think they have the right to tell them they can't do that or that they're wrong for it.
I grew up in San Jose and only ever heard the original DJ voiceover. I never knew they allowed other local stations do their own bumpers until this video. Thanks, Prof!
I got to see Starship last year at a music festival, and the entire crowd sang this tune WORD FOR WORD!!! I have loved this tune for years simply for its ordinary lyrics and upbeat music... Nothing is wrong with it! I am not even thirty and I love this song!
.....they were 'knee deep' in the NOSTALGIA, Of COURSE they would! ...ha-HAAA!!
That's right!
I've seen them many times too....Mickey still brings it.
I hope you enjoyed the festival!
TH-cam channels are eligible for Emmys and Professor Of Rock deserves Emmy for Johnny Cash episode
...who YOU tellin'!?? ....when I researched the 50's C&W charts to give to the Prof., he sent me down a rabbitt hole of 50's 60's Music! ....educating us, as ALWAYS, Prof. .... ; )
I have always found it interesting that this song and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" (a soundtrack single from the movie Mannequin) are exactly what Jefferson Airplane wasn't--commercially driven hits. I remember seeing an interview of Paul Kantner in which he was asked about how he felt about Starship taking that direction.
His answer was, basically, "We Built this City? Yeah, F*** You," while flipping off the camera.
This song is still being played and it’s almost 40 years old!!!! Loved this song and the entire album! A great slice of 80’s pie right here.
The fact that it's being played on mainstream radio proves how bad the song is.
I absolutely hated this song. Unbelievable, that this garbage, actually made it to number one on the chart(s). Horrible f'n song.
@@tony69em you must be new to “pop” music. Probably have a subscription to Rolling Stone too. 🙄
@@TheKeymaster316SAVAGE!
@@TheKeymaster316 no. My subscription expired about 30 years ago. What's your point? I was a teenager when this song came out. It sucked then, it sucks now and it will always suck.
I still remember this joke from David Letterman at the time: "Even if you could build a city on rock 'n' roll, you would still need a foundation of mob concrete." 😂
Hi. Thank you, Professor of Rock, for your great interviews and reiterating that music is always subjective! My Top 5 worst of their respective decades are: 1. 80s - Hangin' Tough - NKOTB. 2. 70s - Billy Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods. 3. - 2010s - Gangnam Style - PSY. 4. 2010s - WAP - Cardi B. 5. 90s - Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice. PS...I am someone who has validated less-than-subpar acts like NKOTB, Paula Abdul and even Milli Vanilli...but ONLY if their stuff was catchy! Thanks again!
Great to see Mickey Thomas. He had a great voice.
We Built This City is an amazing song! It's a rocker and by no means the worst song. We listened to this all the time back in the 80s.
Plus with the vocals of Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick, it was amazing. I saw Mickey Thomas and the Starship years ago in Kansas City (after Grace left), and his vocals were just powerful.
Also, love the album name. Knee Deep in the Hoopla.
I had no idea it was Grace Slick - holy fuck! Pardon my French, but that’s incredible.
@@feliscoraxHow the heck can you listen to We Built This City and, on hearing the female vocals, not realize that it was Grace Slick. She has an automatically recognizable one-of-a-kind voice. I mean honestly, what other female vocalist, then or now, even remotely sound like her?
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - The Proclaimers
"Heathens" - Twenty One Pilots
"Sugar, We're Goin Down" - Fall Out Boy
"Fly" - Sugar Ray
"Freebird" - Lynard Skynard
If I could snap my fingers and erase these bands from history, the world would be a better place. Humanity has suffered for their popularity. You should feel guilty if any of these are your pleasure.
These are not the only bands that should never have coalesced and recorded; just the five worst.
I loved this song. It came out when I was first getting into music myself and not just what my parents listened to. I was 11 and it was just fun. I was watching a music video show out of Canada after school. We didn't have cable so it was cool to be able to watch these new things lol. There were some benefits of living across the river from Ontario.
Lol that wang chung song was the 2nd 45 I ever bought.
Thanks for sharing!
MuchMusic was Canada’s MTV!
“We built this city” is the worst to some people??? I guess they never heard “Feelings” or “You Light Up My Life”?
DJ's across the country did a poll a number of years ago. "Hotel California" received the most votes for the worst song ever. I despise that song.
I was 15 years old in 1986. I remember being made fun of for liking the Fabulous Thunderbirds song Tuff Enough. The 80s were great, somewhat cheesy looking back. Maybe a future band to cover Professor. Thanks again for the great content!
Thats a great song too..
I can’t imagine dismissing the Fabulous Thunderbirds! I shudder to think of what constitutes “good music” by people hating them!
@@screwyootube1probably “good” “serious” rock like Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, etc that have barely if any chart success for a reason: they’re not all that tuneful. Melody matters, it just does! Journey, Foreigner, Boston, and the AOR bands got that. Then there’s the U2, Springsteen tier that were able to create hooks and catchy anthems while being “important”- they’re the best of the best of a great decade for rock music.
I was 15 in 86 too.Tuff Enough had a great video.
@@aaronfc02 people like what they like..and that's all that matters
Paul Anka gets my vote with "She's Having my Baby".
I absolutely love this song we built this city. When I was a teenager, this was one of my favorite songs to crank up and listen to. I think my favorite part was in the center where the DJ talks to me that just is the Highpoint of the song flow so well together. There’s so much energy and excitement in this song. I know it has a message but as a teenager, I didn’t care. I just knew that this was a song that I loved and it made me get up and move. And would never be on one of my worst songs for the 1980s list.in fact, it would probably be within my top 15 favorite songs of the 80s. Wonderful song. Wonderful wonderful wonderful. I have nothing but great things to say about it.
This song is great one with multiple great vocalists.
Why people hate this or berate the song is unbelievable.
Great memories of that song for me in 8th grade in late 1985 (October to December) ! Especially the video on MTV !
A great period too ! Karate Kid came out on HBO in late 1985 , Dire Straits had a awesome comeback with a new album , and Rocky 4 in the theaters, and me getting awesome grades at school (I gotta wear shades !)
That video was a trip!
"We Built This City" is a masterpiece for the ages compared to "Seasons in the Sun."
We Built This City was the very first single I ever bought. Grace Slick looked stunning on the cover.
To me, this song is just fun. I was 18 when it came out. This song is one that no matter where you are when it's on, you sing with it.
9:12 I would love to hear those demos! Wow you did put out some of the demo. Kudos.
We Built This City is *not* the worst song of the 1980s. There are a list of songs that could duke it out for worst, but this isn't one of them.
I have to say that I'm stunned that White 🐇 Rabbit didn't hit #1. I still love that Alice in Wonderland song.
Or Somebody to Love.
I’ll forgive any pop song J-Starship did, no matter how commercial, because of Slick on White Rabbit alone. I still think of her as THE greatest female rock singer.
@@carlodave9 It's precisely because she was so fantastic in JA that I find it hard to forgive her for this. If you had played it for her in 1970 and said "this is what you'll be releasing in 15 years" she probably would have jumped off a cliff. Not that I'd wish that for her, but she and the rest should have retired after "Miracles".
My vote is The Macarena, closely followed by I Touch Myself. But there are many more that could interchange with either (You Spin Me Round, Barbie Girl, Hot Child In The City, I Love The Nightlife, on and hurl-worthy, on)
I Love the Nightlife is a wonderful song in my opinion. I agree on Barbie Girl.
I agree with the Macarena, such an annoying song omg
I TOTALLY agree that the "worst song of all time" is being written 15 times a week. As far as "We Built This City"... I can understand when people want to compare this with earlier Jefferson & Grace Slick. For the people who grew up listening to "Somebody To Love" & "White Rabbit", "We Built This City" must seem like it's an atrocity. But the fact is, it's an 80's song and a very memorable one at that. Grace Slick knew how to adapt to the times she was in and sing music accordingly. The 80's had it's own style just like any other decade and in the 80's, the cheesier the song and the bigger the hair, the better. This song fits right in with the times and people like me who grew up in the 80's still love this song. And yes, I also love the music that they sang in the 60's. I just respect the fact that they were two totally different decades.
Thanks for giving this song its due. I always hear how bad it is but I loved it in the 80s and still love it today. Not even close to the worst song ever.
I've always loved "We Built This City." It's catchy and upbeat and a lot of fun. There are plenty of worse songs out there.
Me too. I don’t understand the ferocious hate.
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band for example
Totally despise:
“Seasons in the Sun” - Terry Jacks
“Afternoon Delight” - Starland Vocal Band
“Cotton-Eyed Joe” - Rednex (last and least)
I was a teen in the 80s who discovered music of the 60s. Had gone to a flea market and bought Jefferson airplane’s flight log on eight track and played on my brothers old stereo. Fell in love with the band. At the same time I was in love with The Split Enz and Cindy Lauper. I could not watch enough MTV. But I’m sorry, l Built This City on Rock ‘n’ Roll but horrified and disappointing me when it came out. There were some seriously lame music to come out in the 80s, and for one of the lamest songs to been sung by Grace Slick, just broke my 16-year-old heart. Even as a teen on my first hearing, I knew that song was garbage.
But, what do I know? I also hate the insipid songs, Imagine by John Lennon and Cat’s in the Cradle by Henry Chapin Carpenter.
Mickey Thomas is another on my long all-timer list. Bobby Kimball and I went to see Mickey play Pershing Square in DTLA. One of my many musical memories. Grateful.
I watched a movie with English actors that was about a bad relationship. And the best part of the movie is where the man got upset with the woman who always sang the song chorus as this "We built this city , we built this city on the wrong damn road" now every time I hear it that all I can hear now with a chuckle!
It's more of a pop hit than most people would expect from those band members but it's still a good representation of pop music all they showed was that they could sing more than one style
The song gets bigger every year because society cognitively declines every year.
For anyone who lived during the time - you had to experience it - the absolute ad nauseam repeat of it: You light up. My life - it still causes me to shiver to this day. Seriously: it played twice every hour of every day for well over 6 months. It was torture. (That’s over 48 times a day for long over 180 days. -over 8,000 times) …I challenge anyone to still like that song after so many plays
This is not the worst song of all time. Still, I have never actively sought out this track or added to a playlist. Shock the Monkey is great though…🖖🏼
I get it. IT's a fun slice of 80s
I do love Shock the Monkey.
I personally don’t care for the Starship sound, I prefer their earlier sound. But I don’t think it’s the worst song! The 80’s had incredible music and equally terrible music!
Nailed it. It was a shift in music. Some of the best and definitely some of the worst music came out in the eighties.
This song falls squarely in the middle.
@@TJ-ht3jb There was some horrific music in the 60s, it's just that few people remember it anymore. And don't even get me started on the 70s. Every decade had great music and terrible music. And this song may not be the worst ever, but it's on the terrible end of that spectrum for the 1980s.
I am a fellow Gen Xer who grew up on MTV and watching music videos. When this first came out I thought it was OK but I was more into bands like Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, and Thompson twins in the 80’s, and then more into Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins in the 90’s always like rock classics like Elton John, Queen, and Neil Young as well. In the early 2000’s I thought this was catchy but kind of cheesy certainly not a bad song. Nowadays here in 2023 I like it even more and it now a classic and i even saw Starship perform it at a theme park. It’s on commercials, the Muppets, and Glee it is officially a classic. In doubt anyone would say it is the worst song today. I mean have you heard the garbage played on the radio today? This song is easily better than 90% of the top 40 today. It’s funny that it was labeled corporate rock because if you listen to the lyrics you will learn the meaning of the song is just the opposite. I guess that went over the heads of the critics. 😂
I have loved "We Built This City" since it came out. I was fortunate to see Starship live during the Knee Deep In The Hoopla tour. Great show. Great song! Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
That Jefferson Airplane morphed from a cutting-edge act to a horrible mockery of themselves as Starship is saddening.
Back in 2011 I went to a company Christmas party with all of my colleagues, which took place at a bowling alley/restaurant/bar. While everyone was bowling, the song "We Built This City" began playing over the speaker system and everyone (literally everyone) started dancing and singing along. When the general manager cut the song off before it could finish to give a speech, everyone became upset and told her to put it back on. She turned it back on and waited for the song to end before a riot took place lol. That said, "We Built This City" is for sure NOT the worst song of all time! I personally would give that award to Cardi B. for her atrocious song WAP.
I cannot choose the worst song ever, but I can easily choose "We built this city" as one of my favorites ever. When it came out, I was a teenager and I was studying English here in Brazil, and it was amazing to sing along, practicing the English language, singing along, completely out of tune, the lyrics of "We built this city".
Thanks for sharing!
That's why it sucked...starship started catering to kids.....and making cash instead of great music. The song is reprehensible for its time.
Was it study abroad?
I know lots of people who hate stuff just because the media told them to. We like what we like....it's as simple as that. Learning not to care if other people judge you because of it is a difficult thing, that's why the term "guilty pleasure" was invented. I've been around long enough not to worry much about other people's opinions of me or my likes/dislikes and try my best not to judge others for theirs.
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
My vote for worst song ever was Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers.
We Built This City is not the worst song ever......... but it is a clunker. I couldn't picture Marty Balin singing this.
Thanks for this funny episode, Professor. Have a great Friday!
No way!!! "Saturday Night" was my jam as a little kid, and it's still great!
I nominate George Thorougood "Bad to the Bone" as worst song ever. Lol
I would vote Quinn the Eskimo
@@Sweet--Richard.4981 I love that one, too... especially the times it was featured in "Married... With Children." 😎
@@pinky6863 Yeah, the Bay City Rollers had some songs that were worse than "Saturday Night."
"We built this city"
Is the 80's version of
"It's a small world"
It would never dawn on me, not in a hundred years, to say that "We Built This City" is the worst song ever. It wouldn't be on my worst 1000, even.
I disagree that the song is judged more harshly for being recorded by Starship. I think it's judged harshly because it was so ubiquitous. I judge it harshly because it was constantly being played in the 80s and we were constant being subjected to it. If any other band had recorded it it probably would not have been as popular.
I was 13 in 1985 and found this song slightly annoying (mostly for it's chaotic melody than for any other reason) the firs time I heard it. But as it became more widely and played and more often, it became like a stone in your shoe or a mosquito bite that you couldn't get relief from. Personally, this is my least favorite pop song of the 80s (hate is too strong a word for any music) followed by "I Would Walk 500 Miles", "The Goonies R Good Enough" by Cindy Lauper, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison, and "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, even though technically it was released in 1990.
Totally agree. It was overplayed, and something about it was pure, soulless, corporate, pre-meditated, factory built radio hit, where you knew you were listening more to a "product" than a song. I knew a young woman law student from NJ who said, without any irony, that "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" was the greatest song ever, and that hair metal rock ballads were the highest evolution of music. I was speechless. Also don't forget Come On Eileen, and Hey Mickey as candidates for the most annoying 80s songs.
Having been a kid in the eighties I was spared much of the worst of it because my parents usually listened to classical music, though my Mother occasionally put some folk or Simon and Garfunkel. I think the first time I heard this song was in middle school when the choir covered and I distinctly remember not liking it at all. I didn't and still don't like the sound of it and the chorus just seems to drag on forever. I wouldn't say it's the worst song ever, I'm not even sure if I had to make a list that I'd think of it.
Got to play an opening show for starship in the 80s. Briefly met Craig. Nice fellow.
Many of those polls were reader/listener polls, not just a couple of music critics sitting around griping. Whether it was because it was played 6 times an hour. Or that it was made by a band playing the same corporation games the professed to critique. Or that the song itself was the epitome of corporate pop-rock that spread like gangrene through the genre. Or how glaring all of this was next to some other tracks off the album, like 'Sara'.
I am not ashamed to say that I have always loved "We Build This City" and have no regard for the self-styled tastemakers who seem to love things they consider "avant garde" no matter what. They can't give solid rationales for downgrading this song.
I think the song gets its attention because very few people could have imagined that Grace Slick would go from the psychedelic era to singing that type of song... I actually kind of liked it... Wow, Q-Feel's "Dancing in Heaven" was immensely popular at the roller rink back then!
Not selling out, buying in!
It was def a different take! How are you doing my friend?
That song by Starship gets a horribly bad rap. It's just kinda a waste of two great voices.
Excellent thx... Hot out here in SoCal!
And a little later, Grace Slick would be co-leading on "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us".
You can't spell crap without the word rap.
And all the people who aren't tone deaf said - Amen
So much for me to unpack here.
I was thirteen when this song came out and starship was instantly my favorite band. They were, in fact, my first concert at the county fair in the summer of '86, something I don't generally advertise until I realize I can say I saw Grace Slick live.
To one point, the whole flower children moving to pop thing isn't how I remember it. If I recall, Grace was the only member of the airplane by the time starship came around, so the connection gets a bit thin.
For this eighties teen though, my uncle clued me in to who Grace Slick was, I found myself in possession of Surrealistic Pillow, and began decades of diving down the rabbit hole of any and all music I could get my hands on.
So in a way, I owe my many years of music exploration to this song.
What I find fairly amusing is that the other tape I played so much that year that I warped it out of key was Songs from the Big Chair. I was eclectic from the beginning! And because of how I warped that tape, to this day, I still hear Mother's Talk as flat and warbly any time I hear it because that's how my tape played it!
There is a metric ton of terrible songs that were written in the 80's. This is nowhere near being the worst, let alone being a bad song. Those who don't like it can kick rocks and change the station
....'kick rocks'...you're talkin' my LANGUAGE, Man!! ...ha-HAAA!
I agree some of the worst songs came out of the eighties and this was one of them.
It falls squarely in the middle of the scale for me.
WTF is wrong with people? Iconic 80s pop song.
You must not have been there.
I know!
I saw Starship play at our county fair a few years ago, just a couple blocks from my house, and they killed! So many amazing hits, including this one. I get that some people don't appreciate it because it has sort of a commercial sound, but it gets stuck in your head and makes you think. And it's hard driving rock, which has great energy. And... it's about San Francisco. SF in the 60's. You know, Starship, The Animals, Janice, The Dead... do I need to say more? They didn't just build that city, they rebuilt the country with a new way of thinking. 😊
I love this song. Its incredibly cheezy but thats the point. Musically its good. The bass line is great and the closing guitar solo is awesome
Good call. What's the worst song ever?
They upped the ante with the cheese here.
Turn on top 40 radio and any song you'll hear is not only a better candidate for worst song of all time, you'll have forgotten the soing 5 minutes later.
There are a few good ones sprinkled in, but I pretty much agree.
In recent years, this is true.
A child of the 80s here, this song is always going to be a fun song from a fun album.
You know Professor, I've been watching you now for nearly a year maybe. I've been impressed since the first episode (forgot which one it was actually) but you're who presence, articulation of the facts, stage presence and voice just is utter perfection for this format and material. I enjoy your wealth of knowledge and appreciation for "music". You rarely have negative things to say instead choosing to highlight the good and some of the bad in every genre of music you present. You do this quite well and accurately imo. I don't know you personally of course and I have no idea how you are as a person in real life. My only hope is that you are saved. Yes, I mean by the blood of Jesus Christ who loved you so much he died on the cross and was resurrected again because he is God. The fact that God would allow this to happen to himself, in the form of his creation, is the proof of the enormous extent of that love. If you accept you are a sinner (that you've lied, lusted after a woman who is not your wife, may have stolen something before, had hate or envy in your heart, then you are admitting to have been a thief, liar, fornicator, and murderer (because the Bible says hate is the same as murder). We are all sinners if we are honest. If we can admit that and that we need salvation and accept Christ you too can be saved. It is a privilege and honor and humbling to know that the God of the Universe loves you so much he would die for you and that he would give you this gift of salvation so that he could spend eternity with you. I hope you are saved. God bless you and your loved ones.