4. Starship

Fans of the great Hall of Fame outfielder, Willie Mays, try to forget his last two bungling years with the New York Mets.  His skills were clearly eroded and he was more like “Confused Grandpa” than the “Say Hey Kid”.  Somehow, we think Grace Slick can identify with Mays just a little too well.

Before Starship was Starship, they were Jefferson Starship, and before that they were Jefferson Airplane, one of the premier psychedelic bands in music history.  They have the distinction of being the only band to be a part of Altamont, Monterrey Pop and Woodstock, the three key music festivals of the 60’s.  Sixteen years after Woodstock, the band that Slick had so triumphantly fronted was stripped of any aspect of the counter culture that she was once the symbol of.  Rather, she now fronted “Corporate Rock”, music palatable for elevators and dentist chairs.  For a song talking about building a city on Rock and Roll, there was nothing “Rock” at all about this attempted anthem.  Slick has gone to say that the music really wasn’t her, and we accept her apology.