Jefferson Starship "We Built This City"

Ok, let's see for once what was n°1 in the US charts...while Feargal Sharkey was entertaining the UK...

In November 1985...yes that's 20 years ago! ;-)... the number one song was "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship, also known as Starship alone... Starship is a band formed by Paul Kantner who previously built the band Jefferson Airplane. So for his second band, he kept the name Jefferson, but today we talk about them sometimes as Jefferson Starship, sometimes as just Starship... whatever! :-))

Was "We Built This City" a big hit ? Is there any reason for it to be "famous"?

Actually there's a very "funny" reason for it to be "famous" but probably a reason that Paul Kantner doesn't like much...

In April 2004, Blender, a US music Magazine, listed the "The 50 Worst Songs Ever" and guess who hit the first place: "We Built This City" ! Not really the kind of first place singers are looking for, is it? :-)

According to editor Craig Marks "It purports to be anti-commercial but reeks of '80s corporate-rock commercialism. It's a real reflection of what practically killed rock music in the '80s."
Also sealing the song's fate were Starship's steep fall from grace as the admired Jefferson Airplane and "the sheer dumbness of the lyrics," Marks says...

Note for all of you 80's music fans, 6 songs from the eigthies are in the top 10 of 50 worst songs EVER!!! Here they are:

• Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" at n°3
• Huey Lewis & The News' "The Heart of Rock & Roll" at n°6
• Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" at n°7
• Eddy Murphy's "Party All the Time" at n°8
• Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder's "Ebony and Ivory" at n°10

Note that I almost forgot that Eddy Murphy pretended to be a singer! :-))

Find more information about Starship on their official website: Jefferson Starship

Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Sorry, I've been sooo long to update my blog, but you'll see why this is not so "urgent" to update it...

Unless you are less than 20 years old, you can't have forgotten this hit from 1984: the Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". This song was played so many times on radios during 4 months(!!!) and still is during each Christmas period that I'm sure all of you could sing it right away!

What you might not be able to do is to list all the band/singers that were part of this Band Aid? If you want to try, you have to know they were 20 of them... Ok, stop to read until you find them back, then compare your list with the one below:

Bananarama
Bob Geldof
Culture Club
David Bowie
Duran Duran
Eurythmics
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Heaven 17
Human League
Kool and the Gang
Midge Urge
Paul McCartney
Paul Young
Phil Collins
Spandau Ballet
Status Quo
Sting
The Style Council
U2
Wham!

The aim of this song written by Sir Bob Geldof, was to collect funds to feed and help children in Ethiopia. Fifty million copies were sold. It sold over 3 million copies in the UK alone. Midge Ure was the co-producer, and he accompanied the first relief shipment of food and medical supplies to Ethiopa, March 11, 1985.

If you'd like to have the original song on CD, you'll find it on If I was: The Very Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox. By the way, this song is probably the least reason to buy this album, but songs like "If I was", "Vienna", and "Fade to Grey" make it a "must have" album for all the 80's fans!

Now here is the bad news for those who hated having heard that song sooo much... It's back again! Yes, 20 years later this song is back "thanks to" a new band called Band Aid 20. This new band consists of:

Beverley Knight
Bono
Busted
Chris Martin (Coldplay)
Daniel Bedingfield
Danny Goffey (Supergrass)
Dido
Dizzie Rascal
Estelle
Feeder
Fran Healy (Travis)
Jamelia
Joss Stone
Justin Hawkins (Darkness)
Katie Melua
Keane
Lemar
Ms Dynamite
Natasha Bedingfield
Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy)
Paul McCartney
Rachel Stevens
Robbie Williams
Roisin Murphy (Moloko)
Shaznay Lewis
Skye (Morcheeba)
Snow Patrol
The Sugababes
The Thrills
Will Young

This song jumped on the UK hits' first place right away, but I'm not sure this success will last as long as the previous one... I'm quite sure that next year at Christmas, we'll hear 84's version again and probably not this one anymore...
Anyway, this year the funds collected are for helping victims of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. So, I guess it's a good thing to buy the song... but nobody said you have to listen to it! ;-)

If you wish to learn more about this project and/or download the song/ringtone, click on the following link : Band Aid 20

As the original song occupied the first place during 4 months, you know now why my update was not that "urgent"! I'll have to find another trick to know who I'll be talking about for the next weeks!...

Anyway, if I'm not updating before then, I'm already wishing you all a

Merry Christmas!

May Peace and Love be with you all!

Would you wish have some typical Christmas songs, check there Christmas songs