Released September 10, 1985
Recorded 1984–1985 at the Record Plant, Sausalito and the Music Grinder, Los Angeles
Genre Arena rock, pop rock, AOR, melodic rock
Length 40:10
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knee Deep in the Hoopla
Knee Deep in the Hoopla is the 1985 debut album by Starship, the successor band to Jefferson Starship. It was certified platinum by the RIAA, and is best remembered for spawning the No. 1 hits “We Built This City” and “Sara”; The album’s title comes from a lyric of the former.
The track “Desperate Heart,” written by Michael Bolton and Randy Goodrum, also appears on Bolton’s album Everybody’s Crazy, released the same year. Two Grace Slick-sung tracks were recorded for but left off the album: Slick’s own “Do You Remember Me?” (released on The Best of Grace Slick) and the Peter Wolf-Jeremy Smith composition “Casualty” (included as a bonus track on the 1999 remaster). Jeannette and Pete Sears wrote a song for the album called “One More Innocent,” though it was rejected for its political lyrics.
Tracks
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “We Built This City” Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, Peter Wolf 4:53
2. “Sara” Ina Wolf, P. Wolf 4:48
3. “Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight” Steven Cristol, Robin Randall 3:41
4. “Rock Myself to Sleep” Kimberley Rew, Vince De la Cruz 3:24
5. “Desperate Heart” Randy Goodrum, Michael Bolton 4:04
6. “Private Room” Craig Chaquico, Mickey Thomas 4:51
7. “Before I Go” David Roberts 5:11
8. “Hearts of the World (Will Understand)” Stephen Broughton Lunt, Arthur Stead 4:21
9. “Love Rusts” Taupin, Page 4:57
Personnel
Mickey Thomas – vocals
Grace Slick – vocals
Donny Baldwin – drums, electronic drums, vocals
Craig Chaquico – guitars
Pete Sears – bass guitar, synth bass
Additional personnel
Peter Wolf – keyboards
Les Garland – DJ voice on “We Built This City”
Peter Beckett, J. C. Crowley, Siedah Garrett, Ina Wolf – additional background vocals on “Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight” and “Love Rusts”
Kevin Dubrow – additional vocal on “Rock Myself to Sleep”
Dave Jenkins – additional background vocal on “Desperate Heart”
Simon Climie, Lorraine Devon, Phillip Ingram, Martin Page, Chris Sutton, Oren Waters – additional background vocals on “Love Rusts”
Production
Peter Wolf – producer, arrangements
Jeremy Smith – producer, engineer
Dennis Lambert – executive producer
Skip Johnson – production coordinator
Bill Thompson – manager
Bill Bottrell – mixing engineer on “We Built This City”
Tom Size – additional engineering
Paul Ericksen, Dana Chappelle, David Luke, Maureen Droney – assistant engineers
Stephen Marcussen – mastering engineer
Raess Design (Ted Raess) – art, design
Bill Robbins – photography
Recorded at The Plant Studios, Sausalito, CA; The Music Grinder, Los Angeles, CA
Mixed at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA
“We Built This City” re-mixed at The Soundcastle, L. A.
Mastered at Precision Lacquer, Los Angeles
Singles[edit]
“We Built This City” (1985)
“Sara” (1986)
“Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight” (1986)
“Before I Go” (1986)