STARSHIP WITH MICKEY THOMAS! “WE BUILT THIS CITY,” “SARA”
“In some ways, this feels like a 70s record. It’s organic, and there’s a real edge to it.”
Mickey Thomas isn’t speaking in a nostalgic sense. The frontman for Starship, the venerable San Francisco band behind several of the 20th century’s biggest pop and rock anthems (“We Built This City,” “Sara,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”) is simply talking about the vibe of his band’s new album, Loveless Fascination, the group’s first studio record in over 20 years and first for Loud & Proud Records.
“We stopped and started this record so many times over the past years,” says Thomas. “But once we found the right guy and hit our stride, it all clicked.”
Helping the record click: Jeff Pilson, the talented musician/producer (Dokken, Foreigner, Dio) who manned the boards for Loveless. “He’s exuberant,” says Thomas. “He brought a harder edge. Once he came in, we found our musical direction. He helped us craft something classic, but with modern elements.”
Indeed, Loveless sounds like the work of a reinvigorated band. “It’s Not the Same as Love” and “Technicolor Black and White” feature a much harder rock sound and heavy guitar riffing, while even slower numbers like “How Do You Sleep” possess a real grit.
It’s a diverse record, too: a big gospel choir lifts up “Nothing Can Keep Me From You”, while the string-
Still, there’s a serious lyrical tone lurking underneath the music. “The overall theme of the record has to do with relationships that don’t work out,” says the singer. He laughs. “But that’s OK. The Eagles made quite a career out of that.”
While Pilson played a pivotal role in the record, Loveless is really the cumulative effort of Starship’s longest-
Way to San Jose,” which earned Warwick her first Grammy Award. That same year, Warwick made history as the first African-American woman to perform for Queen Elizabeth II in England.