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Would it be appropriate to mention the Starbucks version of this song in the trivia section? Info about it here http://stayfree.typepad.com/stayfree/2005/03/jefferson_starb.html
Please Provide References, NOT PERSONAL OPINIONS!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.20.179.169 (talk) 23:09, 28 September 2007 (UTC)
This good enough for you, crazyman? [1] Doc Strange 11:00, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
I'd like to propose removing the "In Popular Culture" line about Comedian Sean Choolburra in the name of poor notability and possible offensiveness/hackiness ("humans of poor complexion dance differently to those of Africa.") --J.Rai (talk) 03:19, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
I won a bet on this once. This song is not by Jefferson Starship, it's by Starship. Paul Kantner left the band and sued them over use of the name so they dropped Jefferson from it. I've never edited a wiki before so someone else do it. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Starship --JHinAZ (talk) 00:45, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
Obviously from a hindsight perspective, the song is loathed and criticized, but what was the critical reception to the song back in 1985? It would be interesting to post any positive reviews to highlight the irony of musical taste and perception throughout time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.42.253.202 (talk) 08:36, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
I agree some contemporary critical reception should be included. Here's the result of a quick Google search: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-11-15/entertainment/8503190224_1_miami-vice-soundtrack-high-flying-week-singles-charts - "This week there`s a major upset on the singles charts, because the Starship`s big comeback hit, ``We Built This City,`` has moved all the way from its No. 5 position to unseat Jan Hammer`s ``Miami Vice Theme`` as the most popular song in America.
That kind of chart leap is unusual, because most singles must rise to the No. 2 or No. 3 position before they have the kind of peak popularity needed to make a serious challenge for the top spot. In fact, the best showing by a chart ``dark horse`` this year had been by Wham!`s ``Everything She Wants,``"
I'd say a little more searching could find more, we should put these on the main page.
AmbidexterNH (talk) 15:19, 23 January 2013 (UTC)AmbidexterNH
"...The song references radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi playing the "mamba". While "mamba" has no musical connotations, there is a dance known as the mambo..."
What?!
That's because the correct lyrics are:
"...Marconi plays La Bamba..."
Watch the video. You can even see them singing the syllables.
Are you really this stupid? Seriously? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.171.129.68 (talk) 03:22, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
I think you need to read "The Saucy Vixen of Life". In this post (http://saucyvixen.blogspot.com/2007/04/marconi-plays-mamba.html) she says "But what about this mamba thing? Most people think it's a dance. But it's not. The mamba is the most deadly type of snake. Ever. Seriously. I'm not making this up. The mamba is a snake. So perhaps Starship f'd up and meant to say "mambo." But come now... a band so brilliant as to use the phrase "ship of fools"? (Note that the band didn't write this song. Elton John's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics.) No way. "Mamba" could not have been a mistake.
So what does Marconi playing the mamba mean? Clearly, "Marconi" is referring to the radio itself. The marconi. The device. The radio plays a deadly snake. Listen to it. We built this city. The snake -- the mamba -- is slithering from the speakers. Ready to kill greedy corporations. Ready to squeeze the life out of the police. Ready to free the world of all that is evil, and to leave behind only the youthful idealism that is encompassed by the tenets of rock and roll."
Her analysis makes more sense than any I've heard, so that's what I'm going with. I'd like to see some excerpt of her post on the main page.AmbidexterNH (talk) 15:11, 23 January 2013 (UTC)AmbidexterNH
I'd always heard the lyric as "Marconi plays the number", and I believe "Marconi" refers to a popular KFRC (610 KHz AM) DJ stage-named Chuck Marconi, who was a friend of the band, and did the spoken interludes. 208.79.244.67 (talk) 20:35, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
As for the mysterious lyrics, while the theories are fun and all:
Mickey Thomas (Starship vocalist): "When the song went to No. 1, I said to Bernie, 'More than ever, people are gonna ask what "Marconi plays the mamba" means.' He said, 'I have no fucking idea, mate.'"
Martin Page (co-writer): "Hmm. Marconi was the first one to send music across the ocean. I saw 'We Built This City' as saying stop the corporations, we need to play music."
Thomas: "Bernie didn't say 'mambo,' he said 'mamba,' which is a snake. Marconi created the radio. Maybe Bernie meant to say 'mambo.' Maybe it means: If you don't like this music, some really angry snakes are gonna come out of the speakers.1"
Craig Chaquico (Starship guitarist): "Marconi's the guy who invented the radio, and his style of music was the mamba. But listen to the radio now. Do you hear any mamba? That's how I look at the lyric: Things change. I could be totally wrong."
Thomas: "At one point I did start to sing 'mambo,' to try and be more grammatically correct, and after a while I thought, 'Fuck it,' and went back to 'mamba.'"[4]
So there you have it: It's Marconi and mamba. Taupin, who wrote the damned thing, has no idea what it means. It's nonsense. That the band and lots of listeners have tried to come up with meaning for the nonsense is immaterial. It's word salad. - SummerPhDv2.0 23:53, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
Off topic
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It's not nonsense. The words "Marconi" and "momba" are alliterative and form a surprising combination. The same is true for the near-rhyme of "momba" and "remember." This double silliness is supposed to make you smile at the ridiculousness of the imagery and rhyme. The historical fact that it's based on is Marconi playing a momba recording as part of the first international radio broadcast -- music, instead of corporate garbage. Fun not profit. Of course Taupin doesn't know what it means -- artists are rarely fully conscious of what they're making. The unconscious connotations of most rock lyrics are what matters anyway. In this case, Marconi combined with momba is meant to be a bit whacky, remind everyone that radio was a means of fun and excitement not merely focus-tested B.S. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.75.63.180 (talk) 19:36, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
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Should mention the video (the Lincoln Memorial statue standing up and Abe lip-synching, people running away from the giant dice rolling down the street, etc.). Also, the genre might be Arena rock... AnonMoos (talk) 13:47, 28 October 2010 (UTC)
A full third of this article is devoted to Blender's proclamation of this being the worst song ever. Regardless of how we feel about the song, are we really going to devote 1/3 of the content to a single publication? --Jazzcat23 (talk) 16:36, 14 March 2011 (UTC)
I removed the 'Blender' section of this article as the magazine's opinion of the song nearly 20 years after its release isn't really a valid 'reception' gauge. This is my first article edit...hopefully I didn't create an unbalance in the Force.--Jazzcat23 (talk) 15:34, 15 March 2011 (UTC)
When the article says this song topped the Rolling Stone's list of the worst songs of the 1980s by a wide margin, an inline citation is needed. Vorbee (talk) 19:07, 22 August 2019 (UTC)
Wasn't Grace Slick the oldest female (at the time) to have hit a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100? If that's true, this should be included. 2600:8804:1080:1700:5056:9E86:69C7:6A6C (talk) 16:03, 7 April 2021 (UTC)