Jefferson Airplane

Starship:. See also: Krautrock. Jefferson Starship:. In 2002 Q magazine named Kraftwerk as one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Jefferson Airplane:. The new album, Tour de France Soundtracks, was finally released in August 2003, making it the first album of new Kraftwerk material since 1986's Electric Cafe. Record producers who worked with the original band included Greg Edward, Rick Jarrard, Matthew Katz, Ron Nevison, Tommy Oliver and Al Schmitt. An announcement by their record company of a July 22, 2003 release also fell through, with the perfectionists delaying again for several weeks.

The role of the American Forces Network (AFN) with powerful medium wave radio transmitters situated in West Germany and "pirate radio" ships in the North Sea bringing US hits to the ears of European youth should also be recognised as a force that extended the global reach of West Coast music in the 1964-1972 period. The single Expo 2000, their first new song in 13 years, was released in December 1999, and was subsequently remixed by contemporary electronic musicians such as Orbital. The Beatles have always stressed the influence that the Beach Boys had on their musical development (especially Pet Sounds) but it seems likely that other music from the west coast also spread eastwards and played a key part in making pop music more symphonic and less predictable than it had been before 1965. The era of trans-Atlantic jet travel ushered in a decade earlier and the ability to send TV broadcasts by satellite also facilitated a faster interplay of musical influences across the Atlantic. The growing time between recordings, the rarity of live performances and the increasingly exacting and protracted nature of the recording process were major reasons behind the departure of Flür and especially Bartos, whose improvisations were an essential part of the earlier Kraftwerk recordings . British bands apparently influenced by the mellow lyricism of the west coast sound included Barclay James Harvest, David Bowie, Curved Air, Family, Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, the Moody Blues, the Small Faces, Pentangle and Yes. Like a number of other recording artists, Hütter and Schneider appear to have become increasingly perfectionist in their attitude towards recording and releasing their music. Of all these bands, Jefferson Airplane excelled in the psychedelic domain and in their penchant for pretentious track titles, which came to characterise the 1965-75 era. After years of withdrawal from live performance, Kraftwerk began to tour again more regularly in the late 1990s and in 2004, and stated that they were working on new material -- though speculation about release dates fell through several times.

The original Jefferson Airplane, along with the Byrds, the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Mamas and the Papas, Tommy James and the Shondells and to some degree Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young will always be associated with the more melodic end of the north American rock spectrum and in due course other groups, such as Steely Dan and the Eagles, continued to blend elements of folk, jazz and rock and bring the results to a global audience. They do however state that a reasonable fraction of the instrumentation is actually played live, and that they do improvise somewhat from show to show. Mangano is an expressive and effective singer, and this revived Jefferson Starship can often capture a good deal of the feeling of the original Airplane. At times, mannequins built to look like the band members replace or accompany the live musicians, known simply as "the robots". This latter band plays frequent concerts, and on occasion Jack Casady joins them as well. Their stage act involves the members standing behind minimalistic desks, controlling the various sequencers that drive the show. Today, there are two versions of Jefferson Starship — one officially billed as Mickey Thomas' Starship (with Thomas at the forefront), and the revived Jefferson Starship (often called Jefferson Starship: The Next Generation), with Kantner and Balin as leaders, and Diana Mangano replacing Grace Slick as female singer (although Slick did do guest vocals on Jefferson Starship's 1999 album Windows Of Heaven). Kraftwerk also pioneered the use of computer graphics as a backdrop for their shows.

A self-titled album was released by Columbia Records, but the accompanying tour was everything the album wasn't, a success, but their revival too was short-lived, and thus Jefferson Airplane was officially disbanded for good. Kraftwerk have impinged on mainstream popular culture to the extent that they have been referenced in The Simpsons and Father Ted. But in 1989, during a solo San Francisco gig, Paul Kantner found himself joined by former bandmate (and lover) Grace Slick and two other ex-Airplane members for a cameo appearance. This led to a formal reunion of the original Jefferson Airplane (featuring nearly all the main members, including co-founder Marty Balin, but without Spencer Dryden, who had been kicked out of the band years earlier). The tracks were cleverly reworked in a Latin American music style. Solo careers and the attractions of other bands beckoned throughout. In 2000, electronic musician Uwe Schmidt, recording as Señor Coconut, released an album of Kraftwerk covers called El Baile Alemán. The lineup, however, had disbanded by 1990. Kraftwerk have also been extensively sampled by some influential musicians and bands including Afrika Bambaataa, Beck, The Orb, The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu/KLF, Madonna, Depeche Mode, De La Soul, R.E.M., Meat Beat Manifesto, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, the Bloodhound Gang, and many more.

The revamped lineup released Love Among The Cannibals in 1989. Five songs were arranged for strings for their album Possessed. Like Pete Sears and David Freiberg before her, her career was downsized by the commercial entity Starship was embracing. Their music has been recorded by the classical ensemble the Balanescu Quartet. Grace Slick also left in 1988. The single "Tour de France" featured lyrics in French. The album went gold and featured the hits "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "It's Not Over ('Til It's Over)". Notably, all of their albums from Trans-Europe Express onwards have been recorded in two separate versions -- one with German vocals for sale in Germany, and one with English vocals for international sale.

By the time No Protection was released, bassist Pete Sears had left. They also pioneered the use of backing tracks that were generated by the electronic sequencing of purely synthetic sounds. In 1987 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was featured in the film Mannequin and hit # 1. Many of the vocals in Kraftwerk songs are processed through a Vocoder, or generated using speech synthesis software -- a Speak & Spell was used on their 1981 album Computer World. Starship also had a Hollywood connection. Kraftwerk were certainly one of the first, if not the first "pop" act to record using pure electronic (or electronically processed) instruments and sounds exclusively. The album went platinum. This was followed by a trio of albums that were to exert a huge influence on popular music -- Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977) and their masterpiece, The Man Machine (1978).

In 1985, Starship released Knee Deep In The Hoopla and immediately scored two # 1 hits with "We Built This City" and "Sara"; the first time any incarnation of the Airplane had had a # 1 hit. After several early experimental albums their breakthrough came in 1974 (1974 in music) with the Autobahn album and the 22-minute title track (see "Autobahn" SAMPLE (252 kilobytes)), which was a worldwide hit and demonstrated their increasing reliance on synthesizers and electronics. Freiberg, who had been increasingly marginalized in the band, left as well. Many of Kraftwerk's songs express the paradoxical nature of modern urban life -- a strong sense of alienation existing side by side with a celebration of the joys of modern technology. Kantner won his suit, and the group name was reduced to simply Starship, marking the third incarnation of the band. The lyrics are usually very minimal, but reveal both an innocent celebration of, and a knowing caution about the modern world, as well as playing an integral role in the rhythmic structure of the songs. In 1984, Kantner (the last founding member of Jefferson Airplane remaining) left the group, but not before taking legal action against his former bandmates over the Jefferson name (the rest of the band wanted to continue as Jefferson Starship). Kraftwerk's lyrics dealt with postwar European urban life and technology—travelling by car on the Autobahn, travelling by train, using home computers and the like.

Winds Of Change followed in 1982 and Nuclear Furniture appeared in May of 1984. Plank produced the first four Kraftwerk albums, but ceased working with them after the commerical success of Autobahn, apparently over a dispute about contracts. After the 1979 release of Freedom At Point Zero (which spawned the hit single "Jane"), Grace Slick suddenly returned to the band for one song, "Stranger" on their next album, Modern Times in 1981. Plank worked with many other leading German acts (including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster, Harmonia) and largely as a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio in Cologne (Köln) became one of the most sought-after studios in Europe in the late Seventies. It didn't help that former Journey drummer Aynsley Dunbar had replaced Barbata, who had been injured in a car accident. The input, expertise and influence of producer/engineer Conny Plank was also significant. Thomas's soaring falsetto steered the band toward a harder rock sound, although critics somewhat unfairly compared the new Jefferson Starship to Journey. Following the departure of Flür and Bartos, various Kling Klang studio personnel such as Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz have appeared in the Kraftwerk live line-up.

Towards the end of 1978, the Starship (now without Grace Slick) recorded Light The Sky On Fire for The Star Wars Holiday Special, after which Balin too left the group, leaving Kantner and company to find a new lead singer in Mickey Thomas (who had sung lead on Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love"). Painter Emil Schult has been a regular collaborator with the band since 1973 (originally playing bass guitar and electric violin, then designing artwork and additional lyrics, and accompanying them on tour). After the debacle, she left the band. This show saw the public debut of the group's striking self-built electronic percussion pads, played by Flür.). The following night, Slick, in a drunken stupor, shocked the audience by using profanity and sexual references throughout most of her songs. (Flür had joined the band in 1973 as a drummer, in prepartion for a television appearance to promote their third album. The first night, fans ransacked the stage after Slick failed to appear. This quartet would be the band's public persona for their classic output of the 1970s and 1980s.

However, Slick's alcoholism became a problem, which led to two nights of disastrous concerts in Germany in 1978. This saw the band presented as a electronic quartet, with Hütter & Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos as electronic percussionists. The follow-ups, Spitfire (1976), and Earth (1978), were both big sellers. What is generally regarded as the classic Kraftwerk line-up formed in 1975, for the Autobahn tour. This line-up, which also included late-Airplane holdovers drummer John Barbata, fiddler Papa John Creach, and bassist-keyboarder-vocalist David Freiberg, along with Pete Sears, also playing bass and keyboards, and guitarist Craig Chaquico, proved to be the band's most commercially successful so far, although some Airplane fans were less than happy with its more mainstream direction. Balin's sophisticated ballad "Miracles" helped 1975's Red Octopus achieve multiple-platinum status. The early Kraftwerk line-ups (1970-1974) fluctuated, Hütter & Schneider working with around half a dozen other musicians over the course of recording four albums and sporadic live appearances - most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form the revered band Neu!. In 1974, the Airplane was formally reborn as Jefferson Starship, with Kantner and Slick as charter members; Balin came on board in time to record the hit single "Caroline" for the first Jefferson Starship album, Dragon Fly. The two had met as students in the late 1960s, and had already released one album (Tone Float) playing in a five-piece improvisation group called Organisation.

It was while that album was made that Kantner sealed his love affair with Grace Slick, and their daughter China Kantner was born shortly after. Kraftwerk was founded in 1970 by Florian Schneider-Esleben (flute) and Ralf Hütter (keyboards), the pair setting up their Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf. The Starship (such as it was) included David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Jerry Garcia (of The Grateful Dead), and even former members of Jefferson Airplane. Today many popular Techno DJs refer to them as one of their most important influences. During the transitional period of the early 1970s, Paul Kantner recorded the album Blows Against The Empire with an ad-hoc group of musicians whom he dubbed the Jefferson Starship, marking the first-ever use of that name. The techniques that they introduced and the equipment that they developed are now commonplace in modern music. The live album 30 Seconds Over Winterland (1973) is now best remembered for its cover art, featuring a squadron of flying toasters. Kraftwerk (German for "power plant") is a German avant-garde electro-pop group from Düsseldorf that contributed much to the development of, and interest in, electronic music.

Bark and Long John Silver were released on the band's own label, Grunt, with Joey Covington on drums and "Papa" John Creach on fiddle, after which the group effectively disbanded as Casady and Kaukonen converted their side-project Hot Tuna to a full time band. Tour de France Soundtracks - 2003. Balin and Dryden left shortly thereafter. The Mix - 1991 (new recordings of older songs). The band performed in an early "morning maniac music" slot at the Woodstock festival during this period. Electric Cafe - 1986 (Originally scheduled by EMI for release in 1983 under the title Techno Pop, the material was re-worked into this album.). In the aftermath of the demise of the San Francisco scene, the band released Volunteers (1969), their most political venture; the title track, "We Can Be Together", "Good Shepherd", and the post-apocalyptic "Wooden Ships" were all highlights. Computerwelt 1981 - (English title: Computer World).

Crown Of Creation (1968) was a transitionary record, more structured than ...Baxters, whereas Bless Its Little Pointed Head (1969) captured their live sound, recorded at concerts at the Fillmore and the Fillmore East. Die Mensch-Maschine - 1978 (English title: The Man-Machine). After Bathing at Baxter's (1967) further showed their proficiency in psychedelic rock. Trans-Europa Express - 1977 (English title: Trans-Europe Express). The album reached number 6 in the US album charts. Radio-Aktivität - 1975 (English title: Radio-Activity). The first of these, Surrealistic Pillow (1967), included two classic tracks, "White Rabbit" (inspired by the hallucinogenic drug LSD, then extremely popular in San Francisco, and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland), and the rousing anthem "Somebody to Love", as well as a reminder of their earlier folk incarnation, Kaukonen's acoustic "Embryonic Journey". Autobahn - 1974.

Membership remained stable until 1970, by when they had recorded five more albums. Ralf und Florian - 1973. Amongst their fans, the group's name was further shortened to "the Airplane". Kraftwerk 2 - 1972. In 1966, Spence was replaced by jazz drummer Spencer Dryden and Anderson by singer Grace Slick, formerly of another San Francisco group, The Great Society. Kraftwerk - 1971. Later in 1965, they signed to Record Corporation of America and recorded an album for release the following year called Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Tone Float - 1970 (as Organisation).

The band gradually developed a more electric sound which led to Harvey's replacement by Kaukonen's childhood friend, Jack Casady in October 1965. Peloquin was a seasoned musician whose disdain for the others' drug use was a factor in his departure just a few weeks after the group began its career. Skip Spence then took the drum chair. The group made its first public appearance August 13, 1965 at The Matrix club in San Francisco. They drew inspiration from groups such as the Beatles, the Byrds, and the Lovin' Spoonful, and built a local following at the Matrix Club.

Singer Marty Balin recruited another folk musician, Paul Kantner, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, jazz and folk vocalist Signe Toly Anderson, drummer Jerry Peloquin, and acoustic bassist Bob Harvey. This rock group formed on the west coast of the USA during the summer of 1965 in what was called the San Francisco Bay folk boom. An urban legend claims this was the origin for the band's name, though according to band member Jorma Kaukonen the name was invented by his friend Steve Talbot as a satire of blues names such as "Blind Lemon" Jefferson [1] (http://www.jormakaukonen.com/bio.htm). The term Jefferson airplane is also slang for a used match bent to hold a marijuana cigarette that has been smoked too short to hold without burning the hands.

Jefferson Airplane was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Various successor incarnations of the band have performed under different names, reflecting changing times and performer lineups, known as Jefferson Starship, and later simply Starship. Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the LSD-influenced psychedelic rock movement. Love Among The Cannibals (1989).

No Protection (1987). Knee Deep In The Hoopla (1985). Nuclear Furniture (1984). Winds Of Change (1982).

Modern Times (1981). Freedom At Point Zero (1979). last album w/ Marty Balin. Earth (1978).

Spitfire (1976). best-selling album for any incarnation of the Airplane/Starship. Red Octopus (1975). Dragon Fly (1974).

Long John Silver (1972) - US position: # 20. Bark (1971) - US position: # 11. first greatest hits collection. The Worst Of Jefferson Airplane (1970) - US position: # 12.

Volunteers (1969) - US position: # 13. Crown Of Creation (1968) - US position: # 6. After Bathing At Baxter's (1967) - US position: # 17. breakthrough album featuring "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit".

Surrealistic Pillow (1967) - US position: # 5. Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966) - US position: # 128. Download sample of "White Rabbit" from Surrealistic Pillow.