Jefferson Airplane was that Sixties band who made “Somebody To Love” and “White Rabbit.” In 1974, several former members of Jefferson Airplane formed a new group called Jefferson Starship. We’ll talk about them again in the future, and I am very excited to do so. 1978 was a very eventful year for them (not in a good way). But for now, we stay in June 1976, when Jefferson Starship released the Platinum-certified Spitfire. The first single, “With Your Love,” peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 while the second single, “St. Charles,” was more popular on the rock stations.
Lead vocals on both songs were performed by Marty Balin. On a personal note, I wrote this post on September 27, the eighth anniversary of Marty Balin’s death. I did not plan for that, I swear. But since I mention him, while he was in Jefferson Airplane, he did not officially join Jefferson Starship at first. It’s complicated. See, at the start of the Seventies, Jefferson Starship formed a vanity label called Grunt Records, with RCA Records as its distributor. Marty had refused to sign a long-term contract with RCA and Grunt, preferring to work on an album-by-album basis. However, he wrote “Miracles,” which was a big hit for Jefferson Starship in 1975. This gave him more leverage with his contract, but it also gave him more pressure to write another hit. As we’ll see in the future, that probably hurt him more than it helped.
Anyway, another thing about Marty is that he had a short-lived side project called, no joke, “Bodacious DF.” He must have used that leverage I mentioned to get those bandmates and some other friends of his involved in Spitfire. The opening track, “Cruisin’,” was written by Bodacious DF keyboardist Charles Hickox. “With Your Love” was co-written by Bodacious DF guitarist Vic Smith. As for “other friends,” Marty Balin had a friend named Jesse Barish, who co-wrote “St. Charles” and composed the album closer, “Love Lovely Love,” by himself.
It may sound like Marty was shaping the band to his own personal liking, but at least on this one album, it worked out. Spitfire is a great album. I presume “St. Charles” wasn’t a big hit on the Hot 100 because of its six-and-a-half-minute runtime. By contrast, “With Your Love” is standard mid-Seventies Adult Contemporary, albeit a very good song of that description. “Big City” and “Cruisin’” are fun rockers that could’ve been singles. “Hot Water,” written by Grace Slick, is an awesome song too. I recommend Spitfire. But stay tuned for their next appearance, whenever that comes.
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