We Built This City

"We Built This City"
Song by Starship
from the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla
Released	August 1985
Genre	Pop rock, synth-pop
Length	4:53 (album) 4:49 (single)
Label	Grunt, RCA Records
Songwriter(s)	Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, Peter Wolf
Producer(s)	Peter Wolf, Jeremy Smith

"We Built This City" is the first single off of American rock band Starship's first studio album Knee Deep in the Hoopla. The song was released in August 1985.

The song is about music clubs in Los Angeles shutting down in the 1980s and asks corporations to remember that the city's popularity was built by rock and roll.^[1] Music critics really did not like the song, saying that it tried to be anti-commercial but sounded very commercial.

Both GQ and Blender called it the worst song of all time.^[1][2] It was also ranked #1 on Rolling Stone's poll of worst songs of the 1980s.^[3]

Even though critics didn't like the song, it was still very popular. The song was able to make it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[4][5] It was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the 28th Grammy Awards but lost to Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing".^[6]

References

1. "An Oral History of "We Built This City," the Worst Song of All Time". GQ. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
2. "Run for Your Life! It's the 50 Worst Songs Ever!". Blender. Archived from the original on January 24, 2005. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
3. "The 10 Worst Songs of the 1980s". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
4. "Starship - Hot 100 History". Billboard. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
5. "Starship - We Built This City". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
6. "28th Annual Grammy Awards: Winners & Nominees". Grammy Awards. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

Other websites

• "We Built This City" on YouTube