Remember When Jefferson Starship Debuted a New Sound and a New Singer in 1979?

Whether you know them as Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, or Starship, change has been the only constant for this long-running classic rock collective. That change has manifested itself both in stylistic transformations and lineup turnover.

A little bit of both of those phenomena came to the forefront for Jefferson Starship in 1979. A new lead singer and a new sound helped energize the band heading into a decade of, you guessed it, even more change.

Singers Depart

Right from the start of their existence, Jefferson Airplane relied on switching things up to reach their full potential. That occurred when Grace Slick, who wasn’t a part of the first iteration of the group, took over as lead singer for their Surrealistic Pillow album in 1967 and helped the Airplane soar as the go-to band of the counterculture.

The band started to run out of steam in the early 70s. In 1974, Slick joined Paul Kantner and other leftover members of Airplane to form Jefferson Starship, taking the name from a side project album Slick and Kantner had developed in 1970. This version of the band found mainstream success via the soft-rock ballads of Marty Balin, also an original Airplane member.

However, 1978 proved to be a rough year for the group. Balin, sensing an opportunity, bolted for a solo career. Slick, who’d been disappointed with the artistic direction of the band anyway, resigned after a series of drunken on-stage episodes. It looked like Jefferson Starship might be forced to dock for good.

No Plain “Jane”

Paul Kantner, however, wasn’t ready to call it a day. If he was going to keep Jefferson Starship afloat, however, he’d need a new singer. One day, he reached out to Mickey Thomas.

Thomas had already sung lead on a Top 10 hit. As a member of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop’s backing band, Thomas handled the vocals on Bishop’s 1975 smash “Fooled Around And Fell In Love”. As someone known for being more of an R&B belter, Thomas wondered how he’d fit in with the veteran rockers.

Still, he agreed to audition anyway. At the audition, the band played him a track they’d been developing. It featured an attention-grabbing piano riff that was much more musically aggressive than the soft stuff of the Balin era. Thomas’ powerful vocals fit perfectly. The song was called “Jane”.

Artistic ‘Freedom’

Meanwhile, Craig Chaquico, the band’s lead guitarist, had to battle with management to get his searing guitar solo on the record. At the time, such showy playing wasn’t expected of the group. But it was just what the doctor ordered for this track.

“Jane” gave this new version of the band an immediate hit single. The album on which it appeared, Freedom At Point Zero, included a much edgier, more guitar-driven sound than the band’s most recent output. It helped them stay in the arena with hot rock bands of the time like Foreigner and Journey.

Mickey Thomas would end up being a mainstay of Jefferson Starship. He’d even stick with the group into the Starship years. By that time, Grace Slick had returned, and the band had moved in more of a pop-friendly direction, yet another example of this collective’s ability to change it up when they needed it most.

(Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

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