"I Didn't Mean to Stay All Night" by Starship

Song#:  4113

Date:  11/25/1989

Debut:  94

Peak:  75

Weeks:  8

Genre:  Soft Rock

Pop Bits:  Love Among the Cannibals was the third album released under the Starship moniker and its first single, "It's Not Enough," would do fairly well getting to #12 Pop/#10 Rock/#30 AC. However, the song wasn't doing much for album sales and it was hoped this second single, written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, would lend a boost. Unfortunately, all it could do was peak at the three-quarter mark on the Pop chart.  With those results, the LP halted at #64 and would fail to reach the gold level sales mark.

ReduxReview:  Although Mutt Lange didn't produce this track, his fingerprints were on it via the arrangement and backing vocals. That's why it kind of sounded like a reject from a Hysteria-era Def Leppard recording session (Lange served as producer/co-writer on that LP). It didn't really fit the band well. By this point in time, Starship was more pop and less rock so trying to make them sound tougher and denser was like putting lipstick on a pig. The song was average to begin with so that didn't help. Starship were passed their expiration date with this album, but they gave it one last go before getting the heave-ho.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  After the supporting tour for the album was finished, some members of the band including long time guitarist Craig Chaquico would depart. Lead singer Mickey Thomas would carry on and with some replacement would record a few new tracks. Two would show up on a '91 compilation album Greatest Hits (Ten Years and Change 1979-1991) including the single "Good Heart" (#81) which would be the last Pop chart song for any iteration of Jefferson Airplane/Starship. As for Starship, they would come to a crashing halt in '91 with the band's manager declaring the band done. In turn, they would be dropped from their label. In '92, Mickey Thomas would pick up the torch and form a new band that he would be able to call Starship featuring Mickey Thomas (legalities, don't ya know). The band would tour around and eventually record an album in 2013 titled Loveless Fascination.

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