Starship continues to fly

Mickey Thomas remarkably still possesses a clarion call for a voice. The Starship frontman has crossed the three-quarter century mark but still belts out such hits as the infectious "Jane" and the playful "We Built This City" with that familiar soaring tenor.

"I've been very lucky," Thomas said. "My parents gave me the right vocal cords. I've been blessed with good genetics. I try not to abuse myself. I eat right and there are no drugs in my life. I love that I still have this voice at 75 and I still use it."

Starship, featuring Thomas, will perform Friday, Nov. 7, at Riverside Casino & Golf Resort. Expect an array of hits from Thomas and his band.

"Come out early," Thomas said. "We play a bunch of the songs that landed on the radio early in the set. 'Jane' is the second song in the show. I love the way people respond to our hits."

"We Built This City," which is the only Starship song to hit the top of the charts, is a favorite of Thomas’s, who never tires of singing the tune co-written by the legendary Bernie Taupin.

"There's just something about ‘We Built This City,’“Thomas said. "Not only do I love it, but I watch the impact it has on kids. Kids have gravitated toward that song since 1985. My grandkids love the song."

What Thomas enjoys is how catchy the chorus is while the lyrics range from dark to inscrutable. "It's a pop anthem that has a funny underbelly,“ he said.

A burning question for some fans is what exactly does the lyric "Marconi plays the mamba" mean?

"Bernie Taupin is a brilliant lyricist," Thomas said. "Many of the lyrics he wrote for Elton John are amazing. But I did have to ask him what 'Marconi plays the mamba' means and he said, ‘I have no bleeping idea, mate. But it sounds good, doesn't it?’“

Taupin's response reminded Thomas of a great line from John Lennon, who was once asked about some of his most undecipherable lyrics. The legendary Beatle noted that he believed in sound over sensibility.

Taupin obviously agrees. Thomas couldn't help but call Taupin when "We Built This City" hit the top of the charts in 1985.

"We were in Kalamazoo," Taupin said. "We hit the top of the Billboard charts, and we were partying, and I decided to get Bernie on the phone. We called him and it was amazing. We had such great times in those days."

According to Thomas, 1985 to 1988 were happy days for the members of Starship. However, two events occurred toward the end of the decade that knocked the band off course.

Vocalist Grace Slick left the band in 1988 to reform Jefferson Airplane for an album and a tour. After Jefferson Airplane's tour concluded in 1989, Slick retired from the music business just before turning 50. Slick noted during a VH1 "Behind the Music" documentary in 1998 that rockers should have an expiration date.

"All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire," Slick said.

However, Slick, 85, didn't foresee the future, and Thomas wished she had a change of heart.

"Grace retired way too soon," Thomas said. "You can tell in her 40s that she was really bothered about her age. She was always putting herself down and looking at it like she was older than she was. Her attitude was that rock is a young person's game, and it was at that point but things have changed. It's an older person's game now too. I wish she came out of retirement. It would have been fun to perform with Grace again."

Slick has focused on her painting over the last 35 years and has become relatively reclusive.

"I've tried to talk to Grace on a semi-regular basis, but she doesn't often get back," Thomas said. "I called our old manager, who handles legacy stuff with the band, and he said he's called her and she doesn't call him back either."

Thomas would love to hear from Slick but not former Starship drummer Donny Baldwin. After a show in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1989, Baldwin and Thomas engaged in a violent fight. Thomas was severely injured and required facial surgery, including three titanium plates implanted in his skull. Baldwin resigned from the group immediately, but the band played on after Thomas recovered.

"He and I haven't talked since then," Thomas said. "A lot of stuff went into that. Things had been building up. There was a lot of resentment and jealousy. I got him into the band. He was one of my best friends, but some things started to fester. Combine that with cocaine and alcohol, and it led to a really bad night in which he crossed a line."

Baldwin plays drums for Jefferson Starship, which is touring as well.

"I'm not happy about that band," Thomas said. "When they started their version of Jefferson Starship, (vocalist-guitarist) Paul Kantner was alive. He didn't liked the direction our band went in with songs like ‘We Built This City’ and ‘Nothing is Going to Stop Us,’ and that's fine. He never would have played those songs but when Paul passed away in (2016), that band started playing songs like ‘We Built This City.’ I had friends who have been confused about whether I was in that band. I'm like, 'No, I'm not in that band.' I can't fight what they do legally since I would have to have Grace on board, and she's not inclined to fight those battles. So that band is out there, and I'm out there with my band, and it couldn't be better for our group."

Thomas has no desire to retire.

"People have asked me about when I'll hang it up, and I laugh," Thomas said. "I get to travel all over the world. I see beautiful, exotic places. I get to meet cool people. I love what I do. I feel like I retired about 40 years ago."