It’s great to have VH1 Classic and be able to see all the truly awful videos that were made in the ’80s. Take, for example, the clip for Starship’s “Laying It On The Line,” won’t you? If the video for “We Built This City” was bad, then this one is truly craptastic. In it, the band tries to look topical once again by having images of exploding atom bombs superimposed over their faces. Some big, fat greasy dude with a beard and dressed in a helmet that says “US Support” or “UN Support” or something like that and walking around in camo has a bumnch of soldiers on a chain leash in a jungle. They shoot rocket launchers and other weapons. Lead singer Mickey Thomas cavorts around in his gay moustache while also dressed in a helmet with ’80s spandex bimbos clinging to his arms. Grace Slick tries to convince herself she’s still a viable entity in the band. She has weird uber-fashion makeup smeared across her eyes. There are shots of dudes on ATVs riding around. It’s totally awesome.
In the meantime, there’s also plenty of room for the token guitar solo shot with a shrederrific jagged guitar on full display. Mix this all together with some “on stage” shots, and you have one hell of a video. I don’t know what was going on, but I know it was supposed to be Big. If one thing is clear after watching this video, it’s that the cocaine ’80s sure were some goofy times when it came to video storyboards. I did a little search on Starship, and I notice that Mickey Thomas’ website is named “Starship Featuring Mickey Thomas.” Yep, those county fair circuit days are calling, Mick.
