All nite long (Jefferson Starship) (LP 270)

Jefferson Starship Earth (Vinyl - Grunt, 1978) ****

Genre: American pop/ rock 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records (Auckland, NZ)  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: All Nite Long




Gear costume:  Count On Me




Active compensatory factors: Oh No, Not Marty too!! That was my first reaction when learning of his death this week.

Remember him as above in Count On Me - that voice and the cool melancholy of those lyrics. And the beautiful young face.

I love the whole album - Marty Balin's last with JS; it's been a firm favourite of mine since 1978. Mainly because it feels of a piece - there's a confident, laid back, casual swagger to the album. Encapsulated in All Nite Long's languid approach.

That video to Count On Me with David Freiberg and Grace Slick smiling on the couch and with a lovely ballad unfolding on a bed of acoustic guitars and harmony (real and sound wise) sums things up.

Now that Marty and Paul are no longer here, there is an added poignancy to the song.

Although it gets criticism for its pleasant songs and slickness, those are the things I love about this album. It sounds simple and effortless to my ears and so, it's an album I return to often.

Where do they all belong? Marty's joined Paul Kantner on board the hyperdriven starship. Look at them go!