Sara (Starship song)
"Sara" is a song recorded by the American rock band Starship which reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 15, 1986. It was sung only by Mickey Thomas, of the newly renamed band Starship, from their first album Knee Deep in the Hoopla; for this single, Grace Slick only provided the backing vocals.[1]
"Sara" | ||||
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Single by Starship | ||||
from the album Knee Deep in the Hoopla | ||||
B-side | "Hearts Of The World (Will Understand)" | |||
Released | December 1985 | |||
Recorded | 1985 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:48 (album version) 4:18 (edited version) | |||
Label | Grunt/RCA Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Peter Wolf (music), Ina Wolf (music and lyrics) | |||
Producer(s) | Peter Wolf, Jeremy Smith | |||
Starship singles chronology | ||||
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The recording became one of the best-selling singles of 1986 in North America. It was the band's second number-one hit after the song "We Built This City" hit the mark a few months earlier in 1985. It also became the band's first number-one song on the adult contemporary chart, where it remained for three weeks.[2] Although written by Peter and Ina Wolf, the song was named for Thomas's wife at the time, Sara (née Kendrick).
Music video
The music video for "Sara" prominently features actress Rebecca De Mornay and Thomas in a storyline about a relationship ending, on a Dust Bowl farm in the midwest, with frequent flashbacks to what is presumably Thomas's character's childhood and the tornado that wrecked his home. It ends with an aerial shot of Thomas walking down the dirt road Rebecca drove down, with another dust cloud coming in. [3] The flashback portions of the music video were set in the 1950s and directed by Francis Delia.
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 10 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[5] | 15 |
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[6] | 18 |
Canada (RPM) Top Singles | 1 |
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] | 18 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] | 15 |
Ireland (IRMA)[9] | 19 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] | 43 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] | 16 |
South Africa (Springbok)[12] | 10 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] | 9 |
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[14] | 66 |
US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 1 |
US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[15] | 1 |
US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[15] | 12 |
Year-end charts
Chart (1986) | Ranking |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[16] | 67 |
Canada RPM [17] | 30 |
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[18] | 24 |
See also
- List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1986
- List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1986 (U.S.)
References
- Sonneborn, Liz (2002). A to Z of American Women in the Performing Arts (SLICK, GRACE (Grace Wing)). p. 195. ISBN 0-8160-4398-1.
Slick sang supporting vocals on the band’s mid-decade top 40 hits “We Built This City”(1985), “Sara”(1986), and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”(1987) before quitting again in 1988
- Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 126.
- Somebody to love?: a rock-and-roll memoir Grace Slick. 1998.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Starship - Sara (song)". Ö3 Austria Top 40. March 1, 1986. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- Belgian peak Archived 2012-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- "Musicline.de – Starship Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- Search for Irish peak
- "Sara - Starship". Dutch Top 40. Dutch Charts. 1986. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- "Charts.nz – Starship – Sara". Top 40 Singles.
- "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- "Swisscharts.com – Starship – Sara". Swiss Singles Chart.
- UK Singles Chart (1986). "Starship". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- "Sara - Starship". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
- "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1986". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
- Canada, Library and Archives (23 May 2017). "RPM Weekly - Top Singles of 1986". Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 27, 1986). "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 98 (52): Y-21.