Nuclear Furniture

Nuclear Furniture is the eighth album by the American rock band Jefferson Starship and was released in 1984. It was the last album released by the band until 1998's Windows of Heaven, and was also the final album by the band before the departure of leader Paul Kantner and the formation of the offshoot band Starship.

Nuclear Furniture
Studio album by Jefferson Starship
Released	May 30, 1984
Recorded	1984 at the Automatt, San Francisco
Genre	Rock, AOR
Length	42:46
Label	Grunt
Producer	Ron Nevison
Jefferson Starship chronology
Winds of Change (1982) Nuclear Furniture (1984) Deep Space / Virgin Sky (1995)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Background

Produced by Ron Nevison, the album was arranged with the help of Peter Wolf, who had worked with Grace Slick on her solo album, Software. Wolf also contributed keyboard and synthesizer work to the album, although not an official part of the band. Peter Wolf (not the singer of the same name) and Ina Wolf also wrote the single "No Way Out", the first of many songs penned by the husband and wife duo that took "Starship" in a more commercial direction.

As the album was being recorded, Paul Kantner became frustrated with the album's direction. Before the sessions came to a close, he stole the master tapes, put them in his car and drove around San Francisco for a few days and would not bring them back until the band mixed the album in a way more to his liking.[2]

Shortly after the release of the album, Kantner left the band, and he only appears in the first promotional video produced, "No Way Out." After the departure of Kantner the band lost the "Jefferson" moniker and morphed into Starship; there would not be another studio album released under the Jefferson Starship name until after Kantner reformed the band in 1992.

Reception

Nuclear Furniture was released in 1984 and spawned the Top 40 single "No Way Out", which was also the first single by any incarnation of the band to hit #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album itself reached #28.

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Layin' It on the Line"	Mickey Thomas, Craig Chaquico	Chaquico, Thomas	4:09
2.	"No Way Out"	Ina Wolf	Peter Wolf	4:22
3.	"Sorry Me, Sorry You"	Jeannette Sears	Pete Sears	4:07
4.	"Live and Let Live"	J. Sears	P. Sears	3:50
5.	"Connection"	Paul Kantner, Thomas	Kantner	4:27

Side B

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Rose Goes to Yale"	Kantner, Ronnie Gilbert	Kantner	2:56
2.	"Magician"	Grace Slick	P. Wolf	3:23
3.	"Assassin"	J. Sears	P. Sears	3:52
4.	"Shining in the Moonlight"	Chaquico, Thomas	Chaquico	3:38
5.	"Showdown"	Slick	Slick	3:22
6.	"Champion"	Kantner, Gilbert	Kantner	4:40

Personnel

• Donny Baldwin – drums, percussion, vocals
• Craig Chaquico – lead guitar
• David Freiberg – vocals, keyboards
• Paul Kantner – vocals, electric rhythm guitar, acoustic rhythm guitar, banjo
• Pete Sears – bass, keyboards
• Grace Slick – vocals
• Mickey Thomas – vocals

Additional Personnel

• Peter Wolf – synthesizers, keyboards, LinnDrum programming
• Brian MacLeod – Simmons drums on "Magician"

Production

• Jefferson Starship – arrangements
• Ron Nevison – producer, engineer, arrangements
• Peter Wolf – arrangements
• Maureen Droney – assistant engineer
• Kevin Eddy – assistant mixing engineer
• Mike Reese – mastering
• Maurice – production coordinator
• Rod Dyer, Clive Pierce / Dyer / Kahn, Inc. – cover design
• Tracks recorded at The Automatt, San Francisco
• Over-dubs and mixing at The Plant, Sausalito
• Mastered at The Mastering Lab, Hollywood
• Bill Thompson – manager

Singles / music videos

• "No Way Out" (1984)
• "Layin' It on the Line" (1984)
• "Sorry Me, Sorry You" (1984)

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1984	The Billboard 200	28

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1984	"No Way Out"	US Billboard Hot 100	23
1984	"Layin' It on the Line"	US Billboard Hot 100	66
1984	"No Way Out"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
1984	"Layin' It on the Line"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	6

References

1. William Ruhlmann. "Nuclear Furniture". Allmusic. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
2. Tamarakin, Jeff (2003). Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-03403-0.