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Marty Balin’s Love Without End, Amen
Jefferson Starship’s late vocalist gave me an early lesson in true romance.
The first time I ever heard Marty Balin’s name was in 1981 when Casey Kasem introduced the singer’s first solo hit “Hearts” on his weekly American Top 40 radio countdown. The single would go on to peak at number eight, the same position Balin had reached three years earlier, singing lead on “Count on Me,” Jefferson Starship’s final Top 10 hit as Jefferson Starship.
I paid homage to “Count on Me” on my personal blog Theme for Great Cities, on March 31, 2012. Exactly six and a half years later, I’m paying homage to Balin, who died on September 27 at age 76, by revisiting what I wrote about “Count on Me” that day.
Have you ever really loved a woman (or man)? Enough to write — or sing — lines like this?
“Emerald eyes and china perfume
Caught in the wheel and lost in
The feel of a love so soon
Ruby lips
You make my song
Into the night and saved by the lite
Of a love so strong”
Cats have nine lives to live. Most rock & roll bands have but one. Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship had three, and enjoyed notable success in each one.
