Chart performance:
| Week | Position | Movement | Comments |
| 12-Jan-86 | 28 | New | |
| 19-Jan-86 | 26 | +2 | |
| 26-Jan-86 | 26 | 0 | |
| 02-Feb-86 | 19 | +7 | Biggest climber/Star rater |
| 09-Feb-86 | 17 | +2 | |
| 16-Feb-86 | 9 | +8 | Biggest climber/Star rater |
| 23-Feb-86 | 6 | +3 | |
| 02-Mar-86 | 3 | +3 | |
| 09-Mar-86 | 2 | +1 | |
| 16-Mar-86 | 1 | +1 | Peak |
| 23-Mar-86 | 1 | 0 | Peak |
| 30-Mar-86 | 2 | -1 | |
| 06-Apr-86 | 3 | -1 | |
| 13-Apr-86 | 3 | 0 | |
| 20-Apr-86 | 4 | -1 | |
| 27-Apr-86 | 4 | 0 | |
| 04-May-86 | 8 | -4 | |
| 11-May-86 | 12 | -4 | |
| 18-May-86 | 11 | +1 | |
| 25-May-86 | 13 | -2 | |
| 01-Jun-86 | 23 | -10 | Biggest faller |
| 08-Jun-86 | 30 | -7 | Biggest faller |
Written by: Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert & Peter Wolf
Produced by: Peter Wolf & Jeremy Smith
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): RCA Victor
| Hit number for artist | 1 |
| Peak position | 1 |
| Weeks | 22 |
| Biggest climber awards | 2 |
| Star rater climbs | 2 |
| Biggest faller awards | 2 |
| Top 20 points | 239 |
| Overall Top 20 points ranking | =219 |
| Top 20 points ranking for the artist | 2 |
| Top 30 Points | 431 |
| Overall Top 30 points ranking | =201 |
| Top 30 points ranking for the artist | 2 |
Annual ranking:
| 1986 | 14 |
Other chart success:
| Australia | 1 |
| Austria | 21 |
| Belgium | 17 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Germany | 10 |
| Ireland | 9 |
| Netherlands | 21 |
| New Zealand | 11 |
| Paraguay | 1 |
| Sweden | 4 |
| Switzerland | 8 |
| UK | 12 |
| US | 1 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 |
SA Radio charts:
| Capital 604 | 1 |
| Radio 5 | 1 |
| Radio 702 | 3 |
The song was written in response to a large number of live music venues being closed down in Los Angeles. Bernie Taupin, one of the songwriters, had a long collaboration with Elton John and helped write hits like ‘Rocket Man’, ‘Crocodile Rock‘, ‘I’m Still Standing’ and ‘Sad Songs (Say So Much)’ and many others. Despite the song’s success, it has been noted as one of the worst songs of all time by a number of publications, most notable Rolling Stone magazine where it topped a 2011 poll of the worst songs of the 1980’s by quite some margin. In 2018, UK blogger, Ladbaby, would take a parody of the song to the top of the UK charts singing ‘We Built This City On Sausage Rolls’ and was the first of a record 5 years running Christmas number 1’s in the UK for Ladbaby.
Video:
Artist link: Starship
SA Singles Charts 