‘Software’: the album Grace Slick recorded in the nude
The hippie counterculture of the 1960s is synonymous with peace, love, drugs and, more often than not, nudity. Although the naturist elements of the scene are often sidelined in favour of imagery of flowers and VW buses, the sheer amount of people at Woodstock embracing their birthday suits goes to show the prevalence of nakedness within the hippie movement. Of course, there are few bands with such strong ties to the age of anti-war hippies as Jefferson Airplane, the incredible group behind iconic tracks like ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Volunteers’. It makes sense, therefore, that vocalist Grace Slick maintained some naturist tendencies well into her later career.
Grace Slick had joined the ranks of Jefferson Airplane, replacing their original singer, Toly Anderson. With the group, Slick wasted no time in establishing her incredible vocal talents and songwriting brilliance. In terms of songwriting, the vocalist is responsible for some of the Airplane’s best-loved tracks, but throughout their tenure, Slick’s voice was undoubtedly the highlight. In fact, it should not be contentious to argue that she was among the most talented vocalists of the era, always singing directly from the soul.
The hippie counterculture movement was never going to last forever, and soon, it was time for Slick to move on from the psychedelic genius of Jefferson Airplane. So, as Jefferson Starship rose from the ashes of the group, Slick reaffirmed her talents, albeit while leaning ever closer to the horrors of soft rock. Soon, she began recording solo material, most notably the 1984 album Software.
Her final solo record before forming Starship – the group that desecrated the corpse of Jefferson Airplane with soft rock pop hits like ‘We Built This City’ – Software saw Grace Slick embrace the modern stylings of synth-pop and new wave. Despite the firmly 1980s sound of the album, helped along by the prevalence of synthesisers and drum machines, it seems as though the recording of the album saw Slick return to her hippie roots.
During an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman ahead of the album’s release, Slick confirmed that she had never lost her rebellious streak. Throughout the interview, she had Letterman on the back foot, making jokes and deliberately making Letterman somewhat uncomfortable, with fairly amusing results.
At one point in the interview, she declared, “I noticed that when you had on Jamie Lee Curtis, you mentioned that 75% of her film, she didn’t have any clothes on.” As the audience and host alike are left wondering where on Earth Slick is going with that statement, she continued, “You don’t mention that 75% of my record, when I made it, I didn’t have any clothes on,” adding, “You haven’t mentioned it because my breasts are not as large as hers.”
Letterman, clearly at a loss for words, soon cuts to an advertising break, so the audience never finds out whether Slick was serious in these claims. However, given the plethora of wild stories that populated the long musical career of Grace Slick, the idea of her recording Software mostly in the nude would struggle to get into the top ten list of strangest things she has done.
