It was whilst on holiday in the Alps in 2006 when a group of friends first developed a love of the 80s classic "We Built This City". This quickly developed into a mild obsession, with the song being sung at every opportunity, whether it be at a karaoke bar, the local Thai restaurant or on the DLR. It was on one of these alcohol filled nights, when it became evident to the group that the next logical step to display such reverence for the song was to get a line each of the song tattooed on them. By now the obsession had grown to the point that it had well and truly infiltrated all of their friends and the idea that they could get all of the 30+ lines tattooed on them so they could turn up at a karaoke bar and get a stranger to sing the lyrics from their bodies seemed like a walk in the park.
Like most drunken ideas it remained just that, until Rich, a close friend of the group, now living in Sydney, found himself in a tattooist on Bondi beach in the early hours of a July morning in 2011. He was the proud owner of the first WBTC tattoo -‘Who rides the wrecking ball’. The mission had started. The very next day, Steve returned to the same tattooist and the second line was inked. The ball was well and truly rolling.
Tattoos 3 and 4 soon followed in Essex, before the first of the original group – the Brown brothers got inked in NYC where Craig now resided. 5 tattoos down and already over 3 continents, it had already become a global movement. The recruitment drive was on. You could barely get within 6 ft of any those already tattooed without getting the full on sales pitch. It was working though, and more tattoos were soon to follow. 3 more joined the group after agreeing to at the top of a mountain, before snowboarding down and heading straight to the tattoo parlour. On a work trip to Dubai, Roy found himself talking to a friend of a friend, and shortly afterwards a 4th continent was added. Lines were even being inked as wedding presents.
By mid 2013, the tipping point had well and truly been reached and a clamour for the remaining lines started. Those who had always feigned interest were suddenly struck with a fear of missing out, and were finally stepping up. By the end of the year there was only one line remaining, the line many thought would be the last to go.
January 11th 2014, was the day the mission was complete. ‘Coming through your schools’ was inked in an East London tattoo parlour. 32 people, 5 countries and 4 continents, they had succeeded.
What’s next? Now the tattoos are complete, the next step is to get everyone to meet up in a karaoke bar, so a stranger can sing the lyrics off their bodies. Although, now that Starship are touring again they might just attempt to get the band to sing it at one of their gigs!
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