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Post by arden on Dec 20, 2005 23:28:56 GMT -5
At least he was nice in this one. Must be the Christmas spirit.
<http://www.mercedsearch.com/news/603.html>
A: We'd been out on tour for four, five years, traveling under the most uncomfortable conditions, cramming everybody into two station wagons and driving across the country. We were reaching the end of our rope. We were selling lots of concert tickets but we couldn't sell any records. Our record label as well as our management said, "You need to need to find a frontman and write some radio-friendly material."
Q: And along came Steve Perry.
A: Steve was going to be signed with his own band to CBS, which was our label. Our manager came in one day with a tape of Steve singing and said, "Here's your guy." We didn't argue. It was a great choice. Steve wasn't the kind of vocalist I had envisioned. I was thinking more of a Robert Plant type. But he radically changed Journey into the successful band it became.
Q: You guys were so huge in the '80s. Refresh me on Steve leaving the band and the breakup.
A: We never really broke up. What happened was we put out the "Raised on Radio" record in '86 and went out on tour. We had Randy Jackson from "American Idol" playing bass with us. We got through the first leg of the tour, and Steve just pulled the plug. He said "I'm burned out," and we went on a hiatus that ended up lasting 10 years.
Q: That's a long hiatus! What did you do?
A: Nothing was happening with Journey so I got involved with the band Bad English. We had a couple of successful records but we didn't really see eye-to-eye musically and it fell apart. I played with Paul Rodgers for three years, did a solo thing, solo records, did some production.
Q: And then there was a 10-year reunion with Steve Perry?
A: We did another record with Steve, "Trial By Fire," in '96, and we had our first No. 1 single ever, "When You Love a Woman." But he needed hip replacement surgery and couldn't tour. We had this successful record and we couldn't do anything with it. We waited almost two years. It was very frustrating.
Q: It was gutsy of you guys to regroup with a different singer.
A: We felt we had nothing to lose. If we go out there and people don't like it, they're not going to come. Simple enough.
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Post by gwenied on Dec 21, 2005 8:05:04 GMT -5
The only thing I still don't understand is why they did'nt want to wait for Steve to heal up completely and then go full force( with the real frontman ) its never been the real Journey since !!!!
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Post by perrynow on Dec 21, 2005 8:27:19 GMT -5
They didn't want to wait (they waited 13 months, not two years), because they wanted to ride the momentum provided by TBF and the Grammy nominated song. You know...ride the coat tails of the guy that was STILL getting them radio airplay after all those years. The most bogus thing I read in this interview was that he thinks people at the concert (other than hard core front row geeks) are digging the old pre-Perry stuff. They are ENDURING it, in order to hear the dirty dozen. He still has his blinders on in that respect.
At least he wasn't trashing Perry in THIS interview. He must have had some eggnog beforehand! LOL
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Post by icubud on Dec 21, 2005 8:46:39 GMT -5
I think they believed SP was not actually going to tour. They had 10 years waiting since ROR and they thought he was "using" a sudden ailment to stop a tour. I have always thought since the beginning that they were thinking this way - deceiving them. Which is hilarious considering FTLOSM was occuring and he was enjoying himself.
Obviously they were wrong - and now they have to live with it.
Ironically yesterday while hearing a commercial it dawned on me --- and I know some people will not like this but we each have an opinion --- that the current lineup is very similiar to those who go around to cities:
1. Portraying Elvis and like in Cinti this weekend actually have members of Sweet Inspirations and former band members supporting them.
2. Bands that are tribute bands.
Sorry but I have never been into that stuff.
I want the real thing ;D
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Post by gwenied on Dec 21, 2005 9:18:59 GMT -5
Totally agree....I went to a Journey concert begining of Dec. and all I could think of was" if only Steve Perry was singing " I walked away somewhat I don't know unfullfilled the band sounded good but I'm stuck in a very protective kinda mindset I Love the way he(SP) sounded back then with band .... gwenied
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Post by properry on Dec 21, 2005 13:44:17 GMT -5
It's really sad that that Neal couldn't give Perry the TIME HE NEEDED to make a decision on how to best treat his serious health problem, that was a real poor decision on Neal's part. Now all Neal has left is just a so-so band ( my opinion). ... nothing near as special like it was when Perry was in the band. The MAGIC they ALL made together is lost.
Lori
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Post by perrynow on Dec 22, 2005 11:48:04 GMT -5
What I'd like to see is for them seriously "trim down" the dirty dozen and play mostly Arrival, Red13 and Generations and see what kind of crowds they draw. I think that would quickly change their perspective on how people react during concerts. The majority of those people still go to hear those songs, not pre-Perry "Neal jams" or the newer 2 1/2 CD's they put out as UNJ. I am also amazed at the credit that a "certain segment" of their fans still try to bestow upon their current singer.. He only had writing input on ONE CD so far (in SEVEN YEARS??), and I don't see it making any impact on anyone except a few on their website. Neal's comments about him being accepted by "the fans" is B.S. All he is still doing is "covering" Perry/Journey material and taking credit for it. The fans of Journey still realize that. The fans of today's band don't. There is still the great divide nomatter what spin Neal & Jon put on it. Just because they have sanitized their official site, doesn't mean that all Journey fans have accepted them. They just aren't allowed to be honest.
I look at it this way...every time the real Journey went out on the road in concert , they played music from whatever was their most current release and mixed up a few from the rest of their catalog.. Look how many songs they played from the Escape album during that tour, and the same thing during ROR. Fans were open to new material because Perry could sing just about anything and keep their attention. I can't imagine Neal & Co. could possibly do in a CD to follow up Generations. I certainly didn't buy that thing, but heard it on the net and thought the lack of direction and vocal strength was so obvious. They were all over the board and it was a train wreck, IMO. It is hard not to think of all the great stuff they could have written over the years if they would have showed once ounce of compassion and waited for Steve.
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Post by gwenied on Dec 22, 2005 21:10:58 GMT -5
Like I said when I went to the concert the begining of Dec. the whole room exploded when it was Steve Perry Journey music but as soon as it was Neal&co. it died I to think they should see how the room fills when only the new stuff is played that would be the true test as to want this band can do I also say trim it down to Arrival Red 13 and Gen. and try to live on that !!! and I do emphasize try............. gwenied
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Post by arden on Dec 23, 2005 14:49:45 GMT -5
I think that Steve had every intention of touring. That's why he was in Hawaii hiking to get into shape. Steve was lured back into Journey because that is what the record label wanted. He was out doing FTLOSM and very happy there. They didn't exactly wait around for ten years either. They were all out doing solo projects. No one could make them sit around for ten years twiddling their thumbs. If they weren't doing anything all that time, they have no one but themselves to blame. I think that, unfortunately, Journey has become the ultimate tribute band, and I wouldn't walk across the street to see any tribute band.. I've recently seen posts by one of the Perry impersonaters that made me lose all respect for him. How someone can call what they do a tribute and then publicly disrepect the man they are trying to look, dress and sound like is beyond me. I'd like to see them try and trim down the dirty dozen, too, PN. I think they would really see a huge difference in their audience reaction. It is when they play their post Perry stuff now that everyone makes a beer run. When you listen to the Houston CD, and Steve announces "some new Escape music for ya", the crowd roars!! The first few notes are recognized and people in the crowd are singing along. I think they believed SP was not actually going to tour. They had 10 years waiting since ROR and they thought he was "using" a sudden ailment to stop a tour. I have always thought since the beginning that they were thinking this way - deceiving them. Which is hilarious considering FTLOSM was occuring and he was enjoying himself. Obviously they were wrong - and now they have to live with it. Ironically yesterday while hearing a commercial it dawned on me --- and I know some people will not like this but we each have an opinion --- that the current lineup is very similiar to those who go around to cities: 1. Portraying Elvis and like in Cinti this weekend actually have members of Sweet Inspirations and former band members supporting them. 2. Bands that are tribute bands. Sorry but I have never been into that stuff. I want the real thing ;D |
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