Interview with Steve at WS
Oct 24, 2005 14:29:34 GMT -5
Post by arden on Oct 24, 2005 14:29:34 GMT -5
chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/cs-051023soxjourney,1,4050974.story?coll=cs-home-headlines
Sox's devotion to song thrills Journey singer
By Fred Mitchell
Tribune staff reporter
October 23, 2005, 11:43 PM CDT
The White Sox have managed to leave most of their devoted fans in a euphoric state this season.
And when the Sox players adopted the 24-year-old "Don't Stop Believin'" as their unofficial theme song this year, it left Steve Perry, former lead singer for Journey, deeply touched.
"This song meant something to them, and it put me in an emotional state that I don't know what to say," said Perry, who was relaxing in his private suite at U.S. Cellular Field before Game 2 of the World Series.
"To see it come back after all of these years … what better honor could I want?" said Perry, who left the group in May 1998.
Scott Reifert, White Sox director of communications, had been trying to reach Perry after Sox players A.J. Pierzynski, Aaron Rowand and Joe Crede heard the song in a Baltimore night spot and decided it fit their team's incredible season.
Perry was thrilled to have an opportunity to meet the players after Saturday night's Game 1 victory over the Houston Astros.
As part of the 1981 Escape Tour, the group Journey also included Neal Schon (lead guitar, vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, vocals), Ross Valory (bass, vocals) and Steve Smith (drums).
The San Francisco 49ers adopted the same theme song during a Super Bowl run with the likes of Joe Montana and Dwight Clark.
"The song is about hope," said Perry, who became a baseball fan four years ago after watching a game in San Francisco.
"I was in a hotel downtown in Detroit and I was not sleeping. At about 2 in the morning I looked out the window. All I saw on the corner were these people creeping around. And that went on for hours. So when we got back together, Jonathan Cain and I started writing material. The song started to make melodic sense and I started remembering streetlight people.
"And I have always been a 'Don't stop believin' guy.' I have lived my life by trying to believe in hope. Because if I don't, I am in big trouble."
Sox's devotion to song thrills Journey singer
By Fred Mitchell
Tribune staff reporter
October 23, 2005, 11:43 PM CDT
The White Sox have managed to leave most of their devoted fans in a euphoric state this season.
And when the Sox players adopted the 24-year-old "Don't Stop Believin'" as their unofficial theme song this year, it left Steve Perry, former lead singer for Journey, deeply touched.
"This song meant something to them, and it put me in an emotional state that I don't know what to say," said Perry, who was relaxing in his private suite at U.S. Cellular Field before Game 2 of the World Series.
"To see it come back after all of these years … what better honor could I want?" said Perry, who left the group in May 1998.
Scott Reifert, White Sox director of communications, had been trying to reach Perry after Sox players A.J. Pierzynski, Aaron Rowand and Joe Crede heard the song in a Baltimore night spot and decided it fit their team's incredible season.
Perry was thrilled to have an opportunity to meet the players after Saturday night's Game 1 victory over the Houston Astros.
As part of the 1981 Escape Tour, the group Journey also included Neal Schon (lead guitar, vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, vocals), Ross Valory (bass, vocals) and Steve Smith (drums).
The San Francisco 49ers adopted the same theme song during a Super Bowl run with the likes of Joe Montana and Dwight Clark.
"The song is about hope," said Perry, who became a baseball fan four years ago after watching a game in San Francisco.
"I was in a hotel downtown in Detroit and I was not sleeping. At about 2 in the morning I looked out the window. All I saw on the corner were these people creeping around. And that went on for hours. So when we got back together, Jonathan Cain and I started writing material. The song started to make melodic sense and I started remembering streetlight people.
"And I have always been a 'Don't stop believin' guy.' I have lived my life by trying to believe in hope. Because if I don't, I am in big trouble."
