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Journey (band)
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Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1973. The band has gone through several phases since its inception by former members of Santana. The band's greatest commercial success came in the late 1970s through the early 1980s with a series of power ballads and songs such as "Don't Stop Believing", "Any Way You Want It", "Faithfully", "Open Arms", "Send Her My Love" "Separate Ways", "Wheel in the Sky", "Who's Crying Now", "Stone In Love", "Lights", and "When You Love a Woman." Throughout Journey's three decades of existence they have scored two gold, three platinum, and eight multiplatinum albums, including seven straight multiplatinum albums from 1978-1987.
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Encyclopedia
Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1973. The band has gone through several phases since its inception by former members of Santana. The band's greatest commercial success came in the late 1970s through the early 1980s with a series of power ballads and songs such as "Don't Stop Believing", "Any Way You Want It", "Faithfully", "Open Arms", "Send Her My Love" "Separate Ways", "Wheel in the Sky", "Who's Crying Now", "Stone In Love", "Lights", and "When You Love a Woman." Throughout Journey's three decades of existence they have scored two gold, three platinum, and eight multiplatinum albums, including seven straight multiplatinum albums from 1978-1987. They have had 18 top 40 singles, six of which have reached the top ten on Billboard Hot 100 chart, and their signature song "Don't Stop Believing" is the top selling catalog track in iTunes history, reaching the 2 million mark.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America they have sold 47 million albums in the United States alone, making them the 28th best selling band. Their worldwide sales are nearly 80 million albums. In a 2005 poll by USA Today, Journey was voted the 5th best American rock band in history.
Journey has been eligible for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 2000, but Gregg Rolie is the only current or former member of Journey who has been inducted as a member of parent band Santana. In 2009, Steve Perry, the band's best-known lead vocalist, will be eligible for induction as a solo artist.
History
Formation, 19731976
The original members of Journey came together in San Francisco in 1973 under the auspices of former Santana manager Herbie Herbert. Originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and intended to serve as a backup group for established Bay Area artists, the band included recent Santana alumni Neal Schon on lead guitar and Gregg Rolie on keyboards and lead vocals. Bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner, both of Frumious Bandersnatch, and drummer Prairie Prince of The Tubes rounded out the group. The band quickly abandoned the original "backup group" concept and developed a distinctive jazz-fusion style. After an unsuccessful radio contest to name the group, roadie John Villaneuva suggested the name "Journey." The band's first public appearance came at the Winterland Ballroom on New Years Eve, 1973. Prairie Prince rejoined The Tubes shortly thereafter, and the band hired British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had recently worked with John Lennon and Frank Zappa. On February 5, 1974, the new line-up made their debut at the Great American Music Hall and secured a recording contract with Columbia Records.
Journey released their eponymous first album in 1975, and rhythm guitarist Tickner left the band before they cut their second album, Look into the Future (1976). Neither album achieved significant sales, so Schon, Valory, and Dunbar took singing lessons in an attempt to add vocal harmonies to Rolie's lead. The following year's Next contained shorter tracks with more vocals and featured Schon as lead singer on several of the songs.
New musical direction, 19771980
Journey's album sales did not improve and Columbia Records requested that they change their musical style and add a frontman, with whom keyboardist Gregg Rolie could share lead vocal duties. The band hired Robert Fleischman and transitioned to a more popular style, akin to that of Foreigner and Boston. Journey went on tour with Fleischman in 1977 and together the new incarnation of the band wrote the hit "Wheel in the Sky." But fans were lukewarm to the change, and personality differences resulted in Fleischman being fired within the year.
In the fall of 1977, Journey hired Steve Perry as their new lead singer. Perry added a clean, tenor sound and the band became a true pop act. Their fourth album, Infinity (1978), reached No. 21 on the album charts and gave the band their first RIAA-certified platinum album plus hit singles out of "Lights" and "Wheel In the Sky"."
Drummer Aynsley Dunbar did not get along with singer Steve Perry and did not approve of the new musical direction. He was fired in 1978 and replaced by Berklee-trained jazz drummer Steve Smith. Perry, Schon, Rolie, Smith, and bass player Ross Valory recorded 1979's Evolution, which gave the band their first Billboard Hot 100 Top 20 single, "Lovin,' Touchin,' Squeezin;'" and 1980's Departure, which reached No. 8 on the album charts and included the top-25 hit "Any Way You Want It."
Journey's new-found success brought the band an almost entirely new fan base. During the 1980 Departure world tour, the band recorded a live album, Captured. They also recorded the soundtrack to the film Dream After Dream while in Japan.
Exhausted from extensive touring, keyboardist Gregg Rolie now left a successful band for the second time in his career. Keyboardist Stevie "Keys" Roseman was brought in to record the lone studio track for Captured, "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)," but Rolie recommended pianist Jonathan Cain of The Babys as the permanent replacement. With Cain's replacement of Rolie's Hammond B-3 organ with his own synthesizers, the band was poised for a new decade in which they would achieve their greatest musical success.
Height of popularity, 19811983
Journey released their eighth and biggest-selling studio album, Escape, in 1981. The album, which has thus far sold nine times platinum, went to number one on the album charts that year, and included three top-ten hits: "Who's Crying Now," "Don't Stop Believing," and "Open Arms."
Capitalizing on their success, the band recorded radio commercials for Budweiser and sold rights to their likenesses and music for use in two video games: the Journey arcade game by Bally/Midway and Journey Escape by Data Age for the Atari 2600.
MTV even wanted to participate in Journey's ever growing success by videotaping one of their two sold out shows at the Houston Summit arena in Houston, Texas. The concert was videotaped during the Escape tour on Friday November 6, 1981 in front of over 20,000 fans.
This success was met with piqued criticism. The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide gave each of the band's albums only one star, with Dave Marsh writing that "Journey was a dead end for San Francisco area rock." Marsh later would anoint Escape as one of the worst number-one albums of all time.
Journey's next album, 1983's Frontiers, continued their commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the album charts, selling nearly six million copies. Four hit singles included "Separate Ways," which reached #8, and "Faithfully," which reached #12. By this time Journey had become one of the top touring and recording bands in the world. During the subsequent stadium tour, the band contracted with NFL Films to record a video documentary of their life on the road, Frontiers and Beyond. Scenes from the documentary were shot at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with more than 80,000 fans in attendance.
Break-up, 19841994
After the widely successful Frontiers stadium tour, Journey decided to take some time off. Lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon both pursued solo projects between 1982 and 1985. In 1985 the band released two songs previously intended for Frontiers--Only the Young, on the soundtrack to the movie Vision Quest; and Ask the Lonely, on the soundtrack to the movie Two of a Kind. "Only the Young" managed to nick the top ten, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. When Journey finally returned to record their 1986 album Raised on Radio, bass player Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith were fired from the band for musical and professional differences. Studio musicians handled the two vacant slots, including future American Idol judge Randy Jackson and established session player Larrie Londin. The album went multiplatinum, selling over two million copies. It also produced four top 20 singles, "Be Good to Yourself" #9, "Ill be Alright without you" #14, and "Girl Can't Help It" and "Suzanne," both of which reached #17. The tour featured Jackson on bass and Mike Baird on drums, and was videotaped by MTV and made into a documentary, which included interviews with the current band members and concert footage of the Mountain Aire Festival show in Angels Camp, California. But with Perry unable or unwilling to remain actively involved, the band canceled the rest of the tour and went on an extended, indefinite hiatus in 1987.
Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain teamed up with Cain's ex-Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips, forming Bad English with drummer Deen Castronovo in 1988. Steve Smith started a jazz band, Vital Information, and teamed up with Ross Valory and Gregg Rolie to create The Storm with singer Kevin Chalfant and guitarist Josh Ramos.
In 1988 Columbia records released Journey's greatest hits album, which remains the band's best-selling record. According to the RIAA it has sold 15 million copies in the United States to date. It continues to sell 500,000 to 1,000,000 copies per year, and as of December 2008 was the 6th best selling greatest hits package in the United States.
Reunion, 19951997
Between 1987 and 1995, Columbia Records released three Journey compilations. In October 1993, Kevin Chalfant (of The Storm) performed with Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain at a roast for manager Herbie Herbert. After that, Schon, Cain, Valory, Smith and Rolie briefly considered reuniting the band with Chalfant as lead singer. But in 1995, Steve Perry agreed to a reunion on the condition that they seek new management. Herbie Herbert was fired and The Eagles Manager Irving Azoff retained.
In 1995, Perry, Schon, Cain, Valory, and Smith reunited to record Trial by Fire. Released in 1996, the album included the hit single "When You Love a Woman," which reached #12 on the Billboard charts and was nominated in 1997 for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album also produced two top 40 mainstream rock tracks, "Message of Love" reaching #18 and "Can't Tame the Lion" reaching #33, and one top 40 adult contemporary hit, "If He Should Break Your Heart," at #23.
Plans for a subsequent tour ended when Perry injured his hip hiking in Hawaii in the summer of 1997 and could not perform without hip replacement surgery which he for some time refused to undergo. In 1998, Schon and Cain decided to seek a new lead singer, at which point drummer Steve Smith left the band as well.
Lead singer replaced, 19982006
In 1998, Journey hired drummer Deen Castronovo, Schon's and Cain's Bad English bandmate, and drummer for Hardline, to replace Steve Smith. The lead vocalist position was filled by Steve Augeri, formerly of Tyketto and Tall Stories.
That same year, Journey with Steve Augeri and Deen Castronovo recorded a track for the soundtrack to the movie Armageddon called "Remember Me." The band released their next studio album, Arrival, in Japan in late 2000 and in the United States in 2001. "All the Way" became a minor adult contemporary hit from the album. In 2002, the band released a four-track CD titled "Red 13," with an album cover design chosen through a fan contest. In 2005 the band was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Steve Perry surprised many attendees by showing up for the event. Also in 2005, Journey embarked on their 30th anniversary tour, and released their twelfth full-length studio album, Generations, in which each band member performed lead vocals on at least one song.
Lead singer replaced again, 2006present
In July 2006, Steve Augeri was dropped from the band while they toured with Def Leppard, with the official statement citing a "chronic throat infection." Augeri had been suffering from vocal attrition problems since 2003 and Journey had been using pre-recorded lead vocals. The band hired singer Jeff Scott Soto from Talisman to fill in, and Soto officially replaced Augeri as Journey's lead singer in December 2006. But on June 12, 2007, Journey announced that Soto was no longer the lead singer, and said that they were looking to move in a new direction.
In December 2007, Journey hired Filipino singer Arnel Pineda of the cover band The Zoo after Neal Schon saw him on YouTube singing covers of Journey songs. Journey debuted their new lead singer in February 2008 in Chile, and released the album Revelation that June. Revelation debuted at #5 on the Billboard charts, selling more than 196,000 units in its first two weeks and staying in the top 20 for 6 weeks. Receipts from that summer's tour, featuring Heart and Cheap Trick, made Journey the eighth top grossing concert of the year, bringing in over $745,000. And on December 18, 2008, Revelation was certified platinum by RIAA.
Although Pineda was not the first foreign national to become a member of Journey (former drummer Aynsley Dunbar is British) nor even the first non-white (former bass player Randy Jackson is African-American), the transition was difficult for a number of fans who expressed what Marin Independent Journal writer Paul Liberatore called "an undercurrent of racism." Keyboardist Jonathan Cain responded to such sentiments: "We've become a world band. We're international now. We're not about one color."
Legacy and Influences
Journey continues to be one of the most successful American rock bands of all time. They not only contributed to the success of MTV during its first few months of existence, but also helped to shape American pop music during the 1980s. Often credited as being one of the first bands to invent the "power ballad", they made it acceptable for male rock singers to sing slow love songs. With ballads such as "Open Arms," "Faithfully," "Whos Crying Now," "When You Love a Woman," and "Lights," they help to form the softer side of rock music. Their musical style is unique, using mostly pianos and synthesizers in most songs, along with the identifiable sounds of the air drum, and frequent electric guitar licks. Many of the songs include a guitar solo at the end, highlighting the dose of harder edged rock, mixed with the strong vocals of slower love songs.
Journey was one of the first bands to host coast-to-coast stadium tours which attracted more than 60,000 fans. The production value of the stadium tours raised the stakes for rock concerts. With giant painted scrims covering the speakers and 60-foot video screens on each side of the stage, people could see the band as far as a quarter mile away. Their state-of-the-art computerized lighting system set a new standard for rock concert production. Even other music artists took notice of the elaborate stage designs. The band's production company, Nocturne, rented identical systems to such acts as Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie, and The Police.
Artists that have cited Journey as an influence include Chris Daughtry, The Outfield, Nickelback, Creed, Matchbox Twenty, Tall Stories, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi, Josh Groban, and Shania Twain.
Band members
Current members
- Neal Schon - lead & rhythm guitars, vocals (1973-1987, 1995-present)
- Ross Valory - bass, keyboards, recorder, vocals (1973-1985, 1995-present)
- Jonathan Cain - keyboards, harmonica, guitar, vocals (1980-1987, 1995-present)
- Deen Castronovo - drums, percussion, vocals (1998-present)
- Arnel Pineda - lead vocals (2007-present)
Former members
- Gregg Rolie - keyboards, lead vocals, backing vocals (1973-1980)
- George Tickner - rhythm guitar (1973-1975)
- Prairie Prince - drums, percussion (1973-1974) (touring only)
- Aynsley Dunbar - drums, percussion (1974-1978)
- Robert Fleischman - lead vocals (1977)
- Steve Perry - lead vocals (1977-1998)
- Steve Smith - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1978-1985,1995-1998)
- Stevie Roseman - keyboards (1980) (studio only)
- Randy Jackson - bass, backing vocals (1985-1986)
- Larrie Londin - drums, percussion (1985-1986) (studio only)
- Mike Baird - drums, percussion (1986-1987) (touring only)
- Bob Glaub - bass (1986) (studio only)
- Steve Augeri - lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar on tour (1998-2006)
- Jeff Scott Soto - lead vocals (2006-2007) (touring only)
Film
- In the 1981 movie Heavy Metal, the song "Open Arms" is featured in both the movie and soundtrack.
- In the 1982 movie "The Last American Virgin" the track "Open Arms" is played as the end credits are rolling.
- In the 1982 movie TRON the instrumental "1990s Theme" is played in the background of the arcade. The track "Only Solutions" is played during the end credits.
- In the 1985 movie Vision Quest the song "Only The Young" is played during the end credits and appears on the film's soundtrack. The track was originally recorded for the Frontiers album but did not make the final cut.
- In the 1987 movie White Water Summer the song "Be Good to Yourself" is played during the end credits.
- In the 1987 movie The North Shore the song "Happy to Give" is a recurring romantic theme, and played during the ending credits.
- In the 1998 movie Armageddon , the song "Remember Me" could be heard playing through the radio of a cab.
- In the 1998 movie BASEketball, a Parker and Stone movie, one of the competitors in the game of baseketball, in an attempt to "psyche out" his opponent, is heard singing "And I should've been gone", a line from the Steve Perry song, "Oh Sherrie." Upon his opponent missing his shot, he declares, "Dude, I thought we said no more Journey psyche-outs" (though technically "Oh Sherrie" is a song from Steve Perry's solo career and is not a Journey song). Earlier in the movie, Parker tries to psyche out Stone by saying Steve Perry's name over and over again.
- In the 1998 movie The Wedding Singer, the scene in which Adam Sandler's character, Robbie, is left at the altar features a string ensemble at the wedding playing "Don't Stop Believing".
- In the 2003 film Monster, starring Charlize Theron, who won an Academy Award for her performance, "Don't Stop Believing" was featured.
- In the 2003 movie View from the Top starring Mike Myers and Gwenyth Paltrow, "Don't Stop Believing" is played during the intro and the final scene.
- In the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, "Faithfully" is played in the bar when Susan (actress Amy Adams) convinces Ricky Bobby (actor Will Ferrell) in an impassioned speech to resume his NASCAR stock car racing career. His former assistant, Susan then professes her love for Ricky, and they start to kiss, with Ricky warning the other customers not to watch, "because we're gonna start making animal noises".
- In the 2007 movie The Comebacks the characters sing "Don't Stop Believing" after the quarterback and wide receiver have a fist fight and the coach locks the team in the locker room.
- In the 2007 movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, 'open arms' can be heard playing in the background when Adam Sandler's character is slow dancing with actor Kevin James at the costume party, marking Adam Sandler's second use of Journey material in film.
- In the movie Mr. Woodcock, Sean William Scott's character, John Farley, is wearing a Journey t-shirt while on a jog.
- In the 2008 movie Yes Man "Separate Ways" is played in the beginning of the movie and again in the motorcycle scene.
- In the 2008 movie Bedtime Stories "Don't Stop Believing" is played during one of the stories, and in the end credits, marking Adam Sandler's third use of Journey material in film (and second use of "Don't Stop Believing").
Television
Programs
- "Any Way You Want It" is played when Grampa Simpson is being car-jacked by ladies on The Simpsons Episode Viva Ned Flanders.
- "Wheel in the Sky" was played on a recap segment of the sci-fi show Supernatural
- "Any Way You Want It" is played over the end credits of Simpsons episode Burns Baby Burns (this scene is a parody of the aforementioned Caddyshack scene.)
- Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have used references to the band Journey, Steve Perry, and their music as jokes in animated comedy South Park. Episode 909, "Erection Day," a little girl playing piano in the talent competition begins to sing the opening to "Open Arms," beginning "Lying beside you, here in the dark...," before the show cuts onto another aspect of the plot.
- In the fourth season episode of Family Guy entitled "Don't Make Me Over," Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe sing "Don't stop Believing" with a karaoke machine, which leads to the song being heard throughout the town. The airing of the episode coincided with a spike in iTunes online music sales for the song, placing it in the Top 10 most downloaded tracks for that week and the Top 25 for that month (August 2005). Since then it has remained highly downloaded and is still in the Top 10 most-bought for "Rock Music."
- MTV's Laguna Beach aired a segment featuring the teens singing to "Don't Stop Believing" in 2005.
- In "The Shield" season three episode "Safe", Detective Ronnie Gardocki comments that he was planning to go see Journey in concert when asked by one character as to his evening plans.
- In a third season episode of Scrubs entitled "My Journey," JD mentions to Carla that he knows a great Journey cover band called "The Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin's" and that she should book them to play at her and Turk's wedding reception. He then begins to sing the first verse of "Don't Stop Believing". The episode concludes with the song played in full.
- In the Seinfeld episode "The Old Man" (4th season), Kramer and Newman hand Jerry back his LP's which they unsuccessfully tried to sell. The top album is "Escape"
- In the FOX television series The O.C., one of the characters, Ryan Atwood, claims that Journey is his favorite band. "Open Arms" and "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" are used in a couple of episodes on the show. A Journey poster can be seen on the wall of the character's "pool house" living space.
- On the "Tsst" episode of South Park, Cartman sings a part from "Don't Stop Believing".
- On an episode of Saturday Night Live, "Don't Stop Believing" is played by the studio band. The skit was about a man who loved himself so much, he re-recorded all of his favorite music with his own voice.
- The song "Wheel in the Sky" is played at the end of the second season episode "Bust Out" of the popular HBO drama The Sopranos.
- On an episode of the TV series Yes, Dear, "Don't Stop Believing" is sung by actor Mike O'Malley when his little kid manages to use the toilet instead of diapers.
- Randy Pearson, a fictional character from the 8th season of That '70s Show enjoys listening to Journey. He represented the change between 70s rock music (other characters from the show listened to Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, etc.) and 80s popular rock. In the opening credits to season 8, he was seen banging his head (something most people attribute to metal music, made mainstream in the '80s)
- In the season 10 episode of Stargate SG-1 "Bounty", a request is made at the school reunion for Journey to be played.
- In a third season episode of Soul Food, the character Teri Joseph, visits a therapist; this therapist believes the song "Don't Stop Believing" is good for the soul. At the end of the episode, Teri, fired from her job at her second law firm, gets emotional when "Don't Stop Believing" plays on her car radio.
- In the series finale of The Sopranos, David Chase had "Don't Stop Believing" run over the final scene where Tony picked it from a table jukebox.
- "Don't Stop Believing", "Open Arms", "Only the Young", and "Separate Ways" have all been used by Cold Case in various episodes.
- In an episode of "Still Standing" the character Judy Miller, played by Jami Gertz, can be seen wearing a T-shirt from the Journey album "Frontiers"
- Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' was featured at the end of a "My Name Is Earl" episode. (Earl and Joy's Anniversary, 2008)
- "Separate Ways" was voted #5 on VH1's countdown of the Top 40 Breakup Songs of all time.
- "Any Way You Want it", "Dont Stop Believen", "Open Arms", and "Faithfully have all been featured on Vh1's series The Greatest. "Anyway You Want it" came in at #80 for the top 100 greatest hard rock songs, "Dont Stop Believing" was voted #11 on the 100 greatest songs of the eighties, and "Open Arms was voted #4 and "Faithfully #59 on the top 100 love songs.
- On Vh1's program The Top Ten Male Vocalists, Steve Perry was voted #7.
- On January 27, 2009, during the 255th Episode of American Idol, Jacksonville, Florida auditions, Randy Jackson was featured with Journey in several clips of the Raised on Radio concert. Journey's signature song "Dont Stop Believing" was playing while the various clips of Journey were shown. The segment at first focused in on Steve Perry and then starts to mention Randy Jackson.
Game Shows
- Journey gained new attention in the 2000s due to Randy Jackson, who since his Journey involvement had become a successful recording-industry figure and then an American Idol judge. Film clips of Jackson with the band on tour have appeared on the show, and various contestants on Idol attempted to measure up vocally by singing Journey numbers. The best remembered of these attempts were Clay Aiken's take on "Open Arms" in a key semifinal round of the show (and later in a duet with fellow Idol Kelly Clarkson on their joint concert tour), and Elliott Yamin's praiseworthy performance of the same song in the 2006 semifinal round.
- On December 19, 2008, "What is Journey" was the correct response to the Jeopardy clue "Don't Stop Believing--this 80s rock band found their new lead singer in the Philippines in 2008."
Advertisements
Literature
- In his book I Rant, Therefore I Am, comedian Dennis Miller mentions that, while in the process of buying a house, Journey was at said house for unknown reasons; Steve Perry helped "save [Miller] $3000 by spotting a leak in the water heater."
- In "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto" by Chuck Klosterman, Journey is equated to "Dynasty" in a brief segment in which several bands are compared to television series that would represent them.
- Journey is briefly mentioned in several novels by Luanne Rice
Sports
- "Any Way You Want It" features as the title song for Almost Skateboards first team video Almost Round Three.
- The anthem "Don't Stop Believing" was used by the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox (Perry was invited to the celebration parade in Chicago, where he sang the song with members of the team).
- In 2008, in a tight battle for First Place with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers began to play "Don't Stop Believing" in the middle of the 8th inning at all of their home games.
- Starting in 2008, the Minnesota Twins have used the karaoke version of "Don't Stop Believing" periodically during the 7th inning stretch.
- Steve Brown, a professional yo-yoer, used the song "Faithfully," to his 3rd place routine at the World Yo-yo Contest in 2007.
Music
Video games
Other Appearances
Discography
See also
- Best selling music artists
External links
Official Sites:
Reviews, Interviews, etc.:
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