Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco, California with former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases, but its strongest commercial success came in the late 1970s to the early 1980s. During this period, they had hits with a series of power ballads and rock songs, including "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", "Lovin,' Touchin,' Squeezin;'", and "Lights". The group enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s with a major Grammy-nominated hit, "When You Love a Woman." Throughout Journey's three decades of existence, their albums have achieved gold status twice, platinum status three times, multi-platinum plateau eight times, and Diamond one time. These include seven consecutive multi-platinum albums, stretching from 1978 to 1987. They had 18 Top 40 singles, six of which reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their signature song, "Don't Stop Believing", is the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history, at more than two million downloads.[1][2]
History
[edit] Formation, 1973–1976
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[5] suggested the name "Journey."[6] The band's first public appearance came at the Winterland Ballroom on New Year’s 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,[7] 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.
[edit] New musical direction, 1977–1980
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.[8]
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" (#68 U.S.) and "Wheel in the Sky"."[9]
Drummer Aynsley Dunbar did not get along with singer Steve Perry and did not approve of the new musical direction.[10] He was fired in 1978 and replaced by Berklee-trained jazz drummer Steve Smith.[11] 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'" (#16); and 1980's Departure, which reached No. 8 on the album charts and included the top-25 hit "Any Way You Want It."[12]
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),"[13] 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.[14]
[edit] Height of popularity, 1981–1983
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 Cryin' Now", "Don't Stop Believing", and "Open Arms". The latter is Journey's highest-charting single to date, staying at #2 for six consecutive weeks and ranking at #13 on Billboard's 1982 year-end Hot 100.[15]
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 November 6, 1981 in front of over 20,000 fans.[16]
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. The album generated four Top 40 hits, "Separate Ways," which reached #8, "Faithfully," which reached #12, "Send Her My Love", and "After the Fall", both of which reached #23.[17] 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.[5]
[edit] Break-up, 1984–1994
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" reached #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.[11][18] 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), "I'll Be Alright Without You" (#14), "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.[19][20]
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.[21]
In 1991, The band briefly reunited to perform 2 songs; "Faithfully" and "Lights" at the tribute concert for concert promoter Bill Graham. This would later turn out to be the final time Steve Perry would perform live with the band.
[edit] Reunion, 1995–1997
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.[22] After that, Schon, Cain, Valory, Smith and Rolie briefly considered reuniting the band with Chalfant as lead singer.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
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, ranked at #36 on Billboard's 1996 year-end Hot 100,[7] and was nominated in 1997 for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.[23] 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.[24]
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.[25][26] In 1998, Schon and Cain decided to seek a new lead singer, at which point drummer Steve Smith left the band as well.[26]
[edit] Lead singer replaced, 1998–2006
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.
[edit] Lead singer replaced again, 2006–present
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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29]
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,[30][31] 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.[32] Journey also found success on the billboard's adult contemporary chart where the single "After All These Years" spent over 23 weeks, peaking at number 9.[33] Receipts from that summer's tour, featuring Heart and Cheap Trick, made Journey one of the top grossing concert tours of the year, bringing in over $35,000,000.[34] And on December 18, 2008, Revelation was certified platinum by RIAA.[35][36] In 2008 and 2009, Journey recorded concert footage in preparation for a DVD release scheduled for December 2009, and Neal Schon announced that the band was spending 2009 working on a new album due out in 2010 and completing the second leg of the Revelation Tour.[37]
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."[38]
[edit] 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", "Who’s 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.[39]
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 & Garfunkel, David Bowie, and The Police.[40]
[edit] Band members
[edit] Current members
| Member | Instruments | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Cain | Keyboard Guitar Vocals | 1980-present |
| Deen Castronovo | Drums Percussion Vocals | 1998-present |
| Arnel Pineda | Lead vocals | 2007-present |
| Neal Schon | Lead Guitar Rhythm Guitars Vocals | 1973-present |
| Ross Valory | Bass Keyboard Recorder Vocals | 1973-1985 1995-present |
[edit] Former members
| Member | Instrument(s) | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Augeri | Lead Vocals Rhythm Guitar (touring occasionally) | 1998-2006 |
| Mike Baird | Drums (touring only) Percussion (touring only) | 1986-1987 |
| Aynsley Dunbar | Drums Percussion | 1974-1978 |
| Robert Fleischman | Lead Vocals | 1977 |
| Bob Glaub | Bass (studio only) | 1986 |
| Randy Jackson | Bass Backing Vocals | 1985-1987 |
| Larrie Londin | Drums (studio only) Percussion (studio only) | 1985-1986 |
| Steve Perry | Lead Vocals | 1977-1998 |
| Prairie Prince | Drums (touring only) Percussion (touring only) | 1973-1974 |
| Gregg Rolie | Keyboard Harmonica Lead Vocals Backing Vocals | 1973-1980 |
| Stevie Roseman | Keyboard (studio only) | 1980 |
| Steve Smith | Drums Percussion Backing Vocals | 1978-1985 1995-1998 |
| Jeff Scott Soto | Lead Vocals (touring only) | 2006-2007 |
| George Tickner | Rhythm Guitar | 1973-1975 |
2008.
Background information
Origin San Francisco, California, USA
Genres Rock, hard rock, progressive rock
Years active 1973 – 1987, 1995 – present
Labels Columbia, Sony BMG, Sanctuary
Associated acts Santana, The Babys, Steve Perry, Hardline, Bad English, The Storm, Vital Information, The Zoo
Website JourneyMusic.com
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Journey has sold 47 million albums in the United States, making them the 28th best selling band. Their worldwide sales have reached 80 million albums. A USA Today opinion poll in 2005 asked respondents to weigh in on who they thought was the best American rock band in history; Journey came in fifth place.[3][4]
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. Steve Perry, the band's best-known lead vocalist, is eligible for induction as a solo artist as of 2009.
Film
The music of Journey has featured on a number of film soundtracks.
The song "Any Way You Want It" has featured on the soundtracks to the 1981 movie Caddyshack, and the 2003 movie Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. "Open Arms" was used in the 1981 movie Heavy Metal, the song is featured in both the movie and soundtrack and also appeared in the The Last American Virgin the following year.
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. The song "Separate Ways" will appear in the 2010 sequel, Tron Legacy, as well as appearing as the soundtrack in the Jim Carrey film Yes Man.[41]
"Don't Stop Believing" was featured in the Adam Sandler films The Wedding Singer and Bedtime Stories. It was also featured in the film Monster, starring Charlize Theron and the 2003 movie View from the Top, starring Mike Myers and Gwenyth Paltrow.
The 1985 movie Vision Quest, uses the song "Only The Young". It 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 1987, the song "Be Good to Yourself" is played during the end credits of White Water Summer. The same year "Happy to Give" was used as a recurring romantic theme in The North Shore, it was also used during the end credits.
Their song "Separate Ways" was used as a ringtone of main character in "Yes man" movie.
"Who's Crying Now" shows up in the movie Monsters vs. Aliens on the radio station of a high school couple in their car.
"Faithfully" from the "Frontiers" album appears in the movie Talladega Nights when characters Ricky Bobby and Susan are in the diner.
[edit] Television
In the season 4 episode of Family Guy entitled "Don't Make Me Over", Peter, Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe sing "Don't Stop Believing" with a karaoke machine. 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."[citation needed]
A part acapella cover of "Don't Stop Believing" was featured as the closing musical performance in the pilot episode of the Fox musical comedy television series Glee. It was released on iTunes immediately after the broadcast, becoming the week's top downloaded single. Due to both the cast's version and the original spiking in popularity in downloads on iTunes after the episode's broadcast and the song being used during the massive promotional push for the series, it now seems likely that the series will be closely associated with the song for its duration on the air.
In the 8th season of The Simpsons the end of the episode entitled Burns, Baby Burns features the song "Any Way You Want It" as the entire town begins to party in the street in a similar manner to that of the end of the movie Caddyshack.
In Scrubs (TV series), Journey are repeatedly referred to as the favourite band of J.D., and he sings "Don't Stop Believing" in one episode.
Former Journey bass player Randy Jackson served as judge on American Idol from 2001 to the present. Photographs and film clips of Jackson with the band have appeared on the show, and various Idol contestants have competed singing Journey numbers, including Clay Aiken's take on "Open Arms" in a key semifinal round of season 2 and Elliott Yamin's performance of the same song in the 2006 semifinal round. Aiken later sang "Open Arms" with fellow Idol Kelly Clarkson on their joint concert tour. In a season 8 episode, the final contestants performed Don't Stop Believing. On the The X Factor, Daniel Evans sang "Open Arms" on week 5.
Their music has also appeared in a number of television commercials, including "Don't Stop Believing" in a FedEx Kinko's commercial starring Burt Reynolds that aired during Super Bowl XXXIX and "Any Way You Want It" in a AT&T advertisement for Samsung phones.
In drama series The O.C., main character Ryan's favorite band is said to be Journey and the song "Separate Ways, Worlds Apart" is featured as a result of this in one of the episodes during the show's first season.
Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was also used in the eagerly awaited ending of multi-award winning HBO television series The Sopranos. The use of the song sparked mass downloading on iTunes.
The song "wheel in the sky" is featured in the popular series Supernatural.
Many Journey songs are featured in several episodes of cop-show Cold Case: Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) on season 01, episode 20 - "Greed (a.k.a. 'Greed is Good')", Only The Young on season 02, episode 09 - Mind Hunters, Don't Stop Believing on season 02, episode 17 - Schadenfreude, Open Arms on season 04, episode 04 - Baby Blues, and Who's Crying Now? on season 06, episode 06 - The Dealer.
[edit] Broadway
"Don't Stop Believing" is the song used in the finale of the Broadway musical, "Rock of Ages." "Any Way You Want It" also appears in the musical.
[edit] Literature
"Don't Stop Believing" provided a plot device in Dave Eggers' memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.[citation needed]
[edit] Sports
The song "Don't Stop Believing" is a popular anthem used frequently at sporting events and venues. It 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),[citation needed] and by the Minnesota Twins, who used the karaoke version of "Don't Stop Believing" periodically during the 7th inning stretch.[citation needed], similarly at Detroit Red Wings games the DJ will play lines from the song "Don't Stop Believing", where will cut out the music prior to the lyric, "Born and Raised in South Detroit" and the crowd will sing along to it. In 2008, during 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.[citation needed] Outside of the US, the song has also been used as the anthem of the Waterford hurling team in the Irish sport of hurling during the 2008 national hurling championship, this was the first time they reached the final in 45 years of the 125 year history of the Waterford GAA. And in the UK, it is often played at the City of Manchester Stadium at half-time and full-time of Man City's home games due to the lyrics, "Just a City boy" and "Some were born to sing the Blues".[citation needed]
The Detroit Lions would play "Can't Tame the Lion" from Trial by Fire before all home games.[citation needed]
Journey performed during the Super Bowl XLIII pregame show in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009
Several Journey songs have been covered by other artists. The song Don't Stop Believing was covered by Petra Haden on a compilation album called Guilt By Association, and by the European heavy metal group Northern Kings on their 2007 album Reborn. Kanye West used also used the song during his Glow In The Dark tour as a tribute to his late mother Donda West.
Dream Theater's 1995 EP A Change of Seasons features a medley of cover songs as its closing track, one of which is the song "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'". The same year, Mariah Carey featured her cover of Open Arms on the album Daydream, which was a single in some territories. Carey also recorded the song in Spanish.
In 2003, Rise Against released a cover of "Any Way You Want It" on their album Revolutions Per Minute. Judy Torres released a cover of Journey's "Faithfully" as a single CD in late 2005, and Andre Matos recorded a cover of "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" on album Time to Be Free in 2007.
In 2007 the singer Matt Nathanson would sing the song Don't Stop Believing to let the crowd sing along with him.
In 2009, while on tour with Blink 182, Fall Out Boy sang Don't Stop Believing as the final song of their set.
[edit] Video games
In 1982, Journey were the stars of a videogame released for the Atari 2600 entitled Journey Escape. The game was based upon the album Escape.[42] The following year they featured in the arcade game Journey by Bally Midway which was released to coincide with the Frontiers tour.[43]
"Any Way You Want It" is featured as a playable song in the game Rock Band 2, released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2008 and for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.[44] It was also featured as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 3.[45] "Any Way You Want It" is also a playable song for the game Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades on the Nintendo DS.[46]
"Don't Stop Believing" was released as downloadable content in Rock Band on April 2, 2009.[47]
[edit] Discography
Main article: Journey discography
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