Late yesterday, Journey announced that lead singer Jeff Scott Soto was leaving the band, after serving barely a year as the replacement for the last Journey singer, Steve Augeri. The press release states that the group plans to take the rest of 2007 off, but we can’t help but wonder whether this might finally lead to a full-on reunion with Steve Perry. Not only would a “classic line-up” tour be lucrative, but there’s plenty of numerology to support this theory: After the band’s Sopranos cameo, both “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Greatest Hits are at No. 21 on their respective iTunes charts. Add up 2 + 1 and you get 3, which happens to be the number of Journey frontmen since 1977. And if you subtract 1977 from 1949–Perry’s year of birth–you get 28, which is the exact number of times that Perry says “Oh Sherrie” in the song of the same name. Coincidence?
All joking aside, this thing could make a mint. The group could pull millions from a week-long Atlantic City stint alone.
Thanks, David Chase. Thanks alot.*
Also, Steve Augeri wins some sort of Suckiness Sweepstakes for sounding like Steve Perry while having the tresses of Kenny G.
* done in Journey enthusiast-ese
That guy in red…just, no.
They can their lead singer just as they announce they’re taking off the rest of 2007? What, did he demand a retainer or something?
Gimme a minute, I wanna tell a rambly anecdote re: Journey…
Last night, I went to the Lily Allen show at Roseland (verdict: good band, but oy! homegirl needs work - lots). Among the warmup acts was a DJ (DJ Dig in the Crates? something like that) who played a rapid succession of one-minute hooks from massive pop songs. This crowd was young – they naturally gravitated toward Sean Paul or Nina Sky or anything from the last five years, although if the DJ played a totally huge pop song from back in the day, like “Mickey” or “Come on Eileen” or “Don’t You Want Me,” they’d sing along. But much of the pre-2000 music was a mystery to them – at one point the guy threw on Heavy D & the Boyz’s “Now That We Found Love” and the crowd drifted off like he’d put on Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra.
The point of my ramble: what song elicited the loudest response and the biggest singalong? No shit: “Don’t Stop Believin’” - the crowd screamed like Justin Timberlake had just walked onto the stage.
So yeah, point being, a Journey-Perry reunion tour would be huge.
Thank God he didn’t end the show with a Styx song…
This is going to lead down a very bad path. Night Ranger anyone?
I don’t understand the lasting appeal of Journey. When Brad Delp of Boston died a little while back, there wasn’t a huge surge in popularity for them even though “More Than a Feeling” is 100x better than anything Journey ever released.
@dennisobell: “Now That We Found Love” is fucking great.
Unless there is a Journey tour, the younguns will quickly find another lite-rock hit to obsess about for the next 15 minutes. Case in point: shortly after the release of “Almost Famous,” my friend’s teenage daughter and her posse – all of whom were born in the 80s – spent the better part of an evening listening to, and belting out, “Tiny Dancer” ad nauseam.
My last boss was good friends with Steve Perry so he came by our office last summer to hang a bit. He was making fun of the guys for playing the “county fair circuit” and went on about how his era of the band still sold tons of records. He also made fun of Steve Augeri and called him a “cover singer.”
If they do reunite, expect a Van Halen-like ego war!
Man, I’d totally go to a
Fuck. Nevermind. The commenting daemons are clearly opposed to my typing.
I can explain the lasting appeal of Journey…its sincerity. Those guys meant it. Is it cheesy? Incredibly…but it is not the least bit ironic. Every reverb drenched guitar solo and multi-layered vocal track was done because that’s what they liked and thought was good. The lyrics are somewhat universal in their sentiments and, again, sung without a wink and a nod.
I really think people key on sincerity even if the music sounds dated. Irony is fun for a while, but it doesn’t create lasting affection, I don’t think.
@MitchT: Well put.
I guess I’m too young to hate Journey. Idolator has some old-ass readers. I fully understand their distaste for all things Journey. I’m sure once I hit the big 4-0 and every sixteen-year-old around me is singing “This Is How You Remind Me” in a semi-ironic/semi-sincere tone…
…good God. I TOTALLY get it now.
Folks, I seriously think you’re getting this all wrong re: Journey and specifically this song in terms of its appeal. Absolutely *no* mention about how incredibly well-designed and put together it is as a musical piece, or, apologies to Mitch, a half-hearted explanation that their sincerity matters more than what was created. I agree on the ‘they mean it, maaaan’ point but by that account alone Dan Fogelberg should rule the universe.
Chuck Eddy had the definitive take on this song and how it worked, so I won’t repeat it, but just think about how well it works as an audio construction — how it starts, how each band part comes in bit by bit and locks into the song, how it sounds absolutely huge from start to finish but keeps getting bigger as it goes. I think it’s as precise and perfect as, say, any contemporary production by Arthur Baker or Trevor Horn, and it’s probably as much of a reference point on, say, “Purple Rain” (the song) as it is “Lose Yourself,” for instance, and those are just two possible descendants.
Who cares about a Journey reunion tour; I’d just like to see a remake of their video game.
FYI, Dennis, the DJ opening for Lily Allen is Aaron LaCrate, a ripoff artist of the first degree.
@MitchT: Precisely right. But the flipside is that it’s that very sincerity, that universality, that makes them so easy to dismiss. It’s lowest-common-denominator stuff, about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
But, y’know, sometimes a sledgehammer is the right tool for the job. I can’t imagine listening to Journey all the time, but still, as evolved as I like to think I am, when that opening blast of “Any Way You Want It” comes jumping out the speakers at me–man, my heart starts beating faster.
Ned,
Hilarious! In my head, I called “bullshit” on my own theory when I thought of the song “Alone Again, Naturally” and “Run For The Roses” by Fogelberg!! Sincere? Yes. Transcendent? Hardly.
I still think my theory has merit but you are totally correct…it needs to be combined with superior arrangement and song structure, which “Don’t Stop Believin’” has in spades.
@girlhappy:
that song is currently “your love” by the outfield. whether i go to a “hipster” bar or a pub filled with frat boys and sorority girls, i cannot escape that song.
@DanGibson: Thanks for the ID. I did get the sense that he had the easiest disc-jockeying job in history. I mean, I could play one-minute hooks from fat pop hits, too.
Journey always seemed the go-to act for adoration by high school marching band geeks in my era. All that technical prowess…using some Schon to get fired up before the big game etc.
I don’t know what it is(I guess Perry’s voice) but women of every age and background seem to love Journey. This would be a perfect time. They were supposed to tour a few years ago after they put out that crappy album, but Perry wussed out. The way they unceremoniously fired Soto (who’s good friends with Schon) is a big indicator that something is up.
Something’s up, all right – Rock Star: Journey.
Don’t stop auditionin’
Sincerely, if Journey is holding out until 2008 for a reunion tour, I suspect the American pop culture audience will have moved on to ironically enjoying Foreigner by then.
Journey appreciation is a constant, don’t kid yourself.
@brasstax: I suspect what people will “appreciate”, and that which people are willing pay $60 a ticket to see are two drastically different categories.
@DanGibson: Don’t kid yourself. Ticket prices will be considerably north of $60.
Yeah, if Perry rejoins? BIG MONEY ITEM.
@DanGibson: Do you live on one of the coasts? Because I seriously think you might be underestimating a reunited Journey’s draw in the heartland of America.
It’ll make the Police tour seem like the Sebadoh reunion.
@brasstax: Sure, there’s an ready made sales element to any “classic rock” band, especially one with some sort of original members gimmick, but what point would there be to waiting around until next year to delay the inevitable? If Journey had timed Steve Perry’s return to the Sopranos finale, they’d be everywhere for a few weeks. As it stands, in 2008, they’ll likely be on a package tour with Loverboy.
BTW, I live on neither coast.
I’ve always liked Journey; I own their 3 CD box set. That is all.
This interview with their former manager is worth the time.
It’s worth it for that opening graphic, good god!
SJC,
Great link! I love the “inside baseball” interviews that give all the background, unknown dirt about bands…even bands I don’t particularly care about.
…I was under the impression that Steve Perry was subject to a medical condition that prevented him from touring. A hip injury of some sort? Anyway, I definitely appreciate Journey, but I’d be fearful that any reunion would be a letdown. Then again, I’d be happy to have those guys prove me wrong.
Although it’s all agreed it would pull major bank, Mr. Perry made an annoucement on the 21st on his former fan site, Fan Asylum, regarding the rumors that are rampant over the web.
(I’m still holding out for a solo tour tho…with Nuno Bettancourt on guitar — they’ve been writing music together this year).
[www.fanasylum.com]