From 1981 to 1986 the biggest band in America was Journey. This band from “the city by the bay” sold more than 30 million records in that short time. Millions of people have seen them perform live over years of nearly endless touring to this day. Journey songs became the soundtrack for a whole generation of fans “raised on radio” and for new generations of fans of TV shows like The Sopranos and Glee. It’s hard to imagine anyone who has grown up in America over the last 40 years who has not been touched in some way by the music of Journey.
The musical Journey began in 1973 with two former members of Santana, Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, looking to form an ambitious musical outfit to perform rock fusion and rule the live music circuit. There would be multiple member changes, but none more important than the addition of singer Steve Perry. In Part 1 episode, Gregg, Neal and Steve speak with IN THE STUDIO producer and host Redbeard about the early incarnation of the band and the breakthrough success of their 1978 fourth album, Infinity.
“The real idea behind the band was ‘Let’s go play live’. We used to knock people out. In fact as (Journey’s manager) Herbie Herbert put it, we sold more tickets than we did records then. People would come to see the band for the instrumentation and energy of it . It wasn’t following suit with anything else on the radio.” - Gregg Rolie
“Everybody’s feeling at the time was, ‘Look, we’re all starving to death’, you know? And it’s time we gotta make a living at this or I was going to have to get a job selling ladies shoes or something. I wanted to play music and make a living at it.” - Neal Schon
“I had no idea what I was in for. I really didn’tt realize what a real workhorse this band was until I’d say 178 shows later, that same tour, non stop. But I gotta tell you, I wouldn’t change one thing.” - Steve Perry
