Journey Mapping

A classic rock band that should be the retiring type.

In May 1978, a somewhat naïve young writer from Colorado got a big thrill riding on the tour bus with members of Journey. A hot instrumental outfit since its inception—guitar prodigy Neal Schon, who’d joined Santana at the tender age of 15, formed the band circa 1973—Journey’s instrumental “space rock” virtuosity wasn’t matched with striking vocal work, so the band had looked for a strong lead vocalist to record 1978’s Infinity. Steve Perry then stayed on as “lead mouth,” as he joked. The guys played, honest to God, in a barn with a dirt floor in Casper, Wyoming, and then we drove to Boulder, Colorado, where they opened for the Rolling Stones at Folsom Field the next day. The access yielded a wonderful interview. (And now, it can be told, they had the best pot.)

Journey

The addition of Perry’s soaring vocal style gave Journey a signature sound destined to rule the airwaves in the ’80s and beyond. So I was excited to see the iconic rock band in Palm Springs on the last date of their 50^th anniversary tour two years ago. And it…wasn’t that great. It’s a nice story that the band has taken a huge risk on the completely unknown Arnel Pineda to step into the shoes of Perry—no doubt the guy has the voice—but I thought he’d be better served competing on The Voice than fronting for the masterful Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. Admittedly, most of the crowd found his youthful energy charismatic. Crabby Old Guy here thought he came off like a kid running around a restaurant while his parents ate.

More problematic was witnessing the band’s longtime publicist get ghosted by the new tour manager. I can’t help but think the situation reflected the simmering problems inside the band, a tale of internal dysfunction that continues to this day. Lawsuits between Schon and Cain. Lawsuits filed against promoters. Lawsuits concerning a trademark dispute with Perry. Urgh.

So I’m left with memories of better times…and one of my greatest accomplishments. Piggybacking on the group’s legacy, I managed to get my band, Armed Dwarf, listed as a wrong answer to a Journey question in the RPM edition of the Trivial Pursuit game.

Armed Dwarf

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Paid subscribers can read on for a Journey excerpt, taken from On Record–Vol. 4: 1981, available wherever books are sold!