Journey, named in a contest
on a free-format radio station in San Francisco KSAN in 1973, was comprised
of veterans of of the Bay Area music scene. Neal Schon, the one member
who continued to play in the band throughout it's history, had played with
Santana in the early 70s. He was joined by Zappa veteran Aynsley Dunbar
on drums, Ross Valory, fellow Sanata survivor Gregg Rolie on keyboards
and vocals and guitarist George Tickner. This lineup put our several minor
hit records of largely instrumental jazz inflected rock, with the departure
of Tickner after the release of the first.
Steve Perry was hired to
front the band in 1977, and the resulting album released the following
year created a stir, selling platinum by the end of that year. The momentum
continued to grow over the next couple of years and releases, accompanied
by regular changes in personnel. Dunbar was replaced by Steve Smith and
Rolie's shoes were filled by Jonathan Cain.
Journey reached their peak
and broke into the big time with the release of Escape containing the chart
toppers "Who's Crying Now", "Don't Stop Believing" and "Open Arms." Escape
eventually would sell over seven million copies by the end of the eighties.
Following the release of
several more successful albums, including "Frontiers" and "Raised On Radio,"
Journey broke up.
After a hiatus, during which
Perry took a break from performing and the others participated in a number
of minor side projects, Journey reformed in 1996. The release of the popular
Trial By Fire that fall marked Journey's first new recording in ten years.
May 98 update:
Singer Steve Perry has announced
that he is officially leaving Journey. The split comes in the wake of a
January 1998 conversation between Perry and Journey keyboardist Jonathan
Cain in which it was decided that, if Perry's health issues prohibited
him from committing to a tour at that time, Cain and original Journey guitarist
Neil Schon would reform the band with a new singer. Drummer Steve Smith
has also left Journey.
Perry became the lead singer
of Journey in 1979 and, over the past two decades, sang on the group's
ten platinum-plus albums including the 1996 Trial By Fire CD. Journey,
with Steve Perry as vocalist, has sold more than 45 million records worldwide.
Steve Perry has recently worked with David Foster and Carole Bayer-Sager
in writing and recording "I Stand Alone," the principle track for the soundtrack
to the animated feature film Quest For Camelot.
Journey is currently comprised
of new lead singer Steve Augeri (formerly of Tall Stories), original guitarist
Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, keyboardist Jonathan Cain (a 1981 addition),
and new drummer Dean Castranova (formerly of Bad English, an 80's "supergroup"
which also featured Schon and Cain). The new Journey lineup has already
recorded "Remember Me," a track for the soundtrack to the upcoming summer
blockbuster film Armageddon; "Remember Me" was written by Neal Schon and
Jack Blades and was produced by Kevin Shirley (who also produced Trial
By Fire). The Armageddon soundtrack was released by Columbia Records on
June 30, 1998.
