Lefsetz on Journey/Azoff Again

[strangegrey]

The original point was that who cares whether or not Lefsetz said 'Filipino' or not. Who the fuck cares!?!?!?

The more you people start trying to find a racial angle in a statement, when there is none, the more you look like whiny bitches with an axe to grind....I guess you people want to look/act more like me...I should be flattered!

Seriously gang. Try, real hard, to ignore the racial aspect to this....irrespective of whether or not you're Filipino or you play one on the internet. The less you draw attention to it, the less you try to bait people with it, the less people will discuss it....and the more people will discuss Arnel based solely on his vocal qualifications and nothing else.

That's the point, isnt it?

[Arkansas]

Not the incredible pipes of their Filipino lead singer, but the PRICE!

Necessary?

Agreed.

Wait a min...of course this is necessary.

A major part of Journey's press kit right now is how they became saviour to a homeless man with kids in a third-world country. And Irving Azoff is behind all that. He doesn't dare simply say 'generic' singer. He must reinforce the uniqueness of the new singer so that people (other than us online) are reminded of the story, or want to know what the story is. And, this also shows diversity to the minorities that ordinarily wouldn't go to a Journey show or buy an album. Azoff is all about marketing. He knows exactly what to say, when to say, & how to say. I mean, he's got us writing about it now, no?

Btw, in the liner notes, NS says something about a 'little Indian guy' singer. Was that necessary?


later~

[Red13JoePa]

What is one of the laws of selling? Have a product worth buying at the right price and people will purchase.

Simple business. Make it, market it, price it.

Ding ding ding.

This guy makes it sound like the price is the ONLY reason, in which case Red13 would've charted, Generations sells @Walmart for 9.99, hell ALL of the Extended Versions packages, at 5.99 would chart.

[separate_wayz]

Not the incredible pipes of their Filipino lead singer, but the PRICE!

Necessary?

Oh for fucks sake.....is it necessary that you be sensitive to it?

Is it necessary you act like a bitter douchebag all the time?

Easy killer, in this regard Filipino is being used as an adjective. Not a slur. C'mon. People talk about my roommate being the "Irish" guy. Do you think that's being insensitive?

Totally makes sense. My former roommate called me an "asshole jerk" -- didn't mean anything by it. That's just how my ex-wife was, so I cut her a break.

She died tragically when the lugnuts came off her vehicle at a high rate of speed. God rest her soul.

[wildone]

7.99 is cool that way if it is shit your not out much ...

[Rhiannon]

Totally makes sense. My former roommate called me an "asshole jerk" -- didn't mean anything by it. That's just how my ex-wife was, so I cut her a break.

She died tragically when the lugnuts came off her vehicle at a high rate of speed. God rest her soul.

That ain't right, dude.

[Don]

Not the incredible pipes of their Filipino lead singer, but the PRICE!

Necessary?

Totally makes sense. My former roommate called me an "asshole jerk" -- didn't mean anything by it. That's just how my ex-wife was, so I cut her a break.

She died tragically when the lugnuts came off her vehicle at a high rate of speed. God rest her soul.

I bet she's a lot quiter now

[strangegrey]

What is one of the laws of selling? Have a product worth buying at the right price and people will purchase.

Simple business. Make it, market it, price it.

Ding ding ding.

This guy makes it sound like the price is the ONLY reason, in which case Red13 would've charted, Generations sells @Walmart for 9.99, hell ALL of the Extended Versions packages, at 5.99 would chart.

Well, I think Leftie is over simplifying this a bit. Let's get real here. Generations had serious problems with it. You had 4 lead singers on the album, and only one of them should have been singing at all. The way I saw that, is that it was a band that didn't (sadly) stand united behind their singer. Combine that with some substandard tunes, poor promotion, (at times) iffy production...and you get the reason why Generations sold what it sold.

Compare that with Relevations, which has *one* singer, clearly out front and the rest of the band firmly planted behind him. First and foremost, better songs...(at times) better production...and a SHITLOAD more promotion. (Can anyone remember whether or not Journey did the CBS show, Ellen or any other similarly styled promotion in support of Gens?? I cant!)


But I think first and foremost, songs have to be there. Dead13 had 1 ok song, and 3 shitty songs....

Also, the beta for a price variable in a sales model changes with the economy. The value and importance of price in the sales of an album changes depending on how people value the money they're making. I will submit that, today, price is more important in the sales of a CD, than it was, say 4 years ago.

[Red13JoePa]

Well there you go then.
You're talking about the mass appeal or lack thereof of those low-priced releases wherea this guy says it's all about price period.

Why does this guy have a boner for Revelation anyway?

[Don]

A blank cd used to cost around 50 cents, now it's less then a penny, Plastic cases have gone to card board. Manufactoring costs have dropped 75% from the 80's and server costs to host the digital downloads even more so. It's not gonna kill these guy's to lower the price. A lot of companies would kill to have the profit margins these guy's have. They might have to go from a castle to a mansion but they're still making money despite all the crying they do. There is always going to be a fair amount of people that won't torrent the stuff so the money pit won't go away, they just have to stop being so greedy. 10 years of 10 dollar sales is a lot better the 3 years of 15 dollar sales.

[BobbyinTN]

I think describing Arnel as Filipino is fine. If nothing else it gives young Filipino kids the hope to achieve great things themselves and creates pride among his people. That's all positive. However, I am Polly-Anna-ish anyway, so that's just my opinion. LOL

[Don]

I think describing Arnel as Filipino is fine. If nothing else it gives young Filipino kids the hope to achieve great things themselves and creates pride among his people. That's all positive. However, I am Polly-Anna-ish anyway, so that's just my opinion. LOL

Nothing wrong with that, a possible alternative is to live a cold, heartless life full of bittterness and spite without hope, and in the end die alone in a dark, empty room in silent agony.

[Rhiannon]

Nothing wrong with that, a possible alternative is to live a cold, heartless life full of bittterness and spite without hope, and in the end die alone in a dark, empty room in silent agony.

You're just a big ol' ball of sunshine, aren't ya?

[Don]

Nothing wrong with that, a possible alternative is to live a cold, heartless life full of bittterness and spite without hope, and in the end die alone in a dark, empty room in silent agony.

You're just a big ol' ball of sunshine, aren't ya?

No, my Boss is the Sunshine. I'm just the little black cloud that keeps her in check. Even now she is throwing her radiant beams of light upon my desk as I type these very words ( so back to work I go ):D

[Maui Tom]

You think if The Zoo hired Rhi's roomie it would be not cool to say....

come out and see The Zoo with it's new Irish singer?

[AlienC]

I threw a Journey cassette away.

The publicity firm we used for W.A.S.P. also repped Journey. The girl who wrote the bio had just graduated from USC and was proud of this. She gave me "Frontiers".

I gave it a spin. And then tossed it. Because I didn't want anybody to see it.

Our collections used to be representations of ourselves. They were built over years, they evidenced our passion and interests. Sure, at first Journey was a Santana splinter band. But then they became schmaltzy, playing to a broad audience that I was not a member of. I wanted nothing to do with them.

But I enjoyed hearing "Wheel In The Sky" on FM radio every Saturday night. And "Lights". I told myself it was all right to like these two tracks. Every band cut a couple of good ones. But "Separate Ways"?

So how I explain getting hooked on Steve Perry's solo work, I'll never know. But I'd NEVER delete "Oh Sherrie" from my iTunes library. This is RELIGIOUS music. What with the big organ intro and Steve singing like the star of a choir...

"I should have been gone!"

And then he was. Eventually Irving got Steve back with the rest of the boys, but claiming health problems, Steve begged off the tour. And without a tour, the Kevin Shirley produced album never caught fire. I didn't love it. But this was back when the tour was still an ad for the record, before the album became the ad for the TOUR!

Then a funny thing happened. Journey went on to do boffo at the b.o. WITHOUT Steve Perry. Huh? Who didn't get the memo? Nobody wants to see Zeppelin without Robert Plant, why do they want to see this hackneyed eighties band without its one true star?

Then that guy lost his voice. And was replaced by another. And eventually, following Judas Priest's lead, they signed up a soundalike, from the Philippines, if you can believe that.

That's just how bad people want to hear Journey music. That's just how much they want to believe.

You see Journey fans have never stopped believin'. And there's a fuck of a lot of them. Who were ignored, consigned to their own special backwater, until the finale of the "Sopranos". When suddenly all was forgiven. Seemed like suddenly EVERYBODY liked Journey. Kids not even born in their heyday were hooked. And as a result of ALL this, and a cheap price, the newly-constituted band even sold a package at Wal-Mart. DECENTLY!

But it's still not the real Journey.

And I thought I still didn't care until I heard "Stone In Love" on XM two days ago.

I can't like "Stone In Love" TOO! That's too many Journey tracks. Could I be becoming a fan?

And you know what a fan wants to do... SEE THE BAND LIVE!

But I don't want to see the ersatz Journey, but the real thing, the Steve Perry Journey!

Does Steve talk to Neal? Is there still bad blood? If Irving couldn't broker a tour way back when, what are the odds now?

But now it's different. Because of the collective consciousness. Because of the DEMAND!

That's what we want. A Journey STADIUM TOUR!

Face it, they're the only band that can do it. Sure, you pay a couple of hundred bucks to be up close. But up in the rafters, er, the upper deck, tickets go for way under $100. And no one complains about being far away, because with Journey it was never about the band, but the MUSIC! People want to go to feel the music, they want to go to SING ALONG!

The time has finally come. This is what America needs, to take its mind off the economic doldrums, to bring us together in a way no politician can, A JOURNEY STADIUM TOUR!

And you know it will sell every single ticket.

It will be 1982 all over again. Is that such a bad thing?



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Verrrry Interesting....

[perryfaithful]

[Saint John]

he's the lead singer..

he DOES have incredible pipes..

and...he's Filipino...

what's the big deal?

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

[Rick]

he's the lead singer..

he DOES have incredible pipes..

and...he's Filipino...

what's the big deal?

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

Not sure she'll remember her post freshly as it was posted in July.

[Rhiannon]

You think if The Zoo hired Rhi's roomie it would be not cool to say....

come out and see The Zoo with it's new Irish singer?

That would NOT be cool.

He's Northern Irish.

[Don]

You think if The Zoo hired Rhi's roomie it would be not cool to say....

come out and see The Zoo with it's new Irish singer?

That would NOT be cool.

He's Northern Irish.

Does he like Irish car bombs?

[StoneCold]

Leftnutz may be on Azoff's payroll for all we know. He mentions Journey enough even if its bassackwards.

Yeah, price is the reason it sells. I pass dollar cd bins and leave'em there.

Crap is crap at any price (see SG Generations review above).

[Maui Tom]

You think if The Zoo hired Rhi's roomie it would be not cool to say....

come out and see The Zoo with it's new Irish singer?

That would NOT be cool.

He's Northern Irish.

That fake fur?

[DrFU]

he's the lead singer..

he DOES have incredible pipes..

and...he's Filipino...

what's the big deal?

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

Not sure she'll remember her post freshly as it was posted in July.

WTF? Things so boring around here that we're digging up shit from July?

And don't mess w/ me St. John; I teach this stuff. I can send you a syllabus w/ a reading list. Has queer theory on it, too. And feminism.

[Arianddu]

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

Not sure she'll remember her post freshly as it was posted in July.

WTF? Things so boring around here that we're digging up shit from July?

And don't mess w/ me St. John; I teach this stuff. I can send you a syllabus w/ a reading list. Has queer theory on it, too. And feminism.

Ooo, doncha know thems dirty words?

(I suddenly feel the need to add a photo of Trotsky to my sig line... except I suspect no one here I feel like baiting would recognise who the hell he is!)

[Lula]

You think if The Zoo hired Rhi's roomie it would be not cool to say....

come out and see The Zoo with it's new Irish singer?

That would NOT be cool.

He's Northern Irish.

Does he like Irish car bombs?

i do! i absolutely love them!!!

[DrFU]

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

Not sure she'll remember her post freshly as it was posted in July.

WTF? Things so boring around here that we're digging up shit from July?

And don't mess w/ me St. John; I teach this stuff. I can send you a syllabus w/ a reading list. Has queer theory on it, too. And feminism.

Ooo, doncha know thems dirty words?

(I suddenly feel the need to add a photo of Trotsky to my sig line... except I suspect no one here I feel like baiting would recognise who the hell he is!)

Foucault, anyone?

[Don]

Bleeding heart, tree hugging, sandal wearing liberal wading in here...

(okay maybe not the sandals, a girl's gotta have good shoes)

The problem is that it's a gratuitous race (or nationality, in this case) marker. People who fit the standard social construction don't get their race/gender/whatever mentioned, and those who depart from the norm are marked by the adjectives. SP would never be the white, male, US singer with incredible pipes because all that is assumed. It's subtle, but it's considered racism, or, more accurately, xenophobia.

Racism??? Xenophobia??? You're out of your fucking tree, Fu Fu (pun intended).

Not sure she'll remember her post freshly as it was posted in July.

WTF? Things so boring around here that we're digging up shit from July?

And don't mess w/ me St. John; I teach this stuff. I can send you a syllabus w/ a reading list. Has queer theory on it, too. And feminism.

Ooo, doncha know thems dirty words?

(I suddenly feel the need to add a photo of Trotsky to my sig line... except I suspect no one here I feel like baiting would recognise who the hell he is!)

Foucault, anyone?

OOH, BURN

[jrnyjetster]

Cume: 308,777

I'm assuming this means units sold so far? How can that figure be right? I thought it was already Platinum, which means it should be over 500,00 units sold.
500K X 2 CDs = PLATINUM

[Don]

Cume: 308,777

I'm assuming this means units sold so far? How can that figure be right? I thought it was already Platinum, which means it should be over 500,00 units sold.
500K X 2 CDs = PLATINUM

Andrew's post was made in July.