1989-Now? What Has Gone On?

[Red13JoePa]

Somebody who knows please bring me up to speed. After Too Hot in '88 there was to my recollection a breakup followed by Jamo resurrecting Survivor at some point the the early-mid 90s and Sullivan Peterik doing the same with Bickler around the same time....Could be wrong. Lawsuits ensued with I think Jamo having to stop using the name.

I have a boot of Jamo-fronted Survivor in '95 where he makes an allusion to "Jeff Miller on guitar (?)," then Bickler left the other survivor, jamo went back and the band became one again?
I'm really cloudy on it and want to know. Somebody take me from '89 to how we got to where they are today.

[Barbie]

From what I've read:

When FS and JP decided to take a hiatus from Survivor in 89 or so, JJ wanted to continue so he got his own band around that time. Then in 1993, FS and JP decided to start up again and brought DB back. Both bands toured and played in the 90's and with the lawsuit, FS won the rights to the band name, in 99 I think. In 2000, DB was gone again, why I don't know, and JJ was invited back to join FS and JP and that continues to this day.

I can't promise that all this is correct. It's just what I've read.

[survivorfan2005]

Dave left the band first off due to medical reasons and then he returned in 1993 because Jimi wanted to go solo for a while and that's around the time that the ORIGINAL "FIRE MAKES STEEL" album was created but never released (it does exist, i have it and it is great!) and 2 songs "Seconds Away" and "Fire Makes Steel" will be on the newest cd with jimi's vocals (Daves were really good though).

Then, Bickler left the band again for unknown reasons causing a disbanding of the band untill 1997 when Jimi returned to the band and Jim Peterik was replaced by Barry. In 1999 Jimi finally released his last solo album entitled "Empires" and Survivor has been touring across the world untill this point were they are now in the studio putting the final vocals on their newest cd since 1993 due out in Feb. and perhaps it is going to be the best. As for Dave, he is doing the commercials for budweiser's "Real Men of Genious" which are really funny :p)

you can read some more in the interview with Jim Peterik here
http://www.melodicrock.com/interviews/jimpeterik.html

Hope that helps!

[jimmy19029]

Barbie hit it right on the head. That's pretty much the short version of what happened in a nutshell.
It looks like Peterik and Sullivan didn't want to continue Survivor after 1989. Jamison did but was not able to use the name since the other two owned it. He put out his first solo record in 1991 and began to tour. Promoters would sometimes bill him as Jimi Jamison and Survivor or just plain Survivor. And that first solo album was eventually re-released as Jimi Jamison Survivor. All of this didn't sit too well with Peterik and Sullivan and legal action was taken. In one of his interviews in the 90s, Jamison said that Sullivan had even joined him for a few shows in his(Jimi's) band around 1992.
In 1993 Peterik, Sullivan and Bickler reunited as Survivor and began to tour again putting out a Greatest Hits pack with a few new tracks. Bill Syniar was on bass and Kyle Woodring was on drums. These two had also toured with the group during the final year(1988-89) Syniar left by '94 and was replaced, I believe, by Klem Hayes then Billy Ozello. Peterik decided to leave in July 1996 and Chris Grove took over on keys. At that same time, Stephen Ellis and Marc Droubay returned. Ellis left again in early '99.
As Barbie pointed out, Sullivan won the injuction to stop Jamison from using the Survivor name in 1999. THEN, in a surprise move, Jamison and Sullivan mended fences and Jamison rejoined Survivor at the beginning of 2000!
Basswise, Randy Riley replaced Billy Ozello in 2003 and, as of mid 2005, Barry Dunaway is now handling bass duties.
WHEW! I think I got that all right.

[Red13JoePa]

So the show I have in '95 with Jamo on vox defienately does not feature Frankie and Peterik....?

[Barbie]

That's a big 10-4 !!!

[jimmy19029]

Righto, it seems as if Peterik and Sullivan lost their initial case to stop Jimi from touring with the Surivor name which is why he was able to continue to do so.

[ForceInfinity]

Yeah, Jimi Jamison came through Dayton Ohio way back and was billed as Survivor featuring Jimi Jamison...

I remember some of the set. He opened with Caught in the Game and had an interesting take on Burning Heart. During that song when the hit the transitition... where the lyrics goes "Does the crowd understand, is it east vs west" etc...he and the bass player I think were trading vocals and it sounded really cool. Back at that time, his vocals sounded fine and he didn't abuse it quite the way he does in concerts these days. (He really punishes the voice with some of the flourishes he does these days)

[Red13JoePa]

Yeah, Jimi Jamison came through Dayton Ohio way back and was billed as Survivor featuring Jimi Jamison...

I remember some of the set. He opened with Caught in the Game and had an interesting take on Burning Heart. During that song when the hit the transitition... where the lyrics goes "Does the crowd understand, is it east vs west" etc...he and the bass player I think were trading vocals and it sounded really cool. Back at that time, his vocals sounded fine and he didn't abuse it quite the way he does in concerts these days. (He really punishes the voice with some of the flourishes he does these days)

Yep, have that Jimi's Srvr arrangement of Burning Heart. Really good, actually. Odd that when he was touring as Jimi's Srvr he was opening w/ Caught In The Game from era Dave.

[silvergirl66]

Hey Red, I find it odd to hear JJ sing Eye, it's just not his song! Anyway, check out this! Its amazing the things you find on the web.

caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/7th/022058p.pdf

[Journey/Survivor]

Yeah, Jimi Jamison came through Dayton Ohio way back and was billed as Survivor featuring Jimi Jamison...

I remember some of the set. He opened with Caught in the Game and had an interesting take on Burning Heart. During that song when the hit the transitition... where the lyrics goes "Does the crowd understand, is it east vs west" etc...he and the bass player I think were trading vocals and it sounded really cool. Back at that time, his vocals sounded fine and he didn't abuse it quite the way he does in concerts these days. (He really punishes the voice with some of the flourishes he does these days)

Interestingly that was the very first time I ever met Jimi Jamison at that very show in May of 1993.

Me and some friends of mine drove all the way from Cleveland to Dayton, and when my one friend told drummer Bill Marshall that we had driven all that way he asked us if we wanted to meet Jimi. So he took us out to the tour bus before the show, and then again after the show. A couple of weeks later he was playing in Cleveland and he invited us backstage again (which was actually a section of the venue up above that was closed off for the band to use) and we got to hang out with him and his band for a long time. Then he played Cleveland again a few months later, and after that show he gave us backstage passes. so over the years every time he was in Ohio we would go see him and his band and hang out with them after the show. He has given me an open invitation to stop by his house if I'm ever in Memphis.