How did SMFP/Journey do it...

[TRAGChick]

....back in the day?

Hey, all.....
I trust you-all are well (read, "recovered" ) from your Fourth.....

But, in all seriousness....I'd really like to know....

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

[Jana]

....back in the day?

Hey, all.....
I trust you-all are well (read, "recovered" ) from your Fourth.....

But, in all seriousness....I'd really like to know....

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

From what I've read Journey pre Perry had a label, the three albums under their belt with prog rock, and toured and toured and toured and had a following, but just not radio success. They were told to get a lead singer and write more radio friendly music or be dropped. They brought on Perry, after Fleischman, and released their first album. They were always on a label.

[Onestepper]

....back in the day?

Hey, all.....
I trust you-all are well (read, "recovered" ) from your Fourth.....

But, in all seriousness....I'd really like to know....

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

From what I've read Journey pre Perry had a label, the three albums under their belt with prog rock, and toured and toured and toured and had a following, but just not radio success. They were told to get a lead singer and write more radio friendly music or be dropped. They brought on Perry, after Fleischman, and released their first album. They were always on a label.

Yeah, and HH worked like a dog to keep CBS from dropping them even after Perry joined. There is an interesting tid bit about on HH's Sy Klopps website.

First, some background: The first Journey album had sold over 150,000 copies and was still selling. The second album had sold upwards of a quarter of a million and continued to sell. When the third album sold "only" 100,000 units the label balked. In an era when disco was king, the execs decided it wasn't going to be worth it to support the band. Even though Herbie had put Journey through a successful world tour the band was told by CBS it would be dropped. Anybody else would have frantically cut their losses. Herbie turned the situation to his favor. He convinced the label not to give up on the band. The label agreed but insisted that Journey use Roy Thomas Baker to produce the new record. Herbie agreed on the condition of a rise in Journey's royalty rate. The deal was struck. Herbie found and hired a new singer for the band, someone who could act as a focal point and provide a little heart-throb star appeal along with heart-wrenching vocal skills.

Herbie was going to save Journey's future and save his own at the same time. One more swing at the bat was all he asked. Miracles were needed. Walking on water, quacking like a duck and spinning flip-flops had only approximated the wild gesticulations necessary for the label to cough up resources to record "Infinity." Would the record sell? Herbie wasn't going to take any chances. He redoubled his efforts. CBS was smugly certain that Journey would never have a hit. It wouldn't matter what Herbie did. And since, according to the label people, nothing was going to work, Herbie decided to make it happen. He got every A list promoter in the country to agree to headline Journey coast-to-coast and border-to-border at theatres. He did massive point of purchase merchandising, sensing it was where Journey's captive target demographic would be found. He knew there would be no big ticket, mass media advertising by the label. Instead, Herbie went into record stores and worked employees with merchandise and free tickets. Tickets were big currency and front row seats for Journey could get a lot of things done. He created and rallied a frantic and effective Journey fan club. He put Journey's music in airports, on airplanes, in elevators and in shopping malls, anywhere that would increase the public's familiarity with the band's songs. Herbie insisted on high-visibility graphics. Journey toured and toured and toured. For 121 days, starting on March 1st, 1978 in Racine, WI, the so-called DOA tour with Montrose and Van Halen pounded throughout North America. No opportunity to turn even a slight profit was ignored. Every living, breathing lead offering any possibility of increasing Journey's market share was chased down.

[Jana]

....back in the day?

Hey, all.....
I trust you-all are well (read, "recovered" ) from your Fourth.....

But, in all seriousness....I'd really like to know....

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

From what I've read Journey pre Perry had a label, the three albums under their belt with prog rock, and toured and toured and toured and had a following, but just not radio success. They were told to get a lead singer and write more radio friendly music or be dropped. They brought on Perry, after Fleischman, and released their first album. They were always on a label.

Yeah, and HH worked like a dog to keep CBS from dropping them even after Perry joined. There is an interesting tid bit about on HH's Sy Klopps website.

First, some background: The first Journey album had sold over 150,000 copies and was still selling. The second album had sold upwards of a quarter of a million and continued to sell. When the third album sold "only" 100,000 units the label balked. In an era when disco was king, the execs decided it wasn't going to be worth it to support the band. Even though Herbie had put Journey through a successful world tour the band was told by CBS it would be dropped. Anybody else would have frantically cut their losses. Herbie turned the situation to his favor. He convinced the label not to give up on the band. The label agreed but insisted that Journey use Roy Thomas Baker to produce the new record. Herbie agreed on the condition of a rise in Journey's royalty rate. The deal was struck. Herbie found and hired a new singer for the band, someone who could act as a focal point and provide a little heart-throb star appeal along with heart-wrenching vocal skills.

Herbie was going to save Journey's future and save his own at the same time. One more swing at the bat was all he asked. Miracles were needed. Walking on water, quacking like a duck and spinning flip-flops had only approximated the wild gesticulations necessary for the label to cough up resources to record "Infinity." Would the record sell? Herbie wasn't going to take any chances. He redoubled his efforts. CBS was smugly certain that Journey would never have a hit. It wouldn't matter what Herbie did. And since, according to the label people, nothing was going to work, Herbie decided to make it happen. He got every A list promoter in the country to agree to headline Journey coast-to-coast and border-to-border at theatres. He did massive point of purchase merchandising, sensing it was where Journey's captive target demographic would be found. He knew there would be no big ticket, mass media advertising by the label. Instead, Herbie went into record stores and worked employees with merchandise and free tickets. Tickets were big currency and front row seats for Journey could get a lot of things done. He created and rallied a frantic and effective Journey fan club. He put Journey's music in airports, on airplanes, in elevators and in shopping malls, anywhere that would increase the public's familiarity with the band's songs. Herbie insisted on high-visibility graphics. Journey toured and toured and toured. For 121 days, starting on March 1st, 1978 in Racine, WI, the so-called DOA tour with Montrose and Van Halen pounded throughout North America. No opportunity to turn even a slight profit was ignored. Every living, breathing lead offering any possibility of increasing Journey's market share was chased down.

Herbie's the man.

[steveo777]

So, technically, who owns Journey and the catalog? Who runs the show and decides when they work and if they work, or when they ultimately call it a day? Neal? Jon? Assoff?
I'm thinking back when there was Bad English and there really wasn't Journey. Who had the rights to it then? The band was dead then as I understand. Who's decision was it to bring it back? I understand that Cain Ross and Neal discussed it, but did they summon Perry to reunite or was it the record label?

[Rick]

So, technically, who owns Journey and the catalog? Who runs the show and decides when they work and if they work, or when they ultimately call it a day? Neal? Jon? Assoff?
I'm thinking back when there was Bad English and there really wasn't Journey. Who had the rights to it then? The band was dead then as I understand. Who's decision was it to bring it back? I understand that Cain Ross and Neal discussed it, but did they summon Perry to reunite or was it the record label?

As far as I know, Sony owns the catalog. Azoff manages them.

Neal and Jon were going to reform Journey with Kevin Chalfant, and all of a sudden, Perry calls and wants to go back to work. The result of that was Trial By Fire.

[Don]

Sony is the first place producers go when they want to use a Journey song for a commercial or Movie. All Itune downloads for Journey songs used in movie soundtracks link back to Journey's Greatest Hits, which is Sony's property.

[Carlitto H@kk]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

[Rick]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

[Carlitto H@kk]

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Thanks Rick... It feels good to be back in here
every once in a while w/all you degenerates

BTW, no "inner loon" here...
Been a Die-Hard SMFP fan since forever
and, well, I guess it's about time I just
quiut trying to hide the man-crush I have on the guy

[steveo777]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Almost everyone has an SMFP inner loon. The degree of affliction is what varies.

[texafana]

....back in the day?

Hey, all.....
I trust you-all are well (read, "recovered" ) from your Fourth.....

But, in all seriousness....I'd really like to know....

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

You're forgetting something in your quest to find out why / how they made their mark:

The band was great and the lead singer could sing his ass off.

[annpea]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

, welcome home !!

[portland]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Almost everyone has an SMFP inner loon. The degree of affliction is what varies.

Even you????? I am going to mark my calendar - Hell has froze over twice today

[alesson]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Almost everyone has an SMFP inner loon. The degree of affliction is what varies.

Even you????? I am going to mark my calendar - Hell has froze over twice today

Sign of SPocalypse.. We have the 2 signs now..waiting for the next 5...

= without warning like a thief of the night..

The second coming of SMFP is now evident..

Now...where is that God damned new album?

[sniper16]

a few points not fact
1 even though journey was in moth balls, they disolved thier assets, but im sure neal or the group as a whole retained its rights,
2. unless they sold thier publishing, the songwriters retained song writes, sony would not own them.

[portland]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Almost everyone has an SMFP inner loon. The degree of affliction is what varies.

Even you????? I am going to mark my calendar - Hell has froze over twice today

Sign of SPocalypse.. We have the 2 signs now..waiting for the next 5...

= without warning like a thief of the night..

The second coming of SMFP is now evident..

Now...where is that God damned new album?

LMAO

[Red13JoePa]

There are some KILLER boots from that era '78-'79 couple radio broadcasts.

The first part of the set would be the pre-perrys and per some accounts perry during that period would actually sit at the soundboard and bring the mix up to snuff before going backstage and making his entrance for the Infinity/Evolution stuff. He also sang live w/ Rolie on at least Next (I think he would sing on On A Saturday Night, too) which they would mix into the Inf/Evol. part.

[Granny]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

OMG, Carlitto, how true...that what his voice does to me...no much the high notes tho", prefer TBF sound....

[steveo777]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Carl, your inner loon is showing.

Good to see you man.

Almost everyone has an SMFP inner loon. The degree of affliction is what varies.

Even you????? I am going to mark my calendar - Hell has froze over twice today

I'm kind of a closet loon. I kind of relapsed the other day.

[jrnyman28]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?
Did they play mostly Covers....and THEN threw in their Originals to an "unsuspecting crowd"....?

Or, did they have Label Backing....so it didn't make any difference?

Anyone?
Bueller?

Lora?

Journey played their music, original music. Granted, they had a Beatles cover on one of the pre-Perry albums, but the band foacussed on their own material, fine-tuning their performance to become an incredibly tight live band. And THAT reputations seems to continue today!

I think the only covers the band ever really played came after Perry joined, when they started referencing their influences ie: Good Times.

[Michigan Girl]

Back BEFORE "Infinity", and then during.....how did they go about "making their mark" with Original Music?

During Infinity it was easy, Nora.
Mr. SMFP walked out on stage one night in front of
an unsuspecting crowd, opened his mouth and
The Voice of a thousand Gods and Angels went crashing
into thier skulls, paralyzing them all with pure bliss
and happiness... And then they told their friends, and they
told their friends, and they all called DJ's around the country
and the next thing you knew was that Mr SMFP's Voice was blasting
over the airwaves of FM radios everywhere, hyptnotizing everyone
it made contact with... or so it's been said

Nice.....good to read you, Carlitto!!!