What if Journey had just quit back then?

[jrnychick]

If Journey had quit, I would still be following the individual band members. I would definitely go see whatever band(s) Neal was in!

My additional question to all of you is: Would you keep up with any of the careers of the former Journey members? If so, who would you follow and why?

[ProgRocker53]

I'd still follow:

Neal Schon. This man is my guitar inspiration, my all-time favorite musician and an absolute beast. I've already followed his entire career, as I have his material from Santana and Journey all the way down through Hardline and Schon/Hammer.

Gregg Rolie.... this man's voice appeals to me so much. I also appreciate his key-tinkling abilities.

Any of the drummers.... let's face it, peeps. Journey has had three completely insane skin-bashers. Deen, Steve, and Aynsley are all the balls.

[heardonthestreet]

I believe if Journey would of hung it up after Trial By Fire we would now have back the Steve Perry led Journey.

I also believe this holds true for Styx.

Without Journey Neal would of hooked up with Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Angus Young or someone like that.

Maybe he and Jonathan would of formed some other supergroup ala Bad English. Tommy Shaw would of hooked back up with Ted and the Boyz. The James Young group would of had two number one hits with ' Head Up My Ass' and 'Shortsighted Thinking'.

At any rate Steve would of had his head I mean hip replaced and at some point he would have called Neal,Steve, Jonathan, Ross etc. They would of talked about how great Trial By Fire did even without a tour.

During the same time frame Dennis Deyoung would of stopped glowing and made the call to his bandmates.

Within a year after the initial call( with NO hard feelings) they all would of been back in the studio. Only this time a tour would of followed.

The greatly exagerated rumors of Steve Perry's butcherd voice would be proven untrue.

We would have 'The REAL' Journey.

The Gap would still have their salesperson of the year four years in a row working for them.

The Tailsmen would have two hit U.S. albums.

And I would be looking forward to seeing Aerosmith open up for a Steve Perry led Journey on January 7, 2007 at the San Antonio ATT Center. My seats suck but at least I got em. They sold out all three shows in 8 hours.

I am also looking forward to seeing a sold out Dennis Deyoung led Styx show at the Verizon Wireless in Selma, Tx. on January 24.

What great Christmas presents my wife got me.

All this because there were no lawsuits, no Behind The Music episodes, and no hard feelings.

......................................

Great post. Way to go, Yogi!

[Vladan]

If Journey called it quits when exactly, I am assuming when Raised On Radio or After Trial By Fire release?. Ok well there should of been a Trial By Fire Tour - there wasn't (in my opinion, calling it quits then - nobody would of stopped them). 30+ years on... 20 is enough for me. And Perry hasn't fronted the band for 10 years, which is not good. It's a shame Perry was a damn good singer, and shame on him for leaving the impact on the fans. Perry is Journey, and Journey is Perry - I am not afraid to say it.

[ArnelRox]

The Gap would still have their salesperson of the year four years in a row working for them.

If ur referring to Augeri here, from what I read, he was never in sales for The Gap. He was a maintenance mgr & only worked for them for about a year before joining Journey.

[NealIsGod]

The Gap would still have their salesperson of the year four years in a row working for them.

If ur referring to Augeri here, from what I read, he was never in sales for The Gap. He was a maintenance mgr & only worked for them for about a year before joining Journey.

Typical Loon behavior. People who keep bringing up Augie's work history always try to make it sound worse than it actually was. Much higher profile than working with chicken coops and being infected with pyorrhea, as Perry was when he got the call.

[fred_journeyman]

I believe if Journey would of hung it up after Trial By Fire we would now have back the Steve Perry led Journey.

I disagree. I truly don't think that would have happened. I really think Steve lost the interest in touring.

Maybe he and Jonathan would of formed some other supergroup ala Bad English.

Sounds like SS, but with Cain on keys.

At any rate Steve would of had his head I mean hip replaced and at some point he would have called Neal,Steve, Jonathan, Ross etc. They would of talked about how great Trial By Fire did even without a tour.

I disagree. From what I understand, Steve was never the one to call anyone...until the time just prior to TBF when he heard that Journey was thinking of getting together again without him.

Within a year after the initial call( with NO hard feelings) they all would of been back in the studio. Only this time a tour would of followed.

Are you talking about Journey or Styx here? If Journey, I disagree. There's probably (and unfortunately) always going to be hard feelings between band members.

The greatly exagerated rumors of Steve Perry's butcherd voice would be proven untrue.

I don't think he's lost his voice, but anyone who says he can sing like he did during the heyday of Journey is living in a fantasy world. I'm sure his voice is still pleasant enough to listen to though.

We would have 'The REAL' Journey.

If by that you mean, Journey with Perry, that's one thing. If you mean the Journey of the Escape era, I'm not so sure.

The Gap would still have their salesperson of the year four years in a row working for them.

True.

All this because there were no lawsuits, no Behind The Music episodes, and no hard feelings.

This would be nice, but it's not reality.

[Citygirl]

And he might have been better off staying there.

I don't mean that bad, but really... whether he lived his dream or not, he buggered his voice and all the rest (you can take from that what you want)...

[journeyrock]

If Journey HAD quit back then? Let's see. Album sales would still be the same as they are now. Most fans would STILL be waiting for Perry to return. Their place in music history wouldn't be tarnished like it is now. Augeri would be able to leave the house. Neal would be in 6 bands...all at once. Ross would be bankrupt....again. All speculation of course.

Sounds about right to me....

Me too.

I doubt that the touring for the last 8 years has played a very large part in promoting the sales of the catalog. It was the hype for TBF and the reunion that started that ball rolling and continuing radio play helped keep it going. The use of DSB in Monster and the publicity surrounding Perry's involvement stirred some renewed interest. Then they used some of the music on some TV programs. I'm sure last year's World Series helped too. All of that reached a lot more people than the concerts did. In fact, it may be the other way around, as in renewed interest in the music promoting tickets sales for the concerts.

Yep, that's my take on it.

[ArnelRox]

And he might have been better off staying there.

I don't mean that bad, but really... whether he lived his dream or not, he buggered his voice and all the rest (you can take from that what you want)...

Good point. Sometimes I'm angry about what he did. Other times I just feel sorry for the guy. I wonder if he regrets any of it now?

[ArnelRox]

I believe if Journey would of hung it up after Trial By Fire we would now have back the Steve Perry led Journey.

I disagree. I truly don't think that would have happened. I really think Steve lost the interest in touring.

Supported by the fact that he toured on his own for FTLOSM. But that was it. He could easily tour alone again. He never has. Obviously he hasn't wanted to.

[jrnyman28]

If Journey HAD quit back then? Let's see. Album sales would still be the same as they are now. Most fans would STILL be waiting for Perry to return. Their place in music history wouldn't be tarnished like it is now. Augeri would be able to leave the house. Neal would be in 6 bands...all at once. Ross would be bankrupt....again. All speculation of course.

I doubt album sales would still be the same. The 2001 DVD was a big success and I would bet that it really helped sell the back catalogue.

The 2001 dvd has still to go platinum but the Houston concert went platinum very quickly - nothing in the Augeri era has sold well unfortunately - but part of the reason may be the changing musical climate.

The Houston DVD is a 2-disc set so it only takes half the sales to equal up. A platinum Houston DVD is the same as a gold 2001 DVD...

[The_Noble_Cause]

The Houston DVD is a 2-disc set so it only takes half the sales to equal up. A platinum Houston DVD is the same as a gold 2001 DVD...

Spin, spin, spin.

If I'm not mistaken, the first Perry dvd went plantinum and that was only ONE disc.
The simple fact is Steve Perry + Journey has an in-built following greater than Journey without him.
No shame in saying that. It's just the way it is.

[Greg]

We would have no Journey at all they would have just walked off in the sunset. We would never be able to hear those timeless great songs ever. We would only be able to listen on our old LP's and tapes, and some old remastered CD's. What does everyone think these guys would've done with their lives? Would they all have been producing other groups and would they just join other bands?We have loved them for years and are lucky they are still here to give us what we want more Journey!These guys are timeless like their songs.

I think they would have produced other bands...maybe a guest spot here and there. Steve Perry would've probably kept respect from the masses of Journey fans, because we'd never know all the "dirt" that surrounded the band before.

[*Laura]

If I'm not mistaken, the first Perry dvd went plantinum and that was only ONE disc.
The simple fact is Steve Perry + Journey has an in-built following greater than Journey without him.
No shame in saying that. It's just the way it is.

And that's the truth.
Long time fans will always be interested in the classic Journey package.

BUT...The new *package* is also becoming more and more attractive,I must say.

[jrnyman28]

The Houston DVD is a 2-disc set so it only takes half the sales to equal up. A platinum Houston DVD is the same as a gold 2001 DVD...

Spin, spin, spin.

If I'm not mistaken, the first Perry dvd went plantinum and that was only ONE disc.
The simple fact is Steve Perry + Journey has an in-built following greater than Journey without him.
No shame in saying that. It's just the way it is.

It's not spin and no one had mentioned the GH DVD. But we all know nostalgia sells...

[Matthew]

The Houston DVD is a 2-disc set so it only takes half the sales to equal up. A platinum Houston DVD is the same as a gold 2001 DVD...

Spin, spin, spin.

If I'm not mistaken, the first Perry dvd went plantinum and that was only ONE disc.
The simple fact is Steve Perry + Journey has an in-built following greater than Journey without him.
No shame in saying that. It's just the way it is.

It's not spin and no one had mentioned the GH DVD. But we all know nostalgia sells...

So does quality.

[Crazie Scarab]

The 2001 DVD was a big success and I would bet that it really helped sell the back catalogue.

Ur right to a point, but I think the back catalog is whact actually helped sell the 2001 dvd and made it go 'gold'.

The fact that the setlist was nearly all Perry-era hits gave it cross-over appeal to hardcore Journey/Neal fans and Perryloons alike.
Even Lori aka ProPerry on this forum owns a copy.

You know... some might think that Perry is making some extra bucks off of the current Journey by doing all these re-issues. Think about it. Do you think Perry would be doing the reissues if it were not for Journey still touring and keeping the name out there? Seriously. Is Perry living off the backs of Journey as it is today? Hmmm.. Seems it all cuts both ways to me.

And yeah.. I know the rest of the guys get royalties out of the reissues.. but, that's another thought I have, which is that I think it's all just business & they're all making the bucks while the iron is still hot.

[Matthew]

Do you think Perry would be doing the reissues if it were not for Journey still touring and keeping the name out there?

Yes.

Is Perry living off the backs of Journey as it is today?

He gets a cut from the live shows and rightly so. But by all accounts Perry is spectacularly rich so it's probably just spare change.

And yeah.. I know the rest of the guys get royalties out of the reissues.. but, that's another thought I have, which is that I think it's all just business & they're all making the bucks while the iron is still hot.

Journey are a classic and timeless rock act and will go on selling records for decades to come, I reckon.

It seems to me that the reissues and remasters are a sign that the legacy is in good hands. As it was when Herbie Herbert worked so hard on promoting the back catalogue in the late 80s and early 90s.

[Carlitto H@kk]

[You know... some might think that Perry is making some extra bucks off of the current Journey by doing all these re-issues. Think about it. Do you think Perry would be doing the reissues if it were not for Journey still touring and keeping the name out there? Seriously. Is Perry living off the backs of Journey as it is today? Hmmm.. Seems it all cuts both ways to me.

And yeah.. I know the rest of the guys get royalties out of the reissues.. but, that's another thought I have, which is that I think it's all just business & they're all making the bucks while the iron is still hot.

You know, with today's technology and the video/audio this band probably has lying around, I don't care who is making the bucks or 'milking the Perry era'!!!
Someone will get my money EVERYTIME they release gems like the Houston DVD and GH DVD!

With that said, I want the ENTIRE, UNEDITED Philly show from the Frontiers and Beyond video and an ENTIRE ROR show next, DAMMIT

[Matthew]

[You know... some might think that Perry is making some extra bucks off of the current Journey by doing all these re-issues. Think about it. Do you think Perry would be doing the reissues if it were not for Journey still touring and keeping the name out there? Seriously. Is Perry living off the backs of Journey as it is today? Hmmm.. Seems it all cuts both ways to me.

And yeah.. I know the rest of the guys get royalties out of the reissues.. but, that's another thought I have, which is that I think it's all just business & they're all making the bucks while the iron is still hot.

You know, with today's technology and the video/audio this band probably has lying around, I don't care who is making the bucks or 'milking the Perry era'!!!
Someone will get my money EVERYTIME they release gems like the Houston DVD and GH DVD!

With that said, I want the ENTIRE, UNEDITED Philly show from the Frontiers and Beyond video and an ENTIRE ROR show next, DAMMIT

Absolutely CH!

[Carlitto H@kk]

You know, with today's technology and the video/audio this band probably has lying around, I don't care who is making the bucks or 'milking the Perry era'!!!
Someone will get my money EVERYTIME they release gems like the Houston DVD and GH DVD!

With that said, I want the ENTIRE, UNEDITED Philly show from the Frontiers and Beyond video and an ENTIRE ROR show next, DAMMIT

Absolutely CH!

You know, Matty??? If Perry and/or the guys put together gems like this on digitally re-mastered DVDs...
INSTANT CASH-COW!
I LOVE where this band is going now and what might be in store for us but
I will eat up anything from the Perry era and
Perry, Neal, Jon, Ross, Rolie...
They'd be NUTS not to get as much of this stuff as they can out to the fans!
And I don't think these kind of releases would hurt sales/audience numbers for the current line-up at all.
That much more exposure of the music of Journey to the masses will just bring more fans in, IMO of course

[Crazie Scarab]

Oh.. I wholeheartedy agree! Cash in while you can to all of Journey!

[journeywoman]

Has anyone ever gave it any thought that maybe just maybe there was a rift between these guys at one time but in all business when you came down to the royalties that Steve Perry and the members of Journey have a friendship only to the point of what he can remaster and so on even down to Journey doing his songs at their present concerts? Maybe alot more to this than what you guys think?

[Crazie Scarab]

Do you think Perry would be doing the reissues if it were not for Journey still touring and keeping the name out there?

Yes.

I am not able to agree with that with any certainty. Projected sales without Journey still touring may not have been as high as with Journey still touring.

[double negative - had to edit]

[Carlitto H@kk]

Has anyone ever gave it any thought that maybe just maybe there was a rift between these guys at one time but in all business when you came down to the royalties that Steve Perry and the members of Journey have a friendship only to the point of what he can remaster and so on even down to Journey doing his songs at their present concerts? Maybe alot more to this than what you guys think?

I don't understand your question you have one really long run-on sentence having a run like that makes it hard to understand you not trying to be a jerk but could you explain again for me I think I know what you are trying to say but with al your ideas thrown together with no puncuation it makes it hard to read don't you just hate it when people like me with no teaching experience try to correct you on your grammar doesn't that just make you want to donkey-punch my sorry ass?

[Carlitto H@kk]

I am not able to agree with that with any certainty. Projected sales without Journey still touring may not have been as high as with Journey not still touring.

WTF???

Scarab, you drunk tonight or what???

And I know you already fixed it but I am keeping my post here

[journeywoman]

GEEZ, just got all these things running in my head.Now what else do you want?

[Crazie Scarab]

I am not able to agree with that with any certainty. Projected sales without Journey still touring may not have been as high as with Journey not still touring.

WTF???

Scarab, you drunk tonight or what???

And I know you already fixed it but I am keeping my post here

Watch it or i'll donkey kick your sorry ass!

[Crazie Scarab]

GEEZ, just got all these things running in my head.Now what else do you want?

NEW JOURNEY MUSIC WITH JSS! Yeah!