MR

Today I stumbled on Herbie Herbert quite often,haha,meaning that I've found a few articles related more or less to the big man.
One of these is actually a very interesting read about how was Tower Records put together and the good ole days in the Bay area...

SF Weekly

What caught my attention,tho,was this:

Journey manager Herbie Herbert had an office next door to the Columbus and Bay store.
"Studying Tower Records, going there and observing how people browsed really taught me a lot about how to proceed with Journey," Herbert says. "Tower really taught me that the most effective means of promotion was actually point-of-purchase advertising. You had a captive target demographic. I went crazy spending money on point-of-purchase materials. It was very, very, very effective. It wasn't long after that success was observed."

Could today's managers learn something from the old school thinkers like HH,or did the times changed so much that bands (Journey) need completely different ways of promotion?

Your thoughts?

yes, they could, but I don't feel they care to really learn, or at least impliment (anymore than already being done) the kinds of things that Herbie did for not only Journey, but other bands.

Herbie even though he admitted he wanted to make as much money as possible at some point, was about promoting good music, even above the all mighty dollar.

Yeah, he gets props for that. One of the biggest "point of sale" ideas had to be the album cover artwork... Still breathtakingly beautiful, and then of course whole "progression" thing (Infinity, Evolution, Departure, Captured, Escape.. and on) - brilliant.

He really deserves a huge amount of credit for orchestrating Journey's ascension.

He does, however, continue to paint Perry as the anti-christ. But shit, look at that tour schedule!! Let the money-maker ride separate in his limos, isolate himself, preserve his voice, etc. Herbie and the band were just lucky Perry was such a perfectionist, and lasted as long as he did. But I digress..

I think some of the guys have the cuthroat ethics of HH, but without the keen business acumen.
A bunch of thugs with instruments, really.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:I think some of the guys have the cuthroat ethics of HH, but without the keen business acumen.
A bunch of thugs with instruments, really.

The term THUGS conjurs up all types of images, West Side Story comes to mind with Jeff as the head Latino in the lead carrying his switchblade around back stage threatening people who get in his way

Herbie's greatest talent today would probably be swallowing cheeseburgers. For someone whose "last act of love" was letting Journey continue without him, he sure has something negative to say about everyone. He also likes taking credit for ALL of Journey's successes. His comments toward Steve Perry are mind boggling. By his words, you would think Perry killed a relative or something. Perry, on the other hand, has said nothing but nice things about Herbert. While I surely DO believe that Perry DOES resent Herbert's comments, he at least has the decency to not engage in a tabloid-like exchange. Herbert has grown into a fat, bitter, angry old man. His contributions to Journey's success are second to none. Sadly, so are the classnessness of his recent comments. In the end, Journey is probably better without him.

saint John wrote:Herbie's greatest talent today would probably be swallowing cheeseburgers. For someone whose "last act of love" was letting Journey continue without him, he sure has something negative to say about everyone. He also likes taking credit for ALL of Journey's successes. His comments toward Steve Perry are mind boggling. By his words, you would think Perry killed a relative or something. Perry, on the other hand, has said nothing but nice things about Herbert. While I surely DO believe that Perry DOES resent Herbert's comments, he at least has the decency to not engage in a tabloid-like exchange. Herbert has grown into a fat, bitter, angry old man. His contributions to Journey's success are second to none. Sadly, so are the classnessness of his recent comments. In the end, Journey is probably better without him.

Sadly,part of what you say is true,SJ... I will never understand Herbie's negativity,considering that Journey was the highlight of his career.
I guess he just turned into a bitter person maybe due to some things that we'll never know or understand.
Show-biz is a bitch that creates monsters sometimes.
As for his harsh words towards Perry and the others,well,I don't think diplomacy was ever HH's best feature. The man just needs to spill garbage.
Maybe it's an attempt to ease his bitterness or maybe he feels betrayed and wants to taint the public image of the Journey members.We'll never know.

BUT,personally,I have to admit he was a brilliant manager.Perhaps the times and the circumstances helped him to achive his goals.
My question was about methods...I'm sure that in terms of promotion there must be methods that work no matter the era we're living in.
I have a feeling that HH had a clear vision about what people wanted from a band like Journey.
I am just hoping that someone will push the current Journey in the same positive direction.