Question About This (Mis)Information Regarding Steve Perry

[timstar78]

I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards. At a KISS message board I frequent, this was among one of the responses:

He lost his voice due to alcoholism, drug use (cocaine), steroids injected into his vocal cords (to help him get through tours), and over use during Journey's peak years.

Check out the Bill Graham memorial tribute concert that Perry, Schon, and Cain performed at. They had to tune down at least a whole step (it may have been more) so that Perry could try to sing in key. He was absolutely horrible.

When Perry rejoined Journey prior to recording "Trial By Fire" they jammed on some of the old songs. Keys had to be lowered on all of the songs.

There was no "Trial By Fire" tour due to Perry knowing that he could no longer sing the Journey catalog in the original keys and that he wouldn't be able to get through a tour.

Herbie Herbert, Schon, and Cain know for sure. Perry knows, but dodges the questions. He's "been thinking about recording and touring" since he was fired from Journey after refusing to tour in support of "Trial By Fire".

I'm aware of the keys being lowered at the Graham performance and the shape of his voice for TBF (obviously he'd lost some of range by that point, but who wouldn't at that age?), but regarding Steve losing his voice due to alcohol/drugs and/or steroids. I don't know that I've heard about that. Can anyone shed some light? Is this BS?

(Not looking to start any trouble -- the guy who posted this is a major downer on all subjects. I figured if any board would be the place to get some info on this, it'd be here...)

[Rick]

I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards. At a KISS message board I frequent, this was among one of the responses:

He lost his voice due to alcoholism, drug use (cocaine), steroids injected into his vocal cords (to help him get through tours), and over use during Journey's peak years.

Check out the Bill Graham memorial tribute concert that Perry, Schon, and Cain performed at. They had to tune down at least a whole step (it may have been more) so that Perry could try to sing in key. He was absolutely horrible.

When Perry rejoined Journey prior to recording "Trial By Fire" they jammed on some of the old songs. Keys had to be lowered on all of the songs.

There was no "Trial By Fire" tour due to Perry knowing that he could no longer sing the Journey catalog in the original keys and that he wouldn't be able to get through a tour.

Herbie Herbert, Schon, and Cain know for sure. Perry knows, but dodges the questions. He's "been thinking about recording and touring" since he was fired from Journey after refusing to tour in support of "Trial By Fire".

I'm aware of the keys being lowered at the Graham performance and the shape of his voice for TBF (obviously he'd lost some of range by that point, but who wouldn't at that age?), but regarding Steve losing his voice due to alcohol/drugs and/or steroids. I don't know that I've heard about that. Can anyone shed some light? Is this BS?

(Not looking to start any trouble -- the guy who posted this is a major downer on all subjects. I figured if any board would be the place to get some info on this, it'd be here...)

The guy stating any of it like it's a fact is stupid. Overtouring was probably the biggest thing that caused damage. That and SP sang to his limits every show. He said in the interview that it was crazy to be singing that high. He could have gone through a physiological change between 81 & 83 that might have caused his voice to naturally deepen. Was there alcohol? Probably. Was there drugs? I have no idea. He admitted himself that he used steroids on a particular occasion to get through a show. Any and all of it could attribute to vocal damage. I would tend to lean toward overtouring and a physiological change which led to steroid use to keep it going.

[Jeremey]

Haha, it's easy to say drug use, coke, alcohol, etc all contributed to a singer's decline because, guess what, that's what they do! LOL. Some internet poster just throwing up the old standbys to make themselves look smart. Reality is, Steve's voice just changed because he sang too much and didn't have time to recover. Read between the lines in Andrew's interview and he's basically saying as much. Like Rick said, nobody knows what kind of rock star bullshit went on out on the road in that band, but I can pretty much tell you from what I know of Steve Perry and his passion for his craft, that's a guy that's not going out and getting loaded on drugs or alcohol every night. You don't wake up every morning hoping your voice is okay from oversinging and panicing about it and later that night do an 8 ball and drink a fifth of Jim Beam. Haha. To me the mystery of Steve's voice change isn't really a mystery at all....simply because he doesn't address it, you still have to look at the obvious staring you in the face regarding their touring schedule and the stress he must have endured.

[froy]

="timstar78"]I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards.

I saw Perry 12 times on his solo tour Strange Journey, The first show he was terrible screeching notes yelling notes not hitting notes, By the time Hershey came along this guy was getting back not all the way but he was getting close, By the time December hit at the Pantages Theater Steve Perry was freaking back , He was nailing it'
I was in the front row pit 2 feet from the guy and he sounded great, Bottom line if you don't use your cords your not going to hit the notes, Perry should be singing every 3 days on tour with Journey . Who ever is his yes man or women needs to stop enabling this guy and tell him to get his ass back on stage with Journey A tour like this would gross 200 million dollars. And close the book that remains unfinished. This BS reunion unlikely crap is ridiculous, Would Steve Perry's mom tell him to not go back to Journey if she were alive today? I would bet the bank that she would be telling him what Im telling him. Don't be afraid you can do it Eye of the Tiger . Remember when you first started Steve how you ran on stage like a mad man and ripped up the place? I do I saw it 50 times and there was nobody better. To sit home and play the drums and sing into a mac is a waste of life, You want a yes man stay home you want a manager Give me a call we start training for the tour in March.

[tater1977]

="timstar78"]I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards.

I saw Perry 12 times on his solo tour Strange Journey, The first show he was terrible screeching notes yelling notes not hitting notes, By the time Hershey came along this guy was getting back not all the way but he was getting close, By the time December hit at the Pantages Theater Steve Perry was freaking back , He was nailing it'
I was in the front row pit 2 feet from the guy and he sounded great, Bottom line if you don't use your cords your not going to hit the notes, Perry should be singing every 3 days on tour with Journey . Who ever is his yes man or women needs to stop enabling this guy and tell him to get his ass back on stage with Journey A tour like this would gross 200 million dollars. And close the book that remains unfinished. This BS reunion unlikely crap is ridiculous, Would Steve Perry's mom tell him to not go back to Journey if she were alive today? I would bet the bank that she would be telling him what Im telling him. Don't be afraid you can do it Eye of the Tiger . Remember when you first started Steve how you ran on stage like a mad man and ripped up the place? I do I saw it 50 times and there was nobody better. To sit home and play the drums and sing into a mac is a waste of life, You want a yes man stay home you want a manager Give me a call we start training for the tour in March.

He sounds great on this one from LA.

http://youtu.be/T1CUZtPDwuw

[Jeremey]

="timstar78"]I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards.

I saw Perry 12 times on his solo tour Strange Journey, The first show he was terrible screeching notes yelling notes not hitting notes, By the time Hershey came along this guy was getting back not all the way but he was getting close, By the time December hit at the Pantages Theater Steve Perry was freaking back , He was nailing it'
I was in the front row pit 2 feet from the guy and he sounded great, Bottom line if you don't use your cords your not going to hit the notes, Perry should be singing every 3 days on tour with Journey . Who ever is his yes man or women needs to stop enabling this guy and tell him to get his ass back on stage with Journey A tour like this would gross 200 million dollars. And close the book that remains unfinished. This BS reunion unlikely crap is ridiculous, Would Steve Perry's mom tell him to not go back to Journey if she were alive today? I would bet the bank that she would be telling him what Im telling him. Don't be afraid you can do it Eye of the Tiger . Remember when you first started Steve how you ran on stage like a mad man and ripped up the place? I do I saw it 50 times and there was nobody better. To sit home and play the drums and sing into a mac is a waste of life, You want a yes man stay home you want a manager Give me a call we start training for the tour in March.

Gotta say no way Froy. Let the guy do what he wants. He can make magic in a studio into a microphone and thrill us all. I never, NEVER, saw Steve Perry live. I know you saw a lot of shows with the man, but this ain't 1983 bro, LOL. He needs to do whatever he owes to himself to make himself happy and for the rest of us, his voice and songs have a great big place in our hearts. He has no obligation to go out and beat the fuck out of himself every night just so Neal Schon can buy a few more sports cars for his girlfriends.

[froy]

="timstar78"]I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards.

I saw Perry 12 times on his solo tour Strange Journey, The first show he was terrible screeching notes yelling notes not hitting notes, By the time Hershey came along this guy was getting back not all the way but he was getting close, By the time December hit at the Pantages Theater Steve Perry was freaking back , He was nailing it'
I was in the front row pit 2 feet from the guy and he sounded great, Bottom line if you don't use your cords your not going to hit the notes, Perry should be singing every 3 days on tour with Journey . Who ever is his yes man or women needs to stop enabling this guy and tell him to get his ass back on stage with Journey A tour like this would gross 200 million dollars. And close the book that remains unfinished. This BS reunion unlikely crap is ridiculous, Would Steve Perry's mom tell him to not go back to Journey if she were alive today? I would bet the bank that she would be telling him what Im telling him. Don't be afraid you can do it Eye of the Tiger . Remember when you first started Steve how you ran on stage like a mad man and ripped up the place? I do I saw it 50 times and there was nobody better. To sit home and play the drums and sing into a mac is a waste of life, You want a yes man stay home you want a manager Give me a call we start training for the tour in March.

He sounds great on this one from LA.

http://youtu.be/T1CUZtPDwuw

This was the song of the night for me in fact he messed up and started singing Listen to your Heart and I yelled to him no Somewhere there Hope and he quickly switched True story
Just listen to this fucker nail it, This is all about confidence nothing more

[froy]

="timstar78"]I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards.

I saw Perry 12 times on his solo tour Strange Journey, The first show he was terrible screeching notes yelling notes not hitting notes, By the time Hershey came along this guy was getting back not all the way but he was getting close, By the time December hit at the Pantages Theater Steve Perry was freaking back , He was nailing it'
I was in the front row pit 2 feet from the guy and he sounded great, Bottom line if you don't use your cords your not going to hit the notes, Perry should be singing every 3 days on tour with Journey . Who ever is his yes man or women needs to stop enabling this guy and tell him to get his ass back on stage with Journey A tour like this would gross 200 million dollars. And close the book that remains unfinished. This BS reunion unlikely crap is ridiculous, Would Steve Perry's mom tell him to not go back to Journey if she were alive today? I would bet the bank that she would be telling him what Im telling him. Don't be afraid you can do it Eye of the Tiger . Remember when you first started Steve how you ran on stage like a mad man and ripped up the place? I do I saw it 50 times and there was nobody better. To sit home and play the drums and sing into a mac is a waste of life, You want a yes man stay home you want a manager Give me a call we start training for the tour in March.

Gotta say no way Froy. Let the guy do what he wants. He can make magic in a studio into a microphone and thrill us all. I never, NEVER, saw Steve Perry live. I know you saw a lot of shows with the man, but this ain't 1983 bro, LOL. He needs to do whatever he owes to himself to make himself happy and for the rest of us, his voice and songs have a great big place in our hearts. He has no obligation to go out and beat the fuck out of himself every night just so Neal Schon can buy a few more sports cars for his girlfriends.

The only magic left for Steve Perry is to go to the closet and dust off those tails. This would be a full blown gig with Greg Rollie Steve Smith Steve Perry Jon Cain and Neal Schon. This story needs a happy ending not a bunch of negative one liners from the Perry camp. You mean to tell me Jeremy that you would not soil yourself if you saw this guy run on stage and blast into the show opener, Feeling That Way -Anytime . Every song would be performed to perfection Perry would have enough harmonies on that stage so he could just worry about lead, The guy flooded the Andrew interview with his dreams You wanna bet he is dreaming about going back on stage 1 more time with Journey? I will. He is just afraid his voice won't make it, Well just look at that Pantages video the more he sang the better he got, If Perry is retired fine say so but anything besides that he should finish the book . IMO of course.

[Journey/Survivor]

I once read an interview with Perry where he was asked what he does to keep his voice in good shape. One of the things he said was that he avoided alcohol because it dries out the vocal chords. That interview was from the early to maybe mid 1980's.

A radio DJ once told me back in the late 80's that Perry was supposedly on cocaine. Of course, that may have been nothing more than a rumor? Of course, there were also all of those BS rumors that he had throat cancer.

[froy]

Haha, it's easy to say drug use, coke, alcohol, etc all contributed to a singer's decline because, guess what, that's what they do! LOL. Some internet poster just throwing up the old standbys to make themselves look smart. Reality is, Steve's voice just changed because he sang too much and didn't have time to recover. Read between the lines in Andrew's interview and he's basically saying as much. Like Rick said, nobody knows what kind of rock star bullshit went on out on the road in that band, but I can pretty much tell you from what I know of Steve Perry and his passion for his craft, that's a guy that's not going out and getting loaded on drugs or alcohol every night. You don't wake up every morning hoping your voice is okay from oversinging and panicing about it and later that night do an 8 ball and drink a fifth of Jim Beam. Haha. To me the mystery of Steve's voice change isn't really a mystery at all....simply because he doesn't address it, you still have to look at the obvious staring you in the face regarding their touring schedule and the stress he must have endured.

Not to beat a dead horse but Perry is in AA and in St Louis on the ROR tour he sniffed up and said ahh my drugs are finally kicking in . Unless he was hitting the afrin bottle he was blowing up his snorter. But that was the scene in 86 Even I tried it then it was the in thing so who knows,

[Infinity Vocalist 2010]

I'm with Jeremey on this one. Steve has done music a great service, and though it'd be fan-fucking-tastic to see him live, or have him do another CD, he needs his happiness and if that's the opposite of what we want, then so be it.

Because, as Jeremey succinctly put it, his voice and songs have a great big place in our hearts.

I'm not priviledged to be as old as some of you guys here who DID see him live, and that's something to be cherished forever. I have my own Journey that I like and have seen live, nobody can take that away from them. For me, my Houston and Tokyo DVDs are enough. I have nearly all the Perry-era albums. We have people like Jeremey here who carry on the legacy, as I am about to do as well.

The point is, Steve Perry will never leave us as long as we have him in our hearts, and I do think his prime efforts in Journey and with his albums are the concrete that we hold him with. He's moved on, Journey's moved on, and so should we. Doesn't mean we can't listen to the old stuff and behold the legend.

[Rick]

I'm with Jeremey on this one. Steve has done music a great service, and though it'd be fan-fucking-tastic to see him live, or have him do another CD, he needs his happiness and if that's the opposite of what we want, then so be it.

Because, as Jeremey succinctly put it, his voice and songs have a great big place in our hearts.

I'm not priviledged to be as old as some of you guys here who DID see him live, and that's something to be cherished forever. I have my own Journey that I like and have seen live, nobody can take that away from them. For me, my Houston and Tokyo DVDs are enough. I have nearly all the Perry-era albums. We have people like Jeremey here who carry on the legacy, as I am about to do as well.

The point is, Steve Perry will never leave us as long as we have him in our hearts, and I do think his prime efforts in Journey and with his albums are the concrete that we hold him with. He's moved on, Journey's moved on, and so should we. Doesn't mean we can't listen to the old stuff and behold the legend.

Great post. Just wondering if you would care to expound on the bolded part?

[froy]

I'm with Jeremey on this one. Steve has done music a great service, and though it'd be fan-fucking-tastic to see him live, or have him do another CD, he needs his happiness and if that's the opposite of what we want, then so be it.

Because, as Jeremey succinctly put it, his voice and songs have a great big place in our hearts.

I'm not priviledged to be as old as some of you guys here who DID see him live, and that's something to be cherished forever. I have my own Journey that I like and have seen live, nobody can take that away from them. For me, my Houston and Tokyo DVDs are enough. I have nearly all the Perry-era albums. We have people like Jeremey here who carry on the legacy, as I am about to do as well.

The point is, Steve Perry will never leave us as long as we have him in our hearts, and I do think his prime efforts in Journey and with his albums are the concrete that we hold him with. He's moved on, Journey's moved on, and so should we. Doesn't mean we can't listen to the old stuff and behold the legend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XomV6wv ... ture=share

Can't disagree more

[Seven Wishes2]

You don't perform like that and enchant crowds the way no-one else has ever done by snorting coke all the time.

For those of you who never got to see Perry live with Journey...he was the best there ever was. Bar none. He had the same power over a crowd that Diamond Dave does, but with the most amazing voice in the history of rock. You had to be there to understand it.

[froy]

You don't perform like that and enchant crowds the way no-one else has ever done by snorting coke all the time.

For those of you who never got to see Perry live with Journey...he was the best there ever was. Bar none. He had the same power over a crowd that Diamond Dave does, but with the most amazing voice in the history of rock. You had to be there to understand it.

Yep the guy was insane up there 1980 was beyond belief

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq6zgVTv ... re=related

[journey361]

I'm putting my three cents in here as well. No way in hell would drugs, drinking, e.t.c ever roll in Perry's lap. It's a no-brainer and not worth a discussion. Perry was a somber emotional self-trainer. Meaning, the best came from inside due to life's happy times and somber times. His craft and self-control would not allow vocal demise to rear its ugly head. No drinking, drugs, running the body to death was not in his playbook. No way. He sang a super-mario songbook while not seeing the future ramifications. Perfection and self awareness were his trademark.

[Jeremey]

Haha, it's easy to say drug use, coke, alcohol, etc all contributed to a singer's decline because, guess what, that's what they do! LOL. Some internet poster just throwing up the old standbys to make themselves look smart. Reality is, Steve's voice just changed because he sang too much and didn't have time to recover. Read between the lines in Andrew's interview and he's basically saying as much. Like Rick said, nobody knows what kind of rock star bullshit went on out on the road in that band, but I can pretty much tell you from what I know of Steve Perry and his passion for his craft, that's a guy that's not going out and getting loaded on drugs or alcohol every night. You don't wake up every morning hoping your voice is okay from oversinging and panicing about it and later that night do an 8 ball and drink a fifth of Jim Beam. Haha. To me the mystery of Steve's voice change isn't really a mystery at all....simply because he doesn't address it, you still have to look at the obvious staring you in the face regarding their touring schedule and the stress he must have endured.

Not to beat a dead horse but Perry is in AA and in St Louis on the ROR tour he sniffed up and said ahh my drugs are finally kicking in . Unless he was hitting the afrin bottle he was blowing up his snorter. But that was the scene in 86 Even I tried it then it was the in thing so who knows,

Could have been prednisone/antibiotics, etc. Who knows. If the guy did coke a time or two it was A) the 80's and he was B) a rock star. LOL. But Perry is an intense individual and an open soul, which I mean as, things around him can have a more positive or negative effect on him that "normal" people may not be so tuned into. It's part of what makes him great, but it can also lend itself to loneliness, depression, and the occasional binge I'm sure, LOL......But I am POSITIVE that no habits got the better of his voice than did his unforgiving tour schedule from 1978-1983.

[Rick]

Haha, it's easy to say drug use, coke, alcohol, etc all contributed to a singer's decline because, guess what, that's what they do! LOL. Some internet poster just throwing up the old standbys to make themselves look smart. Reality is, Steve's voice just changed because he sang too much and didn't have time to recover. Read between the lines in Andrew's interview and he's basically saying as much. Like Rick said, nobody knows what kind of rock star bullshit went on out on the road in that band, but I can pretty much tell you from what I know of Steve Perry and his passion for his craft, that's a guy that's not going out and getting loaded on drugs or alcohol every night. You don't wake up every morning hoping your voice is okay from oversinging and panicing about it and later that night do an 8 ball and drink a fifth of Jim Beam. Haha. To me the mystery of Steve's voice change isn't really a mystery at all....simply because he doesn't address it, you still have to look at the obvious staring you in the face regarding their touring schedule and the stress he must have endured.

Not to beat a dead horse but Perry is in AA and in St Louis on the ROR tour he sniffed up and said ahh my drugs are finally kicking in . Unless he was hitting the afrin bottle he was blowing up his snorter. But that was the scene in 86 Even I tried it then it was the in thing so who knows,

Could have been prednisone/antibiotics, etc. Who knows. If the guy did coke a time or two it was A) the 80's and he was B) a rock star. LOL. But Perry is an intense individual and an open soul, which I mean as, things around him can have a more positive or negative effect on him that "normal" people may not be so tuned into. It's part of what makes him great, but it can also lend itself to loneliness, depression, and the occasional binge I'm sure, LOL......But I am POSITIVE that no habits got the better of his voice than did his unforgiving tour schedule from 1978-1983.

Agreed 100%. He gave his all, every show.

[Arkansas]

Believe what you want. I saw Journey - back in the day - a dozen times. And yes, I was backstage with the help of some media & money friends at least half of those times. There was plenty of booze, and hallway-talk about coke & meds. But I for one never saw any band member indulging. Saw plenty of yes-people and roadies doing what-all, and I saw quite a few floosies flaunting skin....but mostly the band guys were quite isolated and arrogant. Seems they were all very much stand-off'ish, afraid of interaction and getting sick, ie - catching some germ or virus.

Maybe they all 'did something' at times, I don't know. But I can't imagine that they ever put their playing at risk. I seem to remember that they all talked about 'loving to play'. Regardless of whether or not they imbibed, or indulged, they were/are professional musicians that didn't want to piss-off the local promoter. In other words, they wanted the paycheck more than they wanted some personal vice.

And btw, was backstage with KISS in Memphis a few times. The same there. Everyone around them wanted to party, but they insisted on keeping a clear head for the show. I was thoroughly impressed.

Although, some 30 yrs ago for either band, I remember it all quite clearly.


later~

[steveo777]

Believe what you want. I saw Journey - back in the day - a dozen times. And yes, I was backstage with the help of some media & money friends at least half of those times. There was plenty of booze, and hallway-talk about coke & meds. But I for one never saw any band member indulging. Saw plenty of yes-people and roadies doing what-all, and I saw quite a few floosies flaunting skin....but mostly the band guys were quite isolated and arrogant. Seems they were all very much stand-off'ish, afraid of interaction and getting sick, ie - catching some germ or virus.

Maybe they all 'did something' at times, I don't know. But I can't imagine that they ever put their playing at risk. I seem to remember that they all talked about 'loving to play'. Regardless of whether or not they imbibed, or indulged, they were/are professional musicians that didn't want to piss-off the local promoter. In other words, they wanted the paycheck more than they wanted some personal vice.

And btw, was backstage with KISS in Memphis a few times. The same there. Everyone around them wanted to party, but they insisted on keeping a clear head for the show. I was thoroughly impressed.

Although, some 30 yrs ago for either band, I remember it all quite clearly.


later~

Ya musta never been around the Guns n Roses crew.
They had the booze and drugs.

[froy]

I'm putting my three cents in here as well. No way in hell would drugs, drinking, e.t.c ever roll in Perry's lap. It's a no-brainer and not worth a discussion. Perry was a somber emotional self-trainer. Meaning, the best came from inside due to life's happy times and somber times. His craft and self-control would not allow vocal demise to rear its ugly head. No drinking, drugs, running the body to death was not in his playbook. No way. He sang a super-mario songbook while not seeing the future ramifications. Perfection and self awareness were his trademark.

Take a look at the ROR signing party video at the hard rock. Then adjust your statement, He was blasted in the video drinking white wine.

[UncleKG]

I don't think anyone's saying the guy was a COMPLETE teetotaler. Getting hammered at a signing party and doing it every night on tour are two TOTALLY different things, though.

[froy]

I don't think anyone's saying the guy was a COMPLETE teetotaler. Getting hammered at a signing party and doing it every night on tour are two TOTALLY different things, though.

Sometimes there not 2 totally different things especially if he is in AA today ,

[UncleKG]

Not that the manager can stop an adult from doing what they want, but I'm thinking that with the tight ship Herbie seemed to run, he'd have kept Steve on a short leash about that kind of stuff. Anything that might have kept them from maintaining the tour schedule would have sent him (Herbie) over the top.

[tater1977]

I have an uncle who's been in AA for 11 years.. He is a recovering alcoholic
and not had a drop in over 10 years.. Yea he fell off the wagon a few times
the first year, but he kept at it..
He's a sponsor for a few now & personally I couldn't be more proud of him..
& yes he still attends AA meetings...
Folks have problems & get help for them..
The stigma of AA...doesn't necessarily mean...the problem they
"had" isn't curable...or in "check"..

[Art Vandelay]

I've posted Andrew's interview with Steve Perry at a couple of boards. At a KISS message board I frequent, this was among one of the responses:

He lost his voice due to alcoholism, drug use (cocaine), steroids injected into his vocal cords (to help him get through tours), and over use during Journey's peak years.

Check out the Bill Graham memorial tribute concert that Perry, Schon, and Cain performed at. They had to tune down at least a whole step (it may have been more) so that Perry could try to sing in key. He was absolutely horrible.

When Perry rejoined Journey prior to recording "Trial By Fire" they jammed on some of the old songs. Keys had to be lowered on all of the songs.

There was no "Trial By Fire" tour due to Perry knowing that he could no longer sing the Journey catalog in the original keys and that he wouldn't be able to get through a tour.

Herbie Herbert, Schon, and Cain know for sure. Perry knows, but dodges the questions. He's "been thinking about recording and touring" since he was fired from Journey after refusing to tour in support of "Trial By Fire".

I'm aware of the keys being lowered at the Graham performance and the shape of his voice for TBF (obviously he'd lost some of range by that point, but who wouldn't at that age?), but regarding Steve losing his voice due to alcohol/drugs and/or steroids. I don't know that I've heard about that. Can anyone shed some light? Is this BS?

(Not looking to start any trouble -- the guy who posted this is a major downer on all subjects. I figured if any board would be the place to get some info on this, it'd be here...)

I had no idea that Dan was also a KISS fan!

[Yoda]

People will talk and gossip. It's kind of like that game we played as kids. Where you whisper a secret in one ear, then the next person whispers the secret to the person beside of him/her, so on and so forth until it reaches the last person. Nine times out of ten, the story has been completely changed (fabricated) by the time the last person hears it. People just need to stop talking/gossiping. I'm not so naive that I'd think these guys, including Perry, we're all perfect saints. I'm sure there was some boozing, I'm sure there was some drugging. But, unless someone actually has visual proof of this going on AND audio proof of these guys admitting to the drugs, then all you're doing is contributing to a bunch of gossip.

[marco17]

As a couple people mentioned, it was the 80's and the thing to do, and if he did that stuff, he did, if not, he didn't. I think Jeremy and the others who zone in on the wear and tear hit the nail on the head. We've seen what belting out the Journey catalog has done to at least 2 singers, who toured a lot. Perry may know that he can put out a flawless album of solo material with today's technology, and he seemed to embrace some of that technology in Andrew's interview, but based on his perfectionist mindset and passion for his material, I am sure he wouldn't want to put out a product that was pro-tooled to death, to get the result that he's looking for.

[timstar78]

Thanks for the replies...

The drugs/alcohol bit reads like a bunch of bunk, but just wanted to gauge folks thoughts here.

[Lora]

I don't think anyone's saying the guy was a COMPLETE teetotaler. Getting hammered at a signing party and doing it every night on tour are two TOTALLY different things, though.

Sometimes there not 2 totally different things especially if he is in AA today ,

Maybe you should start with the man in the mirror and stop tearing others down and gossiping like a child.