Journey Topic- Part 1 Irving Azoff

[Rockindeano]

I am going to start being a more productive poster. No more derailing threads, sorry Cougar1.

I am going to post a topic of each key member of the Journey organization. I have thought it out to be 10 topics.

So here is My 1st in the series.

Irving Azoff

Forget about the picture. I know he looks like he is taking a shit, but the history behind this guy is amazing. He was involved in the movie industry, and had a hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That in itself is awesome.

Now, I could copy and paste from Google, but that is too vanilla.

I for one, have been pretty hard on Irv the past 3 years, up until Tapegate. Then, I learned why Irving was so damned passive about Journey, and why nothing ever happened to promote the band. His hands were tied unfortunately. I am giving Mr. Azoff a clean bill of whatever, and expect him to be his kickassing old self now with Soto in the drivers' seat.

I personally xpect to see Jeff, along with Neal and possibly the Frig, making the rounds to talk shows such as Stern, Leno, Letterman, Good Morning America, the daily Show, whatever. There is no reason or excuse to hold back now. The singer can sing, speak articulately, is well read and informed, and has a ton of experience at it. Throw in Neal and maybe Jon, and most importantly, a new single pushed by a label.

Why is his work in the film industry important? In my view, IF Journey can hit with a soundtrack song, the upcoming CD will only get more hands buying it.

Folks, this guy, along with his team of Tom Consolo and John Baruck, are the real keys IMO, to getting this band back in the public eye. With the right chemistry, it might just happen.

Comments?

[fightingilliniJRNY]

Folks, this guy, along with his team of Tom Consolo and John Barouck, are the real keys IMO, to getting this band back in the public eye. With the right chemistry, it might just happen.

Let's hope so. I remember in Neal's recent interview with Andrew that Azoff, Consolo and Baruck were at the Hollywood Bowl show and they were all impressed. I hope that this translates well for the band and the new music. I have a feeling it will.

[Saint John]

I am going to start being a more productive poster. No more derailing threads, sorry Cougar1.

I am going to post a topic of each key member of the Journey organization. I have thought it out to be 10 topics.

So here is My 1st in the series.

Irving Azoff

Forget about the picture. I know he looks like he is taking a shit, but the history behind this guy is amazing. He was involved in the movie industry, and had a hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That in itself is awesome.

Now, I could copy and paste from Google, but that is too vanilla.

I for one, have been pretty hard on Irv the past 3 years, up until Tapegate. Then, I learned why Irving was so damned passive about Journey, and why nothing ever happened to promote the band. His hands were tied unfortunately. I am giving Mr. Azoff a clean bill of whatever, and expect him to be his kickassing old self now with Soto in the drivers' seat.

I personally xpect to see Jeff, along with Neal and possibly the Frig, making the rounds to talk shows such as Stern, Leno, Letterman, Good Morning America, the daily Show, whatever. There is no reason or excuse to hold back now. The singer can sing, speak articulately, is well read and informed, and has a ton of experience at it. Throw in Neal and maybe Jon, and most importantly, a new single pushed by a label.

Why is his work in the film industry important? In my view, IF Journey can hit with a soundtrack song, the upcoming CD will only get more hands buying it.

Folks, this guy, along with his team of Tom Consolo and John Barouck, are the real keys IMO, to getting this band back in the public eye. With the right chemistry, it might just happen.

Comments?

As manager he failed miserably in replacing Augeri at the necessary time. The band wasted 3 years touring with a guy who had no voice. Ties should have been severed long ago. BUT, the money was still rolling in so everyone turned their backs on the fans. WE got ripped, they got paid. With an unscrupulous manager like that it's hard to get too excited about anything moving forward. As always, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and be on board from day one. Only this time I'll be ready to abandon ship the moment I see anything that resembles less than a 100% effort from the group's management.

[*Laura]

Of course that the three amigos are the key.
I don't see Journey changing management,especially now that they have been together through thick and thin and washed their laundries together.

However business is business and they should move faster than lightning...Time is ticking away.Journey has one more chance to do something worthy of their name.
If it doesn't happen now I doubt it it will ever happen.

There are so many ways to sell the brand Journey and to get the music out there,it's amazing.Radio would be the first best move.I suppose management has enough connections in the media to try a get a first single on the FM.
Then TV is good,no matter how cheesy are the shows.Important is that the band is seen.

IMO,it'll have to be a two-way effort:the band writting the best material they can and the management doing their job.

Time will tell.

[Rockindeano]

However business is business and they should move faster than lightning...Time is ticking away.Journey has one more chance to do something worthy of their name.
If it doesn't happen now I doubt it it will ever happen.

I agree with you here, but....

They can't tour the States this year. they need to be missed. However, i do think they should have a CD DONE by this year. That is MY opinion. I know the timetable doesn't call for it to be done this year, but like you said, they need to move fast; keep their recent momentum. But at the same time, be missed. Now thankfully with jeff, he has a European connection that he brings, and they will be able to keep their Mo' over there, and hopefully early 2008, release and tour in support of the new release.

[Saint John]

I think they DO need new management. How about someone who ALSO manages a contemporary group/artist. I don't know who else Azoff Management has, but it seems to me that they are a bit out of step with the way the industry works today. New singer, new direction, why not new management? Why SHOULD they keep Irving and co.? We DID see how they managed the situation when they were confronted with a singer who could no longer perform and the ensuing debacle. I dare someone to tell me that they thought management handled that well.

[Rockindeano]

I think they DO need new management. How about someone who ALSO manages a contemporary group/artist. I don't know who else Azoff Management has, but it seems to me that they are a bit out of step with the way the industry works today. New singer, new direction, why not new management? Why SHOULD they keep Irving and co.? We DID see how they managed the situation when they were confronted with a singer who could no longer perform and the ensuing debacle. I dare someone to tell me that they thought management handled that well.

Actually, and I am the only one, who thought they handled it perfectly. Irving is no dumbass. He knows BT and MR make up.0029% of the entire music industry. By not saying a word, getting Augeri to sign a confidentialty agreement, paying him off, would do two things.

1- get rid of the problem. Although it would piss off the Bt ers, who cares? They have moved the negative discussion off Bt and onto that new shit site. They concurrently brought in a dynamic in Soto. Chemistry, and confidence.

2- By NOT announcing the truth or a major statement, they skated past any uneeded publicity.

Yeah, i thought what they did FOR THE BAND was perfect.

As for the fans who didn't know, wouldn't believe us, or couldn't do the math, well, fuck em I guess. They'll either get over it, or flock to Augeriville. Azoff Mgt did this perfectly.

[*Laura]

However business is business and they should move faster than lightning...Time is ticking away.Journey has one more chance to do something worthy of their name.
If it doesn't happen now I doubt it it will ever happen.

I agree with you here, but....

They can't tour the States this year. they need to be missed. However, i do think they should have a CD DONE by this year. That is MY opinion. I know the timetable doesn't call for it to be done this year, but like you said, they need to move fast; keep their recent momentum. But at the same time, be missed. Now thankfully with jeff, he has a European connection that he brings, and they will be able to keep their Mo' over there, and hopefully early 2008, release and tour in support of the new release.

Touring this year would only keep them away from the studio job they need to do,and it has to be a good job,much better than Generations was.
Hell,I don't even want to think about Gens,I will go with what Jeff said and set the standard in the Evolution era.
That will require hard work,inspiration and faith and I am sure that a tour-free year will give them the best environement to focus.
Studios are creative centers,many great Journey songs were penned on the road,but polished to the state-of-the-art material in the studio.

They can keep in shape with a few shows here and there...Europe is a great idea as they need to build up a good fanbase here.
Jeff could be the right catalyst between the band and the european future fans/album buyers.

However,my opinion is that while they are working on the new material,management has to shift gears and hit the race track.
This is the 21st century,media is king.There is iTunes,Myspace(good move so far),oh and they definitely need to re-build their official site!

Get the band out of the studio for one day and sign them to perform a couple songs maybe in a major event,televised.
Music awards,sport events,anything that can promote them.

Oh yeah,and the other idea is good too...A sountrack would do wonders.

I could go on and on and on...


p.s. SJ,about changing management...They say it's safer to drive on the road you know better ,than change direction and risk getting lost...
Just my opinion.

[ohsherrie]

I'm 100% with Deano on this. Azoff and Co. can do it now that they have something to work with. They're as excited about what they saw in the band with Jeff on the tour this summer as we are.(well, most of us are )

[Saint John]

I'm 100% with Deano on this. Azoff and Co. can do it now that they have something to work with. They're as excited about what they saw in the band with Jeff on the tour this summer as we are.(well, most of us are )

The reason they didn't have "something to work with" was there own fault. They made a choice NOT to relieve Augeri of his duties. That is just poor management. How hard would it have been to fire a guy who had a fanbase of maybe a few thousand? Jeff could have seamlessly replaced him a long time ago. Rather, they fleeced their faithful fanbase. In fact, they even decided to go overseas and fleece the Euros, too. And do you realize that if TapeGate wouldn't have surfaced we'd still be listening to pre-recorded vocals? How much faith can you have in management like THAT? I have very little, although as I said earlier, I will reluctantly give them the benefit of the doubt.

[ohsherrie]

I understand what you're saying and why you feel that way St John. I "have faith " that there were extenuating circumstances that people outside the band and management don't know about that kept them from taking the logical action before.

[Saint John]

I understand what you're saying and why you feel that way St John. I "have faith " that there were extenuating circumstances that people outside the band and management don't know about that kept them from taking the logical action before.

Let's hope so!!

[jrnyjetster]

This is my feeling on the the subject....Azoff management and Sony did jackshit to promote Journey when Augeri DID have a voice....they did nothing to promote the first single, Remember Me, in 1998. And how about the whole ARRIVAL fiasco?? What the fuck was done to promote that album? I honestly believe Sony wanted it to tank. John Kalodner's name doesn't deserve to be on the credits for Arrival either. He fucking blew it! There's some very good radio friendly material on that record and it deserved better! The 2001 DVD got zero promotion, yet surprised the shit out of everybody when it ended up going GOLD after only a few weeks after it's release.

My honest opinion.....Journey should consider a new management team and they certainly need to find a label that's willing to support and promote them aggressively and effectively.

[Saint John]

This is my feeling on the the subject....Azoff management and Sony did jackshit to promote Journey when Augeri DID have a voice....they did nothing to promote the first single, Remember Me, in 1998. And how about the whole ARRIVAL fiasco?? What the fuck was done to promote that album? I honestly believe Sony wanted it to tank. John Kalodner's name doesn't deserve to be on the credits for Arrival either. He fucking blew it! There's some very good radio friendly material on that record and it deserved better! The 2001 DVD got zero promotion, yet surprised the shit out of everybody when it ended up going GOLD after only a few weeks after it's release.

My honest opinion.....Journey should consider a new management team and they certainly need to find a label that's willing to support and promote them aggressively and effectively.

BINGO!!!!!!!!!

[Crazie Scarab]

It doesn't matter who the management is. Melodic Rock is a thing of the past on radio. Journey, with or without JSS will have little to zero chance of making "mainstream" radio ever again.

Journey only need to please those of us who keep up with the bands of the past who have current material to offer.

[Saint John]

It doesn't matter who the management is. Melodic Rock is a thing of the past on radio. Journey, with or without JSS will have little to zero chance of making "mainstream" radio ever again.

Journey only need to please those of us who keep up with the bands of the past who have current material to offer.

Somebody obviously forgot to tell Bon Jovi that. I hear his shit on the radio all the time...whether it's good or not.

[Crazie Scarab]

It doesn't matter who the management is. Melodic Rock is a thing of the past on radio. Journey, with or without JSS will have little to zero chance of making "mainstream" radio ever again.

Journey only need to please those of us who keep up with the bands of the past who have current material to offer.

Somebody obviously forgot to tell Bon Jovi that. I hear his shit on the radio all the time...whether it's good or not.

Trust me, I take no pleasure posting my previous post.

Bon Jovi is Bon Jovi is Bon Jovi. Journey is no longer Steve Perry and as thus, anything new by Journey will always be deemed irrelevant by radio. It's just the way it is. Sadly.

[ohsherrie]

My honest opinion.....Journey should consider a new management team and they certainly need to find a label that's willing to support and promote them aggressively and effectively.

I agree that they need to get a label behind them Jetster, but I also believe the current management will help them do that now that they have a frontman that they believe in. I know a lot of internet Journey fans believe that Augeri deserved that kind of support, but I don't think people in the industry felt that way. I think management was cued by industry reaction, that being no Perry = no Journey. It's been a while now and I think seeing the new spirit in the band and the audiences with Jeff in the tour this summer has given management new material to work with.

[tammy]

I have no idea who does what job...but, somebody should sign up my latest obsession, "Royal Hunt" and have them tour with Journey...have you heard & seen these guys? They are amazing & the energy is high in their music (classically trained, too) They only seem to play in Europe & I can't go over there - so, I say bring 'em here. Intuitively, I can tell when someone has "IT" and they do.

[larryfromnextdoor]

I'm 100% with Deano on this. Azoff and Co. can do it now that they have something to work with. They're as excited about what they saw in the band with Jeff on the tour this summer as we are.(well, most of us are )

The reason they didn't have "something to work with" was there own fault. They made a choice NOT to relieve Augeri of his duties. That is just poor management. How hard would it have been to fire a guy who had a fanbase of maybe a few thousand? Jeff could have seamlessly replaced him a long time ago. Rather, they fleeced their faithful fanbase. In fact, they even decided to go overseas and fleece the Euros, too. And do you realize that if TapeGate wouldn't have surfaced we'd still be listening to pre-recorded vocals? How much faith can you have in management like THAT? I have very little, although as I said earlier, I will reluctantly give them the benefit of the doubt.

john , where was it i read that Azoff started "hearing" about how good Sotos shows were going and thought , "i should fly down and catch a show", " dang , we need to get them in the studio with this soto "... i dont get that ,, why wasnt he there or anywhere close in that 2 months period? i wonder what JSS thinks of it? he may not want to say , but if Azoff is just going to let it all go under,, why not get out of his contract.. he may have had some contacts in the past,, and sure enough people associate him with the eagles... but what have you done for me latley....so another 12 months goes by,, starting..............now... unacceptable,, maybe we would all like to be able to prove the critics wrong,, AND to have some decent groovy tunes,, cut him lose while you can i say... i just think a band of this calliber needs more attention than what hes willing to contribute too...

[JRNYLIVE]

AZOFF Manages or has Managed the following Artists....

Christina Aguilera, the Eagles, Seal, Lenny Kravitz, Alan Jackson, Velvet Revolver, Aerosmith, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks, Jimmy Buffett, Jewel, The Eagles, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Dan Fogelberg, Journey, Van Halen and Steely Dan. Sammy Hagar, SMASHING PUMPKINS (2007),

and more


Great Topic Ideas Deano

about time

[larryfromnextdoor]

AZOFF Manages or has Managed the following Artists....

Christina Aguilera, the Eagles, Seal, Lenny Kravitz, Alan Jackson, Velvet Revolver, Aerosmith, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks, Jimmy Buffett, Jewel, The Eagles, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Dan Fogelberg, Journey, Van Halen and Steely Dan. Sammy Hagar, SMASHING PUMPKINS (2007),

and more


Great Topic Ideas Deano

about time

but how many at this time is he juggling.. and how many projects do we not know of... too many to jump start our band properly i figure...

[JRNYLIVE]

AZOFF Manages or has Managed the following Artists....

Christina Aguilera, the Eagles, Seal, Lenny Kravitz, Alan Jackson, Velvet Revolver, Aerosmith, Chris Isaak, Stevie Nicks, Jimmy Buffett, Jewel, The Eagles, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Dan Fogelberg, Journey, Van Halen and Steely Dan. Sammy Hagar, SMASHING PUMPKINS (2007),

and more


Great Topic Ideas Deano

about time

but how many at this time is he juggling.. and how many projects do we not know of... too many to jump start our band properly i figure...

From what ive read he has quite a few managers under him, who also bring artists to the Azoff Team. Im sure he has a large group of people that deal day to day with the Artists. I doubt he deals with them daily. His reputation speaks for itself.... I think he is the right choice at the right time for Journey to move forward.

I dont blame Azoff for the last 3 Years of Journey. I blame Journey. It was their choice to continue with Steve A

Good songs, Great Tour, Proper Promotion, Radio Support, TV Support will save Journey and move them forward in 07 and 08.

[larryfromnextdoor]

dig on that country spellin too!

[JRNYLIVE]

dig on that country spellin too!

you're number one Tex

[Rockindeano]

It should be noted that Irving has two co managers in Baruck and Consolo. I am sure there is even distribution as to have better Band/Manager ratio.

[AR]

Actually, and I am the only one, who thought they handled it perfectly. Irving is no dumbass. He knows BT and MR make up.0029% of the entire music industry. By not saying a word, getting Augeri to sign a confidentialty agreement, paying him off, would do two things.

1- get rid of the problem. Although it would piss off the Bt ers, who cares? They have moved the negative discussion off Bt and onto that new shit site. They concurrently brought in a dynamic in Soto. Chemistry, and confidence.

2- By NOT announcing the truth or a major statement, they skated past any uneeded publicity.

AGREED!

[larryfromnextdoor]

Actually, and I am the only one, who thought they handled it perfectly. Irving is no dumbass. He knows BT and MR make up.0029% of the entire music industry. By not saying a word, getting Augeri to sign a confidentialty agreement, paying him off, would do two things.

1- get rid of the problem. Although it would piss off the Bt ers, who cares? They have moved the negative discussion off Bt and onto that new shit site. They concurrently brought in a dynamic in Soto. Chemistry, and confidence.

2- By NOT announcing the truth or a major statement, they skated past any uneeded publicity.

AGREED!

agreed,, ??? its that easy? dont you have anything else to say????

[Saint John]

I think they DO need new management. How about someone who ALSO manages a contemporary group/artist. I don't know who else Azoff Management has, but it seems to me that they are a bit out of step with the way the industry works today. New singer, new direction, why not new management? Why SHOULD they keep Irving and co.? We DID see how they managed the situation when they were confronted with a singer who could no longer perform and the ensuing debacle. I dare someone to tell me that they thought management handled that well.

Actually, and I am the only one, who thought they handled it perfectly. Irving is no dumbass. He knows BT and MR make up.0029% of the entire music industry. By not saying a word, getting Augeri to sign a confidentialty agreement, paying him off, would do two things.

1- get rid of the problem. Although it would piss off the Bt ers, who cares? They have moved the negative discussion off Bt and onto that new shit site. They concurrently brought in a dynamic in Soto. Chemistry, and confidence.

2- By NOT announcing the truth or a major statement, they skated past any uneeded publicity.

Yeah, i thought what they did FOR THE BAND was perfect.

As for the fans who didn't know, wouldn't believe us, or couldn't do the math, well, fuck em I guess. They'll either get over it, or flock to Augeriville. Azoff Mgt did this perfectly.

They only fixed the problem they created. More importantly, they wasted 3 years of Journey with a subpar frontman. They'll never get those years back. Time for change. With the artists mentioned that Azoff manages, I doubt his #1 priority is getting Journey back near the top. I'd guess his #1 priority is to make as much money as possible, while at the same time, spending the least. Journey needs a management team that will make them their #1 priority.

[Jeremey fan forever]

This topic is gay. Why not talk about something more important to Journey than Azoff? Like the fact that Journey is finally getting the recognition they deserve by having a song in Wheel of Fortune? Wake up and stop being so lame.