Andrew gets his Steve Perry interview..

[Carlitto H@kk]

I don't know how you lasted 82min, Drew!

After he said "Hello", I would have shit my pants, passed out, and cried like a baby all at once

Congratulations! I know it will probably be a highlight of your career!

[perryswoman]

can't wait to hear this interview from a total CLASS act.

And it will also be interesting to hear what Perry had to say.

ROTFLMAO!

NOT

[froy]

I'm very very happy with it and Steve was very accommodating and a great interview. You won't get answers to every burning question, but I hope there is answers to a few. The interview was to promote GH1&2 and Street Talk, so there were parameters.

My interview would have lasted 5 min. Question 1 why is he the only guy on the planet who say's no to singing with JRNY
Why are there no videos from his era with JRNY when the vault has 200 concerts in it.
Why does he always say he's going to record a new cd when that is an absolute lie.

Well Steve your answers please

[SherriBerry]

I don't know how you lasted 82min, Drew!

After he said "Hello", I would have shit my pants, passed out, and cried like a baby all at once

Congratulations! I know it will probably be a highlight of your career!

Me too, and someone is going to pay over $10,000 and probably do the same!

Way to go Andrew - you really deserved this!!

[Andrew]

Thanks folks. Hopefully the interview will satisfy the majority.

It's never the majority but the overly vocal minority that you need to worry about.

Well I don't expect them to be happy!

[slucero]

Congrats 'Bat!


So who's next on the 'ol interview bucket list?

[majik]

Congrats, Andrew, and thank you Lora! I truly hope we get more than what we've seen out of Steve in the past 10+ years.

I just watched the reels, and it really bums me out. Though I've fully supported every iteration of this band and love what Arnel has brought to the table (I loved SA's humbleness and JSS's live shows with the band), every time I see clips of SP with the band, I realize that that was a special moment in time. Yes, it coincides with my high school and college days, so that brings more to the table, but dang nab in his prime, SP was just amazing, and the band was just on a roll. I also lived through the solo projects and then the feeling of listening to Raised on Radio for the first time thinking, "What is this -- an extended Perry project?" Nonetheless, the live shows supporting it were still great.Bottom line (sorry for the tangent), I'm really looking forward to the interview.

I agree with your post. While the other vocalists have each brought their own style and sensitivities to the position, nothing can replace Perry's (or for that matter, the entire classic lineup) association with the fond memories from those young adult/ high school days when a lot of us first heard Journey.

+1@both of you!! ...we were just DAMN LUCKY, PERIOD!!!


I am LMAO@ "B"!!

Agree with all above....it was just magic...we were very lucky to have those songs as a soundtrack for our youth!

Very true, absolute magic.

[Andrew]

Congrats 'Bat!


So who's next on the 'ol interview bucket list?

Trying for Joe Elliott.

[SilvioRodrigues]

Congrats 'Bat!


So who's next on the 'ol interview bucket list?

Trying for Joe Elliott.

I hope you do the interview...and I think you will. They are on tour next to you, so you won't miss the opportunity. It's about time to move on about the discussion about the review of "Yeah". I think that you and Joe are in a better mood right now, am I right?

[Babyblue]

Thanks folks. Hopefully the interview will satisfy the majority.

It's never the majority but the overly vocal minority that you need to worry about.

Well I don't expect them to be happy!

Well i know that i will be happy after reading it. Thanks Drew

[Navarro]

@MelodicRockAndrew McNeice


I am very excited to be able to announce that this morning I conducted my very first ever interview with the legendary Mr. Steve Perry!!

This is incredible! THANKS! and congrats!

[Yoda]

I can't wait to read this interview Andrew. Having answers to at least some of the questions we have been asking for years will be nice.

[Navarro]

I'm very very happy with it and Steve was very accommodating and a great interview. You won't get answers to every burning question, but I hope there is answers to a few. The interview was to promote GH1&2 and Street Talk, so there were parameters.

My interview would have lasted 5 min. Question 1 why is he the only guy on the planet who say's no to singing with JRNY

Because he doesn't need to work. The guy is in his early 60's and made the right financial decisions so he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do. He has "been there-done that" and practically was Journey at one point.

Why are there no videos from his era with JRNY when the vault has 200 concerts in it.

Houston 1981 isn't a concert video?

Why does he always say he's going to record a new cd when that is an absolute lie.

Because he is a smart business man and wants to keep people interested his previous musical output.

Steve, on some level, has protected his own legacy by staying in seclusion and releasing old material. Most people have the young SP etched in their mind as the voice of Journey. Too many rockers, go on past their prime and ruin their own legacy. Of course, someone dying young, like Lennon or Cobain, essentially does the same thing. I, for one, am glad that was never SP's fate.

[Memorex]

To take that a step further, I'd saying he is protecting Journey's legacy. Steve is obviously not going to get involved in post-96 stuff, so he works with what he has. As technology improves, so can the sonic value of their previous work. I for one am glad Steve feels the way he does about the music they created. I feel like he treats it with respect. I think he believes in what they accomplished more today than he ever has. He's kind of like a curator, you know?

I'm not saying I fault Schon either. I mean, he just wants to keep moving forward, doing his thing. Good on him for playing as long as he has, staying sharp, etc.

Also, people forget that years go by between these things. It's not like Steve is sitting around on a daily basis mired in old Journey songs. They've just been smart enough to space it out and capitalize on certain successes.

What would bug me is if they kept putting out the same stuff over and over in a new package with no improvements. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd with their once or twice a year rehash. At least that what it seems like.

I think if these things were just thrown together by the record company with no care taken to provide a new value, I'd be annoyed.

Andrew - Congratulations on the interview. It's a pretty big score. And a feather in your cap that many artists know your site is the one to go to to promote this type of release. Having been on this site so long, I always find it strange when a friend of a friend tells me to check this site out.

[Michigan Girl]

Great Post, Memorex ...I concur!!
In other words~ +1:wink:

[brywool]

Congrats 'Bat!


So who's next on the 'ol interview bucket list?

Trying for Joe Elliott.

Okay THAT would be an interesting interview. I seem to remember him being pretty unhappy with you a few years ago.
You guys must've mended fences, huh?

[Yoda]

To take that a step further, I'd saying he is protecting Journey's legacy. Steve is obviously not going to get involved in post-96 stuff, so he works with what he has. As technology improves, so can the sonic value of their previous work. I for one am glad Steve feels the way he does about the music they created. I feel like he treats it with respect. I think he believes in what they accomplished more today than he ever has. He's kind of like a curator, you know?

I'm not saying I fault Schon either. I mean, he just wants to keep moving forward, doing his thing. Good on him for playing as long as he has, staying sharp, etc.

Also, people forget that years go by between these things. It's not like Steve is sitting around on a daily basis mired in old Journey songs. They've just been smart enough to space it out and capitalize on certain successes.

What would bug me is if they kept putting out the same stuff over and over in a new package with no improvements. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd with their once or twice a year rehash. At least that what it seems like.

I think if these things were just thrown together by the record company with no care taken to provide a new value, I'd be annoyed.

Andrew - Congratulations on the interview. It's a pretty big score. And a feather in your cap that many artists know your site is the one to go to to promote this type of release. Having been on this site so long, I always find it strange when a friend of a friend tells me to check this site out.

++++1000 Agree completely!

[Saint John]

To take that a step further, I'd saying he is protecting Journey's legacy.

And I'd say that he's making sure he's not forgotten. The guy doesn't do anything in Journey that isn't self-serving, and never has. He's not protecting anything other than the thought of his memory fading into the sunset. I'd also say the systematic campaign of everyone and their uncle telling us just how good his voice still sounds, without us ever hearing it, reeks of a guy with some major misfiring going on between his ears.

Steve is obviously not going to get involved in post-96 stuff

That notion would be refreshing ... if it were true. But he, by all accounts, bamboozled a paycheck out of the guys for 10 years, throwing ethics and the notion that the "divorce was final" right out the window. I'd say that because he drew a paycheck that he was "involved in" things post-1996. The guy just can't seen to ever utter the complete truth. The irony is that made him a full partner in Tapegate, though. So everyone needs to remember to blast him, too, when this topic arises.

And I know you're referring specifically to the post-96 music, but it's worth mentioning that his backstabbing acts like firing Valory, Smith and Herbie, touring without Journey (yet singing their songs, thus "cracking the stone"), and breaking up a viable lineup (Chalfant and Rolie) didn't stop in 1996. The guy is a first class jackoff. It's really not even debatable. He's devoid of any class and the number of band friends he maintains from his Journey days seems to reflect as much.

[brywool]

Hard not to argue with some of this, vitriol aside.

Seems he should be getting royalties from the songs as a writer, but to get anything else is just strange considering the relationship, or lack thereof with the band.

Having said that, it's odd (though probably good as he's got a great ear) that he's always the guy in charge of the re-issued stuff. For a guy that no longer wants anything to do with Journey, that's strange and that indicates a cash grab (who wouldn't?).

If I only hear from someone when they are trying to sell me something or when it's their birthday, I don't think I really want to deal with them.

Why would present day Journey hand all that over to him and yet have bad blood? Is that Sony working with Steve and just giving the rest of the band the finger or is there some kind of agreement there between all members of Journey? We'll never know.

It'd be so awesome to one day see these guys come out and just say "We're acting like idiots. We have for years. We've all been through a lot (old and new members) but we all get along and we are once again friendly/family with each other and hang out... except for Aynsley who kind of creeps us out!"

[Ehwmatt]

Hard not to argue with some of this, vitriol aside.

Seems he should be getting royalties from the songs as a writer, but to get anything else is just strange considering the relationship, or lack thereof with the band.

Having said that, it's odd (though probably good as he's got a great ear) that he's always the guy in charge of the re-issued stuff. For a guy that no longer wants anything to do with Journey, that's strange and that indicates a cash grab (who wouldn't?).

If I only hear from someone when they are trying to sell me something or when it's their birthday, I don't think I really want to deal with them.

Why would present day Journey hand all that over to him and yet have bad blood? Is that Sony working with Steve and just giving the rest of the band the finger or is there some kind of agreement there between all members of Journey? We'll never know.

It'd be so awesome to one day see these guys come out and just say "We're acting like idiots. We have for years. We've all been through a lot (old and new members) but we all get along and we are once again friendly/family with each other and hang out... except for Aynsley who kind of creeps us out!"

I agree with a lot of this. But in fairness to Steve AND the band when it comes to reissues and the other old stuff, it seems the band wants to go forward (for better or worse) and Steve is quite obviously tied to the old stuff for whatever the real reasons may be (i.e., not releasing new albums etc).

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

[Saint John]

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Bingo. This is a job for either Perry or Cain, but no one else. And since Jon Cain is currently employed, it only makes sense that Nostrildamus do it. And he's done a great job so far.

[Michigan Girl]

I agree with a lot of this. But in fairness to Steve AND the band when it comes to reissues and the other old stuff, it seems the band wants to go forward (for better or worse) and Steve is quite obviously tied to the old stuff for whatever the real reasons may be (i.e., not releasing new albums etc).

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Well, the band is just as tied to the old stuff as Steve ...they are touring it and he is improving
upon it.

[Ehwmatt]

I agree with a lot of this. But in fairness to Steve AND the band when it comes to reissues and the other old stuff, it seems the band wants to go forward (for better or worse) and Steve is quite obviously tied to the old stuff for whatever the real reasons may be (i.e., not releasing new albums etc).

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Well, the band is just as tied to the old stuff as Steve ...they are touring it and he is improving
upon it.

Well, ok. But the fact remains the band is touring the old stuff (to a large extent, mainly that old stuff). Steve, by his own choice or perhaps by his own insurmountable limitations, is stuck poring over old audio and video and improving on it.

[Don]

When Journey's stock was at its lowest during the breakup in 1998, Journey had the opportunity that other bands and even record labels have done numerous times before. Calculate future royalty/licensing earnings on the value of the catalog of that moment (at that time, probably only 20% of what its worth now) and payout a one time lump sum to Perry.
We are talking probably a 10 million dollar go away fee at that time. Schon could have mortgaged Nocturnal to get the deal done.
Shit, Curt Cobain actually went and did this retroactively to his band mates; that's how his spouse ended up with 90% ownership of the Nirvana catalog after his death.

Letting Perry collect on ten years of concert receipts might have saved them a few million dollars initially but I think having total control of ALL your product and not having to get ex-bandmembers to sign off on anything you want to do with your back catalog would have been much more satisfying.

[brywool]

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Bingo. This is a job for either Perry or Cain, but no one else. And since Jon Cain is currently employed, it only makes sense that Nostrildamus do it. And he's done a great job so far.

Yeah, I agree with that. He's got a great ear. After the reissues on Revelation, I'm not sure Jon's the guy as there were a lot of weird things in there. It IS beneficial to the band to have Perry do it as they are out doing what they are doing. But they have to PAY him to do it. That would be hard to do. I'm not sure that I get Steve's motive (other than money of course). It's really obvious there is bad blood there and that he was tired and wanted to get out of the whole thing. Would you want to go through your ex wife's family photos and restore them? Nope. So the fact that he's kind of the "keeper of the archives" yet has such bad feelings toward the current members where he can't even talk to them unless a lawyer is present is what I don't get - unless it is all about the money, and I guess it is. If I were Neal and there was those kinds of vibes, I think I'd just say "No thanks, we'll handle it". Eh, it doesn't really matter I guess.

[Don]

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Bingo. This is a job for either Perry or Cain, but no one else. And since Jon Cain is currently employed, it only makes sense that Nostrildamus do it. And he's done a great job so far.

Yeah, I agree with that. He's got a great ear. After the reissues on Revelation, I'm not sure Jon's the guy as there were a lot of weird things in there. It IS beneficial to the band to have Perry do it as they are out doing what they are doing. But they have to PAY him to do it. That would be hard to do. I'm not sure that I get Steve's motive (other than money of course). It's really obvious there is bad blood there and that he was tired and wanted to get out of the whole thing. Would you want to go through your ex wife's family photos and restore them? Nope. So the fact that he's kind of the "keeper of the archives" yet has such bad feelings toward the current members where he can't even talk to them unless a lawyer is present is what I don't get - unless it is all about the money, and I guess it is. If I were Neal and there was those kinds of vibes, I think I'd just say "No thanks, we'll handle it". Eh, it doesn't really matter I guess.

Sony is the one paying Perry for this. Neal and Jon have nothing to do with it finacially beyond okaying the songs on the release and collecting their royalties from the sales. That's the whole reason for the Street Talk re-issue also.

[Ehwmatt]

If I'm the band and I'm economically rational (i.e., bad blood notwithstanding), I'd have no problem with Steve putting the hours in re-mastering and re-issuing the old stuff, collecting a check from his labor, and all the while going forward doing my own thing with touring/recording etc. Not a bad arrangement for either side.

Bingo. This is a job for either Perry or Cain, but no one else. And since Jon Cain is currently employed, it only makes sense that Nostrildamus do it. And he's done a great job so far.

Yeah, I agree with that. He's got a great ear. After the reissues on Revelation, I'm not sure Jon's the guy as there were a lot of weird things in there. It IS beneficial to the band to have Perry do it as they are out doing what they are doing. But they have to PAY him to do it. That would be hard to do. I'm not sure that I get Steve's motive (other than money of course). It's really obvious there is bad blood there and that he was tired and wanted to get out of the whole thing. Would you want to go through your ex wife's family photos and restore them?[ Nope. So the fact that he's kind of the "keeper of the archives" yet has such bad feelings toward the current members where he can't even talk to them unless a lawyer is present is what I don't get - unless it is all about the money, and I guess it is. If I were Neal and there was those kinds of vibes, I think I'd just say "No thanks, we'll handle it". Eh, it doesn't really matter I guess.

This is where the band :: family analogy fails. They won't pay me to restore my ex-wife's family photos. Again, this is nothing more than a case of rational economic actors. Think of it more like politicians staying together for their careers (the Clintons). Of course Steve's motive is driven in large part by money! I doubt he'd deny that.

Finally, even putting that aside, restoring those photos might provide some peace and cathartic pleasure/healing by helping you remember the better times the two of you had. Now, of course, some splits/divorces are so brutal that's beyond comprehension. But you get my point.

[Don]

Like I said, this costs the band nothing. They're not trying (or at least, not succeeding commercially) in putting a new product out there that will eclipse their back catalog. They are basically getting work out of Perry for free by having Sony employ him to help sell their older product. Everybody wins here.

[Memorex]

It's his kids in those photos. There was probably a time when he couldn't. Now he can. Cool.

[Michigan Girl]

It's his kids in those photos. There was probably a time when he couldn't. Now he can. Cool.

Bingo ...anything for them^^^~they are his/their future!!