Bad Company–the band and the memories…..to the day I die

I love music! I love that in this age of the internet I can search for a concert, an album, or a video for many of my longtime favorite bands and artists.  But, I also enjoy seeking out live concert and (the ever-expanding) rock documentaries on DVD. This past month or so, I found 2 DVD’s and (from watching them) I’ve found inspiration to a couple more blogs on artists that ignite a fire within my musical bloodstream.

The first DVD is a live concert of vocalist Paul Rodgers called Live in Glasgow. As I watched this concert, I’m reminded once again of how truly great Rodgers is as a Rock vocalist. To fans of the Classic Rock genre, this is not any kind of earth shattering revelation. To get my past my lengthy intro, I want to talk about Bad Company, the band, the album and (in my opinion) the greatness of that “other legendary band” on the Swan Song record label 40 years after their debut.

Bad Company was one of the biggest “supergroups” of the 70’s. The group was formed from the ashes of the British blues band Free with vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke along with guitarist Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople and bassist Boz Burell of King Crimson.  The band was formed in 1973 and would release their debut album in 1974.  Years later, I would find out from the liner notes of the Deep Purple album Burn that Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore had originally wanted to Paul Rodgers to replace Ian Gillan after he left Purple.  I still wonder and have that exciting “what if” equation in my head if one of my favorite vocalists would have teamed up with one of my favorite bands.

Bad Company appeared on my own personal radar in my pre-adolescent years as I started to discover a lot of the great rock bands of the 70’s. For years, the only Bad Co song I knew was the ode to the famed lifestyle of Rock and Roll Fantasy.  From an early age, I had desired to be a musician or rock star standing on stage and performing.  This song struck a nerve with me at a young age. For years, the only Bad Co album I owned was the Rough Diamonds album. This was to be the final album featuring the original lineup as the band fell apart after the death of John Bonham, the disbanding of Led Zeppelin and the dissolving of the Swan Song record label.

I hadn’t paid much attention to Bad Company as the 80’s progressed. I picked up an album by a group featuring drummer Simon Kirke called Wildlife in 1983. I have a blog in progress on that one. It was a one-off project that I really enjoyed.  In 1984, Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page formed an alliance with Bad Co vocalist Paul Rodgers in a band known as The Firm.  At the time, I was expecting something “heavy” considering Zep and Page’s reputation for being a Hard Rock icon. I realized later that “heavy” was all in the eyes and ears of the listener and the more I listened to The Firm, the more I grew to love it…..still do.

Fast forward to my college years(yet again) and my years of employment in the hallowed aisles (and record bins) of Dustys Records. Many of my memories are always filled with the music and friendships associated with those formative years. This memory features my misfit brother (from another mother) Bob G. When Bob started working at Dustys, one of the first CD’s he purchased was the Bad Company compilation 10 from 6 (10 songs from 6 albums) At the time, I think I had expanded the number of songs I knew from Rn’R Fantasy to include Can’t Get Enough and Feel Like Makin’ Love.  But, Bob had a personal affinity to the track simply titled Bad Company.  Bob loved to stand in the aisle, play air guitar and sing along to this song. He absolutely loved this song. His enthusiasm for this song was absolutely palpable and contagious. It wouldn’t take long before I would take notice and become a huge fan myself. I would even venture to say that my love for Bad Co grew as my friendship with Bob progressed as well.  I still smile as I listen to Bad Company and think of the memories of Bob’s infectious enthusiasm.

While the late 80’s were rolling along, Bad Company had regrouped (in a sense) and recorded with vocalist Brian Howe.  I had heard Brian Howe on Ted Nugent’s 1984 Penetrator album. He’s not a bad vocalist. But, I was never a big fan of his style. His clean vocal style just didn’t seem to fit the gritty style of Ted Nugent and later with Bad Company. After watching the VH1 Behind the Music episode, Atlantic Records basically wanted to call this union of Simon Kirke, Mick Ralphs and Brian Howe “Bad Company”. By the way, bassist Boz Burrell lasted only one album with this lineup. The band had chart success with albums like Dangerous Age and Holy Water.  But, for me and (I’m guessing) many other fans, this wasn’t Bad Company. It was kind of a watered down, diluted and radio friendly version. I know some people that enjoyed this version. They even released a live album with Brian Howe. I’ve even been told by my niece that it’s one of her favorites. But, I’m talking about the legendary group featuring the one and only Paul Rodgers. So, let’s move on.

Fast forward to the 90’s and by now Paul Rodgers was definitely on my list of artists that I wanted more from. In 1993, he released an all-star Blues album called Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters.  This featured a host of guest guitarists like Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, Brian Setzer, Brian May, David Gilmour and Buddy Guy! I was living and working in Omaha at the Crossroads Mall as the manager of Tape World. Two of the guys on my staff were big guitar and classic rock fans. So, we would listen to this album daily. The backing band on this album was drummer Jason Bonham and the bassist and guitarist from his band Bonham. So, I had been a big fan of Jason and his drumming. So, I loved the heavy handed Zeppelin-esque treatment of these Blues standards. It was quite the contrast for the Mall atmosphere we worked in. We loved it anyway.

In 1999, I remember picking up a copy of Guitar World magazine for yet another article on Stevie Ray Vaughan. It’s amazing how these guitar magazines always seem to come up with yet another “lost” interview with a deceased guitarist like Hendrix, Randy Rhoads or SRV. Well, the issue had an article about how the original lineup of Bad Company was reuniting to record some new tracks for a new greatest hits package and a possible tour. I was so elated about this reunion. I wanted to tell all of my music loving friends about it. I may have even called Bob to tell him if he hadn’t heard already.  VH1 even had the subject of the band as part of their Behind the Music series. After the debut of that initial episode, they aired a new concert of the reunited band. They even had Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington come out on second guitar for Rock and Roll Fantasy.  I was so excited about this. I set the VCR and recorded both the episode and the concert. I made a VHS copy for Bob and sent it to him. I knew that Bob was such a big fan of the band that he’d appreciate it.

Rock and Roll Fantasy

At the time, I looked and looked for tour dates near my central Nebraska location only to be disappointed.  They would not be playing anywhere near. But, I would always seek to find if they would be playing again in the years after. Soon, the 90’s moved into the new 21st Century. The band played again briefly with only Rodgers and Simon Kirke as the original members. I later found out that guitarist Mick Ralphs was dealing with some kind of sickness and opted out of that reunion tour. Then, for most of the first decade of the 2000’s, Rodgers joined Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor as “Queen + Paul Rodgers”.  Now, here was Paul stepping into the role of lead singer in an established band.  I’m sure there are die-hard Queen fans that didn’t like this new union.  I love the sound of Paul’s voice and he is more than capable of handling such a range like that of the late Freddie Mercury.

For years, I didn’t find anything overly fantastic about drummer Simon Kirke’s playing. He’s not flashy! He isn’t loud and bombastic like my favorites John Bonham or Carmine Appice. But, the more I got into playing the song or the groove, the more I began to appreciate his style. Around 1998, he toured with and did a session of VH1’s Storytellers with Ringo Starr.  I watched the episode and there was something tight and grooving about Simon’s playing. It wasn’t flashy and then seeing him play double drums with Ringo made it seem so mesmerizing to me. He plays his parts that are simplistic yet so signature to the song he’s playing…and he sings pretty damn good too.

Simon Kirke drumming and singing!

As a drummer and a singer, I was drawn towards Simon and Paul. But, after I watched the VH1 Behind the Music episode, I began to respect both Mick and Boz as musicians as well.  It would be after years  of listening to bassists that I began to appreciate Boz and his playing. He is one of many bassists that are so good that they make the rest of the band sound unbelievably good that you forget how good they are. I would place Boz in the same class of a player as Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie and Deep Purple’s Roger Glover.  These are all players that do their job so well and have stepped out of the spotlight of guitarists and vocalists and create fantastic pieces of musical genius that contributes to a wider scope of the composition.  They make the music breathe by what they play (or don’t play). Boz Burrell started off as a vocalist and then began playing bass with Robert Fripp’s band King Crimson. When he had the chance to audition for Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke, he was more than ready to get away from King Crimson and what he would call “public school rock”.  He would play the usual standard basses. But, he was also a fan of the fretless bass and (like many) a fan of jazz bassist Charles Mingus.  Unfortunately, Boz Burrell was a casualty of the excesses of Rock n’ Roll and passed away in 2006.
Mick Ralphs is another member that goes unnoticed. Ralphs was the principal songwriter for the British band Mott the Hoople. In America (or at least myself) they’re known for the song All the Young Dudes written by David Bowie. Ironically, Ralphs had already grown tired of life in Mott. He had written some songs for singer Ian Hunter that didn’t fit his singing style and eventually would be something that fit Paul Rodgers style perfectly. Mick Ralphs often gets overshadowed as a guitarist and songwriter. Paul Rodgers is usually the member of Bad Company that most people remember. But, it was Ralphs who co-wrote many of the great Bad Co songs with Rodgers. He wrote the riffs for Can’t Get Enough and Feel
Like Makin’ Love among many others.

The debut album was released in June of 1974. So, 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the debut. When I was researching this band and the Bad Company catalog, I was reminded of the classic album releases of the 70’s. This was a time when bands would release albums once or twice a year and the albums would range from 35 to 45 minutes in length. From 1970-1973, Black Sabbath released their first five albums. Deep Purple released 6 albums from 1970-1974 and that was between both the Mark II lineup(Ian Gillan and Roger Glover) and the Mark III lineup(David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes). Queen released Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and Night at the Opera all between March 1974 and the end of the following year. Bad Company managed to release their debut self-titled album, Straight Shooter and Run With the Pack all within a 2 year period as well. This was a rich time for some of my favorite bands and albums.
When I originally started looking at the songs on the self-titled debut, I found that all but 2 of the songs are on the Original Bad Company Anthology set. That’s pretty impressive that these songs hold up over time. I also found out that this album was recorded at Headley Grange which is the same old mansion where Led Zeppelin recorded their iconic fourth album. If you’ve seen the documentary This Might Get Loud, Jimmy Page takes a walk through this historic spot and highlights how magical the sound was in this place.

Jimmy Page revisits Headley Grange.

So, Bad Company recorded their debut album in this place known for its strange atmosphere and energies.  But, the story that knocks me out is that Paul Rodgers actually recorded his vocals for the title track in the middle of a field in the darkness of night. So, when you listen to the original song, remember it’s cold and dark and when he sings, “….and the cold wind blows!” He improvised that because he was feeling it…cold that is.
Obviously, When I started writing this entry, I thought of my friend Bob and his love of Bad Company. So, I sent him a note that I was writing this. His response to the music of Bad Company and the vocals of Paul Rodgers were succinctly put into his own words as only Bob could put it.

“Paul Rodgers for me is the voice I always wanted. His voice seemed soo smooth and almost effortless like he could get out of bed and start singing and sound like that. For me, the instrument that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck and gives me goosebumps is an amazing voice. In ‘Bad Company’ (the song) he only has to say "company always on the run" and I get goosebumps. Do you have any idea how many times I have listened to that damn song and I still get goosebumps? His voice fits right in that pocket where it belongs. Soft quiet piano...soft quiet vocal. Make your voice an instrument. Make it fit in the pocket. Later in the song he says "that's why they call me" and brings his voice up and brings it loud as if to say to the band...time to kick it in the ass. His voice goes up with the guitar and down with the guitar. His voice is quiet with the piano. His voice says match it and make it work. Don't overpower it.”

When I first started writing this, I had realized that it was the 40th Anniversary of this band and their debut album. I wanted to take in all that I could about this band. Interestingly enough, the UK magazine known as “Classic Rock” magazine published a commemorative issue celebrating the 40th anniversary.

Along with the magazine, there is a DVD documentary of the band.  I found a copy at the bookstore and bought it. To say I’ve been on a steady diet of Bad Company music would be a major understatement.  I’ve watched the DVD countless times and watched as the surviving members talk about the “good ole days” and reminisce about their experiences and road stories.

great commemorative magazine and DVD set.

Even Jason Bonham is interviewed as he recalls the time his father John Bonham woke him up when the Bad Co members came to the house. He wanted his young son to play Rock and Roll Fantasy on the drums for the visiting guests.  At that point, Paul Rodgers turned to drummer Simon Kirke and said, “You’re fired”. Coincidentally, Jason would go on to play for Paul Rodgers solo band in the early 90’s and a UK tour in the 2000’s.
The band has reunited in the last few years with former Heart guitarist Howard Leese on second guitar as well as Paul Rodgers’ bassist Lynn Sorensen. They’ve released two live DVD’s and CD sets in 2010(Bad Company Hard Rock Live) and 2011(Bad Company Live at Wembley). The band sounds great and of course the vocals of Paul Rodgers sound absolutely top-notch.  In the summer of 2014, they are touring with Lynyrd Skynyrd on a 40th Anniversary tour(for both bands). 

I’ve said it before. Bands and music like this always bring back memories of friends and places that stick with me at all times.  The guys in this band were comrades and friends in the creation of this timeless music.  That being said, this timeless music has also become the soundtrack for the memories of the friends and comrades of my past.
“Bad Company…..Til the day I die!”

Slade–Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply

According to the website Ultimate Classic Rock, April 13th 2014 marks the 30th Anniversary of the album Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply by the British band Slade.  As I read the brief little history of this album on the website, I was transported back 30 years to a time right before my Senior year of High School and College and reminded me how much I loved this album. 

In the Spring of 1984, I was approaching my 17th birthday(in July) and I was a full blown record store fanatic. I didn’t have my own car yet. So, I would drive the family station wagon or my Dad’s 1970 VW Beetle to my destinations. As one would imagine, most of my destinations were 2 or 3 record stores.  I was buying copies of Hit Parader  and Circus magazine every month and catching whatever music video programming I could find.  So, I remember catching the first video for the song Run Runaway and something struck the proverbial chord in me. I loved the Celtic feel and yet rocking jig. Looking back, I think it may have something to do with my Irish heritage and ancestry.

silly mugging from the band

The song stuck with me and soon thereafter they started playing videos for the second track My Oh My.  This was a slower ballad. But, it was very memorable and stuck with me as well. The song had a bit of tenderness to it and I really enjoyed the vocals of singer Noddy Holder. If I remember right, the video seemed like a sequel of sorts to the first video. At least that’s how I remember it.

From my monthly reading of Circus and Hit Parader magazines, I learned that this band Slade was the band that had originally recorded the song Cum On Feel The Noize.  In 1983, that song was everywhere made popular by LA Heavy Metal band Quiet Riot.  Suddenly, there was a buzz on this band that had been on the British scene for many years. 

Then, they made their debut on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and performed/lip synched both of these songs. At that point, I was sold on this and I bought a cassette copy of the album.

Soon, I had this cassette copy all the time. Since the band was now in the US public eye, I became obsessed with finding more from this British import. Many of the bands I followed were trumpeting these guys from across the pond. I remember reading a liner note from one band’s album for thanking the American recording company for (finally) signing Slade.  I even remember that Spring when I was looking to buy my first car, I test drove a car and I knew it had a tape deck in it. So, I made sure I had the “Power Supply” cassette with me for that test drive. My parents made jokes that I only wanted the car because of the tape deck. I’m a music fanatic. What other reason is there?

I’d been to Kearney and Dustys Records in the Spring of 1984 for KSC District Music Contest and eventually KSC High School Music Camp in August of 1984. This cemented my desire to be in Kearney for my college education.  I was excited to be in school and be around musicians and a cool record store like Dustys.  So, right before my Senior year of High School, my friend Mick and I loaded in my car and drove to Kearney for the day. We wanted to drop by the college and Dustys’ and Yanda’s music to look at drums and sticks and drum hardware.  We stopped in at Dustys on 23rd street and I went through a bunch of the records and found an album called Slayed – The Best of Slade(I think) and a t-shirt of the album cover of Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply.  I loved that shirt and the band. I wore that shirt so much. It was comfortable and even later I cut off the sleeves and made it into a muscle shirt.

My senior year of high school was a big year of transition for me. My parents had moved from North Platte Nebraska to the town of Hastings which is about 150 miles away. I’ve written before that I found a way to stay at the school for the year and live with my older sister, her husband and my infant niece.  They moved into the family house and I stayed in my downstairs bedroom.  Since my niece was an infant at the time, there were many nights of the baby waking up crying and I could hear it coming from the room above my own. So, I found a way to soothe myself back to sleep by putting on headphones to my walkman cassette deck and listen to music and drifting back to sleep. I tried to pick albums that weren’t that heavy and may have been more vocal oriented.  For some reason, this Slade album was one of them. I have distinct memories of hearing the songs Ready to Explode and C’est La Vie ringing through my ears as I would drift off to sleep. Ready to Explode has the set up of a great car race as the drivers are introduced and the band members are the ones set up as the drivers. The vocal harmonies rang through my head. I just couldn’t get enough of them. 

At the tail end of my senior year(1985), the band released their album Rogue’s Gallery.  I was slightly excited about it. But, after graduation I would be heading to Hastings and start a new life in a new town the summer before I entered college.  On that day after graduation, I loaded up my car and made a couple of stops on the way out of town and purchased Rogue’s Gallery at the store I had frequented the past two years.  Although, I enjoyed that album. It didn’t stick with me like “Power Supply” did.

When I entered college, my tastes continued to grow. But, I held onto that cassette copy. Then, when I started working at Dustys, I decided I would sell my cassettes and replace them with a vinyl LP copy.  A lot of times, I would sell old cassette copies for weekend beer money. I think I had played that Slade cassette so many times that eventually the pads fell off or the tape itself ripped, tore or got stuck in a couple of cassette decks along the way. But, it wouldn’t be until I worked at the Grand Island Dustys store that I found that there was a vinyl copy behind the counter. We didn’t listen to it very often because there may have been some issues with the turntable. Eventually, we divided up the store LP’s among Doug, Jayson and myself. I was low man on the totem pole and I think Jayson took the vinyl copy for himself.  It wouldn’t be until the summer of 95 when the Kearney store closed altogether and I took some of the LP shelves that Dusty had in the back room back to my apartment. Jayson had bunch of LPs himself and the Power Supply was in that bunch. So, I took it with me and added it to my now growing collection.

Through the years, I would occasionally pull out my LP copy and drop the needle on it.  I always liken the experience of listening to old favorites like that to putting on an old comfortable sweatshirt.  I eventually sold my LP collection and figured I would find a CD copy or a digital download of this old favorite. I eventually found a way to download it.  It was through the search of a download that I found out that the band had originally released this album in the UK as The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome.  I guess I had probably seen the album cover throughout my travels in different record stores. But, I don’t think I knew there was a difference.

Through my renewed excitement about this band, I’ve discovered a lot of stuff. They were big as part of the British “Glam” movement of the 70’s with bands like Sweet, T-Rex, Mott the Hoople and David Bowie.  They had high heel boots around the same time (maybe even before) that KISS was doing their thing.  Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson has even said that (after seeing Slade live) they said, “Wow, they’re using every CHEAP TRICK in the book!” and that’s where the name of that band came from. Ozzy Osbourne has even said that Noddy Holder’s voice was one of his favorite Rock voices.  My brother that now lives in Dublin Ireland has said that Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody is played non-stop during the holiday season in the shops. I even found this 1999 BBC documentary on the band. I find myself watching it quite often.

But, today when I read that this was the 30th Anniversary of the American release of this album. I felt compelled to write something about this album that loomed large in my own personal playlists and rotations. It takes me back to a time and place in the summer of 1984 and right before I would step into a whole new world and new experiences.

Journey - Frontiers 30 years later

Last December (2012), I was able to reunite with 3 of my best childhood friends.  John, Kent, Mick and I had spent many days, nights and weekends of our youth hanging out, listening to music, talking about teenage stuff and a whole host of things. I had longed for those days when the 4 of us were "thick as thieves".  Over the holiday season, I was able to contact all of the guys and we got together for an evening of catching up and talking about the “good ole days”.  As Mick and I waited for John and Kent to show up at our eventual meeting spot, we started reminiscing about some inventive ways of gift wrapping for John's birthday that's in early February.  As I thought about it I realized that this goes back 30 years ago. In 1983, we got John a cassette copy of Journey's Frontiers album.

We bought the cassette at Kmart. The store had a policy to seal up their cassettes with those annoying theft proof/loss prevention cases that were almost impossible to get open even when you got them home.  We took the cassette (still in the theft proof case) and duct taped it to piece of plywood and then wrapped something else around it and then gift wrapped it from there. But, that is just one memory associated with this album from 30 years ago.
Many people are fans of this band. Many people are not. I have met both in my encounters with all kinds of music fans. Journey started off as a band to highlight the talents of guitarist Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie(keyboards) after their time as members of Santana from 1971 to 1973.  According to his bio, Neal Schon was asked to play with both Santana and Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos at the age of 15. He went on to play with Santana and met (then) roadie Herbie Herbert and established a friendship. That friendship with Herbie Herbert led to the formation of the “The Golden Gate Rhythm Section” with bassist Ross Valory in 1973. Herbert would become the band’s manager and the band would eventually be called Journey.  Eventually, the drum throne vacancy would be filled by British sticksman Aynsley Dunbar. Dunbar is legendary for having played with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, John Mayall, Jefferson Starship and was even in the running with Mitch Mitchell for the job of drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. 
The original style of music that Journey was playing was more of a jazz-rock fusion progressive instrumental flavor. With this type of instrumental experimentation, the audience size would be limited to musicians only. When the band was signed to Columbia records, their initial record sales were not what one could call “impressive” by any stretch.  The record label suggested the band add a frontman/lead singer to share vocal duties with Gregg Rolie. When I asked a few of my longtime friends about the music of Journey, my former assistant manager and friend Kevin K told me about his love of Journey from the VERY FIRST ALBUM.  As Kevin put it,

“…And while there may be millions of people that would say they had an instant connection with Journey, few would say they had it in 1975 with their first album (which bordered on jazz fusion at times), eponymously titled Journey. But I did.”

The band hired vocalist Robert Fleischman briefly. He played a few shows with band and even co-wrote the hit Wheel in the Sky. But, he was ultimately replaced with the band’s iconic (and often revered) lead vocalist Steve Perry. Thus would begin the band's ascension into greatness.

Of course, the history of this band has been documented through different TV shows like VH1’s Behind the Music. So, for me to recount many of the details of the band’s history would be rather ridiculous. I have watched the Journey episode of VH1’s Behind the Music many times. I have read online interviews with Neal Schon, Herbie Herbert and Steve Perry. I’ve read many interviews with various members of the band from the many lineups too.  After watching the “Director’s Cut” of the Behind The Music, I found out that Steve Perry and Aynsley Dunbar didn’t get along. So, eventually Dunbar was fired.  Dunbar was then replaced by Berklee College of Music alum Steve Smith who the band had met while he was performing with guitarist Ronnie Montrose.  With the changes in drummers, the band continued their climb to stardom and worldwide fame. Gregg Rolie decided to leave the band in 1980 and was quickly replaced by keyboard player Jonathan Cain of the band the Babys. This is the classic lineup that would go on to make some of the most well known songs of their career and this is when the band would appear on my own personal radar.

The band would release their first chart topping number 1 album Escape in 1981. This album would feature the kind of song that Journey would become the masters(sometimes credited as the inventors) of....the power ballad. These are the kind of songs that were perfect for the adolescent boy that I was at the time. These were the songs that you could muster up the courage to ask girls to dance a nice slow dance. Upon closer listen, I realized that this band was musically adept in both ballads and straight up rockers. That may explain some of the disdain often aimed at this band. I asked my friends on Facebook about their memories(both good and bad) about Journey. My high school friend Ted admitted that he had been a very neutral fan about the band.
Ted told me a story of a high school friend(Ted didn’t want to name names) that had his first serious girlfriend and “their song” was Open Arms that was also on the soundtrack for the animated feature Heavy Metal.  So, when Ted and his friend would play basketball and there was a boom box nearby, this friend would “continually stop the game so he could rewind it.”  To this day, Ted says he still “loathes” that song.  In short, Ted says

“Otherwise they're a decent band. I think they were the forefounders of the power ballads that we were tortured with in the late 80s. “Faithfully”, “Send her my love”, etc, then they turn around and try to rock your ass off.”

I honestly think I was one of those guys that would defend the band for their ability to "Rock" after delivering a heartfelt slow power ballad. Among some of my favorites from Escape were Stone in Love. As I relayed my intentions to write up this blog to my various friends, I talked to my old friend Bob. Where I felt like I HAD to make excuses and maybe even" apologize" for liking Journey, Bob outright stated that Journey was a band he felt he DIDN'T have to apologize for. I would always seem to come across someone who was more of a musical snob than I was and would simply brush off Journey as a “Corporate Rock” act and all they did was write mushy power ballads for lovesick teenagers.
When the Frontiers album came out, I was already on track as a Journey fan. By this time, I was picking up every “Rock” or popular music magazine I could get my hands on. I soon became a big fan of drummer Steve Smith. At this time in my life, my love and interest in drums and drumming was growing. I knew the name of the drummer of every band I loved.  When the first single Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) was released and the video began showing on TBS’s Night Tracks and NBC’s Friday Night Videos (we didn’t have MTV yet), my eyes were glued to drummer Steve Smith.  When Steve Smith plays that fill that goes into the chorus at 2:27, I am always in “DRUMMER ECSTASY!”  Many drummers use that fill. At my young age as a developing drummer, that fill enraptured me.  I was over the moon about that brief camera shot. I was hooked. I still love this song just for that drum fill. I still wait for it every time.

Wait for the drum fill at 2:27!!

My friend Val spoke highly of songs like Chain Reaction, Faithfully, and Only the Young. But, she talked about her memory she shared with her son,

"Separate Ways" blew me away the first time I heard it. Probably in 1992 or so, my youngest son, Shaun, and I listened to it every morning when I dropped him off at the middle school, from a cassette deck in the car. He re-wound it every morning, and we jammed out.”

After the successful Frontiers tour, the band released a live documentary video entitled "Journey: Frontiers and Beyond".  I remember renting this video and in the 24 hour rental period I watched 2 or 3 times. Looking back, it's rather amusing that this documentary is narrated by longtime NFL Films voice John Facenda. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, He’s the guy who would set up a slow motion shot of an NFL team running onto the field and say something like “On a cold November morning at Chicago’s Soldier field, the warriors of the grid iron……”

As I stated, I watched this documentary over and over. I loved watching the band on the road, playing onstage and watching them warm up before the show. There’s a scene where drummer Steve Smith is backstage and he’s warming up with a series of rudiments on the arm of the couch.  At that point, I felt the need to start drumming on the arm of the family couch too.  My mother wasn’t exactly happy with that.  I found out much later that my friend Perry was actually on the road with the band and ran cameras for the video screens that they had on tour. There’s a shot at the beginning of the documentary where the camera starts at the beginning of the trucks and the crew and supposedly my friend Perry is in that shot. I’ve watched it a few times. But, it goes by so fast, I can’t tell which one is him. 

The band was huge and I did what I had done with many bands before that. I went back in their catalog to see what the rest of the material was like.  I found a cassette that was a “two albums on one cassette” package. It was the albums Infinity and Next.  Infinity was actually the first album that featured Steve Perry as the vocalist.

It featured the hits Lights, Wheel in the Sky and the consecutively played Feeling that Way/Anytime.  At the time I had purchased this tape, I had my own “walkman”.  Listening on headphones,  I was floored by the layered vocal harmonies on Feeling that Way/Anytime.  The vocals filled my head through the headphones of my walkman. I would carry the tape with me and one of my high school drumming friends actually asked me if this cassette was the new Journey album.

Of course, it wasn’t.  Singer Steve Perry had released his solo album Street Talk in 1984.The band members would all work on various projects outside of the band. Drummer Steve Smith would release his first jazz fusion project Vital Information.  All of these projects had my attention to one degree or another. One of my drumming colleagues had a cassette of Perry’s album and one day he gave me a ride home.  But, he would drive around the school after we got out for the day. He would play the opening track Oh Sherrie and as soon as the second track would come on, he would rewind it and play the song again. I myself got a little annoyed by that because the second track started off with a great Motown style drum fill. I loved that fill and the song intro.  I still enjoy that initial solo album from Steve Perry. But, I longed for the lead guitar sound of Neal Schon and the drumming of Steve Smith.

As fans of Journey would find out, they would have to wait for almost 3 years before the album Raised on Radio would be released in 1986.  By this time, my tastes in music had become that of a heavier nature. I wanted heavy guitar riffs and slamming drums. Journey was definitely not on my list of favorite bands anymore. Then, I found out that the classic Journey rhythm section of Valory and Smith were let go or fired or just weren’t invited to the recording sessions. Steve Smith had been a drumming inspiration to me. He had fueled my growing love of everything drums and drumming and ignited an interest in jazz and fusion with his fusion band Vital Information. Allegedly, Valory and Smith had been fired by Steve Perry because he was producing the album and wanted to use some of the studio musicians he had worked with on his Street Talk album.  Those studio cats were fine at what they do. But, Journey was supposed to be a band with participation from all of the band members. I never bought the Raised on Radio album because of the lack of the classic rhythm section and was angry with Steve Perry in my own little way.

As the 80’s drew to a close, Journey was not the choice of favorite band for a lot of people any more.  I was in college and working at Dustys Records.  The band had splintered and gone their “separate ways”.  Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon formed the band Bad English with Cain’s old bandmates from the Babys – vocalist John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips.  The band would be rounded out by monster drummer Deen Castronovo. Deen appeared on my own “drum” radar when he played drums on “shredder” guitarist Tony MacAlpine’s album Maximum Security.  Coincidentally, Steve Smith had played drums on MacAlpine’s first album Edge of Insanity.  I saw Bad English in the Spring of 1990 while I was on Spring Break in Austin Texas when they opened up for Whitesnake.  They put on a fine set and Deen (along with Tommy Aldridge with Whitesnake) got my drumming adrenalin pumped up too.  Bad English lasted through a second album in 1991. But, it came and went with little fanfare. Deen and Neal would surface again in 1992 with a band called Hardline. The band was in a heavier vein than both Journey and Bad English.  I saw them play and I actually met Neal before the show at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha Nebraska. My friend Bob and I were both living in Omaha at the time and we were there to witness this concert. But, the sad thing we both noticed was that the crowd was very small. I would say the attendance that night was around 50-100 people. Neal took a small guitar solo and during that solo he would play some of his signature guitar lines from Journey. I don’t think a lot of the crowd caught those references.  I remember Bob telling me that he overheard someone say, “I didn’t know that guy was in Journey.”  I thought how sad that here was a man that had played some of the biggest venues and concerts in world in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and here he was playing at a club in Omaha Nebraska that was attached to a bowling alley.

Then, in 1996 it all changed again.  Perry, Schon, Cain, Valory and Smith reunited to record the album Trial by Fire.  The band was back together and recorded a full album and then there was talk of taking this new reunion on the road.  Even though this was big news for longtime Journey fans, I was a little hesitant.  I remember reading the review for the new album in Entertainment Weekly magazine.  The review basically said that here was a return for Journey and the masters of the power ballad. In a way, it felt like a slam of some kind. I had read interviews with Steve Smith and how he had brought some drum “tricks” he had learned from Primus’ Tim Alexander while recording an album bassist Michael Manring.  So, I was looking forward to them.  I liked in some ways. But, it didn’t hold my attention.

Issues came up involving Steve Perry’s health and some hip replacement. The band eventually recruited singer Steve Augeri.  Drummer Steve Smith bowed out of the reunion and concentrated on his fusion band Vital Information and his love of jazz and drummer Deen Castronovo filled the drum seat. Deen had been a big fan and follower of Smith and had been playing with Neal Schon for years. So, the inclusion of Castronovo felt like a great fit. They recorded a few albums and built up their fan base again. I was actually excited about this new music. The band even played in my hometown of North Platte Nebraska at the annual celebration known as “Nebraskaland Days”.  To add to that was the fact that my childhood friend Mick and his band were the opening band for Journey.  I could only imagine the thrill that might have been.

I kept track of the what was happening in the band. Steve Augeri began to struggle with life on the road and keeping up with the demands of the band. They hired journeyman vocalist Jeff Scot Soto to fill in for some live gigs. Drummer Deen Castronovo actually sung some of the old tunes as well. Not only could he play drums like Steve Smith, He can also sing very much like Steve Perry.  But, they didn’t have a permanent lead singer.

Deen Castronovo singing (and drumming)

The band seemed lost without a lead singer yet again. The band was becoming popular in the public’s eye yet again. It was becoming somewhat cool to like Journey again. The band’s iconic song Don’t Stop Believing was used in the last episode of the critically acclaimed HBO drama The Sopranos.

the ultimate acceptance

This was the next push to put them back into the public eye.  But, they had no singer.  Neal Schon began scouring the internet for singers to fill the open spot in the band.  He began looking up Journey type singers and Journey tribute bands and eventually found Arnel Pineda from the Philippines.  It was a rags to riches story of how a man who had spent his youth on the streets of Manila and suddenly was recording and touring with one of the biggest bands of the 70’s and 80’s.  This became such a big story. Ellen Degeneres featured the band on her talk show. CBS Sunday Morning ran a story on this new singer.  The band set out to release new album to be distributed exclusively through Wal-Mart stores.  This CD package also featured a CD of newly re-recorded songs with Arnel on vocals and a live DVD performance of this new lineup.  I loved it all. Arnel sounded wonderful. Did he sound like Steve Perry? Yes, he did. Could you tell the difference? The listener could tell a little by Arnel’s broken English and a bit of his accent that crept in.  For me, his vocals had an added raspiness to it. When he sang Faithfully, he had a subtle way of making it his own.  Their song Any Way You Want it was even used for the promotional campaign for the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  You could hear the song used in commercial campaigns on TV. Even my son knew this song and would sing along as I would play it in the car.  I loved to hear my son singing along.  So, I recorded him singing along with the CD and eventually edited the song with some other video footage my son in all his musical glory.

If the band is looking for yet another singer!

I loved the new music on the CD. I loved the newly re-recorded songs. There was a new energy to the band. It felt exciting to be a Journey fan again. Even in the midst of the tour that saw Arnel Pineda adjusting to life in this spotlight, an independent filmmaker produced a documentary of this new singer.  The documentary is called Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey. 

I finally had a chance to watch the documentary this past summer as it was available on Netflix. I watched it with one of my new San Antonio roommates this past summer. He and I both share a love for music and music related documentaries. I asked Jeremy(my roommate) what he thought of Journey. He’s about 12 years younger than me and he had nothing but praise for the band. We both enjoyed the documentary and the performances by the band.

As I look up Journey videos on YouTube, there’s always a ton of comments about how great singer Steve Perry is and how terrible Arnel is. I guess that is human nature to compare old with new and different people in similar roles. There’s always questions about who is “the best” or “favorite” or whatever.  Since I had that brief time of dislike for Steve Perry and how he treated one of my favorite drummers, I’m not one of those to praise him.  Bands are made of a bunch of musicians that work or “band” together.  Don’t get me wrong. Steve Perry was a vital element to the band’s sound that many have come to know and love. But, sometimes it’s hard for classic bands to mend their problems and reunite with the classic members.

The #1 song to drive to!

In early 2014, a list of top songs to drive to and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ was at the top of the list. So, I realize that my friends aren’t the only ones who appreciated the music of this band. But, it goes beyond that.  For me, it starts with a handful of friends and kept growing with more friends and more music that I’ve come to love.

By the way, those friends are still in my thoughts and hopefully one of these days we’ll get together again.

Van Halen - 1984

As I write this, today is January 9, 2014.  On this day in 1984, the album of the year(literally) was released.  Looking back, this was such a big event for me and my circle of friends.  I’m talking about the chart-topping, video friendly and teenage defining album by Van Halen known simply as 1984.

My listening habits and love of Van Halen had been building since my friend Mick introduced the VH album Diver Down in the Fall of 1982.  The sound of Eddie’s stunning guitar, Alex’s muscular drumming mixed with the high harmony vocals of bassist Michael Anthony along with the swagger of David Lee Roth was something that sparked in my teenage mind and gut(and somewhere lower than that).  I would pick up every rock magazine I could get my hands on. I was reading Hit Parader and Circus along with Modern Drummer and Musician magazines just to get a glimpse or article on something pertaining to the Mighty Van Halen. I had started to collect all of their albums. I wanted it all. These were my new rock heroes. 
When it was announced (in late 1983) that Van Halen would be releasing their new album in the new year, I was going to the record store every week, or day or moment I had a chance to find out. Originally, I had read in one of the many magazines that the band was releasing the new album on New Years’ Day 1984.  So, as soon as the calendar changed, I was at one of record stores that I would frequent in those days to see if that new album was in the bins. I don’t remember asking the record store clerks. I just kept checking day after day.  I do remember finding a copy of Billboard magazine with a full page ad for the 1984 album on the back cover of the magazine. I scooped up the magazine for that purpose alone. I tore out the ad and quickly hung it on the inside of the door of my high school locker. I wasn’t sure what the significance of the cherub smoking a cigarette was. I didn’t care. It was so incredibly cool.  I went to the record store and bought a cassette version of the album. I wanted it for mobile purposes to have with me at all times. I had a walkman that I would listen to many an album in the halls of the school between classes and this one was to be #1 on my listening priorities.
I’m not completely sure if I was driving the family station wagon home from the record store or if I got it home and threw on a pair of headphones. I do remember the opening synthesizer sound of 1984 permeating my brain and then swept through my whole body.    The sound of the synthesizer fades out and then fades back in with the opening notes of Jump.  For years, hard rock fans have criticized Eddie for featuring the sound that was practically foreign to the hard rock genre known for favoring the sound of guitar pyrotechnics.  I don’t remember feeling particularly betrayed by the sound of the synths.  If I did, it was momentarily.  The song was catchy and in the middle of the song, Eddie fills it up with one his signature guitar solos.  The band had released the video for Jump a week or so earlier.  So, the song was fresh in most people’s minds and it was the first glimpse of Van Halen on video that most people had ever seen. Apparently, there was some controversy over the band’s video for their cover of Roy Orbison’s Oh Pretty Woman (from Diver Down)and had been pulled a few years earlier. So, here was the whole band performing and hamming it up for the camera. I remember reading that the cost to make this video was very cheap to make. They set up the cameras and played. The playfulness of the band was palpable. Dave strutted with confidence. Mike smiled and played along. Alex slammed away on the drums and Eddie played his keyboards and guitar and won over a nation of new fans with the coolest chesire cat type grin.

“…..Might was well….”

Soon, It seemed that tons of people in my own class were now talking about Van Halen.  I remember being at a school dance and some guys were talking about the video and the band. As I hear my classmates talking about the song and the video, I hear one guy ask another, “What’s up with Eddie’s guitar and his smile and the band etc?”  I hear the other guy say, “I’m not sure. Ask Ferris. He’s the big Van Halen fan.”  I look back at that moment and think that may have been where I may have reached my first moment of “coolness”.  That was when I knew that rock music was what I knew and what I was passionate about.
The second (or third)song was Panama.  What was it about? I have no idea. Did it rock? Yes it did. It starts with the primal pounding of Alex’s drumming and Eddie riffing together.  It’s lyrically filled with all the little innuendos that the band was famous for in the early 80’s.  This was actually the 3rd single released from the album and the second with a video from the album.  Soon, my friends and classmates would be talking about that video as well

“Then I reach between my legs…..and….ease the seat back!”

The song ends and I’m on the edge of my seat and waiting intently and intensely for the next song to start.  This song is Top Jimmy and still to this day is one of my favorites off this album.  It starts with Eddie’s trademark tapping and then Dave weaves the tale of “Watching this cool cat blow”

“They say he sang so good that the roof fell in and they didn’t even stop the show.
They don’t remember the place, but they remember the face
and now everybody wanna go”

I remember discussions about “who was Top Jimmy?” between my friends.  One guy says, “They’re talking Jimi Hendrix!”  By the time I had heard the album a few times, Hit Parader had published an interview with David Lee Roth and he confirms that the song Top Jimmy was about an LA rock, rhythm and blues band called Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs. They were part of the punk/roots scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Once again, my continual reading of rock magazines put me in the know.
The next track is Drop Dead Legs.  There didn’t seem to be anything special about it. But, the song was catchy enough that you could sing along and Alex’s drumming is spot on and muscular as usual. It’s not till I look back at this album and I’m drawn in by everything on this album yet again.
Side two of the album starts with the song that had all my drummer friends talking. Hot for Teacher begins with an Alex Van Halen drum solo that still rocks me to my core.  Over the years, I’ve had fellow drummers say that the drum solo was played on a drum machine.  I think somehow that gets misinterpreted because Alex was playing Simmons electronic drums as his rack and floor toms.  Since that is the technology of the day, it does have a tendency to sound a little “electronic” and dated. But, when he kicks into that double bass hyper boogie groove that leads into the song, It’s all real and all Alex. 

“SIT DOWN, WALDO!”

The video for this song had everything a teenage boy would want to see in a Hard Rock video…..HOT CHICKS!!  It’s funny looking back. But, this video was a bit controversial because the band had child lookalikes that were in a classroom where the teachers were unlike any school faculty I had ever seen before.  If you’re not sure what I mean, watch the video.  There was such a buzz about the song, the video, the drumming.  My friend Mick was the first to say, “Dave, I figured out the opening to Hot For Teacher.”   He had and figured it out well. 
The next track was I’ll Wait. It was also the next single released off the album.  It charted well at #13 on the Billboard charts. The song pumps with Eddie’s new synth sounds and Alex’s strong backbeat. But, looking back, the song always felt like a filler track and not hit single material. I would guess the record company thought that since Jump was a number 1 single that another synth infused track would make a good follow up single.  I’ve always thought that some of the best songs on an album are the ones that the record companies don’t release as singles.
The album finishes up with Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain.  Both of these songs had brief histories in the band’s stage show.  Girl Gone Bad had been used as a brief instrumental intro into Somebody Get Me a Doctor in their live show and House of Pain was one of the songs included on their Gene Simmons produced demo years before they signed with Warner Brothers.
The history of this album is so much fun to reminisce about. I’ve seen various posts lately where people find it amusing that those of us in our 40’s still talk about the greatness of Van Halen in the 80’s. It was great to us. But, there are still young kids that appreciate what we did back then.  Mostly, I’m talking about young drummer Avery Molek who has made an online presence on YouTube who plays along to many classic rock and Heavy Metal songs and does them well. At the age of 6 years old, Avery recorded himself playing along to VH’s Hot for Teacher.  As I watched this 6 year old play, I thought to myself, “I couldn’t even play this song when I was 16 years old.”  He’s gone on to play this song live with country star Brad Paisley both on Good Morning America and made a special appearance at one of Brad’s concerts.

I couldn’t even play this when I was 16 years old.

Of course, this was the last album made by the original band of Dave, Eddie, Alex and Michael Anthony.  The year and a half after this album was released, was probably a rollercoaster ride of fame for the band.  But, in the summer of 1985, it was announced that Dave had left the band and was soon replaced by Sammy Hagar.  There are some that still argue about the pros and cons of the Dave vs Sammy era of the band.  I liked them all.  This band has always been a big thing for me. I still follow what they are doing.  But, Let’s just say my passion for this band is not what it was 30 years ago. 
Now, where has the last 30 years gone?