Steve Perry Fans - Circus May 1980

Steve Perry, the platinum voice of Journey, almost gave up rock & roll. It happened a couple of years ago after he'd spent a fairly long apprenticeship in the minor leagues. It was 1978 and Steve had finally coalesced with a group of musicians who looked like they were going somewhere besides another dead-end bar gig. The group was called Alien Project and a number of major labels had proferred the all-important recording contracts. About the time that legal documents were ready for everyone's John Hancock, however, the band's bass player was killed in a car wreck and the deal evaporated.
Perry picks up the narrative from there: "At that point, I threw my hands up to the sky and asked 'Why?' I got the impression that somebody up there didn't want me to make it. I then took a leave-of-absence from the world for a couple of weeks to decide whether to chuck the whole thing and do something else or jump back

into it."
    "About the time I decided to go for it, I got a call from Herbie Herbert, who managed this group called Journey. He said he was looking for a singer and he'd heard my vocals on the Alien demo. He invited me to spend a few days on the road with the guys and I did. Right off Neal (Schon) and I wrote 'Something To Hide' together and the next thing I knew we were in the studio cutting Infinity."
    According to manager Herbert, the move to hire Perry came after a great deal of forethought. "We knew exactly what we wanted long before we happened on Perry," he said. "In fact, when we got together with Steve, we'd already hired another singer named Robert Fleischman and had to fire him to make room for Steve."
    Call it karma, luck, fate or perseverance, Steve Perry and fellow Journey-men Neal Schon (guitar), Gregg Rolie (keyboards), Steve Smith (drums)

and Ross Valory (bass) have found themselves on the sunny side of the street. Together they've earned platinum discs for Infinity and Evolution, and their latest collection, Departure (Columbia) seems destined for the same status. They are also bona fide box office barons, having already proven themselves among the tough-to-please hardrockers of the Midwestern factory towns like Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Toledo.
The band has neither used short-cut stage gimmickry to win fans or courted critics with experimental forays, but instead have opted to build a solid popular following by developing a brand-name band sound and proliferating it by relentless touring and radio exposure with accessible rock tunes. "Nothing in this group happens by accident," says Herbert.
"This group trains for platinum albums the way athletes train to win gold medals at the Olympics. We even went so far as to go through a sensitivity training together

so we could relate to one another and play together better."
    Now that they have established a collective personality, the next step is for a single personality to emerge to give focus to the band as Jagger has done with the Stones and Steve Tyler with Aerosmith.
    Perry is a logical choice since he seems to have been the catalyst that transformed Journey into something more that what it had been for four albums; merely another respected progressive instrumental rock band spawned in the genre's heyday of the mid-'70s. His voice - a choir boy tenor that complements the band's crisp hard-rock foundation - is to Journey what the winged statue is on the hood of a Rolls Royce: not the whole shebang, but a trademark.
    Herbert recounts Perry's progress, "When he (Perry) joined the group he was a fine vocalist and decent composer, but not much of an entertainer. Now he's grown and really earned his place at the forefront of this band. And as far as the other guys are concerned, it shows how secure veteran stars like Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie are that they would let this

new guy have the spotlight."
    Perry, 28, sees his emergence as a spokesman as a necessary part of the band's progress, but remains very much a team player. Aware that a mal-distribution of fame can lead to jealousy and friction, he says, "A lead singer naturally gets a lot more attention, but I do my best to move the focus to other members when it's appropriate. Like if Neal lets loose with an exciting solo, I can lead the spotlight over to him and then step out of the way. No one stands alone in Journey because we couldn't do it without everyone."
    Herbert confirms Perry's statement saying, "Steve is very dependent on the rest of the group. I don't even think he'd walk out on stage without them."
    Still, with his svelte body, boyish good looks and a mane of black hair, Perry has the makings of a superstar. He explains his riveting stage performance saying, "It's a result of having so much energy aimed at you by the audience. I respond with plenty of physical movement on stage and that seems to keep things flowing."
    Perry grew up in the California town of

Hanford, located in about the middle of the state, which put him under the influence of both San Francisco's acid rock and the Los Angeles surf sound. "I've got the Beach Boys' good vibrations flowing in my veins as well as the sound of Janis, Jimi and Vanilla Fudge," says Steve. He also credits Sam Cooke and Martha Reeves of Motown as stylistic vocal influences.
    Starting out as a drummer, Perry took up vocal chores in local bands by the time he was 14. Eventually he gave up drumming and concentrated on singing. "Singing while sitting in the middle of a drum kit puts your diaphragm in an awkward position," he explains.
    He hasn't, however, forgotten his old talent and plans to join full-time skin-man Steve Smith for a percussion collaboration during their current national tour.
    His creative input is also heard in the songs themselves since Perry is one of the group's chief tunesmiths. Unlike some writers who produce in solitude and isolation, Perry thrives on the pace and sensory barrage of the road. "The road can wear you down or be a great place to exercise creativity because you are always moving. I just sort of catch the rhythm of city-to-city movement the first couple of days and keep that gung-ho spirit until we get back home."
    If that sounds like the confessions of a veteran of the vagabond lifestyle of the touring musician, it is. "I've been literally living out of a suitcase for the past two years. It has just been in the last few months that I've been able to develop a home base for myself. I bought a house near San Francisco, a convertible 450 SL Mercedes to cruise around in and have everything I need to be happy: clean socks, a heater that works and food in the fridge."
    With that kind of secure estate awaiting him, Perry is again on the road for what promises to be the band's most extensive tour to date. "Rock and roll is both my business and my lifestyle. I eat, sleep and breathe it. I can't seem to get enough of it."
    Perry's ambition and dedication, no doubt, account for much of Journey's momentum, but his isn't a mindless enthusiasm. "As well as things are going at the moment, I don't think we're suffering from platinum paranoia. There's always new challenges and if we're successful - great - if not, we know we reached some level on our own and not by chasing after some fashionable trend."