Posted on 02/13/2010 11:40:59 AM PST by SamAdams76
I drive trucks for a living. Big trucks. My routes often take me coast to coast. So I have a lot of time to listen to music on my truck stereo.
Well after over 30 years of dismissing the rock band Journey as an insufferably lame musical group, I must say that all of a sudden, I am actually starting to like some of their songs. Where I used to have stations like "Outlaw Country" and "Willie's Place" as my Sirius radio presets, I now find that I have stations like "Classic Rewind" and "70s on 7" dialed in to try to catch a Journey tune.
Now I came of age during the late 1970s/early 1980s when Journey was at their commercial peak, and I always took pride in the fact that I utterly rejected the "stadium rock" genre that was so fashionable at the time.
Whether it was Poco, Kansas, Foreigner, Loverboy, Supertramp, and even Foghat, they were all pretenders to me. I didn't even allow myself to get caught up in all the hype surrounding The Knack ("My Sharona") back in the summer of '79.
Back in the day, my taste in music was very discriminating indeed. Back in the late 1970s, you'd find me listening to Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. Maybe even a little Elvis Costello or Joe Jackson for when I wanted something "New Wave." But as for "corporate New Wave" like The Cars, The Police and U2, forget about it.
Certainly you wouldn't catch me dead listening to anything by Journey. For me, Journey personified the era of lame corporate rock and I wasn't having any of their syrupy power ballads and cookie cutter rock anthems.
So what the hell has changed? Why I am, now well into my middle age, now a sucker for songs by Journey?
I think I turned the corner a couple of years ago when I tuned in for the finale of "The Sopranos." As most of you know, the popular HBO series ended not with a bang but with the haunting piano intro and whimpering vocals of Steve Perry:
Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Well unless you happened to be just born, I think you know the rest of that song...
Since then, that song ("Don't Stop Believin') has been played to death on all radio stations. But I just can't get it out of my head and as a result, on a hot sweltering night last summer, with a six pack of Coors Lite in my belly, I went over to iTunes and downloaded the damn thing for 99 cents.
Now I got that song on my iPod sharing space with the likes of legends such as The Allman Brothers, Molly Hatchet and Warren Zevon. I'm sure there is a special place in hell for people like me.
But unfortunately, my flirtation with Journey did not end there. Before the summer was out, I had added "Wheel In The Sky", "Stone In Love" and "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" to compound further my original sin.
Now I got a reputation to uphold here so I started taking steps to ensure that nobody found out that I had Journey songs in my music collection. So I dumped the Journey songs into a playlist called "My sister's favorite music" so that if anybody called me on it, I'd be able to say that I sometimes let my sister borrow my iPod and so I setup a playlist special for her. I even threw some stuff like REO Speedwagon and Donna Summer in there to make it look good. "Yeah, that really is my sister's playlist", I could easily say, "After all, you think a big burly man like me could actually listen to such sissy stuff!"
But I gotta tell ya, after I went ahead and downloaded "Lights" and "Open Arms" by Journey, I really started questioning my sexuality. I was starting to get a little nervous and the only cure was to throw on the TV and watch some NASCAR or "Monster Truck Madness" or something manly like that.
But now I guess I have finally come to terms with my fondness for Journey music. After all, it is possible to listen to Journey and still be a man. I'm living proof of that, I might be a newly minted Journey fan but I'm still a truck driving man and if you want to question my manhood about it, I will drive my 18-wheeler over to your house and kick your butt.
“After all, it is possible to listen to Journey and still be a man”
*facepalm*
I saw him on a double bill with Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit. What a show.
Elliot Easton played lead for them...fantastic intricate player...his one solo album “Change, No Change” is good as well...magritte
LOLOLOLLOL Oh for the good old days of Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd.
The have a shot for this now.
Just wanted to say....I’m a huge Neil Young fan.
Back in the day, America or anything on AM radio.
Got to see Dave here in the Midwest with the Ringo All-Star Band ...one of my favorite guitar players and plays on one of the best albums of all time “Seconds Of Pleasure” with Rockpile...magritte
We must be about the same age. My youngest sister is 9 years younger than I am and LOVED Journey back then. I wasn’t a fan but as a musician myself, I can appreciate that Steve Perry is one hell of a singer. My faves were The Doobie Bros, (that wained somewhat when it became the Michael McDonald band), The Almond Bros, Ozark Mt. Daredevils, Marshall Tucker, Eagles, Steely Dan, Fog Hat, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Mostly stuff I was trying to learn on Guitar and could appreciate the level of difficulty. Probably the band I would most be embarrassed about was Firefall.
Yes, Elliot Easton, that’s it.
This is the real Journey:
Rockin the Paradise
So whatcha doin' tonight?
Have you heard that the world's gone crazy?
Young Americans listen when I say
there's people puttin' us down
I know they're sayin' that we've gone lazy
To tell you the truth we've all seen better days
Don't need no fast buck lame duck profits for fun
Quick trick plans, take the money and run
We need long term, slow burn, getting it done
And some straight talking, hard working son of a gun.
Whatcha doin' tonight,
I got faith in our generation
Let's stick together and futurize our attitudes
I ain't lookin' to fight,
but I know with determination
We can challenge the schemers who cheat all the rules
Come on take pride, be wise, spottin' the fools
No more big shots, crackpots bending the rules
A fair shot here for me and for you
Knowing that we can't lose
And we'll be rockin' in Paradise
Rockin' the Paradise tonight
Rockin' in Paradise
Rockin' the Paradise tonight
Tonight, tonight...
it’s probably the nostalgia of the tunes. they were all over the radio at the time “still have trouble listening to Boston because of it” even though you didn’t personally like the material at the time people you knew and know did and so it’s in you as well.
after my father died all the merle and george and tom.t became dear to my heart even though it drove me crazy at the time. it’s all about your life, not the music as much. at least that’s my opinion.
Any addiction to Journey is healed by listening to Strange Fruit. For me, they rank right up there with Spinal Tap and Steel Dragon.
One thing I have found is that today's singers, bands, what gets produced is completely uninteresting most often. I keep going back to the 'old stuff' because truth is even some of the worse in today's fray is darn enjoyable and can I say? Good! in comparison.
I used to be a combo pop princess and corporate alternative (as you called it) as well as a pop rock jammer on my many drives around the country by myself in my little Rabbit with my sun roof, when I was just a wee little thing in my late teens and early twenties and I loved Journey as their songs sort of opened up with the road. It was a sexy mix.
Try some Robert Plant too. He is the man. Keep on truckin'!! :-D
Love that Rockpile album....Dave Edmunds ‘DE 7th’ is a personal fave.
Ever hear Robert Plant’s solo song “Big Log”? That was a masterpiece. Sounds best driving through the desert at around sundown with tumbleweeds blowing across the road.
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