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.
And yes, Steve Perry can flat out sing. One of the top 5 rock voices of all time.
That's true. In fact, I still remember the last ride I got, again with a trucker, from Cleveland to NJ, and we heard "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash on the radio. Now THAT'S the kind of music you might hope for or expect ridin' with a long hauler.
By the way, those truckers were GOOD people. First thing you figure out hitchhiking is to stay away from civilians and ride with the truckers. Don't know if anyone still does it. I was supposedly part of a dying breed back in the 80s, begging rides.
That's because it's all corporate now. Clear Channel runs so many of the stations now. They are interchangable. Independent radio is the only kind that's listenable to me. You need radio where the programming isn't done by a bunch of bean counters.
Sounds like you and I have similar tastes in music.
Steve Perry and Journey are great!
DAMN! That guy’s awesome!
I still play Journey in the car to and from work.
As an avid Neil Young fan you must have seen his latest video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WfUzNYPwo
Ha!
“I’m actually a big fan of Al Stewart, especially his “Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages” albums.”
Nice of you to “share” that with a few close friends. How special.
snark...
Mine was 'The Little River Band.' But 'Backstage Pass' was a great live album. Still listen to it.
How do you like Arnel Pineda as Steve's replacement?
Arnel Pineda and Journey - Don't stop believing (live in Chile)
I saw that. He’s amazing!
Yes, he is talented. Amazing story about how he was discovered as well.
Journey lyrics are always helpful to have as an opening line on my singles sites profiles.
My brother is a big Journey fan and introduced me to the new guy and his story. Pretty darn cool.
Also playing on the radio was a song that annoys me even to this day even though I haven't actually heard it for maybe 30 years now. That song was called "Black Betty" by Ram Jam. I don't know what it is about that song but it just annoys me to no end.
Ha! I frequently listen to Joel in the original on road trips. He wrote more great pop tunes than just about any songwriter of his generation.
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