Steve Perry (musician)

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Album cover to "She's Mine" single

Steve Perry (born Stephen Ray Perry, January 22, 1949, in Hanford, California) is a Portuguese-American[1] singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band, Journey. Also known as "The Voice."

Contents

[edit] Early years

Steve Perry is the only child of Raymond F. Perry and Mary C. Quaresma, and is of Portuguese heritage. Perry grew up interested in music, as his father was a vocalist. He also counts Sam Cooke and Al Jolson among his early inspirations. The Perry family was close-knit until Ray left, when Steve was aged seven. His mother later re-married, and Perry remained extremely close to her. On his twelfth birthday, Mary presented her son with a gold eighth note necklace, which he still wears for good luck.

The family moved to Lemoore, California during Perry's teen years. While in Lemoore, the young long-haired singer continued to pursue his interest in music. He attended high school there, drumming in the marching band as well as in extracurricular bands. He attended Visalia, California's College of the Sequoias for a short time after graduation, where he took first tenor in the choir there. Perry's mother encouraged his musical growth during this time.

Perry moved to Los Angeles and fronted the band Alien Project in his mid-twenties. He nearly gave up music when the bassist of that band, Richard Michaels, was killed in a tragic car accident. Filled with grief, Perry returned to Lemoore and decided not to continue his singing career, instead following in his stepfather's trade of construction, once working on a turkey farm. But at the urging of his mother, Perry answered a call from Walter "Herbie" Herbert, manager of the struggling San Francisco based band Journey.

[edit] Journey years

Herbert had been given a demo of an Alien Project song, "If You Need Me, Call Me", and was told that the young singer would be a great replacement for current frontman, Robert Fleischman. Fleischman had never moved under Herbert's management, preferring to maintain his previous manager and had never in fact integrated well with the band's then Progressive rock style. Perry was brought on tour and to avoid alarming Fleischman, was introduced clandestinely as roadie John Villanueva's Portuguese cousin and surreptitiously performed a song with Journey during a sound check in Long Beach while Fleischman was away from the stage. Herbert informed the band of the line-up change that night. [2] [3]

Perry brought a completely new pop sound to the band's music, despite grumblings from his new bandmates and fans of Journey's former progressive rock sound. He made his public debut on October 28, 1977 in San Francisco, and received a mixed reception. Perry determinedly proved the critics wrong, and won over new audiences on his first album with the group, Infinity, which included a song of his own composition called "Lights". The band's style had changed dramatically, but as Journey began to garner radio airplay and media buzz over Infinity, Perry's arrival was accepted.

He provided lead vocals on nine of Journey's albums: Infinity (1978), Evolution (1979), Departure (1980), Dream After Dream (1980, a Japanese movie soundtrack), Captured (1980, a live album), Escape (1981, which went to #1 on the Billboard charts), Frontiers (1983), Raised on Radio (1986), and Trial By Fire (1996). The single "Open Arms", off of Escape, made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Perry had become the unmistakable voice of Journey throughout his time with the band. His trademark |tuxedo tails also made him stand out amongst other performers.

During his tenure with Journey, Perry also recorded with other performers, singing backing vocals on several Sammy Hagar songs, including the 1980 track "Run For Your Life", and duetting with Kenny Loggins on the 1982 #17 hit single "Don't Fight It". Perry also worked with other musicians such as Sheena Easton, Clannad and Jon Bon Jovi during the height of his career.

In 1984, following the release of Frontiers and the tour supporting this effort, Perry released his first solo album, entitled, Street Talk, named after the original name of Perry's earlier band Alien Project. The record was a platinum success and scored hit singles with "Oh Sherrie", written for his then-girlfriend Sherrie Swafford, and "Foolish Heart". The music video for "Oh Sherrie" saw heavy rotation on MTV. "She's Mine" and "Strung Out" were also released as singles from this project, which featured former Alien Project drummer Craig Krampf on a few tracks, guitarist Michael Landau, and future American Idol judge Randy Jackson, among others.

In 1985, Perry had a featured vocal in the famed USA for Africa all-star benefit song "We Are the World", lending his high tenor to the lines "Oh, there's a choice we're making / We're saving our own lives". He also recorded a song, "If Only For the Moment, Girl" for the We Are the World album.

Perry debated continuing a solo career or returning to Journey after the success of Street Talk. His mother said "Journey", and Steve obliged. He left his second solo album, Against the Wall, unfinished and instead sang on Journey's Raised on Radio album. Perry would revisit his solo project after the Raised On Radio tour but it never saw completion.

During this time Perry's mother became ill. The recording of Raised on Radio, which Perry was producing, was stop-and-go as he frequently returned to the San Joaquin valley to visit his family. It took a major toll on Journey to have intermittent recording sessions and a vocalist who was not with the band much of the time. Eventually, as Steve later said, he "was toast". Journey disbanded in 1987 after the Raised on Radio tour. Perry disappeared from public view for years afterwards, taking a break from the music industry.

[edit] Leaving Journey

Seven years later, in 1994, Perry released For the Love of Strange Medicine, his second solo effort. The album enjoyed some success, partly due to the Strange Medicine world tour (supported for a short time by Sass Jordan), before being cut short by Journey's reformation.

Journey reunited in 1996 for Trial by Fire. The album was a success, entering the Billboard charts at #3 and going platinum before year's end, but its triumph was short-lived. Before the Trial By Fire tour could begin, Perry suffered a hip injury while hiking in Hawaii and was unable to perform. Perry was diagnosed with a degenerative bone condition and a hip replacement would be required. Reluctant to rush into surgery, Perry wished to postpone the tour.

The band, however was eager to commence touring to capitalize on the success of the new album and issued an ultimatum to Perry that either he undergo a hip replacement soon so the tour could proceed upon his recovery or a replacement singer would be hired.[4] Perry, still hesitant to undergo surgery and now apparently angry at his bandmate's intractability made the decision to part with Journey permanently. Many of the group's followers were stunned by Perry's departure as the singer represented to a great many fans the voice and face of the highly popular quintet; an impression many of them likely hold even to this day. Journey filled Perry's slot with a new vocalist, Steve Augeri, who bears a striking physical and vocal similarity to Perry, and nearly two years to the day after the album's initial release began the long postponed tour.

The tour was a mild success, but due to the long wait between the album's release and the tour's kick-off, as well as the absence of Journey's iconic frontman, fan response was somewhat muted. Interestingly, long-time Journey drummer, Steve Smith who, along with Ross Valory had rejoined to complete what Perry himself has referred to as the band's quintessential line-up,[4] resigned reportedly because he felt a Journey without Steve Perry didn't interest him.

[edit] Post-Journey

Since the break-up, news of the elusive singer has been scarce. Perry eventually underwent a successful hip surgery in 1998 [4]to correct the problem he had been diagnosed with two years earlier. He released the Greatest Hits + Five Unreleased compilation album later in 1998; the unreleased tracks included an original Alien Project demo as well as selections from the abandoned Against the Wall CD. Also in 1998, Perry recorded two songs for the Warner Bros. film, Quest for Camelot, which can be found on the motion picture's soundtrack.

Journey was the subject of an episode of VH1's Behind the Music in 2001, where Perry made the controversial statement that he "never really felt like part of the band."

Perry became more involved in films thanks to a close friendship with film director Patty Jenkins. Accordingly, in 2003, Perry worked as a musical consultant on the critically acclaimed film Monster.

[edit] Recent news

More recently, Perry surprised fans by appearing at Journey's star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 21, 2005, after previously stating it was unlikely that he would ever stand with the band again. Perry said on his website that it was a good experience, and that tensions between him and the other band members were reduced, but that his rejoining Journey is not going to happen.

Despite his acrimonious break with Journey, Perry was producer on the 2003 Greatest Hits DVD 1978-1997 as well as the 2005 package Journey Live in Houston 1981: Escape Tour which included both a DVD video of the performance as well as a music-only CD of the same show. Perry has described the emotional experience of reliving the Escape tour and the entire band's history while editing the film as "a heartache"[4].

In 2005, Perry produced a track on a solo album for former Ambrosia lead vocalist David Pack, titled The Secret of Moving On. Perry also provides background vocals for "A Brand New Start", among the many songs he and Pack co-wrote shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The album, released in September, 2005, includes covers of two of Pack's biggest hits with Ambrosia, "Biggest Part of Me" and "You're the Only Woman".

During the 2005 baseball season, the resurgent Chicago White Sox adopted Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as their unofficial team anthem. As a result, Perry (an avid San Francisco Giants fan, although he has been seen at Los Angeles Dodgers games recently) was asked to attend the World Series and even travelled with the team to Houston where they swept the Astros in four consecutive games. Perry joined the players on the field and in the locker room as they celebrated their championship.[4]

In Fall 2006, Perry's two solo projects Street Talk and For the Love of Strange Medicine (both featuring previously unreleased material) plus his Greatest Hits CD were remastered and re-released.

In a Q&A posted in December 2006, Perry indicated that Sony has approached him about releasing a collection of his music videos on DVD, and that while he enjoys producing other artists he currently has no solid plans to record a new album.[5]

[edit] Popular culture

In the 1998 film BASEketball, Perry's name is used as a powerful psyche-out tactic by the main character, Coop, played by Trey Parker. Coop used this along with some lyrics from "Oh Sherrie" to psyche-out Remer, played by Matt Stone and his name was used once during the season by Coop. It is interesting to note that Remer states "no more Journey psyche-outs," when actually Coop used lyrics from Perry's first solo album, Street Talk.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

Year Song US Hot 100 US MSR US A.C. UK singles Album
1984 "Oh Sherrie" 3 - - 89 Street Talk
1984 "Foolish Heart" 18 - 2 - Street Talk
1984 "She's Mine" 21 - - - Street Talk
1984 "Strung Out" 40 17 - - Street Talk
1994 "You Better Wait" 29 6 17 - For The Love Of Strange Medicine
1994 "Missing You" 74 - 24 - For The Love Of Strange Medicine

[edit] References

  1. ^ Steve Perry-Portuguese American; Bio at Yahoo Shopping.
  2. ^ JourneyRock.co.uk Band History -2007
  3. ^ Journey-zone.com Interview with Robert Fleischman -2003
  4. ^ a b c d e MelodicRock.com Interviews: Steve Perry -2005
  5. ^ Steve Perry Q&A - Dec. 2006

[edit] External links

Journey
Jeff Scott Soto | Neal Schon | Jonathan Cain | Ross Valory | Deen Castronovo
Steve Augeri | Steve Perry | Steve Smith | Gregg Rolie | Aynsley Dunbar | George Tickner | Robert Fleischman | Prairie Prince | Randy Jackson | Larrie Londin | Bob Glaub | Mike Baird
Discography
Studio albums: Journey | Look into the Future | Next | Infinity | Evolution | Departure | Dream After Dream | Escape | Frontiers | Raised on Radio | Trial by Fire | Arrival | Red 13 | Generations
Live albums: Captured | Greatest Hits Live
Compilations: In the Beginning | Greatest Hits | The Ballade | Time3 | The Essential Journey | Open Arms~Greatest Hits
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