Wheel in the Sky
Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Ansley Dunbar, Greg Rolie… what a great start they had. They were originally more of a progressive jazz/fusion act, but apparently none of us heard of them until they picked up Steve Perry as a vocalist and turned to pop/rock. While I like Rolie’s voice better, and have to roll my eyes a little at the androgynous appearance of Perry at the time, I can’t deny that Steve Perry had a considerable gift and a very distinctive sound. That said, my favorite parts of most songs was always the guitar solo.
I think that somehow Steve Perry had the kind of effete look that girls in high school found totally appealing. It really seems confused to me, but there you go.
Schon and Rolie were both from Santana. Dunbar came from Zappa and later moved on to Jefferson Starship and Whitesnake. After Dunbar, the amazing Steve Smith took over (see some of his solo work and Vital Information for tasty, tasty jazz drumming!). This was the rockin pre-1980 period, and it they made good music. It wasn’t until Greg Rolie left the band and Jonathan Cain took over keyboards that they reached their peak in terms of albums sold… but during this period they transitioned into a prom band.
I was thinking about Journey for no good reason today, and thought I’d dredge up something old and different. Enjoy “Wheel In The Sky”, one of their earliest pop chart vehicles. I still think they had something here, though SP needed some pants that fit, a haircut, and some buttons on his shirt:
Tight harmonies and instrumentals were evident on “Feeling That Way”:
A little more energy is apparent on “Where Were You”, and Ross Valory decided to dress up as a banana. I don’t know why. Steve Perry once again could be mistaken as somebody’s girl singer from a distance, but sounded absolutely great wailing this song:
It’s a little bite of my childhood and leads me to remember my old friend Rick MacIntosh with his beater mustangs and his burning desire to *be* Ross Valory. Journey was the soundtrack of our friendship, and I guess I can’t be too harsh on their prom songs because of that.
