Journey into Toxicity
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Artist:
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Track:
Journey. "Wheel in the Sky." Toxic Tuesday.
'Nuff said.
But I persist in spewing a little more bile about the M.O.R. stadium-rock outfit that terrorized the FM airwaves with a string of awful albums from the mid-'70s until the late '80s, broke up, and then had the temerity to reform in the mid-'90s and flog their dross to this very day.
Who truly enjoys the "oohing" and "aahing" and whimpering of Journey's original, ineffectual androgyne squeaker Steve Perry - or the banal mimicry of his successors? Not I. Oh sure. They found some kind of pop-culture cachet with the use of their 1981 Top 10 hit "Don't Stop Believing" on the controversial final episode of "The Sopranos." Big deal. If I never hear "Lights" (ostensibly, an ode to the band's spawning ground and my home turf, the San Francisco Bay Area) and the smarmy faux blues "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" again, I will be a happier man.
Of course, I turn around and have the gall to present you with graphic evidence of the lame-o kings of the power-ballad (ugh) as they lumber through a lip-sync of the ponderous "Wheel in the Sky" on a German TV show in the early '80s - complete with smug axe-man Neal Schon wanking away on guitar.
What's that line from the song? Oh yeah. "Woo, I can't take this very much longer."
Locating MOG account...
Comments (26)
You see, it had to happen...those baby boomers who were raised on the Brill Building and advertising jingles would eventually grow up to be rock bands..end result,Journey!
The Beatles just weren't in their grasp..so we just get new (but not as good) versions of Hang On Sloopy-esque pop rock.
The kids who were 12 and 13 when this was on the radio got brutally ripped off..oh wait, that was me. These jag offs get the Beatles and Stones to grow up with and I got them for my formative radio listening ears..bollocks.
I'd rather listen to outright unapolegetic cheez like Seals & Crofts or Sammy Johns, than pseudo-rockin' cheez.
No wonder real rock and rollers were falling over themselves for folks like Springsteen.
Wow, Cody! You sound like you've been seduced by the "Summer Breeze." (Sorry. Unavoidable Seals & Crofts reference...) But yeah. Not a bad theory. So what's my excuse for being so discerning?
You can't lump the whole generation into the mound of dung that twas mid to late 70's pop..just the critical mass and prevailing message. Of course there was great stuff coming out post '72, but what was on top of pop and rock charts didn't exactly compare to the Beatles, Stones,or Sly or Stevie or Al.
You are one of the many exceptions Mr.Knife, but the prevailing climate was not good in this time..free form FM became album rock, soul was rapidly being swallowed up by pop-disco, and the dividing and sectioning of music on the national level was afoot.
Other exceptions fall under what Christagu calls, semi-popular music. Bands and artists that worked with skill and artistry throughout the decade..but the original heroes of the baby boomers still held sway and were becoming the legends of rock and are still champions today.Morrisson,Joplin,Hendrix,Dylan,Beatles,Stones.
Some original post war boomers held the last vestiges of real rock and roll and jumped into the legend category..Bowie,Joel,Elton...but then the corporations went all in and began to wrest away the business from record people by buying it up. Where boomers got their hits delivered to them by peers and older brother/sister types, my generation got the old folks version of what we should listen to..a mix of boomer holdouts , oldsters cashing out and newsters cashing in.
Even members of my beloved Funkadelic noted the change from what they had done in 70 to what they were doing in '73..Gary Shider:"Our stage appearance always stayed rock. To me our records [from Cosmic Slop on] still sound bubblegum..too slick. It sounded too light, I didn't hear any airplanes in the music".
The acid had worn out by 1975..for Funkadelic and a lot of folks, it became time to get on the radio and clearly by looking at the lists below that meant making changes..As boomers enetered into the record business as A+R folk in the mid 70's Journey was the type of band that wouldn't scare off the bosses and so we got corporate rock...
Top 10 of 75:
1976
1. Silly Love Songs
, Paul McCartney and Wings
, Elton John and Kiki Dee
, Johnnie Taylor
, Wild Cherry
, Manhattans
, The Miracles
, Paul Simon
, Gary Wright
, Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band
2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
3. Disco Lady
4. December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!), Four Seasons
5. Play That Funky Music
6. Kiss and Say Goodbye
7. Love Machine, Pt. 1
8. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
9. Love Is Alive
10. (You've Got To) Be Your Own Best Friend
1977
1. Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
, Rod Stewart 
, Andy Gibb
, Emotions
, Barbra Streisand
, Thelma Houston
, Rita Coolidge
, Alan O'Day
2. I Just Want to Be Your Everything
3. Best of My Love
4. Love Theme (From "A Star Is Born")
5. Angel In Your Arms, Hot
6. I Like Dreamin', Kenny Nolan
7. Don't Leave Me This Way
8. (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher
9. Undercover Angel
10. Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary MacGregor
1978
1. Shadow Dancing
, Andy Gibb
, Bee Gees
, Debby Boone
, Bee Gees
, Exile
, Bee Gees
, Player
, Andy Gibb
, Commodores
2. Night Fever
3. You Light Up My Life
4. Stayin' Alive
5. Kiss You All Over
6. How Deep Is Your Love
7. Baby Come Back
8. (Love Is) Thicker Than Water
9. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste Of Honey
10. Three Times a Lady
1979
1. My Sharona
, The Knack
, Donna Summer
, Chic
, Rod Stewart
, Peaches and Herb
, Gloria Gaynor
, Donna Summer
, Village People
, Anita Ward
2. Bad Girls
3. Le Freak
4. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
5. Reunited
6. I Will Survive
7. Hot Stuff
8. Y.M.C.A.
9. "Ring My Bell"
10. Sad Eyes, Robert John
The music grows and develops on its own, so there is always greatness and inquisitive,intelligent minds like yourself who seek it out, but what is out is certainly shaped by what is popular and what the industry shoves down our throats..
Your excuse? Mike, trashing Journey is an act of pure altruism, helping posterity by warning them away from something that would pollute their souls. A dedicated snob (moi?), however, could impress by venturing into the bowels of Toxicity Central and emerging with an item that survives toxicity, in this case a track, "Who's Crying Now," which I first encountered a few years ago on an almost inaudible 25-cent cassette of Journey's 1981 Escape, after reading a rave article about the album on the front of the Datebook section of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Cody: Couldn't have written it better myself! And triggered by a moot question, to boot. You da man, C.B.! (People wonder why I left the big-time daily newspaper pop-music critic gig, and I can only blame the chokehold of the mainstream and the attendant crap fatigue.)
Spike: Allow me to point out that I did NOT write that Chron article on Journey.
Even Spike can be infiltrated by the genius of "pipes" Perry. You are very brave Spike..
Is that a penis on the cover?
shame and glory, Mike.
You know, I recently tried to unload the three cd box set (now, how did that get on the shelves??) but was informed that they could not buy it sans the original box!! (with the bar code, I supposes...)
now, I hear ya loud and clear, but amid all that Cody cited above Journey were, wellll, not a bright spot, but maybe a shiny smudge compared to other drivel of the day.
Plus, my daughter found them endering at 7 or so, so there are some father/ daughter moments thereabouts.
Plus, plus, I won't say too much but somebody very close to those guys led me on a short-lived, high-octane cavalcade of the erotic that...well, that's enough of that... :)
Mike I hear what your saying I saw journey when they released this. The bill was Journey, ELO and Foreigner.It came kind of a shock with Steve Perry at vocals having listened to their old stuff before him. The biggest shock however was that ELO which was touring their record Out Of the Blue.It turned out most of it was prerecorded and they were claiming live music ...at least journey played their own instraments but at least the stage was being set for punk to make its arrival amid the MOR at the time.
I would say, that it is not as much of an indictment of the band's themselves..it's just that they are a symbol of a world gone wrong. cp is right, punk was coming..created also by Baby Boomers. I think these awkward years when the big rock acts were getting bombastic and the pop rock acts were Journey,REO, etc.. were part of a generational shift..pretty soon the kids would take over and blast some life back in it by rejecting their brother and sisters rawk and making some of their own..of course by the time the 80's arrived Rock and Roll was way dead (as a mass appeal thing, because the legends were just too big) and most of the rhythm and blues were stripped out of it..
Cody you seem to be fixated on the boomers of late. is this a good thing. I'd hate to get caught up in a generational backlash.
What can I say? This song is a guilty pleasure for me. I agree most of their stuff is lame 80's "power ballad" shmaltz. And, if pressed, I am not sure I can say why I like this one and don't lump it in with their others. For some reason, it just got to me (just as the corporate rock bosses at their record label clearly intended). No, REO Chuckwagon never got to me but this song, by these guys, did.
But I never bought any of their records- until last year- because my 9-year old daughter really liked them when we saw them on tour with Cheap Trick and Heart. (Yes, I appreciate the irony of that.)
But a look at most of the list, posted by Cody, of top songs back then is far more frightening (at least to me) than this song. Except for AWB's Pick Up The Pieces. That was always a cool song.
"Cody you seem to be fixated on the boomers of late. is this a good thing. I'd hate to get caught up in a generational backlash."
Yeah, I know man..I got Cultural Studies on the Brain..
I freely admit to begging for the album Escape for Christmas at age 12. While they don't get any more play here, I still can't slag them. I'm loyal like that.
Mike, I don't think there's a quorom on the toxicity of this asset....but I will defer to your judgement.
On the other hand, Journey gave birth to Mark Ronson.
Mike, you durn near got a revolt on your hands.
Apologists all! :-)
Steve Perry and journey were an Awesome band that kicked the Seattle center with raw electricity and juice than most bands only dream about!! Steves vocal range and ability to carry a note for extended amounts of time without breaking and an uncanny ability to express emotional genius and feeling in heartfelt immensity WOW! that was a show! Complete with mounted police in full force!! Great Band!
Um...yikes.
my mom loves them. i love my mom. ergo...
(;
Et tu, poeby?
me? can't stand 'em, can't sit through 'em, can't lie about that. {:
poe: Your honesty is appreciated...Nay! Venerated!
Not really!
This must be what evil sounds like
Hmmm. I thought it sounded like, "Meh-heh-heh-heh-heh!!!"