You Think You Know Journey?
They brought the world Steve Perry and gave us the courage to play air instruments on camera, and yet there's still so much about Journey that most of us have never bothered to learn. In this installment of You Think You Know Classic Rock?, we help fill in a few of the blanks.
We've stuffed all sorts of lesser-known facts about the band into this clip, which condenses more than 40 years of footnotes from Journey's illustrious history into less than two and a half minutes — starting with the group's original name, which was chosen in a radio contest and quickly jettisoned in favor of the much shorter and more mysterious-sounding moniker they eventually chose.
You'll get that story here, along with the tale of Journey's first concert, which took place in San Francisco on New Year's Eve of 1973 — the same night another soon-to-be-legendary group was taking the stage for their first show, half a world away. Which classic rockers share a live performance birthdate with these guys? You'll have to watch the video to find out.
Speaking of San Francisco, the band has always made a point of celebrating its love for its hometown, perhaps most notably on their 1978 single "Lights." But while the song as we know it is an ode to the Bay Area, Perry originally sat down to write it with another part of the country in mind. The details behind all these stories and more — including the band guitarist Neal Schon passed up an opportunity to join in 1970 — are right here in this all-new, all-Journey edition of You Think You Know Classic Rock?
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