Don’t Stop Believin’ is now probably destined to be forever associated with The Sopranos but the song itself had established itself as a classic long before it was used in the finale of HBO’s famous show about the New Jersey mafia.
In fact, the song means so much to Journey’s Steve Perry that he was hesitant to give HBO permission to use the song until it was explained to him exactly how the song was going to be used and he was assured that it wouldn’t be played over any type of violence. Other than the members of the cast and the production crew, Steve Perry was one of the few people to know, in advance, how The Sopranos was going to end.
While Perry has said that the majority of the lyrics were inspired by his own early struggles to find success in the music industry, keyboardist Jonathan Cain says that the name was inspired by something that his father told him when Cain was thinking about leaving Hollywood and returning to Chicago. Cain’s father told him, ‘No, son. Stay the course. We have a vision. It’s gonna happen. Don’t stop believin’.”
As for the video, it was filmed in Houston and features Journey performing the song as a part of their Escape tour. With the exception of the infamous video for Separate Ways, Journey was known for keeping things simple and straight-forward when it came to their music videos. This one is no exception.
I’ve recently been reading Noel Monk’s memoir about managing Van Halen during the early years of their career, Runnin’ with the Devil: A Backstage Pass to the Wild Times, Loud Rock, and the Down and Dirty Truth Behind the Making of Van Halen.
Among the many revealing stories in the book is one about an incident that happened when Van Halen was touring with Journey. Monk went backstage and discovered that David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen had gotten into a food fight. Eddie threw a bowl of peanuts at Dave. Dave threw guacamole at Eddie but he missed his target and, instead, ended up hitting the lead singer of Journey, Steve Perry. Monk says that he found Perry in his dressing room, softly crying and trying to get the guacamole off of his leather jacket. Monk compared Dave and Eddie to “heartless mean children,” picking on the smart kid in the middle school cafeteria.
Today’s music video, Journey’s party anthem Any Way You Want It, was selected in honor of Steve Perry.
Ever since I first saw Caddyshack (not to mention the episode of The Simpsons were Rodney Dangerfield played Mr. Burns’ son), Any Way You Want It has always been my favorite Journey song. The video is also Journey at its best, simple, without pretension, and rocking!
The song is an anthem but the music video is widely considered to be one of the worst of all time. What happened to Journey when they gathered on a wharf in New Orleans and shot the video for Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)? Let’s break it down:
0:00 — The video starts with a shot of the Louisa Street Wharf in New Orleans. Where’s Journey?
0:03 — There, they are. But where are their instruments?
0:04 — Yes, Jonathan Cain is playing air keyboards.
0:08 — Journey has their instruments now so they look a lot less ridiculous. Still, Jonathan Cain will never live down those air keyboards.
0:21 — A woman in a black leather skirt walks down the wharf. The members of Journey jump out at her. This will prove to be a reoccurring theme throughout the video. The woman was played by a local girl named Margaret Olmstead.
0:35 — Again, Journey has lost their instruments and Jonathan Cain is forced to play air keyboards.
0:41 — If Steve Perry looks more annoyed than usual here, it is probably because he wasn’t happy while shooting this video. This was the first Journey video to have a “storyline,” as opposed to just being edited footage of the band performing. Perry was opposed to the idea. According to Cain, Perry said, “We’re performers, we’re entertainers, but we’re not actors.”
0:51 — Who has stolen Journey’s instruments?
0:54 — At this point, Jonathan Cain’s air keyboards are truly out of control. Is he playing an imaginary synthesizer or is he pretending to be a tiger stalking his prey? Your guess is as good as mine.
0:58 — Not only has Journey lost their instruments but Steve Perry has lost his sleeves.
1:13 — Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Journey is performing in front of a mattress warehouse. This detail will pay off at the end of the video.
1:27 — At least Jonathan finally found his keyboards.
1:32 — The salesman who sold me my very first used car looked just like Ross Valory.
1:47 — The video was shot on a very cold morning. In between takes, Perry would rush into his camper to try to get warm.
1:57 — The shoot was also tense because of the presence of Perry’s then-girlfriend, Sherri Swafford. Swafford took an intense dislike to Margaret Olmstead and demanded that she be removed from the video.
2:22 — I worked in a warehouse one summer and I can tell you that one thing you never want to do is walk backwards through a maze of palettes.
2:29 — Do you think Steve Smith likes foosball?
2:34 — The members of Journey jumping back and forth and singing while Margaret ignores them is my favorite part of the video.
3:04 — What did they do to Steve’s drums?
3:37 — As if the video hadn’t already flown off the rails, here’s a few minutes of gratuitous slow motion.
4:15 — Say what you will about the video, no one could belt it out like Steve Perry.
4:18 — It was all a dream! That explains so much.
In 1999, MTV named this video as the 13 worst video of all time.
After finding a whole database full of some of the best AMV’s ever made in the last couple years I have another new AMV to post as the latest “AMV of the Day”. The latest one actually uses a song that is near and dear to my heart.
“Hold On To That Feeling” is the AMV in question and was the collaboration effort of two creators, Ileia and PWolf. I’ve always admired the videos that actually have more than one editor involved in it’s production. When both editors are on the same wavelength as to how the video should look like and play out the ultimate result ends up being quite good to great. This latest AMV is one such example of two creators whose joint collaboration doesn’t even show in the final product and that’s a good thing.
Another reason why I love this video so much is the song the two picked to base the video on. It’s Journey’s classic rock anthem song and one my San Francisco Giants used as their official rally song during their 2010 World Series run. Everytime I watch this video I can’t help but sing along to “Don’t Stop Believin'” and any Giants fan would do the same, but with the extra bonus of great anime scenes from a boatload of great anime.
Ok, enough talking, back to watching and singing along to the AMV.
Anime: 5 Centimeters per Second, Ah! My Goddess, Ah! My Goddess! Always Together, Ai Yori Aoshi, Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~, Birdy the Mighty Decode, Chobits, Cowboy Bebop, Ef – a tale of memories, Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu, Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Hōkago no Pleiades, Kimi ni Todoke, Macross Frontier, Macross Frontier MUSIC CLIP Collection – Nyankuri, NANA Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.22 – You Can [Not] Advance, Neon Genesis Evangelion: 1.11 You Are [Not] Alone, Romeo × Juliet, The Sky Crawlers, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann, Towards the Terra
This past weekend I ended up seeing a film that will probably become one of my favorite films of 2011. It wasn’t perfect, but for 2/3’s of it the film was perfect in bringing up feelings of nostalgia. Nostalgia gets a bad rap and deservedly so since it turns anything decades-old into a classic because it was heard, seen or played in one’s youth. The latest “Song of the Day” brings up past memories born of nostalgia and just fond reminiscing. I speak of the greatest power ballad of all-time: Journey’s “Open Arms”.
The song was released in 1982 as part of Journey’s seventh full album, Escape, and the song became an instant classic both in the radio-play and during the band’s arena concerts. “Open Arms” became the rock power ballad by which all other power ballads gets compared to. The song, like all power ballads, is all about love-lost and love re-found. I don’t know anyone, no matter what types of music they’re into, who hasn’t at least taken someone close to them for a slow dance on the dance floor to this very song as it played.
While it wasn’t a song that was widely played during dances, balls and proms when I was in high school it definitely was a song that got major playtime once I was older and went to weddings and other similar type gatherings. Part of this ballad’s timeless appeal doesn’t just come from the earnest emotions inherent in the lyrics, but the emotional power and feeling Steve Perry’s performance gives to the song. His singing has been described as operatic, powerful and never sappy or playing to the crowd. Perry sings this song as if he’s speaking of very intimate personal experiences described in the lyrics.
I don’t usually pick ballads and slow jams when it comes to “Song of the Day” but thanks to J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 nostalgia hit me that this song was one of the first to bring back memories both fond and heartbreaking.
Open Arms
Lying beside you here in the dark Feeling your heart beat with mine
Softly you whisper you’re so sincere How could our love be so blind We sailed on together We drifted apart And here you are by my side
So now I come to you with open arms Nothing to hide believe what I say So here I am with open arms Hoping you’ll see what your love means to me Open arms
Living without you living alone This empty house seems so cold
Wanting to hold you wanting you near
How much I want you home But now that you’ve come back Turned night into day I need you to stay
So now I come to you with open arms Nothing to hide believe what I say So here I am with open arms Hoping you’ll see what your love means to me Open arms
Short but sweet…Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the National League Pennant to move onto the Fall Classic aka The World Series to the bandwagoners.
This team has taken torture baseball (almost as painful as watching torture porn flicks) and brought it to a new level. The nation will now learn and discover The Beard, The Freak, The Boss, The Kung Fu Panda and The Rally Thong.
No matter what happens in the World Series this Giants team has been fun to watch even if it has brought me to having a coronary more than a few times this year. But as the song says…
Through the Shattered Lens 