Journey “Be Good to Yourself” charted

Be Good to Yourself Journey

Writer(s): Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 4, 1986 Peak: 9 US, 10 CB, 8 RR, 2 AR, 90 UK, 43 CN, 4 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 5.3 video, -- streaming

About the Song: Journey reached their commercial peak between 1981 and 1983 with Escape and Frontiers. The albums generated eight top-40 hits and made Journey one of the premiere bands in the world. The albums also cemented the band’s “classic” lineup as singer Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardist Jonathan Cain, bassist Ross Valory, and drummer Steve Smith. After a short hiatus during which Steve Perry ventured out for a solo effort and the top-5 hit “Oh Sherrie,” the band came back together – although not completely. Valory was replaced by session musicians and Smith only contributed to a few tracks. For the most part, fans didn’t seem to notice. Sure, the Raised on Radio didn’t sell ten million like Escape or six million like Frontiers, but it still went double platinum, became the group’s fourth consecutive top-10 album, and generated four top-20 singles. The first of those was the upbeat mantra “Be Good to Yourself.” Cain jotted down the phrase during writing sessions for the album, calling it a “Perry-ism.” As Cain said, “With his own domestic situation in disarray and his mother slowly dying, Perry needed life affirming messages.” WK The song gave Journey its sixth and final top-10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In a review of the song, Billboard said “Power pop kingpins return with a bang, reelin’ and a-rockin’ and defying expectations of a ballad.” WK Songfacts.com said it “probably sounded more like a traditional Journey song than anything else on the Raised on Radio album.” SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Journey SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/8/2022.