Journey “Feeling That Way/Anytime” charted

Feeling That Way/Anytime Journey

Writers (“Feeling That Way”): Steve Perry, Gregg Rolie, Aynsley Dunbar (see lyrics here) Writers (“Anytime”): Gregg Rolie, Roger Silver, Robert Fleischman, Neal Schon, Ross Valory (see lyrics here) First Charted (“Anytime”): June 10, 1978 Peak (“Anytime”): 83 US, 75 HR, 6 CL, 1 DF Peak (“Feeling That Way”): 6 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Just over 30 seconds into “Feeling That Way,” the baton is passed. Gregg Rolie assumes lead up to that point in the song, but then Steve Perry comes in. The pair then trade vocals throughout the rest of the song, but the transition is clear. Rolie’s days in Journey are numbered. Steve Perry, new to Journey as of the Infinity, album is about to become the face and voice of the band and lead them into the band’s heyday over the next few years, reaching a peak with 1981’s multi-platinum, #1 album Escape. Officially, it was “Anytime” that was released as the second single from the 1978 Infinity. However, the song has so consistently been paired with “Feeling That Way” as its lead-in that the two have become inseparable. In its review of “Anytime,” Cash Box magazine called it a “dynamic, irrestible effort that features exuberant, multi-tracked harmonies and potent lead guitar.” WK Interestingly, “Anytime” includes a songwriting credit for Robert Fleischman who was with the band for just a short time and didn’t actually perform on any of Journey’s albums. The song also included a credit for Roger Silver, a poet from San Francisco who contributed lyrics. The song was written before Perry joined the band. SF Both songs are notable for producer Roy Thomas Baker’s layered sound approach, a technique he’d also employed with Queen. He stacked harmonies by having Perry and Rolie joined by Steve Valory and Neal Schon, sing each harmony part in unison, which created the effect of making three or four voices sound even bigger. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Journey SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/7/2022.

Journey “Wheel in the Sky” released

Wheel in the Sky Journey

Writer(s): Robert Fleischman, Neal Schon, Diane Valory (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 1, 1978 Peak: 57 US, 52 CB, 52 HR, 3 CL, 45 CN, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 33.2 video, 66.15 streaming

About the Song: This is the song that introduced Steve Perry as the future lead singer of Journey. When he came on board for the 1978 Infinity album, Gregg Rolie was still handling some vocal duties, but moving forward Journey would be the Steve Perry show. On that same album, the songs “Feeling That Way/Anytime” provided the perfect showcase of old and new. For “Wheel in the Sky,” however, it is all about Steve Perry. Interestingly, Perry does not have a co-write on the song as he would with every Journey hit moving forward. The song originated as a poem called “Wheel in My Mind” written by Diane Valory, the wife of Journey’s bassist Ross Valory. WK The lyrics explore a narrator lamenting about being gone from home and hoping to reconnect with a girl once home. The term “wheel in the sky” can be interpreted as a metaphor fo “the various twists and turns of the narrator’s life on the road” WK and “how life goes on no matter our personal struggles.” SF Guitarist Neal Schon and short-lived lead singer Robert Fleischman shaped it into a song with Fleischman writing new lyrics and Schon writing the melody on acoustic guitar. SF Fleischman had been recruited by Journey with the intent of going “a new direction into an edgier sound and…recording simple hard rock pieces.” WK While he was gone by the time the album was released, he still got songwriting credits, such as on “Wheel in the Sky.” The song became Journey’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. Although its #57 peak didn’t light the music world on fire, it did introduce the band who would, over the next few years, take the world by storm. Cash Box said of the song that it had “tight lick guitar work and effective lead and backing vocals.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Journey SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/8/2022.