The Journey Force Newsletter Part III from January 1990 is all about the Merchandise

The Journey Force Newsletter Part III from January 1990 begins with the Bad English Tour dates that year!

The last three pages of the Newsletter starts with Pen Pals. Before the internet, this is how people met and kept in touch. Please ignore the people and addresses as they are no longer valid.

The 1990 Tour Dates for the Band Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain got involved with, "Bad English". The dates are March - May 1990.

The rest of the issue deals with Merchandise...

Journey Escape 35th Anniversary Japanese Special Edition CD

Happy Birthday "Escape"! 

Escape was released on July 31, 1981 and is 36 years old today!

In Japan a special edition CD/DVD super-package was released. The album cover and Booklets are all 7 inches, while the CD's are normal size. It's an incredible package including the entire "Escape" CD with different bonus tracks than the US release. Also included is the "The Escape Tour, Live in Houston 1981" CD and DVD!  There are 4 Booklets, including a reproduction of the 1981-82 Escape Tour Book and other Japanese posters and single covers.

The Escape Japanese Special Edition

Japanese Special Edition "Escape" Front Cover

Japanese Special Edition "Escape" Inside Fold Left

Japanese Special Edition "Escape" Inside Fold Middle

Japanese Special Edition "Escape" Inside Fold Right

Japanese Special Edition "Escape" Back Cover

Journey Escape 35th Anniversary Japanese Special Edition

Happy New Year 2017 from WHEEL IN THE SKY - New Albums?

Happy New Year 2017 Journey fans!

Another year has passed. Both Journeys and Steve Perry were heavily active this year.

Steve Perry may or may not release an album this year! It was promised in 2016, but Steve being the perfectionist he is, has taken a bit longer than anticipated.

Although there has been no sign of another album from Journey, we can still hope...

Journey will be starting the 2017 Tour in Las Vegas at The Hard Rock Cafe this May. What will be very interesting is hearing two excellent albums back to back which would include songs they have never played in concert before!

HAPPY 2017!

Steve Perry For The Love Of Strange Medicine Tour 1994-1995 Picture Book, part 6

We continue the second half of the Steve Perry For The Love Of Strange Medicine Tour 1994-1995 Tour Book with even more pictures of Steve Perry.

This week begins with an excellent full frontal shot of Steve singing his little heart out...

The next page features a picture of Steve carrying a bouquet of flowers that were thrown to him from the audience at one of the shows.

The Love Of Strange Medicine Tour lasted six months all across America!

TOUR DATES;

Oct. 21, 1994 - Riverside Theater. Milwaukee, WI - Sass Jordan

Oct. 22, 1994 - Minneapolis, MN - Sass Jordan

Oct. 28, 1994 - Taft Theater. Cincinnati, OH - Sass Jordan

Oct. 29, 1994 - Music Hall. Cleveland, OH - Sass Jordan

Oct. 30, 1994 - Arie Crown Theater. Chicago, IL - Sass Jordan

Nov. 1, 1994 - A.J. Palumbo Auditorium. Pittsburgh, PA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 3, 1994 - Fox Theater. Detroit ,MI - Sass Jordan

Nov. 5, 1994 - Stabler Arena. Lehigh Campus. Bethleham, PA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 7, 1994 - DAR Constitution Hall. D.C. - Sass Jordan

Nov. 10, 1994 - A.J. Palumbo Center. Pittsburgh, PA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 14, 1994 - Albany, NY - Sass Jordan

Nov. 15, 1994 - Massey Hall, Toronto, ONT - Sass Jordan

Nov. 16, 1994 - Tower Theater, Philadelphia Upper Darby, PA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 17, 1994 - Central Maine Civic Center. Lewiston, ME - Sass Jordan

Nov. 18, 1994 - Orpheum Theater. Boston, MA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 20, 1994 - Hershey Park Arena. Hershey, PA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 22, 1994 - Fox Theater. Atlanta, GA - Sass Jordan

Nov. 23, 1994 - Jacksonville, FL - Sass Jordan

Nov. 24, 1994 - Bob Carr Performing Arts Center. Orlando, FL - Sass Jordan

Nov. 25, 1994 - Sunrise Musical Theater. Sunrise, FL - Sass Jordan

Nov. 27, 1994 - Mahaffey Theater. St. Petersburg, FL - Sass Jordan

Dec. 2, 1994 - Municipal Auditorium. San Antonio, TX - Sass Jordan

Dec. 3, 1994 - Will Rogers Memorial. Forth Worth, TX - Sass Jordan

Dec. 7, 1994 - Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas, NV - Sass Jordan

Dec. 9, 1994 - Fort Worth, TX - Sass Jordan

Dec. 10, 1994 - Warner’s Theater. Fresno, CA - Sass Jordan

Dec. 12, 1994 - Speckles Theater .San Diego, CA - Sass Jordan

Dec. 16, 1994 - Pantages Theater. Los Angeles, CA - Sass Jordan

Dec. 17, 1994 - Pantages Theater . Los Angeles, CA - Sass Jordan

Dec. 18, 1994 - Pantages Theater . Los Angeles, CA - Sass Jordan

Jan. ??, 1995 - Seattle, WA - unknown

Jan. 11, 1995 - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Portland, OR - Sass Jordan

Jan. 15, 1995 - Abravanel Hall. Salt Lake City, Utah - Sass Jordan

Jan. ??, 1995 - Paramount Theater. Denver, CO - Sass Jordan

Jan. 19, 1995 - Memorial Auditorium.. Burlington, IW - Sass Jordan

Jan. 20, 1995 - Memorial Hall . Kansas City, Kansas - Sass Jordan

Jan. 22, 1995 - Veterans Memorial. Columbus, OH - Sass Jordan

Jan. 25, 1995 - Wings Stadium. Kalamazoo, MI - Sass Jordan

Jan. 27, 1995 - Shea's Performing Arts Center. Buffalo NY - Sass Jordan

Jan. 28, 1995 - Rochester Auditorium Center, Rochester, NY - Sass Jordan

Feb. 2, 1995 - Washington, DC - Sass Jordan

Feb. 13, 1995 - State Theater, New Brunswick, NJ - Opening "act" - guitar player from the local college.

Mar. 10, 1995 - Abraham Chavez Theater. El Paso, TX - Bone Pony

Mar. 11, 1995 - Mesa Amphitheater. Mesa, AZ

Mar. 13, 1995 - Bren Events Center. University of California. Irvine, CA - Bone Pony

Mar. 14, 1995 - Santa Barbara, CA - Bone Pony

Mar. ??, 1995 - San Francisco, CA

Mar. ??, 1995 - Warnors Theater. Fresno, CA

Mar. 22, 1995 - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Continued next week...

Steve Perry For The Love Of Strange Medicine Tour 1994-1995 Picture Book, part 5

We begin the second half of the Steve Perry For The Love Of Strange Medicine Tour 1994-1995 Tour Book with more pictures of Steve Perry.

These are great photos of Steve Perry and I'm sure his women fans can't get enough of these pictures. I would have rather had maybe one less picture, like maybe the second one shown below, and had instead some information about the making of the album and subsequent Tour or how they prepare for each concert everyday or something. What we have are pictures of Steve because after all, this is the "Steve Perry" Tour.

The Tour began on October 21, 1994 at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Tour swept all across America and ended on May 22, 1995 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
It brought back Journey songs to the concert scene again. Sadly though this also cemented the truth to the World that Journey was definitely over...

To Be Continued Next Week...

Journey Force Newsletter dated January 1987 - Neal & Jonathan Interview

Part 2 of the January 1, 1987 edition of the Journey Force Newsletter includes an interview with Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain.

Starting with some Bits And Pieces, We get a mention of Steve Perry's old band, "The Sullie's". The video for "The Girl Can't Help It" rises to #2 on MTV's countdown.

Steve Perry and Neal Schon were given a tour of the Harley Davidson plant in York, PA. There's a great picture of them on a couple bikes!

Then we get right into the first part of the Jon & Neal Interview which will be completed next week with the rest of the Newsletter. They talk about how the new members of the band have helped give the band new life. There is also talk about how they don't fight on this tour and everybody's having a great time. That's interesting because this tour never came to completion. It ended soon after this Newsletter was published, so I'm really excited to read the next one. 

Concluded next week...

The Journey Force Fan Club Newsletter from November 1, 1986, part 1

Volume 1, Number 3 of The Journey Force Fan Club Newsletter for November 1, 1986 begins with a Tour itinerary for the first leg of "The Raised On Radio Tour" which was to be Journey's biggest tour to yet.

The new line-up first played on August 23, 1986 at Calaveras County Fairgrounds at Angels Camp. This is the Mountainaire Festival. Page one of the Newsletter contains many reviews of the show from the local newspapers. The Tour Itinerary is missing the August and September dates.

Page 2 of the Newsletter continues the reviews of the shows. The main article on page 2 is "Meet The New Rhythm Section". There is a Journey Force interview with both Randy Jackson and Mike Baird. There is also a picture of Mike Baird and Steve Perry relaxing backstage if that's what you call relaxing.

It all starts right here with a color picture of the band. Again, as usual, Randy is represented by his eyes and teeth and extremely loud shirt...

To be continued next week...

The Journey Force Newsletter for September and October 1986

This week I am including the entire Newsletter as one post. This week is only a photocopy or Xerox of the original Newsletter. What must have happened is I probably moves at this point and missed this issue. I think someone I met online sent me the copies that I scanned. I really wished he would have made color copies but we only have what we have. If anyone has this Newsletter original, please let me know at ronsouth@earthlink.net.

This Week's Newsletter dated September, 1986 first announces how late it is. It contains the Tour Itinerary for the first leg of the Raised On Radio Tour. As soon as the second leg began it also ended.

The next exciting thing is the 2 vacation give-a-way's with Journey! One prize is a week with Journey in Hawaii and the other prize is a week with Journey in Japan! How great that would have been had the Tour continued...

The next couple of pages include a Journey Force interview with Benny Collins, he seems to be in charge of the Tour Arrangements. There are many pictures of the members of the Band (all three members) which were probably originally color. There's also a trivia quiz to test your knowledge of Journey lyrics...

This one here would have made an excellent color poster of the three man band we call Journey....

The merchandise page works in any color! There's only limited "Raised On Radio" items so far, but that will change. There is also many "Frontiers" items still for sale in 1986.

The Pen pal page and "questions answered" page is all that's left since I don't have the last page, the outer mailing label. Please enjoy the paragraph about mailing with department codes as that is a fan favorite...

Journey and Santana begin the San Francisco Fest 2016 with three dates together!

When Journey kicks off their San Francisco Fest 2016 Tour they play three dates with Santana!

Journey's new line-up with Steve Smith, Neal Schon, Ross Valory, Jonathan Cain, and Arnel Pineda with first be heard in new York at Madison Square Gardens on April 13, 2016.

Santana is adding original members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon to their line-up for these special three shows. Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon left Santana to form Journey in 1973 so this is a great combination of bands.

Santana in 2016 with Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon

The big hopes is that Gregg Rolie also plays with Journey. It would be great to hear "Feeling That Way" and "Just The Same Way" if Arnel can keep up with Gregg. It would be especially great to hear "Next", or "On A Saturday Night".

After Madison Square Garden Journey and Santana play together in Uncasville, CT at the Mohegan Sun Arena and finally in Allentown, PA at the PPL Center.

Drummer Steve Smith Rejoins Journey in 2015 for the 2016 Tour

Journey's Third Drummer, STEVE SMITH, was with the band from 1979 until 1997, give or take a couple years in the 1986 area. Steve was also the best drummer. His drums and percussion helped create the known "Journey Sound".

Steve Smith and Neal Schon of Journey

Steve Smith has joined the band again and will begin playing on the 2016 Tour set to begin at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 13, 2016!

Journey pretty much plays the Greatest Hits and the albums after 1986 are often left out. Steve Smith knows all those songs since he helped create them. Adding his drumming style to the later songs if ever brought out in concert would be an excellent addition making them sound more like the "old Journey"

The first photo of the new line-up of JOURNEY!

You can find more about Steve Smith at his Vital Information website link below;

STEVE SMITH

Journey's Temporary Superstar Drummer for the Canadian Tour 2015

Just before the Canadian leg of the 2015 North American Tour Journey was faced with finding a new drummer, Fast!

Who they found was none other than Superstar Drummer Omar Hakim. Omar started out as a graduate of the New York School of Music and Art, He began his career recording with various pop and soul groups. His father, Hasan Hakim, had played trombone for Duke Ellington and Count Basie and that influence helped to warm the younger Hakim's ear up for the part he would play in one of the most famous jazz fusion acts ever, Weather Report.

In 1984, Hakim did most of the drum work on Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms, when the previous drummer Terry Williams' performance was found unsuitable for the desired sound of the album after most of the songs had already been recorded. Hakim recorded all the drum tracks on the album in two days and then left. Williams was, however, brought back for the tour.

By the mid 1980's, Hakim was teaching himself to program drum machines, which put him in even greater demand as a pop, rock, and R&B session musician, and landed him work with Madonna. Meanwhile, he continued his work as a jazz fusion drummer; just a partial list of his credits over the 1980s and '90s includes work with Miles Davis, David Sanborn, Roy Ayers, George Benson, Joe Sample, John Scofield, Lee Ritenour, and Najee. In December 1989, Hakim released his first solo album, Rhythm Deep, which occupied a middle ground between jazz, R&B, and pop, and gave him a chance to showcase his vocal abilities as well. The results earned Hakim a Grammy nomination.

During the 1990s, Hakim continued to improve his skills in the realm of electronic percussion, keeping abreast of new technologies and thereby keeping his session career in good stead. He performed on albums by Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Jewel, among other successful pop stars, and initially kept his jazz work going as well, though it had tapered off by the middle of the decade.

In 2000 Hakim released his second solo CD, The Groovesmith, which was produced, recorded and mixed in his personal recording studio "The OH-Zone".

In 2010 Omar formed a band with wife Rachel Z called "The Trio of OZ" and they recorded and toured extensively internationally behind their highly successful eponymous release. In 2014, he released his third album, entitled We Are One with great critical reception. He is currently in the studio working on the second "The Trio of OZ" to be released in 2016 on his label OZmosis Media Group.

More information can be found about Omar Hakim at his website;

OMAR HAKIM

These are the dates Omar Hakim played with Journey;

June 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl

July 4 - Provo, UT - Stadium of Fire

July 6 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre

July 8 - Calgary, Alberta - Fort Calgary

July10 - Penticton, BC - South Okanagan Events Centre

July11 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena

July 13 - Victoria, BC - Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre

July 15 - Prince George, BC - CN Centre

July 16 - Dawson Creek, BC - EnCana Events Centre

July 18 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place

July 19 - Lethbridge, AB - ENMAX Centre

July 21 - Regina, SK- Brandt Centre

July 22 - Saskatoon, SK - SaskTel Centre

July 25 - Hamilton, ON - First Ontario Centre

July 26 - Kingston, ON - Rogers K-Rock Centre

July 28 - Montreal, QC - Centre Bell

July 30 - Moncton, NB - Moncton Coliseum

July 31 - Dartmouth, NS - Alderney Landing

Aug. 2 - St. John's, NL - Mile One Centre

Aug. 3 - St. John's, NL - Mile One Centre

Here's a statement from Omar on replacing Deen Castronovo;

OMAR HAKIM

Steve Smith rejoins Journey as they plan a Summer Tour with The Doobie Brothers

This coming year, Journey brings back Steve Smith as drummer.

Steve was Journey's drummer from 1978-1985, 1996-1997. The best drummer Journey's ever had.

Here's a couple great articles about Steve Smith rejoining Journey;

Drum Magazine Article

Classic Rock Article

Journey's 2014-2015 Tour Begins tonight in Maryland!

Tonight, at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland Journey will begin the 2014-2015 Tour.

Keep an eye on the "Tours" tab at the top of the "Wheel In The Sky" webpage to keep current with dates as they are released.

http://ronsouth.blogspot.com/p/tours.html

Here's a great map of the venue...

Journey's Blaisdell Blowout concert review September 4, 1983!

Honolulu's "The Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advisor" newspaper reviews Journey's Blaisdell blowout!

Journey played at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii September 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th in 1983.

Here's some pictures and the review that appeared in September 4th edition of the newspaper...

Journey's 2014 North American Tour kicks off May 15, 2014

On May 15th, 2014 Journey will kick off their North American Tour with Steve Miller and Tower Of Power in Chula Vista, California...

It's going to be a great tour. It will be a "greatest hits" tour and I hope they add some songs from "Revelation". It would be great to see Arnel sing some of those songs singe I haven't seen Journey live since October 2005 in Temecula, California.

It would be financially irresponsible for me to purchase tickets for this tour at the moment although I would really like to see the band now with Arnel Pineda. Steve Augeri was the singer when I saw them at The Greek Theater and at the Pechanga Resort in 2005. I've seen Steve Perry as frontman many times in the past, I was there 5 nights in a row at the Los Angeles Forum back in 1983. I've seen the pre-escape tour, the Escape Tour, The Escape Arena Tour and the Frontiers Tour so I'm really going to miss this one at The Hollywood Bowl Friday May 16th.

I'll post all reviews and any pictures I can find online for many of the stops along the tour!

If you are going, have a great time and buy some merchandise! Also send me any pictures of the show or parking lots or you and your friends there and I'll post them here at the WHEEL IN THE SKY.

Journey Under The Stars Tour 1999 Backstage Passes

Journey toured with a brand new singer and no new album in 1999.

Journey toured with Foreigner from June thru November that year. Here'a poster on the event...

I've also added a couple of great looking backstage passes Journey used that summer...