Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 4; Posters

This week in the Escape Tour Book we have 2 great posters. Combining 2 pages creates the posters. These posters are a huge 14 X 24 inches, big enough to be framed. The first poster is a very well known picture of the band used by almost every magazine at the time.

The 2nd Poster is a great shot of the band playing live! I love the Departure Freebird escaping a volcano. I've never seen this artwork in print. I don't know if it exists that way. I find this one equivalent to the Poster inside the 1979 and 1980 Tour Books. This Poster shows Jonathan Cain on Keyboards but not yet the big red piano known as "The Whale" which comes later.

Six dates were played in California as the "Pre-Escape Tour", but "The Escape Tour" officially started in Japan on July 27, 1981 and ran until December 22 where the tour ended in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Tour started as all Journey tours do, but when the album hit #1 in America the shows started getting bigger and bigger. Six dates were played at the Pine Knob in Clarkson, MI as well as 4 dates at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, CA. Little did anyone know this wasn't the end of the tour...

To be continued next week...

Journey Force Newsletter from January 1, 1985 part 3 of 3

The excitement of this edition of the fan club's newsletter keeps on going. It's like Christmas in August!

The ever so popular "Mailing with Department Codes" page is sure to delight with all it's great information about how to mail the Journey Force!

The end of the year inventory sale merchandise page, because we needed 3 merchandise pages this time. I have the Sunglasses, The Duffel Bag, and the 1983-1984 World Tour Program, or Tour Book as I like to call it.

Individual Christmas photos of all members of the band is the featured highlight this week. These photos are very rare and I've only ever seen them as the page in the newsletter and I'd really like to see better quality photos of the Journey 1984 Christmas photo shoot.

This ends this edition of the Journey Force Newsletter, look for the next edition soon...

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 3

The History of Journey comes to a conclusion and we're now in 1981!

The Captured album was sort of a Greatest Hits from Infinity through Departure. It's really the 1980 Departure on 2 vinyl albums which went double platinum!

The Escape was about to begin. The album was released on July 31st 1981 and by November hit #1 in America. Escape was the  biggest selling Studio album Journey ever had. The album spawned 5 chart topping singles including one of the songs, "Don't Stop Believin'" which was rereleased in 2009 due to it's people;parity as the #1 downloaded song. This was one of those albums that you bought on vinyl and then you had to buy again on CD due to the timing of the release. The Audio Cassette was also still a big seller for your car, so you might have had 3 versions of this album at the time. The album and singles were in the charts through 1981 and 1982.

You also get a great picture of Neal Schon playing guitar!

E5C4P3...

Continued next week...

Journey Force Newsletter from January 1, 1985 part 2 of 3

To keep the excitement going, this weeks fan club newsletter starts off with picture from a "Night Ranger" party and Steve Smith's Vital Information. Gregg Rolie's next project is also talked about.

The Rockdogs softball team is mentioned in a great article about the winner of "Steve Smith's Vital Information Giveaway".

The usual merchandise pages follow. There is some very interesting items available that I wish I had gotten at the time, like the Satin Jacket. I do have the hat.

The "Questions Answered" section is where we leave off. Some good questions about the "Captured" album, Neal Schon and Steve Smith!

More next week...

Journey Drummer Deen Castronovo rapes Wife and is replaced on current concert tour

I've avoided this long enough, but it all seems to be true. Journey's drummer, Deen Castronovo, has been charged with raping his wife. These are serious charges and we don't yet know if Journey will make an official replacement or give him another chance at beating more women.

For now Journey is using Omar Hakim on their current 2015 Tour and could possibly be their next official drummer. This news story can be found all over the internet, here is the story from HuffingtonPost.com...

Deen Castronovo, the drummer for the band Journey, has been charged with raping his wife in addition to several other charges.

The 49-year-old was arrested earlier this month on domestic violence charges in Salem, Oregon and was released on bail.

According to a local news site it's not clear if the new charges are related to the incident that led to his earlier arrest, however, the drummer has now been charged with "unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of menacing, one count of rape in the first degree, one count of sexual abuse in the second degree, four counts of assault in the fourth degree and one count of assault in the second degree, one count of coercion and one count of criminal mischief in the second degree."

Following the drummer's arrest, Journey announced that Omar Hakim would fill in for Castronovo on the band's upcoming U.S. tour dates.

"We have made the decision to have Omar Hakim play drums for the band's upcoming U.S. concerts (Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, June 20 and the Stadium of Fire in Provo, Utah on Saturday, July 4), as well as the band's Canadian tour (July 6 – August 3), due to Deen Castronovo's pending issues," the band said in a statement on June 18. "We are very grateful to Omar filling in with his musical excellence."

Castronovo, who joined Journey in 1998, was also arrested in 2012 for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. 

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 2

This week we begin with a repeat the last page from last week because it's a great lead into the History of Journey and our farewell to Gregg Rolie, Journey Keyboardist and Key Vocalist from 1973 to 1980.

Gregg Alan Rolie was born on June 17, 1947 in Seattle Washington. Gregg first gained success as the keyboardist for the band "Santana". In 1973 Gregg and Neal Schon started a new group that would end up becoming "Journey".

Gregg has been playing on the road for many years in both bands and by the end of Journey's 1980 Departure Tour he left the band. He picked his own replacement, Jonathan Cain and then went on to continue writing and playing the kind of music he wanted to play.

Journey went on to bigger and bigger success and this was just the beginning...

More next week...

Journey's Escape Album's 34th Anniversary July 31, 2015

Today is the 34th anniversary or Journey's 8th American Album, originally released on July 31, 1981!

Escape spawned the huge hits "Don't Stop Believin'", "Who's Crying Now", "Keep On Runnin'", "Stone In Love", "Still They Ride", "Mother, Father" and "Open Arms"!

The album went #1 in America, the first and only time Journey hit #1.

The Live Recording of the concert in Houston on November 6, 1981, broadcast all over the World in 1982 is also released on CD as "The Escape Tour".

The Original Album

The 1996 Remaster

The 2006 Remaster with extra songs

The Japanese Version

An interesting import from a Latin Speaking Country

NEAL SCHON: 'The Door Has Always Been Open' For STEVE PERRY To Sing With JOURNEY Again

There's a great article at Blabbermouth.net about Neal Schon opening the door for Steve Perry to sing again with Journey.

Here's what Neal says, "The door has always been open, like I've said a zillion times" "People ask me every day, 'Are you reuniting?' STEVE says 'No', and I say 'You never know'"

Read the whole article here;

Neal Schon opens Door for Steve Perry

There's also another great article at ultimateclassicrock.com. about the same thing.

Ultimate Classic Rock - Neal Schon, Steve Perry

What a dream that would be.

Journey Force Newsletter from January 1, 1985 part 1 of 3

This is an exciting newsletter from The Journey fan club, it's like Christmas in July!

The first 4 pages of the newsletter start off with a big welcome to 1985! The band's famous Christmas photo is included along with news about ex-band member, Gregg Rolie.

There is very enthusiastic talk about the band working hard on the upcoming album. This is January 1985 and the next album, Raised On Radio wasn't released until April 1986, so I can only imagine how busy there were.

Also included is a page of Christmas cheer from each member of band! Steve Perry's Foolish Heart video included a wish to everyone a Holiday Message from all members of Jouney! Jonathan Cain has some sad news to share as well, and his connection to the motion picture "The Terminator".

The last page included this week talks about the boy dying of cystic fibrosis and as his last wish had the members of the band visit him in his hospital room. There will be more to come, four pages at a time...

More next week.

Journey's Escape Tour 1981-1982 Tour Book Program part 1

After the 1980 Departure Tour, Keyboardist and Vocalist Gregg Rolie decided to leave the band.

Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist for the band, "The Baby's", joined the band and they set out on the Pre-Escape Tour.

California was the first place the band played to an audience with the new line-up. I saw the band for the first time on June 7, 1981 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California. They played 5 songs from the unreleased "Escape" Album!

The Escape Tour really kicked off in Osaka, Japan on July 27, 1981 at Festival Hall. The 1981 Escape Tour ended on December 22, 1981 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Blaisdell Arena.

It was November when the tour made it back to California and that's where I picked up this Tour Book. The last page is yet another version of how the band came together, so enjoy first 7 pages and please click on each one of them to see them better...

More next week..

The New Journey - 2001's Arrival with Steve Augeri on Vocals

In 1998 Journey released a song on the "Armageddon" soundtrack called "Remember Me".

Journey continued on with a new lead singer, Steve Augeri and a new drummer, Deen Castronovo.

The first album to be released with the new line-up was on April 3, 2001 when Columbia Records released "Arrival", Journey's 16th U.S. album. Actually 17 if you count "In The Beginning".

The album contains 15 songs in the U.S. and 16 songs in Japan. The Japanese release was in late 2000, while the U.S. release was delayed.

The Journey Force sent out many publicity photos at the time. Here are 3 more from my collection...

Journey's Friday The 13th show from July 13, 1979 proves stardom ahead in their future

Mid-way through the eight month "Evolution" Tour, on July 13th 1979, Journey went on stage at Assembly Theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The band played for over an hour and 30 minutes playing hits from the "Evolution" and "Infinity" as well as a few songs from the albums before Steve Perry joined the band.

Steve's voice is a very nice addition to those which really make them come alive. I've always thought the balance between Steve Perry's and Gregg Rolie's voice is part of what made the band so special.

Here is a copy of the review that was in The Tulsa Tribune the next day, Saturday July 14, 1979.

It's a great review about the band, the show and the massive stardom they are about to embark upon.

The New Journey - 2000's Arrival with Steve Augeri

In 1998 after Steve Perry refused to tour, he was replaced by a new vocalist, Steve Augeri.

Steve Augeri came from a manager position at The Gap clothing stores.

Before The Gap, Steve was the vocalist for the band "Tall Stories".

In 2000 the first Journey Album without Steve Perry since 1977 was released in Japan.

It took until April 3rd, 2001 before the USA would see the new album, ARRIVAL.

Here's a Columbia Records Press Release for the album with a biography of the band.

There are many stories as to what went on, but here's Columbia Records version of Journey's biography...

Steve Perry For The Love Of Strange Medicine Post Card / Sticker Promo from 1994

This is the Steve Perry "For The Love Of Strange Medicine" Promo Post Card from Fan Asylum.

The Journey Force had dissolved into a company called "Fan Asylum" which sold merchandise for a number of bands.

Steve Perry's 2nd Solo album, "For The Love Of Strange Medicine", released in 1994, came ten years after his first one, "Street Talk" which was released in 1984.

I received this Post Card in the mail promoting the Release date of the album as July 19, 1994.

The card is also a sticker which peels off the Post Card backing...

Journey Frontiers Bumper Sticker from 1983

Frontiers, the 9th US album from the musical group "Journey".

Frontiers was the first album cover to deviate from the feathers and scarab ideas.

The pictures of the band were of them skydiving.

Skydiving, even 35 years later it doesn't make any sense to me, Skydiving?

Here's the Bumper Sticker which actually measures 2" X 12.5" including the black on the sides...