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THE JOURNEY ZONE
http://www.journey-zone.com
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Jrnydv.Com’s
Exclusive Telephone Interview
with Robert Fleischman
January 8, 2003
Part Six: Journey in Retrospective
I wanted to know not only what Robert thought about Journey’s evolution subsequent to his time with them, but also what he thinks about nowadays when he contemplates what happened. Would he have been able to take Journey where it actually went with Steve Perry? Would he have wanted to? And how does he feel about Journey’s current lineup and musical direction?
DG: You’ve stated that you feel that it was your influence that was responsible for the change in the band’s musical direction, rather than Herbie’s or Steve Perry’s. How so?
RF: I mean, Herbie brought me in, he added the ingredient, and it was like “Hey, I’ve got a pot of spaghetti here, and I’m adding some noodles,” you know, so I was like the noodles.
DG: That’s an interesting way to put it.
RF: Well, that’s just what I came up with off the top of my head, but he brought in the ingredient, and I was the ingredient. But he had other individuals, he had people hounding him on the other line while I was trying to take my place. But I’m still friends with everybody! I mean when they did that album, you know, that just came out—
DG: Arrival.
RF: Arrival? They—Neal and Jon—called me up and asked me to come up to Vallejo and write songs with them! So I was up there for a little over a week writing songs with them!
DG: No kidding!
RF: So my relationship with them is still good and intact, and all the fallacies are not true—they’re just false.
DG: Do you feel in retrospect that you would have been a better long-term lead singer for Journey than Steve Perry was?
RF: Huh. (Pause.) Let’s see. I look at this way. I coulda’ done it, no problem. But was it right? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I think I would’ve gotten so caught up in it that I wouldn’t have been as adventurous as I am musically now. I think I would kind’ve been stuck in sort of a thing there for a while and then I would’ve probably gotten a little whacko. Unless they wanted to get a lot more adventurous.
DG: The musical direction for Journey, when it changed—I mean obviously when they became really huge was with Steve Perry, and that’s a very distinctive sound with that very high tenor voice going on there. And you have, I guess—would you call yourself a high baritone?
RF: No! I have a four-and-a-half octave range.
DG: Wow. So you could reach—could you actually reach those notes?
RF: Yeah. I could hit a high “B” full-on voice.
DG: That’s pretty high. And I know falsetto, you—
RF: I don’t have falsetto.
DG: In “For You,” I think you sang a little bit of—
RF: Nah, I never sang anything falsetto. Everything’s all full voice.
DG: Oh. That was really all full voice? Amazing.
RF: Uh-huh.
DG: Those are some really high notes towards the end of that song. But then, since the—your sound though, with Journey, I mean just from having heard “For You,” they constantly are comparing you to Robert Plant, in all the writing I’ve read about that. And given the situation with rock music in ’77, what with, I mean, one of the reasons I think Journey wanted to try to break into something new was because rock—a lot of people thought rock was on the outs what with the popularity of disco happening around that point. And the incredible sound that Journey subsequently came up with can be said to have—to an extent—revitalized that genre of music.
RF: Well, I think what happened was that Journey just got on the—Journey and the record company—CBS—got on the bandwagon. It was “We got this great band, we need a lead singer, we need a personality up front.” And that’s what was going on. There was Foreigner, there was Boston, these bands were coming out and they were making a large impact, and they wanted to get on the bandwagon. And that’s what it was all about. They wanted to get on the bandwagon. They wanted to sell—the record company wanted to sell more records.
DG: Well now, I think about, though, when you were with Journey, and just from listening to that little bit of the sound that I have heard, it could almost be said that it’s kind of “Led Zeppelin with progressive Journey,” as you said, “in the back pockets.”
RF: Uh-huh.
DG: And when they then transition to Steve Perry, obviously a lot of that comes from your writing. So let’s say then they transition into 1978, to be more fair. It’s very different. I mean it’s not Led Zeppelin, with progressive rock in the back pockets, it’s just a totally new rock’n’roll sound.
RF: Yeah.
DG: And Boston and Foreigner, you know, they just, while they’re very talented and they wrote great music, and I bought all those albums myself, it’s just—I don’t see them as quite as explosive on the scene as when Journey made the full transition.
RF: Yeah, well, I guess it’s because Steve had a great—he had a radio-friendly voice, you know? A pretty voice, and they started off with some good songs.
DG: That you wrote, right?
RF: Yeah, well, you said it, not me (laughs). You know, people say, “You’re the architect of Journey,” and I go well, “Thank you very much.” But people go “Well, they lost Steve Perry, don’t you feel bad that they didn’t call you?” I go, “What for? Why would I wanna’ do that? Why would I wanna’ go out with them and sing?” It would be like a giant karaoke band to me. I don’t wanna’ go sing their past hits or whatever. If I was ever to do anything with them, or whoever—even when they got Steve—the new guy—I really believe that they shoulda’ just said “OK, we’re gonna’ switch our whole sound.” I mean, what’ve they got to lose? And they would’ve had their same fan base, they would’ve probably gotten new people, and then people would’ve probably really respected them much more because—“Here, man, we’re gonna’ go—here’s Infinity, we’re goin’ on to the next stage. Departure—we’re going to, you know, our next musical stance.” So that didn’t happen.
DG: So you would characterize Arrival as something of a step backwards.
RF: Yeah. I mean they—yeah. I feel that they should’ve—that this was their opportunity, carte blanche to do anything they wanted to do. And I think they—they didn’t blow it, but I guess it just didn’t go that way. They invited me—I went to see them play at the Greek Theatre, and I stood on the side of the stage, and watched the whole show and everything. And I think that band right now is the fuckin’ hottest band that they’ve ever been.
DG: Have you heard the new EP, Red 13?
RF: No.
DG: ‘Cause they seem to be doing something of what you’re advocating now.
RF: Great! I just think that’s great.
DG: Did you hear “Livin’ to Do,” when they were working on Arrival—remember that song?
RF: No. I’ll tell you the truth. The only album I’ve ever heard was probably the Infinity album, and I’ve never heard anything—I’ve never listened to them after that. Sounds like a funny thing, but I, you know—
DG: ‘Cause, you said that you were working with Neal and Jon a little bit when they were writing Arrival—
RF: Right.
DG: —So I was wondering if they played that song “Livin’ to Do” for you when you were up there. It was reminiscent of some of the stuff they were doing even before you were in the band.
RF: No. I mean, even if they did, I wouldn’t have even have known the—probably wouldn’t’ve remembered the title of the song.
This transcript ©2003 Jrnydv.Com. All rights reserved.
Last Updated 02 July, 2007 (DHG)
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