Song Anatomy ●"DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' - Journey
JOURNEY / Herbie Herbert Nightmare, Inc. - Premier Talent Publicity Photo / IVOX MEDIA collection
"DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' - Journey
The Song● Don’t Stop Believin
Writers● Steve Perry, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain
Producer● Mike Stone and Kevin Elson
Recorded● Late 1980 and early 1981
Released● August 1981 (album), October 1981 (single)
Players●
:: Steve Perry--vocals
:: Neal Schon--guitar, vocals
:: Jonathan Cain--keyboards, vocals
:: Ross Valory--bass
:: Steve Smith--drums
Album● Escape (Columbia, 1981)
Also On●
:: Greatest Hits (Columbia, 1988)
:: Time 3 (Columbia, 1992)
:: Greatest Hits Live (Columbia, 1998)
:: The Essential Journey (Columbia, 2001)
Escape ● Journey ● E5C4P3
Escape (stylized as E5C4P3 on the album cover) is Journey’s seventh studio album, released on July 17, 1981, by Columbia Records. It topped the American Billboard 200 chart and features four hit Billboard Hot 100 singles – "Don't Stop Believin'" (No. 9), "Who's Crying Now" (No. 4), "Still They Ride" (No. 19) and "Open Arms" (No. 2)[7] – plus "Stone in Love". It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) for at least ten million sales in the US, making it Journey's most successful studio album.
The Escape album marked the debut of former Babys keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who joined Journey in April 1981 to replace founding member Gregg Rolie. Cain co-wrote all the songs on the album, which featured a new melodic sense and more emotional lyrics.
The second single from Escape, "Don't Stop Believin'" peaked at Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Guitarist Neal Schon came up with the majority of the song at the group's rehearsal warehouse in Oakland, California, writing the bass riff, the guitar line, and the chorus. Drummer Steve Smith contributed the tom-tom patterns that mark the song's rhythm.
The song's distinctive keyboard opening and Schon's brief guitar riff after the first verse are two of Journey's most recognizable musical moments. Cain and singer Steve Perry's reference to "streetlight people" was inspired by the scene on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
Cain and Perry clearly needed a geography lesson, however: One of the song's characters was "born and raised in South Detroit," but there is no such place. Escape was Journey's most successful studio album, hitting Number One on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 146 weeks, and selling well more than nine million copies.
During the Escape tour, Journey left its own headlining dates to open the first show of the Rolling Stones' 1981 North American tour on September 25th in Philadelphia.
Another memorable show on the tour was at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, where the entire roster of the 49ers football team -- en route to its first Super Bowl title -- joined Journey onstage.
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