“There’s the big, giant machine out there – there’s a lot of politics and money involved”: Neal Schon on Journey’s refusal to cut down Don’t Stop Believin’
Journey’s Neal Schon has recalled how the band’s record label tried to convince them to cut down Don’t Stop Believin’ over concerns it would not receive radio play.
The track landed back in 1981 as the second single from their seventh studio album, Escape. Decades on, it is still their most recognisable track and has received prestigious recognition such as a Grammy Hall Of Fame Award.
READ MORE: “They were trying to kick us off the tour”: Michael Anthony recalls Van Halen’s rocky ride supporting Journey in 1978
In an interview with Lyndsey Parker on YouTube, Schon explains (via Ultimate Guitar): “We put it together the way we heard it. And the label, of course, at that time, they have A&R guys that work in the label that think they know everything and they’re saying, ‘Well, you gotta chop this thing up, it’s never going to get on the radio.’
“We decided to stick to our guns,” he adds. “We just said, ‘No. We’re not gonna chop it up. We like the way it sounds.’ I think because of that they didn’t pour as much money into that song as they would pour into other songs. Chart action is not always because of the song, it’s because there’s the big, giant machine out there – there’s a lot of politics and money involved and all that kind of thing, to be completely frank and honest about it.”
Of course the track went on to become hugely successful, and is certified as 5x platinum in the UK alone by the BPI. But even back then, Schon says he knew it would go on to be something really special: “I did know that when we recorded this song and we finished it, and they were in the final mixing stages of it with Michael Stone and Kevin Nelson, I went, ‘I think this song is going to be massively huge,’” he remembers.
“I don’t know why, I just had a gut instinct, and to have it happen this many years later and just continue to get bigger and now become like, the biggest song in the world, ever, in the history of music, I’m like ‘Oh, this is insane.’”
With hindsight, Schon is “very grateful” that the band ended up spending the time they needed on the track and that they stuck to their beliefs. Give it a listen below:
Journey are touring with Def Leppard until September. Tickets are still available.
The post “There’s the big, giant machine out there – there’s a lot of politics and money involved”: Neal Schon on Journey’s refusal to cut down Don’t Stop Believin’ appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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