MuSiC bLoG 5

Sorry to all readers that I'm going out of chronological order, but I am drawn this week to Pat Benatar and Journey. I saw the famous rockers this weekend at the concert held at Cruzan Amphitheatre. The two groups played very well and blew many fans away! Pat Benatar was one of the first ever girl rockstars known to this day. Pat was inspired by many singers, including her largest idol, Liza Minnelli. Her career in music was like many others, working for pay from day to day just squeaking by, but soon she officially started her music career. She began singing and writing music in NY, where she soon met her second husband Neil Giraldo. The two moved off to Los Angeles and within a month, recorded and produced their first ever album together. The two rockers were bound for fame and ended becoming the second music video to ever be played on MTV when it first aired. But her husband, Neil Giraldo, was the first ever guitarist to appear on MTV.

What an honor that must be like to be given that opportunity, for what is one of the most famous TV channels ever produced! She has produced many famous songs that range from mellow moods to hard rock and roll music! Some examples of her many well-known songs are: "In the Heat of the Night", "Love is a Battlefield", "Heartbreaker", "Hit Me with your Best Shot", "Invincible", and many more. Pat still sounds like her younger self to this day, touring around the globe with her husband and band. Well, the best of luck to ya Mrs. Benatar!

Journey is a five piece band that has truly rocked America! The band was started in 1973 in the San Francisco area. They began to play right away, but made their first appearance at a ballroom as a "backup" band on New Year's Eve in 1975. Shortly after, some record companies realized their talent so they hired them to make a record which had officially begun their careers in the music industry. But in 1977, they had just gotten rid of their original singer and picked up Steve Perry. As soon as Steve was brought into the band, the record deals got larger, they began to sell #1 hits, and even sell platinum records! Journey had shot way up in their rise to fame and they began to start touring the country, as well as the world. The band had reached their peak in the first few years of the 1980's, but in 1984 after finishing the Frontiers Stadium tour, the members of Journey decided it was time to take a break and call it quits for a while. A few of the band members such as Neil Schon and Steve Perry, decided to continue with their careers and work on solo projects. Many of these turned out to be successes, but nothing quite like the days of Journey. But about 7 years later, Neil Schon, Steve Perry, and Jonathan Cain had played a few songs together live and critically thought of getting the band back together. All agreed to get back together, except for Perry, saying he would return if the band manager was fired. So in 1995, Journey was all back together again to rock and tour the world! Throughout the next ten years, the band made many member replacements, including one of the originals and stars, lead singer Steve Perry. But in 2007 the band found a filipino singer on youTube with a fantastic voice. Shortly after, the band hired him and have been touring with the younger man ever since. An older Journey classic was played on the season finale of The Sopranos in 2007, when the "Don't Stop Believing" was played in the final scene. Millions of people across the globe were again connected to this song, and it was #1 hit on Itunes for weeks! But back to my concert experience, the band was awesome! The whole five piece group played incredibly well and had many dancing and singing to the lyrics like back in the good days. Journey is one of the most well known rock bands around and I think it will stay that way for quite some time!


Photos from: http://1019litefm.cbslocal.com/2011/01/21/80s-artist-pat-benatar/
& http://redriverpak.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/music-flashback-journey/