The Best Parts of a Person's Life

In the early 1980's, I was a salesman for CBS Records out of the Seattle Branch. This was during the zenith of the music biz decadence, when expense reports were never scrutinized and sending 50 lbs. of promotional material by FedEx was almost a daily occurrence.

Artists of all kinds came through our offices, but they were mostly breaking artists or the B listers on radio or retail meet and greets. The A listers would never visit the Branch Office. We had to meet them downtown in the hotel or at the venue, if they were agreeable. We, the Branch personnel, always wanted the opportunity to get radio PD's or retail buyers to meet their musical heroes.

The rule of thumb was that the bigger they were, the lesser the chance to have any face to face time. In the early 80's, Journey was one of the biggest. But there was one aspect of the Journey management that set them apart from many of the other multi platinum groups, They went out of their way to be courteous and welcoming to the radio and retail people.

In 1983, the Rolling Stone Record Guide gave each of the band's albums only one star, with Dave Marsh writing that "Journey was a dead end for San Francisco area rock." Marsh later would anoint Escape as one of the worst number-one albums of all time. Escape has sold over nine million units. One might say that this was a rejection of the elitist attitude of RS at this time. Marsh, was at this time, completely in the tank for Springsteen. However, my contention is that a lot of the success of Journey was due to their conscious effort to work the troops in radio and retail. Needed a window display? You got it. Please buy an extra 100 units so I can make my quota. OK, give me the Journey catalog. Journey wants to do a contest with your station, but you need to add the 5th single. Is heavy rotation OK?

Like I said earlier, I have met a lot of musical heroes, and there is no doubt that the memories for me lasted a lot longer then they did for the artist. One of my favorites was the late Peter Bardens. He was on tour with Camel. At some record cocktail party, he was obviously uncomfortable. He accepted my invitation to come back to my house, where he enjoyed a home cooked meal and conversation on a variety of topics. He was a wonderful and erudite guest.

But the reason for this rambling, was a most memorable kindness that an artist did for me. It is one of my favorite memories from what, for the most part, was a callous "what have you done for me lately" business. It had to do with the aforementioned Journey and my kids.

"The little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person's life.
William Wordsworth

At the Branch Office the day of the show, the Tour Manager for Journey, arrived with a fist full of backstage passes and a "is there anything else you need" attitude. Upon his leaving, he invited us to the sound check, where we could meet the group in an informal atmosphere. I decided to go and because it was in the afternoon, brought my boys.

An unusual but commendable aspect of Journey at this time was their Tour Crew. They were thorough and they were tight. There was no sloppiness or panic that I could see. Backstage, everything ran like clockwork.

My boys had been exposed to the music business all of their short lives. Because of their ages (7 and 5), they didn't get to see the shows at night. We arrived at the arena's back doors and were met by Journey's Road Manager. He went right up to both my sons and asked them their names. After their shy responses, he said, "Boy, am I glad to see you two guys. We need some help. Would you like to help us?" After looking to their father to see if this was alright, they agreed. "Good!" the manager replied, "Follow me." He then proceeded to bring them back stage, where he took their photos with a Polaroid and adhered them to a laminated crew ID and hung them around their necks.

Now, "officially" part of the Journey Road Crew, they were introduced to all the crew members as the two "new guys" and were greeted like part of the gang by each person they met. With every handshake or high five they grew a little more comfortable and proud with their new found celebrity. They must have wore those laminates every day for a long while. They may have slept with them on, as well.

I still have those badges. With their grinning little boy faces frozen in time. For the rest of my days, they will always be part of Journey's road crew.

These days it seems that all our heroes have feet of clay. They seem to think the accolades and cheers are their presumed right. They treat the people who give them their privileges as a nuisance.

It's nice to be pleasantly surprised. And this small courtesy, is a father's warm memory still, after 25 years.