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Steve Perry Proves He's Still Master of Lame
By: Ed Masley (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette November 2 1994) |
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There is, no doubt, something to be said for having truly mastered the art of lame.
The cut-out bins and yard sales of America and, one would imagine, Japan, are literally flooded with the shattered dreams of juke box heroes who only wish they could be as lame as Steve Perry was last night at the A.J. Palumbo Centre.
Night Ranger. GTR. Asia. Survivor. And those are the famous ones.
Even Journey, as lame as they were, never really nailed it. Neal Schon's guitar was always a shade too scrappy; the songs, though simple-minded to a fault, too prone to take on a certain lightweight charm. Take "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' , " with its poor man's "Hey Jude" ending, if you will.
Without his former bandmates around to mess up a good thing, though, Perry is free at last to explore the outer reaches of all that is lame - leading the mostly female audience in a call and response of "I love you Steven; I want you Steven;" sticking Sam Cooke's "Cupid" in the middle of the same song, but changing the melody to fit his own lame chord progression.
Having those trademark red tails lowered to the stage on a hanger for a tripleshot of "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin", "Anyway You Want It" and "Separate Ways," my friends, was merely the icing on an already substantial cake.
Surrounded by a bunch of guys who seemed hell-bent on making Journey sound like the Who, Perry took everything that made the old hits at all interesting and threw it away, content to moan over the dull plod of a hard rock rhythm section.
As George Michael himself (certainly no stranger to lameness) once suggested, "If you're gonna do it, do it right." We can only thank God that Steve Perry was out there listenin'.
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My Repsonse To The Nonsense Above
November 7, 1994 |
Dear Mr. Masley,
How can you possibly label Steve Perry "Master of lame" when with just 8 paragraphs you should prove that you are the only one worthy of that title. Whatever goes on in your head must be more frightening than anything Wes Craven could Imagine. When you dub a golden voice of a singer such as Perry "lame" one could only imagine what you would consider a true "lame" performer. Is Bobby McFerrin "GOD" of all entertainers? Or,are Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen voices sent to us from heaven?
What concert were you watching? It's obvious it wasn't the same show that was pleasing several thousand others. This column of yours was not a Music Review. But, more of a "tool" to launch a slaying on a personal vendetta you have against Perry and even his former bandmates from Journey. Maybe you had a bad relationship and her favorite Journey song was "Faithfully" and everytime you hear that song you snap. Or maybe your a failing guitarist who could never quite sharpen his licks to duplicate that of Neal Schon's when a band requested you to learn a Journey song. You may just be an old fart who has something against rock music. Whatever your personal problem is you shouldn't use a public media source to vent your anger. Don't you realize that the people who read these reviews are people who like the artists you are ripping apart? Think about it. Someone who doesn't like Aerosmith is not about to read an article about their performance that he or she may have missed the night before. You're suppose to be a writer and be objective in your views. Myself, being a musician and a producer, I can tell the difference between something that is good or bad, A performance can be good without me personally caring for the performer. And, I know you are in a rush to get this article out by the following day, but, you should think before you write. And I quote, "Even Journey, as lame as they were, never really nailed it". No, I guess if you call having several albums selling several million copies and selling out every show that they ever played not nailing it, then you may be right. And when other musicians such as Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, Steve Vai and Jan Hamer have said praise about the ever so versatile Neal Schon and you claim his playing "was always a shade too scrappy", then your standards of a great guitarist must be a little higher than the names mentioned above.
Look, I could go on for hours about this issue, but, I think I made my point. Just be thankful that you are a two-bit writer for a local newspaper and not for one of the mega's like Rolling Stone, Spin or Billboard. I think you would rather be ridiculed by a local two-bit entertainer than exposed to national embarrassment by other offended readers. I don't expect a retraction of your article., Just that the next time Steve Perry comes to town, on his own or with a reunited Journey, you should be an objective writer and not just another "lame" reporter.
Very Sincerely,
Michael M. Kadrie
MAD MIKE PRODUCTIONS |
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