August 28, 2005
All Are Encouraged Not to Stop Believin'
By JON CARAMANICA
When Stephen was reunited with his sometime girlfriend LC on this summer's season premiere of the MTV reality series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," his choice of soundtrack music was inspired: "Don't Stop Believin' " by the 80's power ballad specialists Journey, a firm song about uncertain love. "Generally, in reality TV, you like to control what music is being played," said the show's music supervisor, Jon Ernst, "but that was Stephen's own CD. It wasn't staged at all - he's a Journey fan."
Apparently he's a tastemaker, too. The day after the premiere, "Don't Stop Believin' " made its debut on the iTunes sales chart in the top 5, and it hovered in the top 10 for two weeks. Retail sales of the band's two greatest-hits collections jumped 40 percent in the week following the show's debut, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"A whole other generation is coming up to me now - anywhere from 8 to 22 years old - wanting me to sign autographs," said Steve Perry, Journey's former lead singer. "They think Journey was awesome."
It's been a busy summer for the song, which has also appeared as karaoke music on an episode of "Family Guy"; as the soundtrack to "Star Wars: A Musical Tribute," a widely circulated Web video that cheekily revisits the love affair between Han Solo and Princess Leia (
www.murdoch-watch.com/star_wars/); and as the hook for Capone & Noreaga's "City Boys" on the Heatmakerz' "Crack Mixtape Vol. 1." "I'm so glad the song is still speaking the way it originally was," Mr. Perry said of the recent attention. "So many of our graduating class, as I call them, you don't hear from anymore."
Up next for Journey: a new album, "Generations," due in October; a live DVD from 1981 produced by Mr. Perry, including a rendition of "Don't Stop Believin'," in November (he is estranged from the rest of the band, who continue to tour under the name Journey); and, perhaps, a return trip to Southern California. "The funniest thing," said Mr. Perry, "is that we just got a call from 'The O.C.' saying they were interested in using a Journey song next season."
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