Wow...interesting....

Hi Stephen,

It's nearly midnight, and I'm soon on my way to bed, but I wanted to say hello and give some thoughts about the performance of Journey on the Today show last Friday.  I just finished watching it with Pete, and wow, it was quite...interesting...

I mean, I think it's NBC's fault, really, they probably have no clue about any legal stuff between you and the boys, but for every "teaser" they gave before commercials and after, they played YOUR VOICE on various snippets of Journey songs.  Now, maybe that's NOT a legal problem for you, I don't know, but it gives me a bit of a cringe.

I mean, when I first went to see Journey in DC, at the Constitution Hall, when Steve Augeri was first singing with them---a TON of people WALKED OUT AND WERE VERY ANGRY that they were advertising YOUR VOICE on the radio, and then they get to the concert and see some OTHER guy trying to sing those songs....man, they were PISSED OFF like you wouldn't believe.  Some even BOO'd.  Several yelled "HEY! WHERE IS STEVE PERRY?! WHO IS THIS GUY?!"

So, I cringe at that because I remember that night very vividly, and I just shook my head sadly when it happened, and at the time I remember thinking, that whole mess was kinda like a "bait and switch."

Well, so NBC seemed to be oblivious, and so were the boys of the band really, (from what I could tell), that those snippets had YOUR voice on them---I don't even think they could HEAR those snippets at all.  But Matt Lauer---what a putz---he didn't even know Neal's name!!  Helluva journalist HE is.  Sniff. KNOW YOUR SUBJECT MATTER Matt, that's Journalism 101.  Can'tcha even use GOOGLE for cripes' sake?!  Do you even OWN a computer?!  Go crawl back under that white bread ROCK of yours.

And Al Roker, (another putz)---the man has NO NECK---he's trying to play AIR GUITAR and he's lip syncing to the song "Don't Stop Believin'," (which is not so terrible for people to do that, actually, unless YOU DON"T KNOW THE FRIGGIN' WORDS TO THE SONG, like he didn't)!  Stop trying to be "cool" Al, you're just a lame-ass weatherman, for cripes' sake.

Then these 2 bimbo-chicks who are on the show (have no clue who they are), were wearing Journey t-shirts, and being all "groupy-like" -----so totally unprofessional----so, really I am NOT impressed with the cast of the TODAY show at all.  And it's FOUR FRIGGIN' HOURS LONG!!!  I didn't know that! Pete had to fast forward through all the news and crapola filler stuff that news shows have nowadays, (one chick was actually like a QVC bimbo, trying to sell men's shirts and jewelry and stuff....LAME!!)  I said to Pete, "If I had actually sat through all this garbage for FOUR HOURS, I would have been highly peeved."

The boys played one song from their new album, "City of Hope," which was pretty decent.  They played "Anyway You Want It," and "Don't Stop Believin'" as well.  (2 out of 3 songs are YOURS, in my humble-but-not-so-humble opinion).  They can't seem to move on from those classics, no matter how badly they may WANT to---they are stuck with them, and I'm sure that's like a thorn in their sides.

Watching this performance made me miss you terribly.

But, I gotta say, the smartest guy in the band seems to be Ross Valory.  I mean, he's "Mr. Fly-On-The-Wall," stays to himself, doesn't say a WORD to reporters EVER, just grins, nods, plays bass, and makes silly faces from time to time.  He just collects that paycheck, and gives lip service to the boys, and goes along his merry way.  He's lookin' pretty cool lately too....there were times I've seen him lookin' rather sickly, or not so happy, but either way, he's a very smart guy.

Neal seems to have to wear sunglasses all the time....he used to wear 'em probably because he was stoned, or drunk, (who knows)...well, I guess YOU do....HA!  But, now he wears 'em most likely because he's getting older and his eyes hurt in all those hot lights all around him.  I don't know if he's going bald, (he seems to always wear a hat nowadays too)....but they DID show a brief glimpse of the back of Jonathan's head, and WOW, that poor schlub is gonna be balder than a billiard in a couple years!! hehehehehehe  Aren't you glad YOU don't have that problem?!  Hairy men are awesome!!  (DISCLAMER....only if they don't have hair on their BACKS).

Arnel-----that kid, he just blows me away----I mean, sure, he's about my age I think---but he looks all of TWELVE...doesn't he?!  I swear he looks younger every time I see him.  Not ONE wrinkle on his face! And he's still doing the same answer to the inevitable (ad nausea) question that he must get asked every day of his life---"what's it like to be the new lead singer of such a great band?"  His standard answer is always, "Oh wow, I can't believe it, I mean I wake up and think, I'm really playing with the big boys now!" .......sometimes he varies it a bit, but typically, that seems to be his standard issue statement, as if he's still in shock over it.

I mean, come on, it's been 3 years now...maybe it's still feeling rather "new" to him, but really?? THAT new??  I hope he'll change that statement sometime in the near future, it's getting old.  He's a good kid though, I see that he's got a little stubble on his chin, and a pierced ear, AND a tattoo on his hand that he never had before.  Must be what happens when you suddenly become filthy rich overnight like he did.  He wore a very sexy silky grey suit jacket, and jeans.....(well, Pete called them PAJAMA JEANS! Have you seen those commercials?! HILARIOUS!).....hehehehe.....but, he jumped all over the place, shook hands with people, and he even did a STEVE PERRY MOVE at the end of "Faithfully," that I noted to Pete...."Yeah, that glissando thing, that's a TOTAL Steve Perry move right there.  Call the lawyer." But he still seems to make the songs sound effortless, he doesn't have to TRY to hit the high notes, they are just THERE, every time.  He's really worked his butt off these past few years.

And man, he loves you.  You can tell every time you see him perform, that he adores you.  Seriously.  It's like he's closing his eyes and singing to YOU every time.  Maybe you disagree, but that's how it seems to me at least.  The guy has loved you and your voice and your music for a very long time, and it's like he's paying homage to you, trying to rise to the challenge and the highest standards that you set for the band and the songs...he makes the energy of the songs sizzle as they should, he doesn't exactly have the same sincerity that you do, of course---that's one of those quirky things about you, Stephen, the whole sincerity thing, that most singers don't have.  But, he does seem to be sincere and loyal to you and the band, and that's the most important thing.

Deen doesn't seem really "there" much, I don't know a lot about him and I've never heard him give an interview or anything, so he's kind of a mystery man to me really.  Seems to be a pretty good drummer though, and I think he's a nice piece of eye candy too.

Well, so those are my thoughts.  I'm not 100% sure, but I THINK they skipped verse 2 of Faithfully, which has my all-time favorite line, "I get the joy of rediscovering you" in it.  I don't know if they were running out of time, or if I just missed it----I was eating buttery popcorn, I was a bit distracted----so, if they did skip it, that's a bummer.  If they didn't, "my bad."

Ahhhhh yes, just keep cashing those royalty checks my friend. YOU are really the smartest guy of all.

God I miss you.

Love, Rebecca