Livin' Just to Find Emotion: Journey and the Story of American Rock

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"Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey.... Gollands passion and precision make this a pleasure." -Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"[Golland] provides an overdue critical take on the groups overall sound. He also discusses issues of musical influence versus appropriation. It is rare, and valuable, to find such insight in books like this." -Library Journal, Starred Review

A welcome study of one of rocks most enduring musical fusions." - Salon
Relive Journeys greatest songs and moments with this fiftieth anniversary tribute
Since exploding on the scene in the late 1970s, Journey has inspired generations of fans with hit after hit. But hidden under this rock n roll glory is a complex story of ambition, larger-than-life personalities, and clashes. David Hamilton Golland unearths the bands true and complete biography, based on over a decade of interviews and thousands of sources.
When Steve Perry joined jazz-blues progressive rock band Journey in 1977, they saw a rise to the top, and their 1981 album Escape hit #1. But Perrys quest for control led to Journeys demise. They lost their record contract and much of their audience. After the unlikely comeback of Dont Stop Believin in movies, television, and sports stadiums, a new generation discovered Journey.
A professional historian, Golland dispels rehashed myths and also shows how race in popular music contributed to their breakout success. As the economy collapsed and as people abandoned the spirit of Woodstock in the late 70s, Journey used the rhythm of soul and Motown to inspire hope in primarily white teenagers lives. Decades later, the band and their signature song remain classics, and now, with singer Arnel Pineda, they are again a fixture in major stadiums worldwide.

Reviews

The single most downloaded song on the internet from the 20th century isnt one by the Beatles, Prince, or Madonna. Its the signature song of one of rocks most enduring acts: Journey. Dont Stop Believin transcended its early 1980s roots and became an inspirational anthem for sports teams, start-ups, people fighting life-altering ailments, and more. The bands long and complicated history, with its myriad stylistic and lineup changes, is the subject of historian and lifelong fan Gollands book. Refreshingly, this is not the standard band biography. Golland brings an academic approach to the subject, placing Journey within its proper historical musical context. Though it is clear that Golland loves Journeys music, he also provides an overdue critical take on the groups overall sound. He also discusses issues of musical influence versus appropriation. It is rare, and valuable, to find such insight in books like this. Readers dont have to be Journey fans to appreciate this cerebral approach to a biography about the band. For casual readers and scholars alike. * Library Journal, Starred Review *
Monmouth University history professor Golland leaves no stone unturned in this fine-grained chronicle of the rock group Journey. Formed in 1973 as a progressive rock band, Journeys lackluster sales had Columbia Records close to ending their contract in 1977, when crooning tenor Steve Perry joined as frontman, bringing with him a sound inflected by the smooth, beguiling vocals of Black soul singer Sam Cooke. The bands 1981 album Escape featured such hits as Whos Crying Now and Dont Stop Believin, which catapulted the group to superstardom. Following a burned-out Perrys 1987 departure, Dont Stop Believin cemented the bands legacy as a nostalgic cornerstone of white American culture whose songs are piped through ballparks and used by TV shows and movies. Golland meticulously colors in the bands artistic conflicts and power struggles, paying particular attention to Perrys decision to leave, but hes at his most convincing when he interrogates the racial dynamics at play in the bands success. Under Perry, Golland contends, the groups music could border on a modern form of minstrelsy, capitalizing on the racial backlash of the 70s by producing music rooted in soul and rhythm & blues for a largely white, working-class audience... that didnt want to listen to Motown because it was too Black but was perfectly happy listening to five white dudes play... hot Motown wax. Gollands passion and precision make this a pleasure. * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *
Livin Just to Find Emotion: Journey and the Story of American Rock affords music lovers with a career-spanning overview of the bands achievements. In Gollands skillful hands, this bookprovides readers with an engaging assessment of Journeys timeless albums. From the group's early forays into jazz and progressive rock through the artistic and commercial heights of Escape and Frontiers, Golland underscores Journeys vaunted place among rock n rolls pantheon of all-time greats. -- Kenneth Womack, author of John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life
A fascinating story of Journey, investigating the band dynamics, the clash of egos, and the sheer talent it took for a 1970s San Francisco band to rise to the top of the music industry. It's not just a tale of corporate rock and ambition, but also the re-segregation of rock music after the racial integration of the '60s. A compelling read that had me checking out songs all the way through! -- Lucy O'Brien, author of Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter
All too often, Journey is dismissed by uber-serious critics and high-minded fans as unworthy of serious analysis. Lucky for us, David Hamilton Golland disagrees. In a comprehensive and thoughtful volume, Golland skillfully traces the groups tumultuous fifty-year history. He paints complex portraits of its current and past members and cleverly unpacks Journeys identity as a corporate rock band by documenting the legal maneuvering and empire building that underpins its massive success. Most importantly, however, Golland never loses sight of what made Journey a household name: its magical catalog of smash hits. You wont stop reading. -- Greg Renoff, author of Van Halen Rising
A welcome study of one of rocks most enduring musical fusions In Gollands careful hands, Journeys story, and their music in particular, receives a much-needed critical treatment To Gollands great credit, Livin Just to Find Emotion will find you absentmindedly humming Dont Stop Believin and other Journey mainstays in the same breath in which you reconsider the racial and cultural dynamics that brought them to rocks highest heights in the first place. * Salon *
With the ear of a fan and the eye of a historian, Golland does a great job chronicling all of the members various offshoot bands, side projects and mini-and-semi reunions. * Houston Press *
Well-paced, exhaustively researched, with in-depth analysis of the Journey catalog and the background stories of various key members of the group, Livin Just to Find Emotion is a great read for any fan of classic rock and those who like an epic tale of triumph, tribulation, and redemption. * The Aquarian *

Author Bio

David Hamilton Golland is a historian, professor, and writer with a wide background in twentieth-century social and cultural history. He is dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University and founder of The Journey Zone (journey-zone.com), the leading source for all things Journey over two decades. Connect with David on Twitter (@DHGolland) and visit his website (davidgolland.com). He lives in Middletown, New Jersey.