Journey was on their way up in the rock world at the end of the 70s, having recently achieved their biggest pop crossover success. They made a pretty significant lineup change around that time, one that involved the departure of one of the founding members of the group.
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Jonathan Cain, formerly of The Babys, came into the fold. Cain’s songwriting chops and keyboard work proved just the right addition to the mix, and Journey was off and running on their most successful stretch.
Rising Stars
Gregg Rolie served as one of the founding members of Journey. The original idea for the band was that they’d serve as a backing group for whatever musicians in the Bay Area needed one. But they quickly realized that their sound was too special to be relegated to the background. After forming in 1973, they released their self-titled debut album two years later.
On the first three albums by the band, Rolie also served as the lead singer. While their popularity steadily rose in that stretch, they also felt constrained by having their singer stuck behind the keyboards. In order to connect with the audience a little better, they decided to hire a dedicated lead singer.
That’s when Steve Perry entered the picture. Armed with a ridiculously powerful and soulful voice, Perry quickly started to pay immediate dividends. Journey gained more and more radio exposure on the albums Infinity, Evolution, and Departure, the latter two of which each spun off the band’s first top 40 singles (“Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” and “Any Way You Want It”).
Rolie Out, Cain In
Departure, released in 1980, gave the band their first-ever Top 10 album in the US. But it also marked the end of an era of sorts. Gregg Rolie decided that he was ready to get off the train. His singing role had been greatly diminished by Steve Perry’s presence. Citing a wish to be with family and the desire for other musical pursuits, he left the band following the album.
Rolie did stick around enough to help the band find a replacement. They focused on Jonathan Cain, who was, at the time, a member of The Babys, which featured British lead singer John Waite. Cain jumped at the opportunity to make the leap, as The Babys had struggled to match their critical acclaim with commercial success. (They broke up not long after Cain’s departure.)
New Lineup, New Sound
Jonathan Cain made an immediate impact on Journey’s musical formula. For one, he updated their sound with his focus on piano and synthesizers. Rolie had often played organ, but that instrument had fallen out of favor to an extent with rock audiences at the dawn of the 80s.
More importantly, Cain became a crucial songwriter, joining Perry and guitarist Neal Schon as a formidable writing trio. Cain helped convince the others that their lyrical content should focus on subjects to which their core audience could relate. As a result, out went some of the band’s more progressive tendencies, replaced by heartland rock and tender ballads.
With the 1981 album Escape, Cain’s first with the band, Journey shot to No. 1. Three Top 10 singles, all of which were co-written by the keyboardist, hit the Top 10 of the pop charts. Journey’s transformation into a mainstream rock juggernaut was complete. It’s fair to say that Jonathan Cain played a big part in catalyzing that transformation.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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