During the 1980s and when former Journey singer Steve Perry embarked on his solo career, he started collaborated with dozens of artists, across multiple genres from singing backing vocals on Sammy Hagar‘s 1980 album Danger Zone on the songs “The Iceman,” “Heartbeat,” “Run for Your Life,” and “Love or Money.” In 1988, Perry also appeared on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s American Dream track “Soldiers of Peace.”
Perry also wrote several songs for and with other artists along the way, including “Self Defense” for Journey guitarist Neal Schon‘s solo project with Jan Hammer, Schon & Hammer, in 1982, America’s 1984 song “(Can’t Fall Asleep to A) Lullaby,” and more collaborations.
In 1982, Perry also appeared on Kenny Loggins‘ fourth album, High Adventure, and co-wrote the song “Don’t Fight It.” Also featuring Perry on vocals, along with Pat Benatar‘s husband and guitarist Neil Giraldo on guitar, “Don’t Fight It” went to No. 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and peaked at No. 17 on the Hot 100.
The single also earned Loggins a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
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[RELATED: 4 Songs Former Journey Singer Steve Perry Wrote for Other Artists in the 1980s]
Perry’s “Magic” Voices
When Perry first came over to his house to work on the song, Loggins remembers telling him, “I want a rocker, and I want something really simple.” He added, “I tend to write complicated songs, and so we just went mindless on it. ‘Where’s the groove, just play the groove, and let’s sing the first thing that comes to our minds.’”
Loggins said his favorite memory from their time in the studio was when he and Perry sang their lead vocals at the same time, which rarely happens. “You usually send one guy in for a day, then you send the other guy in for a day,” said Loggins. “So we’re singing at the same time, and between takes, he’s just riffing on voices that he somehow can magically do. And I remember all of a sudden he starts singing a Rod Stewart song, and he sounds exactly like Rod Stewart, and then of course, Sam Cooke, which is like his go-to.
He continued, “One voice after another. He just had the ability to mimic all the rock greats, and plus, not just be a ventriloquist and sound like other people, but to actually create a voice of his own. I think it stands out as one of the great voices certainly of the ’80s, if not all time.”
‘It’ll do your heart so good.’
Co-written by Perry, Loggins, and songwriter Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose), “Don’t Fight It” delivers a message of moving with the natural flow of life.
Don’t fight, it’ll do your heart so good
do what mama do
Do what daddy do
When you gonna make up your mind
You can run but love will find you
Ready or not, here it comes
Some people, when they hear a groove
Shake their heads cause they just can’t approve
Well, I turn up the music till it’s shaking the sky
Is everybody ready to move
There’s times you want to shake yourself
There’s nights you want to yell for help
You can fly when you’re standing still
There’s nothing wrong with raising some hell
Tonight we’re gonna raise it
Pre-‘Footloose’ and Stealing from ‘Indiana Jones’
On the song, the crack of a bullwhip is heard, which was pulled from the archive of sound effects from the Indian Jones movies. “Don’t tell anyone: The bullwhip is from the locker where they kept the ‘Indiana Jones’ soundtrack sounds,” revealed Loggins in a 2007 interview. “We snuck in there and we got the bullwhip and we sampled it.”
Loggins kept “Don’t Fight It” on his setlists since its release and often performed it solo.
A year after the release of “Don’t Fight It,” Loggins and Pitchford would start working together again on the soundtrack for the 1984 film Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon, including co-writing the iconic title track.
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