Photo courtesy of Journey
Edward Pevos of MLive.com recently spoke with Jonathan Cain…who discussed everything from Prince, to a possible Steve Perry reunion, to ‘South’ Detroit – a topic particularly near and dear to this former Michigander’s heart, as I was actually born and raised briefly in Detroit and saw my very first concert (Journey, Joe Louis Arena – 5.15.1982) right next door to the Cobo Hall of which Jon speaks.
Excerpted from the article:
So, where did the lyric “South Detroit” really come from in the song “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
“This is how it went down. Steve had just come off the live album “Captured.” Part of it was recorded at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Steve felt a kinship with Detroit and said that experience for him was super natural and he felt like Detroit had adopted Journey as one of their hometown fans. Steve also felt Detroit was one of the reasons Journey succeeded. Steve credited the fans for a lot of the success of the album and excitement for the band.”
“I was at the show as a keyboard player for the Babys. I was also writing songs with Steve for the new album. For “Don’t Stop Believin’,” we tried different things: North Detroit, West Detroit, East Detroit… but we needed that word. When he said South Detroit, it sounded right. We said I don’t know if there’s a South Detroit but it just sounds right. It was kind of a reverence for the acceptance for the particular live show.”
We revered Journey right back! Back in those days, the JOURNEY ROCKDOGS would actually play charity baseball events against our local radio station WRIF…and so proud were we of this phonetic selection.
Only thing was…and this didn’t come out until much later in an interview with Steve Perry himself, South Detroit is technically Windsor, Canada…but, we weren’t going to say anything!
Read Edward’s entire conversation here. It’s such a GREAT interview…and, truly made my day! G2
Used by Permission | All Rights Reserved
Edward Pevos is an entertainment reporter for MLive covering big events and interviewing celebrities of all genres. Edward is a native of Flint, MI and currently resides in Metro Detroit. He graduated from Oakland University. Edward is very active in sports and is also a trivia host.
Edward Pevoshttp://connect.mlive.com/staff/EPevos/posts.html – MLive.com Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 2.5.5