40 min.
1986: Steve Smith The Next Step
When I met Steve Smith in 1980, I must admit that I knew little about him, as I was contacted about the interview only one day prior to our scheduled meeting. Of course, there wasn’t that much to know either. The band he was in, Journey, had only had one top-20 hit two years earlier with “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’. “Yet, they were due to play one of L.A. ‘s largest venues, the Forum, that night. Soon after that, however, there was no mistaking the band’s success. Departure sold 1.6 million records in 1980, Captured, Journey’s live album, sold 1. 4 million, and in that same year, 1981, Escape sold 6 million, making it obvious that, for this group, the sky would be the limit. It was also obvious that the…
