Former Journey singer Robert Fleischman recently spoke with Metal Mayhem Roc about his short-lived tenure with the band, revealing that label pressure was the reason for his exit.
According to Fleischman, CBS Records pushed for Steve Perry to join Journey, offering the band a larger budget, increased radio play, and a producer in exchange for the change. “CBS had this guy, this A&R guy that was putting in money and paying for Steve Perry’s demos. So Steve Perry was championed by this A&R guy called Herby and told him that if you take Steve, we’ll give you a bigger budget, we’ll get you more radio play, we’ll get you a producer, and will tour support if you take Steve. So it was like The Godfather, ‘I’ll make you a deal that you can’t refuse,’ or something like that. That’s what basically happened.”
Fleischman acknowledged their manager’s ability to sell the band and expressed gratitude for contributing to their sound. “When that happened, the band was kind of pissed off a bit but Herby Herbert was quite a manager and he could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. He was just a great manager and he did what he needed to do to get the band to where it was. I’m really happy and fortunate enough to have had quite a large play in the whole structure of that band sound and everything like that. So I’m glad that they continued in that fashion that I implemented.”
The Role of Herbie Herbert
However, Fleischman later discovered that Herbert didn’t personally like him, believing he came across as cocky. “I liked Herbie but later I found out he didn’t like me. He thought I was cocky. But name me one lead singer who’s not a little cocky?”
“I was always professional, but I do think he was a great manager. He was ambitious, he put the band on the map, he sold them like a candy bar. Who wouldn’t wanna manager like that?,” he added.
Even with his short time with Journey, Fleischman appreciated Herbert’s ambition and management skills. Journey has since gone through several lineup changes, with Arnel Pineda fronting the band since 2007. Though Pineda once invited fans to vote him out, they overwhelmingly supported his continued role.
