In a new interview with Metal Mayhem Roc, former Journey singer Robert Fleischman talked about his short stint with the band and explained why he was in the band for only six months.
“Because CBS had this guy, this A&R guy that was putting in money and paying for Steve Perry’s demos,” he revealed. “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.”
While the band was initially frustrated by the decision, Fleischman credited their manager for making strategic moves that benefited Journey. “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.”
Fleischman was in the band for just a few months, but he later found out that manager Herby Herbert didn’t like him, though he was professional. “I liked Herbie but later I found out he didn’t like me. He thought I was cocky,” the singer revealed earlier. “But name me one lead singer who’s not a little cocky?”
Fleischman added, “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?”
After Fleischman and Steve Perry, Journey has been working with Arnel Pineda since 2007. Pineda even invited fans to vote him out of the band, but fans didn’t want him to leave.
