Jonathan Cain on JDK

FOR AUDIO CLICK ON THE SPEAKER

This is Jonathan Cain on John Kalodner. I have to say my first impression of John was one of an eccentric genius, then I found out that he’s a wild maniac on the side, very crazy guy and he likes to have fun, which was great because, you know, it’s not all business with John, because he certainly knows how to have a good time.

I have to say though that John, mostly for us, has been a tremendous ally in the face of putting this band back together and has been a terrific friend of this new version of Journey. It’s safe to say that Arrival would have never happened without him. He stood up for us. He got us going with “Remember Me” on the Armageddon soundtrack. That was his doing. Of course, I was working hard and with Neal to write some new music and John called after our hard work and it all came to fruition.

When Steve Augeri stepped in, we were recording as a band again, which was beyond my wildest dreams, for it to happen so quickly. Thanks to John for sticking his neck out for us and getting us that slot on Armageddon. We needed a base hit, basically and John got us on base. That was like Yo! That was a big thing for me just to get that. It's almost like we passed the audition as a new band.

We spent most of the summer of ’98 talking about to Journey or not to Journey without Steve Perry. He was very concerned as to how to play this. It wasn’t just a rash, quick decision that we all made. Certainly he was a big part of my feelings and my decision to go forward. I didn’t want to go into this without his blessing. We didn’t make this decision overnight. We spent a whole summer talking about every other week. Finally, he said “Yeah. Let’s try. Let’s go for it,” which was a big step for Neal and I and our dream, to bring Journey back. Neal and I just didn’t want to go quietly. What was that Don Henley song? “I will not go quietly. I will not lay down?” That’s how we felt. That was kind of like my war cry. Thanks to John, he pulled a rabbit out of a hat for us. We ended up on Armageddon, then doing the tour. He brought the Sony people out and I think single-handedly is responsible for what we’re doing today. Certainly we did a lot of the work but without John standing up in his corporate headquarters for us and sticking his neck out saying, “I need this.” I don’t think it would’ve happened.

The guy’s tenacious and I think he’s a true fan, in the sense of, he sees the big picture. I think he’s tired of the corporate crap. He’s not a corporate guy by any stroke. He understands the corporate machine but I think it disgusts him and he’s, on more than a few occasions, will come out, more now than ever, he’s just not really the corporate kind of guy. If you watch any Grammy Awards or anything else, you’ll hear his name mentioned just about at every Grammy Awards. That’s just the kind of guy that he is. He believes in you. He'll go to war for you. That’s the kind of guy you want in the trenches.

He’s not an easy guy to figure out. He’s very complex. He’s moody. He’s subtle as a brick and he’ll just chew you up and spit you out and you just go “What was that all about?” He is not a delicate guy, sometimes, and he does a man’s work and he doesn’t lie. I’m from Chicago. I don’t mix words with people and if I have something to say, I don’t mix words with him so I’m real honest with him. We’re brutally honest at each other. If I disagree then, I’ll just come out and say, “John, I think you’re wrong,” but I’ll respect his opinion because certainly, he respects mine. That’s the cool thing that we both listen, we both respect each other’s opinions. Even though he’s so high up the corporate ladder, he still respects my feelings and I respect his.

All aside from that, he’s a party animal. He loves pretty women. He loves to walk in, stir it up. That’s the great thing about John is that he’s there! So many records guys are not. John makes an effort and he shows up. When he came to Vegas, last year for the DirecTV taping with our manager Irving, it just meant the world to all of us that he showed up, one of the few guys from Sony that shows up A LOT on the tour. I feel we have an ally, a compodre and a true friend with John.

{Why is JDK different from other A & R people?}

I think he becomes a fan and he thinks like a fan more than what is the latest trend. He’s not a trendy guy. He doesn’t go for the “Flavor Of The Month.” Certainly, he doesn’t want Journey to sound like Goo Goo Dolls, for example. He learns the legacy of a band and learns the heartbeat of the band and stays steadfast to its feelings about the music. If the music is something that moves him as a fan, then you got him.

He and I poured over all these songs on the album and we sit together and he listens and he makes notes. He’ll look at me and say, “That’s wonderful and that’s crap.” That’s just John. It’s black and white. “If you change this, maybe I’ll like it. I don’t know.” He’s very, very definitive about what he wants to change but all in all, he knows the rhythm of the project. He can sense when something is moving along. He gets the feeling and he has an overview. He’s good at sort of looking at what’s happening.

He has good instincts about writers. He hooked me up with some great songwriters. I go where he sends me. I went to Nashville. I went on just blind faith. If John Kalodner said to go write with this guy, that's what I did. I got on a plane and I wrote with whoever he said to write with for the Journey project. I’m just game for that kind of thing and he knows that. Good things come from that.

I guess my favorite saying is when he goes to see Kevin Shirley, they look at each other and say, “Hold me. Hold me Spanky.” I just look at him and go, “What was THAT.”

We tease him about his flashlight holder, all the time, when he comes out. We’re like, “John, nice flashlight!” Sometimes, I think he takes offense but we’re constantly teasing him and then, he teases us.

He’s funny when he orders food and it’s pretty funny when you go out to dinner with him because you’ll go to a really fancy restaurant and he’ll just think it’s crap! He’ll go, “This restaurant is crap!”

Nobody talks about John, without trying to do John. That’s the other great thing about John is that everybody does their “John Kalodner” imitation. Let’s hear your best John Kalodner imitation. “That’s crap!” I can’t do it right now. It's just how he does it. “Hold me Spanky!” “That’s crap!” “That’s the worst song I’ve ever heard!” He’ll just be brutal but that’s it though. That’s John and he leaves that impression with you. You just don’t know what to make of him. Sometimes you go, “Is he happy? Where is he today?” Sometimes, he’ll float in a room and float out, and go, “Why did he leave?” It’s just cool and he’ll sit at rehearsals and be a fan and smile. That must be good then. (laughs)

-July 18th, 2001

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