Journey’s Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, and Neal Schon wrote the song ‘Only The Young’ in 1983 and sold it to another one of our favorite ’80s bands, Scandal. Scandal released it on their 1984 Warrior album. Journey also recorded and released the song as a single in 1985, and Journey’s version was included on the soundtrack to the 1985 movie ‘Vision Quest’. Scandal was actually given a large settlement in the legal aftermath of Journey releasing the song themselves.
Journey’s version reached number nine on the Hot 100 charts in March 1985. Scandal didn’t release the song as a single.
The song had a tremendous impact on a 16 year-old boy and subsequently changed Cain, Perry, and Schon’s lives forever:
The first individual outside the band to hear the song was sixteen-year-old Kenny Sykaluk of Rocky River, Ohio, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. His mother wrote a letter to the band telling them about her son’s terminal condition, and how big a fan he was of Journey. The band flew to his hospital bedside in Cleveland, Ohio at the request of the Make a Wish Foundation. Along with a Walkman containing the new track, the band also brought Kenny a football helmet signed by the San Francisco 49ers and an autographed Journey platinum record award.
The experience of playing the song for Kenny left Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain deeply affected. Perry said, “As soon as I walked out of the hospital room, I lost it. Nurses had to take me to a room by myself.” On the band’s episode of VH1’s Behind the Music, Cain broke down in tears recalling the event, remarking that “children should not have to live with that kind of pain”. Kenny died the next day, with the Walkman still in his hand. The song brought life into perspective for the band and left them humbled. Neal Schon said that Kenny’s death affected Journey by making them re-evaluate the issues that were causing friction inside the band itself. In honor of Kenny Sykaluk, the band used the song as their opener for the Raised on Radio Tour.
via Wikipedia
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