"Stone In Love" by Journey

The legendary melodic rock band from San Francisco, Journey, began as an experimental outfit. Their first three records in the 70s contain overly long jams that sound like an entirely different band. The band didn't see chart success until the magical voice and melodic sensibilities of Steve Perry joined in 1978.

With Steve Perry onboard and scoring their first chart hit, "Wheel In The Sky" (#57), Journey began their trek to superstardom. They racked up so many hits in the 80s, they became the 20th most successful artist of the decade. Despite being known all over the world, they've never had a #1 hit. "Open Arms" is the closest they've come, sitting at #2 for six weeks in 1982.

Guitarist Neal Schon is the only founding member still in the band today (longtime member and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, who played in The Babys before Journey, came onboard in 1981). Schon and Cain were also involved in the side band Bad English in the late 80s. Another fun fact: American Idol judge Randy Jackson was in the band from 1986-1987.

"Stone In Love" is a well-known tune from their 1981 album, "Escape," but it never charted. "Escape" was a game changer for the band, yielding not only "Open Arms," but also "Who's Crying Now" (#4, and their first top ten hit), "Don't Stop Believin'" (#9, and saw a huge resurgence thanks to its use in the finale of The Sopranos), and "Still They Ride" (#19).

"Straight To Your Heart" by Bad English

Bad English is a reunion of sorts for the classic rock outfit, The Babys, who we recently featured earlier this week. The lineup features lead singer John Waite, keyboardist Jonathan Cain (Journey), and bassist Ricky Phillips, all who played on the Babys album, "On The Edge". Rounding out Bad English were guitarist Neil Schon (Journey) and drummer Deen Castronovo (who would later join Cain and Schon in a Steve Perry-less Journey).

Their self-titled debut album was a big success, spawning the #1 smash, "When I See You Smile", and several other hits. The follow-up record was plagued by internal grumblings that the band's sound was gravitating too close to the "pop" end of the spectrum, away from the "rock" end. The band broke up before mixing of the record was complete, pretty much sealing the record's fate.

"Backlash" was the 1991 sophomore effort from supergroup Bad English.

Nevertheless, "Backlash" reached #72 on the Billboard Top 200 and its lone single almost cracked the top 40 (stalling at #42). It is one of the stronger cuts off this inconsistent album, arguably one of the catchiest rockers the band composed.

"Postcard" by The Babys

Despite a handful of minor hits in the late 70s, classic rock outfit The Babys remains generally underrated. The band "gave birth" to several notable careers in melodic rock:  lead singer John Waite had a solid solo career in the 80s and keyboardist extraordinaire Jonathan Cain (who joined the band in 1979) took to Journey. Those two plus another former member of The Babys, bassist Ricky Phillips, would hit the charts in a big way once again as Bad English in the late 80s.

The Babys released 5 studio albums in their hey day, with "On The Edge" being their last. The album marked a shift from classic rock to melodic rock more fitting to the emerging 80s sound.

"On The Edge" was released in 1980 and went to #71 on the Billboard Top 200.

"On The Edge" only generated one charting single, "Turn And Walk Away", which went to #42. Seems a fitting epitaph for the band, which broke up after this release. An unnoticed cut from this album that I thought deserved better is "Postcard" - check it out.