Tampabay.com
MAY 26, 2009

'It's goes on and on and on and on' ... Don't Stop Believin' on TV again

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere." Yes, yes, if you didn't know the lyrics to Journey's Don't Stop Believin' after two weeks of over-saturation on network TV, you never will.

The Tony Awards-nominated musical Rock of Ages is the latest to tackle the definitive power ballad of the '80s, performing it live -- or lip-synching it very well -- on Monday morning's Today Show on NBC. The play tells the story of a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world and ... yeah, you can guess the rest. Except the musical also features the music of Whitesnake, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Asia, Poison and every other band you once had featured on a concert jersey.

But Don't Stop Believin' continues to just amaze Journey-bashers by resurrecting itself over and over again. Last week, it was the cast of Fox's new show Glee that topped the iTunes charts with their show choir version of the 1981 anthem. (The song is still sitting pretty at No. 3 today.) By the way, show choirs LOVE this song. See it again here and here and here.

What's next? Will Oprah adapt it as her new theme song? Will Steve Perry reunite with the band and book a two-year engagement at Caesars Palace in Vegas? Stay tuned. If there's anything to be learned about this whole phenomenon it's that some will win, some will lose, and some were born to sing the blues.

Join the discussion: Click to view comments, add yours

About the blogger

Relive the '80s music, movies and culture with Tampa Bay Times entertainment news editor Steve Spears. A teen during the greatest decade ever, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.

E-mail Steve Spears:
stuckinthe80s@tampabay.com
Visit the Stuck in the 80s Facebook page
Follow Steve on Facebook
Get '80s updates via Twitter

Advertisement

Follow us on Facebook

TampaBay.com on Facebook

Registration FAQ

Read our Frequently Asked Questions on how to register to comment on the site.