I cannot tell you how shocked I would be to ever find out anything that ever came out of Steve Perry's mouth was true.  I cannot tell you the shock I would feel.  And the notion that he ever had a hip problem or anything like that, or any kind of hip surgery, I would just be shocked to find out there was one shred of truth to any of that.  Shocked.  Why now?  Why all of a sudden?  I mean, you all of a sudden have a legitimate reason?  You never needed one before!  Why trump up one now?  You know, it's the old saying - he was incredibly successful, and he's going to get even if it's the last thing he does.  And the old saying is that; if you want revenge, dig two graves.  And I know he filled one of them.  And it looks like Journey is in the other one. 
M: It would be a shame if that happens.
H: It happened.  He was successful in burying the band for years - fifteen years, really.  One and a half decades.  That was very successful.  He really (controlled their lives), while I went on and sold just as many records with all of those other acts as I had ever sold with them.  I had never had a number one single with Journey, and that was something that was a big hole in my career.  I had reached number two with "Open Arms" and I can't leave until I get it done.  I reached number two with "Carrie" by Europe.  I did top ten with lots of records like "Final Countdown" and shit like that, but then, Roxette finally, four number ones, three number twos, and two top fives in two years.
M: Didn't "To Be With You" hit number one, too - by Mr. Big?
H: Oh yeah. "To Be With You" also hit number one, absolutely, thank you very much.  The first time I discovered Eric Martin I actually had Steve Perry try to produce him in the studio and he went and worked with him for a few weeks.  And, I believed in that kid, but it was years and years later.  When I had that number one, it was a legitimate, no bullshit, Soundscan BDS (Broadcast Data System), true true true number one.  No hanky panky.  And boy, nobody knew how to play hanky panky any better than me.  I can't tell you that that's true about the Roxette ones - I was wheeling and dealing big time.  That Mr. Big record was really a worldwide number one.  I was so rewarded by that, and it wasn't about the money or anything like that.  I felt so rewarded. 
M: Definitely. They always gave me the impression they were more like a hard-rocking Journey.
H: A little bit, yeah.  That all coincided with Bill's death.  Bill was out there, in the trades, and saying, 'the quintessential manager is Herbie Herbert' and 'if I had to cite one manager it would be Herbie Herbert,' for the job he did with Steve Miller or the job he did with Journey or whatever.  And Bill was probably my number one PR guy.  When he died, my whole life changed.  I was no longer motivated.  My parents died in 1986 during that Raised on Radio debacle, and Perry was really ugly there.  That's another thing (about) the Behind the Music.  Everybody lost their parents.  Everybody.  Get over it.  To have that be the central theme on VH-1, and then constantly we're watching him and his mother and all that - I wanted to slap him. 
M: Especially in the face of Neal's dad dying what, last year, two years ago?  That special seemed to totally negate the contribution of people outside the band, unless they were connected to Perry, in my opinion. 
H: The reviewer I mentioned, Joel Selvin, was in that VH-1 special.  And, characters so on the periphery it's unbelievable had many times more camera time than a Ross Valory, or a Gregg Rolie, or Steve Smith.  The thing is, the focus should be on this active Journey.  I mean, what all these guys (the current lineup) did. Neal Schon did Hardline, which was very good.  He did the Higher Octave thing, but I took him into that kicking and screaming.  His new Higher Octave record, Voice, is a masterpiece. 
M: Yeah?
H: It's a masterpiece - beyond, beyond, beyond.  Here is the dichotomy of my relationship with my 'son', Neal Schon.  Matt and Barbara (Schon, Neal's parents) sired him.  They divorced (and) I took him out of middle school with Santana as a fifteen year old.  (I) was his surrogate parent for the next ten years - easily until he was 25 or older.  Before he was out and started making any decisions on his own at all.  Every decision he made on his own was a funky and bad one, and every decision I made for him was based in total love, and nobody knows it better than him.  And he knows it now.  I love him - like a son, but I visit him in San Quentin and we talk to each other through the glass.  He's my partner in Nocturne, and I am a tremendous partner to him. 
M: Let me go to the Raised on Radio thing. 
H: You know, there's a golden rule.  When you say 'Raised on Radio,' I think of a golden rule.  I think 'Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.'  They go through the rehearsals, and they're ready to go into the Plant studios in Sausalito with Jim Gaines.  Steve Perry, in order to go forward, insists now that he wants more authority and control.  It was the Freedom record.  (Perry decided) 'I don't want that title.  I want to change it to Raised on Radio.  I want to write these songs coming out of our relationships.' They did write some good songs, some good rock songs and some good heartbreak songs, for Raised on Radio.  We're recording them and it was sounding really, really good.

Here is the dichotomy of my relationship with my 'son', Neal Schon.