Journey‘s 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Queen‘s 1975 signature track “Bohemian Rhapsody” are among the recordings now part of the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. The Registry is the library’s move to help save America’s aural history by archiving recordings that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
The recordings join a list of 25 new inductees, which also includes the Four Tops‘ 1966 masterpiece, “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” Linda Ronstadt‘s groundbreaking 1987 album Canciones de Mi Padre, and Bonnie Raitt‘s 1989 Grammy Award-winning album Nick Of Time. Also selected were recordings by Alicia Keys, Nat King Cole, A Tribe Called Quest, the Shirelles, and Duke Ellington, among others.
Former Journey frontman Steve Perry spoke about the success of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in a statement: “(It’s) one of those ‘only in America’ kind of things. . . That song, over the years, has become something that has a life of its own. It’s about the people who’ve embraced it and found the lyrics to be something they can relate to and hold onto and sing.”
We recently caught up with Steve Perry and asked him if he ever thought that four decades after the fact, “Don’t Stop Believin’” would go on to become one off the most-played tracks across the globe: “Honest to God — no (laughs). It’s been embraced by a whole new generation, and a whole new generation — now another generation. I just feel so fortunate that that’s happened. Every song we ever wrote got the same attention, the same reachings emotionally for what it could be — performance and lyric-wise. So, this was just another one, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,’ was. And it’s the people who embraced — in soul — so to speak, something into what it’s become.”
Back in 1977 Freddie Mercury shed light on how and why Queen decided to break new ground and go against the grain by issuing “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a single: “What we, I think, try and do is, with each album, try and work out where our music is at at the current, given time, and try and showcase it in, say, one single. With A Night At The Opera, we just felt that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was the song that would say what we’re doing at the given time. So we, sort of chose that. Obviously we came across certain barriers, like, it being six minutes long — or whatever.”
The 2022 additions to the National Recording Registry are:
“Harlem Strut” – James P. Johnson (1921)
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Complete Presidential Speeches (1933-1945)
“Walking The Floor Over You” – Ernest Tubb (1941) (single)
“On A Note Of Triumph” (May 8, 1945)
“Jesus Gave Me Water” – The Soul Stirrers (1950) (single)
Ellington At Newport – Duke Ellington (1956) (album)
We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite – Max Roach (1960) (album)
“The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole (1961) (single)
Tonight’s The Night – The Shirelles (1961) (album)
“Moon River” – Andy Williams (1962) (single)
In C – Terry Riley (1968) (album)
“It’s A Small World” – The Disneyland Boys Choir (1964) (single)
“Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” – The Four Tops (1966) (single)
Hank Aaron‘s 715th Career Home Run (April 8, 1974)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen (1975) (single)
“Don’t Stop Believin’” – Journey (1981) (single)
Canciones de Mi Padre – Linda Ronstadt (1987) (album)
Nick Of Time – Bonnie Raitt (1989) (album)
The Low End Theory – A Tribe Called Quest (1991) (album)
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) – Wu-Tang Clan (1993) (album)
Buena Vista Social Club (1997) (album)
“Livin’ La Vida Loca” – Ricky Martin (1999) (single)
Songs In A Minor – Alicia Keys (2001) (album)
WNYC broadcasts for the day of 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2001)
“WTF with Marc Maron” (Guest: Robin Williams) (April 26, 2010)