Street Talk

For the 2005 album, see Street Talk (D.I.T.C. album). For the Kathy Mattea song, see Street Talk (song).
Street Talk
Studio album by
Steve Perry
ReleasedApril 1984 (1984-04)
RecordedRecord One (Los Angeles)
GenreAOR
Length39:20
LabelColumbia
ProducerSteve Perry, Bruce Botnick
Steve Perry chronology
Street Talk
(1984) 		For the Love of Strange Medicine
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
The Village VoiceC[4]

Street Talk is Steve Perry's first solo studio album, released in April 1984.

Street Talk contains Perry's biggest hit as a solo artist, "Oh Sherrie", written for his then-girlfriend Sherrie Swafford.[5] The song hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard's Rock chart, and the accompanying music video (also featuring Swafford) was a hit on MTV. Other singles included "Foolish Heart" (peaked at #18), "She's Mine" (peaked at #21), and "Strung Out" (peaked at #40).

There were a number of nods to Perry's pre-Journey band Alien Project on this album—in fact, that band was originally going to be called Street Talk.[6] In the liner notes, Perry dedicates the album to Richard Michaels (the bassist for Alien Project). Also, drummer Craig Krampf was a member of Alien Project later in the 1970s.

In addition to launching Perry's solo career, the cover photo for Street Talk served as a career launchpad for music photographer John Scarpati, who met Perry during the album's recording sessions at a studio in Sherman Oaks.[7]

Street Talk is certified as 2× Platinum (2,000,000) in sales by the RIAA.[8]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 494. ISBN 0195313739.
  3. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly, eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 541. ISBN 0679737294.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert (May 28, 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Steve Perry talks about the recording of "Oh Sherrie" and Street Talk singles.
  6. ^ Steve Perry discusses the Alien Project story and Street Talk.
  7. ^ Platania, Mike (30 September 2019). "Back in the spotlight: Retired rock photographer adds some shine to Short Pump side gig". Richmond BizSense. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2012-03-10.