Writers: Steve Perry and Neal Schon
Producer: Kevin Elson and Geoff Workman
Recorded: Late 1979 and January 1980 at Automatt Studios in Los Angeles, California
Released: March 1980
| Players: | Steve Perry — vocals Neal Schon — guitar, vocals Gregg Rolie — keyboards, vocals Ross Valory — bass, vocals Steve Smith — drums |
| Album: | Departure (Columbia, 1980) |
Lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon showed “Any Way You Want It” to the other members of Journey on the band's tour bus, with Schon playing it on acoustic guitar.
Schon notes, “It was pretty obvious it could be done real quick.”
Co-producer Geoff Workman and keyboardist Gregg Rolie crafted a unique sound for the song, doubling Rolie's organ after a mellotron in the studio malfunctioned, causing him to switch instruments.
“Any Way You Want It” peaked at Number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song enjoyed a popularity boost when it was featured in the Rodney Dangerfield movie Caddyshack.
Journey changed production teams for the Departure album, replacing Roy Thomas Baker with its live sound engineer, Kevin Elson, and his assistant, Workman.
The group came up with 19 songs for the album, recorded 14 and finished 11.
The Departure album was Journey's first to break into the top 10 album, reaching Number Eight on the Billboard 200.
It was certified triple platinum for sales of more than three million copies.
