Robert Fleischman joined Journey in June of 1977, brought in by the band's manager, Herbie herbert, at a pivotal moment in the group's history. Journey had built a reputation on instrumental virtuosity but had made little commercial headway over three earlier albums, and their label was pushing for a more song-oriented, radio-ready direction.
Robert, a pop songwriter by background, gave the band its first true frontman and its first experience writing around a dedicated lead vocalist. During his time with the group, he performed live with Journey and worked closely with guitarist Neal Schon and the rest of the band on new material, co-writing three songs that would end up defining the band's commercial breakthrough: "Wheel in the Sky," "Anytime," and "Winds of March." The title for "Wheel in the Sky" came together when Robert was given a poem written by bassist Ross Valory's wife, Diane, and pulled the phrase from it before writing the rest of the lyric around Neal Schon's music. American Songwriter
Management decided to hire Steve Perry, however, Fleischman's hit "Wheel In The Sky" keeps on turnin' throughout rock history till today, long after his departure!
With the triple platinum success of Journey's Infinity album on which Robert's songs are prominently featured, the name Robert Fleischman had quickly become synonymous with hit songwriting. His most noteworthy contributions to the band were, "Wheel in the Sky", "Anytime", and "Winds of March." Though none of Robert's own vocal performances made the final album, one recording from his time in the band did eventually surface: "For You," a song featuring his lead vocal, later appeared on Journey's box-set retrospective, Time, as well as on his own solo album, Perfect Stranger.
In January of 2005, when Journey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, they insisted on including Robert in the honor — a recognition of the role he played in shaping the band's sound during its most consequential transition, even in the brief window before Perry's arrival.
Later, Robert signed a deal with Arista Records and recorded his first solo album with Jimmy Iovine, Perfect Stranger (1979), which included former Journey band mate Neal Schon. A successful solo tour would follow the release of the album, including shows with Van Halen, Eddie Money, Boston, and Sammy Hagar.
In the early 1980's, Robert formed the melodic rock band, Channel. The band was signed to Epic Records and they released their self-titled debut in 1984 to great critical success. Channel, however, was short lived because of a new opportunity that would soon be calling for Robert — a stint singing on the debut album by former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent's new band, Vinnie Vincent Invasion.