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Dennis DeYoung at Home


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Awesome album. It was controversial the way the artwork was drawn as the actual theater looked different. I just read he wants a reunion with Styx.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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He hasn't lost any notes off the top of his range. That's great. It sounded great. Its good to see him a little older, a little grayer, it beats the alternative.

 

 

Mike T.

Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1.

 

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Jim Peterick remains real active around here especially. He and Dennis live right around the corner from each other a few burbs east of me and have been hangin together for awhile. In fact, one of my daughters went to grammar, middle, and high school with Peterick"s son. He"s quite the talent also. Jim and Dennis recently recorded a few songs but I haven"t heard them yet. No matter what you think of them, it"s always nice to see the older artists still active with dignity.

Yamaha C2, Yamaha MODX7, Hammond SK1, Hammond XK-5 Heritage Pro System, Korg Kronos 2 61, Yamaha CP4, Kurzweil PC4-7, Nord Stage 3 73, Nord Wave 2, QSC 8.2, Motion Sound KP 210S,  Key Largo, etc…yeah I have too much…

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Time has made Dennis more like Donald Fagan visually and more like Phil Rosenthal in affect, and I love it.

 

Wasn't expecting that performance to hit me as hard as it did (though that's a recurring theme right now, I guess). My younger brother was/is a really big Styx fan, and we saw Dennis's band-plus-orchestra tour in Philadelphia when I was a teenager and had a blast. It's nice to hear from him right now; he was, some might argue, responsible for the cheesier, less "rock" element of Styx's sound, but it's unfathomable to me (artistically -- obviously it's a sound business move for the rest) that they've carried on the name without him all this time.

 

Anyway, I appreciate the share.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I was (and I guess still am!) a huge Styx fan growing up. In the very late 70s/early 80s sometime--I was in the 12-13 age range I reckon--someone at a picnic was blasting "The Grand Illusion" tune from the album of the same name and I asked "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT BECAUSE I LOVE IT!" I bought every album up through Kilroy, including the live one and also including the first four albums with the pastel covers (the only song on the radio from any of these was I believe "Lady").

 

Dennis sounds fantastic and I've always loved his playing. His choices in synth sounds and all the awesome solos he put into songs are what inspired me to play at a young age. That Oberheim sound he used...man.

 

I lost some interest around the Cornerstone album, Paradise Theater was great but I prefer the crunchier guitar and synth sounds from Equinox through Pieces of Eight personally. Kilroy was pretty awful and "Music Time"...just not my thing.

 

While I appreciate the current Styx for it's live performances--especially Tommy Shaw!--the keyboard player is especially irritating to me because he's so over the top and he's not an original member. I almost get the feeling he's making fun of Dennis' parts when he's hamming it up, playing solos with his left hand or not looking as he plays behind his back...we get it dude, you are an awesome player and singer but you freaking didn't write those songs and people aren't coming to Styx shows to see you. Maybe that's unfair but that's the vibe that guy gives me.

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I was only a casual Styx listener during their heyday, as I was in high school and had all sorts of stupid biases and opinions about music.

 

It's really nice to hear DeYoung still playing and singing, and agreed this at-home performance was more emotionally stirring than I expected.

 

It's sad the state of affairs between him and the band. The few videos I've watched of the current version with Lawrence Gowan - I came away with a lot of the same feelings as Stokely.

 

I wonder if it's similar burned bridges as between Roger Hodgson and Supertramp, also of the same era.

..
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While I appreciate the current Styx for it's live performances--especially Tommy Shaw!--the keyboard player is especially irritating to me because he's so over the top and he's not an original member. I almost get the feeling he's making fun of Dennis' parts when he's hamming it up, playing solos with his left hand or not looking as he plays behind his back...we get it dude, you are an awesome player and singer but you freaking didn't write those songs and people aren't coming to Styx shows to see you. Maybe that's unfair but that's the vibe that guy gives me.

 

Full disclosure, I know Larry, (Lawrence Gowan) and was mentored by his brother. I also know what it"s like having to step into a very famous band (in Canada anyway...) that was defined by it"s original keyboard player...it"s a super hard position to be in. I am the 4th keyboard player in Blue Rodeo"s 30 year history...when I first joined the band I took a lot of online flack just by token of being the new guy....it"s ridiculously hard when you"re not an original member...lots of anonymous fans with usernames on forums telling you how much they don"t like your playing..goes with the job, but still stings ya. Personally, I think Larry does a great job of making his mark with Styx, plus his solo career speaks for itself...(at least up here in Canada) He was a star before he joined Styx. I am not a Styx fan, nor am I into prog, but I can speak up for Lawrenceâhe is a class act and an unbelievably prodigious keyboard player.

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I remember seeing Larry Gowan playing in town here on the 70's bar circuit. It was an original super hero's show. It was awesome. I would go see Styx, to see Gowan. I'd love to see Styx with Dennis DeYoung as well.

"I  cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long"

Walter Becker Donald Fagan 1977 Deacon Blues

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When I used to complain about hauling gear, his brother would tell me to 'quit my complaining..." That Lawrence would haul his cp-80 to Rhinegold gigs single handedly, with a lighting rig, and that he took personal pride in never letting that CP80 receive a single scratch or tear on the tolex! haha
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Great clip of Larry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ronnie Hawkins, Jeff Healey, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko (and a few more...) doing straight up rock n roll. Just like with that Herbie clip in the other thread, great musicians (like Larry) can play in just about any style! (last number, 'Bo Diddley' 8:30)

 

[video:youtube]

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I read Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo's memoir awhile back and I remember it didn't paint Dennis in a very rosy light... but then again, Chuck also didn't attribute the homophobia within the band (prior to his coming out) to any individual member, so one imagines it might be hard to place the blame on any one member for the falling-out.

 

Lawrence Gowan has been with Styx for a really long time at this point, hasn't he? Something like two decades? I'm sure you only get and keep that gig if you're the real deal; cool to hear so many of you with personal stories about him!

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Nice - he still sounds great. Fun story:

 

Not long after I covered him in my Art Of Synth Soloing column, Clonk I got a wonderful, self-deprecating email from him. Thanks to Tom Brislin, who was working with him at the time. Dennis was very sweet and funny, thanking me for making him look smarter and better than he was, and said it would take him 20 years to confirm the accuracy of the transcriptions. LOL

 

It was a kind gesture to reach out and a thrill for me to receive.

 

Jerry

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Didn't mean to derail this to make it about L. Gowan, glad to hear he's a good guy actually....makes it that much easier to enjoy watching Styx :) His stage schtick isn't my favorite, but there's no doubt he's a great player. I watched them do both Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight together in concert on a cable channel (Palladia I think), the entire albums, which included a few songs that Styx had never played live before.

 

That is weird with a lot of these bands, where a replacement can be a member for longer than the original (especially when all the famous tunes were done before they joined). Just the way it goes.

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Not long after I covered him in my Art Of Synth Soloing column, Clonk I got a wonderful, self-deprecating email from him. Thanks to Tom Brislin, who was working with him at the time. Dennis was very sweet and funny, thanking me for making him look smarter and better than he was, and said it would take him 20 years to confirm the accuracy of the transcriptions. LOL

 

It was a kind gesture to reach out and a thrill for me to receive.

Like many here, I suspect, I had a sour attitude towards Dennis for "being the cause of the breakup", and the way he was portrayed as the bad guy in the "Behind the Music" Styx episode. And some of it was, no doubt, deserved. Some of the theater elements he was attempting to bring to the band's shows were probably ill-advised.

 

However, a while back I saw him on a PBS pledge-drive show with his new band. Not only did the band completely kill it, but-- and I don't know if this was shown outside the Chicago market or not-- he was live with the fund raisers for local PBS station WTTW in Chicago, and I must say he was completely delightful... self-deprecating, completely unpretentious, funny, very friendly with the staff, etc. Although Gowan is a completely qualified and capable replacement, it made me a little sad that DeYoung and the band couldn't have worked things out. But at this point that ship has no doubt sailed...

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