John C

[DarrenUK]

Need some info on John C

When did he die ?
Did he release anything after leaving Styx or join another band etc ....


Thanks....

[SuiteMadameBlue]

I think the only person on the board that would know more about John C. is Sterling, for his book. If I'm not mistaken, he interviewed his son Jaime.

This is all I know:

John Curulewski passed away from a brain aneurysm in February of 1988.

He "apparently" didn't think the band was going anywhere during the Equinox tour so he left the band. BUT, obviously there were other reasons during that time. I read/heard that this was a mutual leaving and I also read/heard that he was fired. So I personally don't know what really happened.

He "apparently" got screwed out of money too during those early years because of his age (?), that's from an old interview.

After Styx he was in a band called Spread Eagle, I have a picture of the old poster (I'll try to find it).

He taught guitar at the Music Shop in LaGrange, Illinois

[kansas666]

He "apparently" didn't think the band was going anywhere during the Equinox tour so he left the band.

I am pretty sure he left before the Equnox tour.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Here's more, this is from JY:

But even as the band began a concert tour to support Equinox, there was growing friction within the group. John Curulewski left the band in December 1975, leaving Styx for a life with his family. "The Equinox album came out in November," said JY, "and we were out on the road. And it became increasingly clear with every tour stop that JC was becoming less and less happy with his life and what was going on around him, and I don't exactly know why. He was extremely negative for that whole month, and ultimately he wound up quitting right around Pearl Harbor Day in 1975."

The band needed a new guitarist - and fast. As luck would have it, Styx's tour manager remembered seeing a band called "MS Funk" playing at the Rush Up club in Chicago, and thought their guitarist would be worth a tryout. "They put out an all-points bulletin for a new guitarist-vocalist," said Shaw, "and I had moved back down to Alabama. I left my phone number listed - I don't know, I just felt like if anybody needed to get a hold of me, they'd be able to get it from Directory Assistance. They didn't know where I was, so they said, 'Isn't he from like Birmingham or something?'"

"Our tour manager had seen Tommy quite a bit," said JY. "I had never seen him personally, but he said this guy was really good and could sing the high parts, because John Curulewski sang the high note on 'Lady' in the chorus, and we needed somebody to do that."

[sadie65]

He "apparently" didn't think the band was going anywhere during the Equinox tour so he left the band.

I am pretty sure he left before the Equnox tour.

He left 2 weeks before the tour was to start.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

There is footage from one of Tommy's first show's in Hawaii, December 31, 1975 or January 1, 1976. All I have now is the one picture and the poster from that show. I want the footage, it's out there sitting in a an old production studio!!!

That is one of the Styx Holy Grails that I want!!! Darnit!!

[bugsymalone]

There is that photo of John C, onstage, with the "Help" button pinned to his chest, that was shown on BTM. I always thought this was around the time of Equinox, but apparently was right before.

Dennis confirms in some recent interviews, and on his website, that it was in Canada that Styx, and Equinox, was really accepted as a headline group. (I realize I am noting a bit of history most of us already know)

I think it is very cool that on the all-time favorite list of rock songs in Canada, "Suite Madame Blue" ranks third.

In the Bugsy book, Equinox ranks first among my favorite Styx albums.

Bugsy