Interesting

[ChicagoSTYX]

I found this on a Styx list. I thought some of you would find it interesting.......


"I thought that it was known that Chuck hasn't spoken
to Dennis since 1999. But there is some relative of
Chuck's that still talks to the Deyoungs.

I forget how, but Dennis and Chuck are actually related by marriage,
through a cousin or something. A relative of Chuck's is married to a relative of Dennis', I can't remember for the life of me who it is.

I guess "I'm sueing you in Federal Court" and the past
dealings.. ie Dennis trying to get A&M to redo their
deal so that only songwriters get royalties from album
sales- basically giving Chuck and John who was still
alive at the time, the royal shaft.

Well, that's "sort of" true. Although he certainly had the right to sue
under the circumstances and they were expecting it, obviously it didn't make anyone too happy. That's the way the business goes, unfortunately. You could hardly name one band that hasn't had at least one major lawsuit among members.
Styx' experience was actually pretty mild comparatively. It lasted what, a
year? That's short and sweet, and it didn't turn out too badly for anyone on either end. It's nothing compared to what many bands have been through. It's nothing compared to what Styx went through to leave Wooden Nickel and go to A&M.

Also, the re-negotiation of royalties for EOTC had nothing to do with
A&M, it was internal. When Styx became successful, they drew up a formal partnership agreement and formed a corporation, all that stuff that has to happen.
They did something pretty unusual with the songwriting; they split it in half, and for one half of it the writer kept his full share. The other half the band even the non-writing members - split five ways. That was done so that guys like John and Chuck, who did not write anything, could make a better living. Though there are some others, most bands don't do that. Most bands, the writers keep all of the writing money, which then causes enormous problems when the hit writers make vast fortunes more than the others. In Styx it was somewhat more equitable, though Dennis and to a certain extent Tommy obviously made
way more.
Dennis emerged as the dominant commercial hit writer; his songs earned way more money than anyone else's, therefore he was giving up the most. As time went on he felt that was more and more unfair, so when the band got back together for EOTC he decided to re-negotiate. You'll notice that each writer had his own publishing company at that point, and each kept his own publishing but did not get part of anyone else's. John and Chuck did not participate in songwriting royalties from that record. The band also re-negotiated the past contract so that from that point forward, only the writers on a given song would earn royalties from it. So Dennis and JY would earn their shares of "Lorelei",
for instance, while John and Chuck earned nothing. JY would earn everything from "Miss America" and Dennis would earn everything from his own songs from that point on. John and Chuck agreed because they were rolling the dice on the fact that the new album would do really well and re-establish Styx as a viable commercial force, and unfortunately for them that didn't happen in the way they needed it to. EOTC did well, but not THAT well.
Then of course the catalog went crazy after 1999 and Dennis has earned a LOT of money that the others did not get part of, and yes, that has caused a lot of bitterness. But they agreed to it and signed off on it as part of the contracts for EOTC. A huge mistake on their part, I agree, but you can't blame an individual for what a group agrees to.

John and Chuck would get money from touring revenue,
but then Dennis and A&M had a falling out and Styx
went back into limbo until the 1996 tour..

Well, STYX and A&M had a parting of ways, not just Dennis. It's no secret he had some detractors over there, but so does Tommy, and even Glen had recently been dropped from A&M as a solo artist. The relationship had runs its course at that time. They just didn't come to an agreement to extend Styx' contract, which was a very dumb thing on everyone's part in Styx.

Chuck says it best on the BTM special "Even in my
limited role, I didn't want to sit around for another
7 years for something to happen"

True enough. There's no way of knowing if Dennis, without the added
competitive spur of having been kicked out, would have ever gotten it together again. We'll never know. Getting sacked sort of re-awakened some competitive instincts in him that had been dormant for a long time prior to that. Ironic how that worked out, really. You know, there are some valid reasons why they feel the way they do, but it's also a two-way street, and everyone involved has behaved badly in one way or another. These are better people then their behavior toward each other would seem to indicate. What a true shame it would be if they let one more person die with all this unresolved bitterness and all these things left unsaid. It's already happened twice. It's the part of the music
business that always makes me sad, seeing people allow themselves to get so twisted by money, and fame, and all of the nonsense that goes along with it. That's something that's true of EVERYONE in Styx to a certain degree."

[yogi]

That is DAMN interesting!!!

[SuiteMadameBlue]

I know one of the people that responded to the posts on that Styx Indra list is on this board or maybe both of them.

Very interesting read.

[sadie65]

I found it interesting when I read it on the Indra list as well.

That being said...while it is interesting, I also think it speaks to the fact that each man lost (at least for a while) the band...and became for their own individual self..and that being said...I don't know that I could have handled it any better. Hard to know what choices we make what the repercussions will actually be when we make them.

Peace

[bugsymalone]

Interesting indeed.

Just goes to show that the whole situation of being in a SUCCESSFUL rock band is nothing but complicated and filled with business decisions that have nothing to do with making the music.

And egos on all sides inevitably invade the comaraderie that existed when the band was just starting out.

Thanks for copying and posting, Chicago.

Yep, and thanks, "mystery writer," as well. You used to post here some, no?

Bugsy

[LordofDaRing]

Just a curious observation, can somebody name me a MAJOR recording act that truly split song writing royalties equally amongst all members, regardless if they wrote the tune or not? I can name a few off the top of my head that did not: the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

[Zan]

the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

The Go-Gos? LOL

Now I have that Sesami Street song in my head:

One of these things is not like the others...One of these things just doesn't belong...

[Ash]

Just a curious observation, can somebody name me a MAJOR recording act that truly split song writing royalties equally amongst all members, regardless if they wrote the tune or not? I can name a few off the top of my head that did not: the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

Slipknot does. All of their songwriting credits go to "Slipknot".. there is no per-person writing credit. And since Slipknot won a grammy this year and have sold about 10 million records, I'd consider them a major recording act.

[stmonkeys]

Just a curious observation, can somebody name me a MAJOR recording act that truly split song writing royalties equally amongst all members, regardless if they wrote the tune or not? I can name a few off the top of my head that did not: the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

the doors. each member had 1 equal vote, and songwriting credit was divided equally amongst the 4 members.

[Zan]

Just a curious observation, can somebody name me a MAJOR recording act that truly split song writing royalties equally amongst all members, regardless if they wrote the tune or not? I can name a few off the top of my head that did not: the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

the doors. each member had 1 equal vote, and songwriting credit was divided equally amongst the 4 members.

Another interesting observation - with the exception of the Stones, each and every one of those bands ended in a train wreck or horrendous break-up. The Stones have always been a train wreck.

[gr8dane]

Coldplay,and Queen did on their last 2 albums(maybe 3) .

[DeeJaySTYX]

Just a curious observation, can somebody name me a MAJOR recording act that truly split song writing royalties equally amongst all members, regardless if they wrote the tune or not? I can name a few off the top of my head that did not: the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Chicago, The Go Go's, Led Zepplin for starters. Anyone?

the doors. each member had 1 equal vote, and songwriting credit was divided equally amongst the 4 members.

Another interesting observation - with the exception of the Stones, each and every one of those bands ended in a train wreck or horrendous break-up. The Stones have always been a train wreck.

No. Peter Cetera's departure from Chicago was mutual for both himself and for the band according to Behind The Music..There was nothing bitter about it since Cetera was becoming to big of a star and wanted to go solo anyway..The band continued despite other changes in its lineup along with Cetera's departure..The Eagles did break up but managed to get back together and they are still touring today with Stuart Smith in place of Don Felder, this year touring in Europe.

[LordofDaRing]

Thanks gang. Did not know that about the Doors. Actually the reason I brought up the Go Go's, was according to BTM, the band wanted all the songwriting to be attributed to the band. But Jane (Can't remember her last name, she was on that horrible real world MTV show) who apparently wrote the lion's share along with the blond guitar player, refused to do so. It was one of the reasons that led to thier breakup. I hear the Same song playing in my head on that one to Zan.
Point being, the way the Doors did it, is still obviously the anomolie in the music business.
As for Cetera, he actually refused to be interviewed for the BTM show and also refused to give permission to use any of his written songs for the broadcast. I thought Like you DeeJay, he left willingly and on good terms.
I think most bands end in a bad train wreck, or the train keeps derailing every few years such as CSN&Y or Fleetwood Mac.

[thebook]

That is DAMN interesting!!!

yeah, nice find Chicago.