Cool interview with Dennis DeYoung

[Rockwriter]

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... 95f7c7af5c


Once again a very insightful and honest interview from Dennis. I particularly like what he has to say about rock critics. I think he hit it dead on.

I hope all is well.



Sterling

[Moon Beam]

What a good read Rockwriter thank you muchly for
linking us up.
My favorite two parts were..................


"When it comes to bands, rock bands are a bunch of goofballs. They get
together, right? They're young kids and they have all these dreams and
they're goofy and so on and so forth and they make some songs. That's all it
really is. They write some songs and people like them. Then they have to
deal with their success and success is as difficult to deal with as failure
sometimes."


and then on his 37 yr marriage..........

"That's more impressive than 35 million albums sold, I'll tell you.
She's a great woman. We grew up in the same neighbourhood. We met when we
were 17 and 15. We have a similar background: both Catholics, both
half-Italian, you know what I mean?
Really, most of the credit goes to her. She's a better person than I am. She
makes me a better man. I try to be, if you know what I'm saying. We men, we
have to be house-trained. Don't tell me we don't."

[StyxCollector]

Having interviewed DDY while he was going to get his car fixed, I can totally see this:

DeYoung: Pardon while I choke my dog. (Aside): Will you please tell that dog
to stop? Thank you.

And then he switches back into a cordial interview tone. In fact, a lot of that interview I can picture because I've been that other guy on the other end of the phone. The first time it happens you're not prepared for it.

The reason some of these things fail is ... I've heard
recordings of orchestras with rock bands of all kinds, where I go "Where's
the orchestra?"

Wonder if he's heard OWE? lol

DeYoung: Yeah. I'll read this article, I'll want to slit my wrists: "Dennis
DeYoung says rock critics are idiots."
And here's another thing: if you or anybody else comes up to me and says the
Who or the Rolling Stones or whoever should be ashamed of themselves for
going out and making money out of playing their hits that they did 30 years
ago, because they really have nothing relevant to say today, look for some
missing teeth. Because what does that mean? Does that mean you can have this
body of work that people love and you shouldn't play it? It's ridiculous.
You should revel in it. You should rejoice, feel like you're one of the
fortunate creatures on the face of the earth that through some set of
circumstances, and you're really not sure how it happened through stamina,
hard work and luck you've been able to accomplish this in your life. To
feel ashamed or criticized for that I mean it's absolutely beyond my
comprehension

I look at the Eagles' catalogue
and at what they do forget the number of records they sold. If they sold
all those records in five years and were never heard from again, you go "OK.
It was a flash in the pan, it was a part of that moment in history," right?
But when it goes 35 years guys, you gotta give up the ghost here.

That's more honesty than most people can handle. ANd the market bears it out - plenty of people pay $300 to see said bands.

[bugsymalone]

Whoa! Mr. Short Attention Span!

This had some great stuff in it, no question.

He is a very self-aware person, it seems. And he has gotten to a stage in his life where he is just going to say what is on his mind, for the most part.

He treads lightly on the Styx question, which is very wise.

Thanks for posting it, Mr. Rockwriter.

Bugsy

[stabbim]

DeYoung: Did you watch the Grammys?

Gazette: No.

DeYoung: OK, well, Gnarls Barkley's got this great song ...

Gazette: Crazy. Yeah, that is a great track.

DeYoung: Great song. And it's based on one simple idea: a haunting melody
with a very unique vocalist and a very simple music bed. Couldn't be
simpler. They walked out there on the Grammys. He had an orchestra and a
choir with him and it ruined the song. It ruined the song! Because the
charm of it was its simplicity, not its complexity.

That's pretty much how I feel about "While There's Still Time," unfortunately.

The bands that stick out in my mind and pardon me for being maybe full of
myself for saying this were Queen and Styx. To me, they were very similar
kinds of bands. Bands that sang higher than human beings should sing and
really were eclectic in their musical tastes. Queen really started off more
as a prog band as well, an artsy-fartsy band with those first albums. But
they had the high rock side. And they had the pop side. I think Styx and
Queen were very much alike in terms of the music they made because people
dont know this they had three songwriters as well.

Preach it, brother. Still don't know why Queen got the accolades and Styx got the shaft when it came to critics. There were some differences in approach, but for the most part we're talking about the same basic package with a different-colored bow on top. Ah, well.

Ok, I'm going to stop snipping quotes for the sheer sake of bandwidth and just say that this is possibly the best interview with DDY that I've ever read. Definitely the best in a decade or so. I think it's great that he's not only gained a lot of perspective and pulled himself together nicely where the split with Styx is concerned, but that he's also just flat-out telling it like it is in terms of the business, and opening up much more than he used to, while still being very entertaining and getting his bullet points across. Bravo, sir.

[cinj]

Preach it, brother. Still don't know why Queen got the accolades and Styx got the shaft when it came to critics. There were some differences in approach, but for the most part we're talking about the same basic package with a different-colored bow on top. Ah, well.

I don't know if I would agree with that. Queen was hated by the majority of critics as well. Go to Rolling Stone Magazine's website and read some of the reviews of their albums.

Personally, I love(d) Queen. And for the record, all <B>4</B> of the members were songwriters - and if I'm not mistaken, each one penned at least one top ten hit.

Cinj.

[stabbim]

Preach it, brother. Still don't know why Queen got the accolades and Styx got the shaft when it came to critics. There were some differences in approach, but for the most part we're talking about the same basic package with a different-colored bow on top. Ah, well.

I don't know if I would agree with that. Queen was hated by the majority of critics as well. Go to Rolling Stone Magazine's website and read some of the reviews of their albums.

Hmmm...I'll admit I wasn't paying attention so much to their reviews back in the day. Maybe it was Freddie's death that turned it around, at least in the States.

Personally, I love(d) Queen. And for the record, all <B>4</B> of the members were songwriters - and if I'm not mistaken, each one penned at least one top ten hit.

Ayup. Don't know about US Top 10, but all four of them definitely had chart success as songwriters.

[Blue Falcon]

Preach it, brother. Still don't know why Queen got the accolades and Styx got the shaft when it came to critics. There were some differences in approach, but for the most part we're talking about the same basic package with a different-colored bow on top. Ah, well.

I don't know if I would agree with that. Queen was hated by the majority of critics as well. Go to Rolling Stone Magazine's website and read some of the reviews of their albums.

Personally, I love(d) Queen. And for the record, all <B>4</B> of the members were songwriters - and if I'm not mistaken, each one penned at least one top ten hit.

Cinj.

That's right...and Blue Oyster Cult had FIVE songwriter/singers.
What's funny is that lead singer Eric Bloom didn't sing lead on their two biggest hits: "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Burnin' For You." Heck, he didn't even sing lead on "Godzilla."

BTW, does anyone know a good BOC board? They've been re-releasing their albums after remastering and with bonus tracks (take heed, Styx!!) and that stuff is really good.

[NealIsGod]

BTW, does anyone know a good BOC board? They've been re-releasing their albums after remastering and with bonus tracks (take heed, Styx!!) and that stuff is really good.

I must get Fire of Unknown Origin then.

[stmonkeys]

BTW, does anyone know a good BOC board? They've been re-releasing their albums after remastering and with bonus tracks (take heed, Styx!!) and that stuff is really good.

I must get Fire of Unknown Origin then.

great album!! BOC was my very first concert back in 1981.

[Blue Falcon]

BTW, does anyone know a good BOC board? They've been re-releasing their albums after remastering and with bonus tracks (take heed, Styx!!) and that stuff is really good.

I must get Fire of Unknown Origin then.

That one's not out yet. They've re-released their first five studio albums (up through 1977's Spectres) and the live Some Enchanted Evening from 1978. The live one is expanded and has 14 tracks instead of the original 7, plus it includes a live DVD!!

Seriously, their fan site supposedly has a message board but whenever I try to join I get some dumb error message...wonder why they aren't on MelodicRock??

Maybe having 5 vocalists prevented BOC from having a really distinct voice in the rock world. Just look at the vocalists on Spectres:

Godzilla: Buck Dharma (guitarist)
Golden Age of Leather: Buck Dharma
Death Valley Nights: Al Bouchard (drummer)
Searching For Celine: Eric Bloom (lead vocals)
Fireworks: Al Bouchard
RU Ready To Rock: Eric Bloom
Celestial the Queen: Joe Bouchard (bassist)
Goin' Through the Motions: Eric Bloom
I Love the Night: Buck Dharma
Nosferatu: Allen Lanier (keyboardist)/Joe Bouchard

[DavidD]

Wow. I really like how DDY thinks. I particulary like how he truley believes in his and STYX's work. And his well grounded beliefs. Good substance here.

David
StyxOn

[Scarab Pilot]

Great interview. DDY is a character and I need to go out and pick up his live CD.