Dennis DeYoung returns to rock 'n' roll with new songs
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2005 2:12 pmhttp://nwitimes.com/articles/2005/03/25 ... 7fe674.txt
Picking up Styx
Dennis DeYoung returns to rock 'n' roll with new songs and tour
BY TOM LOUNGES
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, March 25, 2005 12:19 AM CST
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It has been years since singer-songwriter Dennis DeYoung parted ways with Styx, who continue to tour and record with a watered-down lineup that includes only sole founding member James J.Y. Young and second-generation member Tommy Shaw.
Since DeYoung's pen composed most of the band's beloved classics and his voice drove them up the radio and sales charts to the tune of millions of copies sold, it is DeYoung that most people equate with the music of Styx.
Though now in his 50s, Dennis DeYoung is finally refusing to act his age.
Not only is the former Styx frontman and founder back to rock ‘n' rolling with a five-piece combo that rekindles the spirit of the original Styx band, but he soon will be seen sporting kitschy '70s clothes and wearing a long-haired wig.
The latter get-up will be for his silver-screen portrayal as the singer of a Styx tribute band in the Universal Pictures film, "The Perfect Man," starring Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear, which opens nationwide in theaters on July 22.
"They came to me wanting four of my songs, because the sub-plot has this guy who is a Styx maniac trying to woo Heather Locklear," DeYoung explained.
"This all takes place today, but he's trapped in the 1980s totally. So he takes her to a club where everyone else is trapped in the 1980s, and out comes this hair band who do a tribute to Styx and yours truly plays the lead singer."
Despite his foray into the big production Las Vegas-Broadway realm in recent years, which had him performing with a full symphony orchestra, DeYoung always has remained a pop icon. His name, likeness and music often are included in such cutting-edge animated television programs as "South Park," "The Simpsons" and, most recently, "Family Guy." DeYoung-composed hit songs have been sampled by such hip-hop/rap stars as Ja Rule and Foxy Brown.
Styx fans have responded well to the news that DeYoung has finally gotten back in touch with his inner teenage self and has re-connected with the spirit of rock 'n' roll that consumed him after seeing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964.
"After seeing the Beatles, I went out to the garage with a keyboard and a dream. And I came out with this band called Styx," recalled DeYoung, on how he and a few other kids from the Chicago neighborhood of Roseland started down the road to glory.
Those early post-garage/pre-stadium years can be re-experienced by Styx fans via a two-CD Universal release titled, "The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings."
DeYoung, who loves talking about the early days of Styx, is having a great time revisiting his illustrious past with his new rock band show.
"We're just a sweaty little rock 'n' roll band," he said of the self-named, five-piece combo he will take the stage with Saturday at Chicago's House of Blues. Joining DeYoung are backing vocalist Dawn Marie Feusi, guitarist Tommy Dziallo, keyboardist John Blaucucci, the pounding rhythm section of bassist Hank "The Hammer" Horton and drummer Kyle Woodring.
"This is my first rock band concert in Chicago since 1986. The show's called, 'The Lost Treasures,' because I'm pulling out songs like 'Queen of Spades,' 'Borrowed Time,' 'Pieces of Eight,' 'Unfinished Song' and 'Best Thing.'"
The set list was inspired by requests made on the Styx-related Web sites.
"I have never before played 'Unfinished Song' live, so that is really a 'lost treasure.'"
DeYoung's mid-80s solo success also will be on tap for fans later this spring.
"In May, Universal is releasing the 'Dennis DeYoung 20th Century Collection' DVD which will include all of my solo videos," he said. "It'll have video for 'Desert Moon,' 'Don't Wait for Heroes', 'Call Me' and 'Boomchild.'"
DeYoung's solo career will continue this year, as he and his rock combo work on a new album project which he describes as "just me at middle age, doing what I do."
One of DeYoung's new tunes is titled -- "I Don't Believe In Anything" -- addresses his disdain for the "fix it in production" attitude of the digital world we live in today. The song's lyrics speak of songs made with pitch adjustment programs, films made with blue screen and CGI effects, and the loss of the human element suffered in all forms of the arts."
DeYoung has good expectations for the new record, once it gets on the market.
Though DeYoung will still maintain what he jokingly refers to his "Tony Bennett persona" with several live orchestra concerts on the books, he also is planning to do more rock 'n' roll shows like the one tomorrow night at House of Blues.
onstage
Styx Lost Treasures with Dennis DeYoung
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: House Of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
Cost: $45 (21-and-over show)
FYI: (312) 923-2000
------------------------------------------------
I think I'll wait to comment
Picking up Styx
Dennis DeYoung returns to rock 'n' roll with new songs and tour
BY TOM LOUNGES
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, March 25, 2005 12:19 AM CST
<!--OAS AD--><!-- CENTERING SCRIPT--> <SCRIPT language=javascript type=text/javascript> <!-- var agent = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(); if (agent.indexOf("msie") != -1 && agent.indexOf("mac")!=-1){ document.write('<table border="0" cellspacing="6" cellpadding="0" align="center">'); } else { document.write(''); } //--> </SCRIPT> <!--END OAS AD-->
It has been years since singer-songwriter Dennis DeYoung parted ways with Styx, who continue to tour and record with a watered-down lineup that includes only sole founding member James J.Y. Young and second-generation member Tommy Shaw.
Since DeYoung's pen composed most of the band's beloved classics and his voice drove them up the radio and sales charts to the tune of millions of copies sold, it is DeYoung that most people equate with the music of Styx.
Though now in his 50s, Dennis DeYoung is finally refusing to act his age.
Not only is the former Styx frontman and founder back to rock ‘n' rolling with a five-piece combo that rekindles the spirit of the original Styx band, but he soon will be seen sporting kitschy '70s clothes and wearing a long-haired wig.
The latter get-up will be for his silver-screen portrayal as the singer of a Styx tribute band in the Universal Pictures film, "The Perfect Man," starring Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear, which opens nationwide in theaters on July 22.
"They came to me wanting four of my songs, because the sub-plot has this guy who is a Styx maniac trying to woo Heather Locklear," DeYoung explained.
"This all takes place today, but he's trapped in the 1980s totally. So he takes her to a club where everyone else is trapped in the 1980s, and out comes this hair band who do a tribute to Styx and yours truly plays the lead singer."
Despite his foray into the big production Las Vegas-Broadway realm in recent years, which had him performing with a full symphony orchestra, DeYoung always has remained a pop icon. His name, likeness and music often are included in such cutting-edge animated television programs as "South Park," "The Simpsons" and, most recently, "Family Guy." DeYoung-composed hit songs have been sampled by such hip-hop/rap stars as Ja Rule and Foxy Brown.
Styx fans have responded well to the news that DeYoung has finally gotten back in touch with his inner teenage self and has re-connected with the spirit of rock 'n' roll that consumed him after seeing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964.
"After seeing the Beatles, I went out to the garage with a keyboard and a dream. And I came out with this band called Styx," recalled DeYoung, on how he and a few other kids from the Chicago neighborhood of Roseland started down the road to glory.
Those early post-garage/pre-stadium years can be re-experienced by Styx fans via a two-CD Universal release titled, "The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings."
DeYoung, who loves talking about the early days of Styx, is having a great time revisiting his illustrious past with his new rock band show.
"We're just a sweaty little rock 'n' roll band," he said of the self-named, five-piece combo he will take the stage with Saturday at Chicago's House of Blues. Joining DeYoung are backing vocalist Dawn Marie Feusi, guitarist Tommy Dziallo, keyboardist John Blaucucci, the pounding rhythm section of bassist Hank "The Hammer" Horton and drummer Kyle Woodring.
"This is my first rock band concert in Chicago since 1986. The show's called, 'The Lost Treasures,' because I'm pulling out songs like 'Queen of Spades,' 'Borrowed Time,' 'Pieces of Eight,' 'Unfinished Song' and 'Best Thing.'"
The set list was inspired by requests made on the Styx-related Web sites.
"I have never before played 'Unfinished Song' live, so that is really a 'lost treasure.'"
DeYoung's mid-80s solo success also will be on tap for fans later this spring.
"In May, Universal is releasing the 'Dennis DeYoung 20th Century Collection' DVD which will include all of my solo videos," he said. "It'll have video for 'Desert Moon,' 'Don't Wait for Heroes', 'Call Me' and 'Boomchild.'"
DeYoung's solo career will continue this year, as he and his rock combo work on a new album project which he describes as "just me at middle age, doing what I do."
One of DeYoung's new tunes is titled -- "I Don't Believe In Anything" -- addresses his disdain for the "fix it in production" attitude of the digital world we live in today. The song's lyrics speak of songs made with pitch adjustment programs, films made with blue screen and CGI effects, and the loss of the human element suffered in all forms of the arts."
DeYoung has good expectations for the new record, once it gets on the market.
Though DeYoung will still maintain what he jokingly refers to his "Tony Bennett persona" with several live orchestra concerts on the books, he also is planning to do more rock 'n' roll shows like the one tomorrow night at House of Blues.
onstage
Styx Lost Treasures with Dennis DeYoung
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: House Of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
Cost: $45 (21-and-over show)
FYI: (312) 923-2000
------------------------------------------------
I think I'll wait to comment
