From the Coloradoan

[sadie65]

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http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 00303/1040



STYX, REO Speedwagon still rolling with the changes

By STACY NICK
StacyNick@coloradoan.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Gannett News Service


Styx and REO Speedwagon pose together: Rear, from left, Lawrence Gowan, Bruce Hall, Dave Amato, Todd Sucherman, Glen Burtnick and Bryan Hitt; front, from left, Kevin Cronin, James Young, Neal Doughty and Tommy Shaw.
REO Speedwagon and STYX

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Budweiser Events Center, intersection of Interstate 25 and Crossroads Boulevard

Cost: $40, $55 and $65

Information and tickets: www.co.larimer.co.us/theranch/bec or (877) 544-TIXX




STYX band members, from left, James Young, Tommy Shaw, Lawrence Gowan, Ricky Phillips and Todd Sucherman.

5 questions with Lawrence Gowan of STYX

One CD in your music collection that people would be surprised to learn you own?

The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”

What was the last regular job you had before going full time as a musician?

“I’ve only had one — I worked part time selling pianos for Baldwin. I screwed that job up quite badly. I sent a tiny Spinet piano to (the concert venue for) Liberace and some lady got his concert grand piano.”

One question you wish reporters would ask you?

“‘How good a hockey player were you?’ I was great. No, actually I was very average but in Canada – because I played growing up I got a reputation for being astounding and then bit by bit, at celeb charity games, I had to not live up to it or fake my way through. They ask about that in Canada but in the states, they never ask.”

One question you wish they wouldn’t ask?

“I wish they wouldn’t ask me, ‘Are you going to go back to the solo career?’ If they saw the STYX tour schedule they would see that’s not possible.”

Gowan’s question for the Magic 8-Ball: “Am I getting it right?”

Magic 8-Ball answer: “Outlook good”

“You’re not lying are you?”

— Stacy Nick




REO Speedwagon band members, from left, Dave Amato, Neal Doughty, Kevin Cronin, Bruce Hall and Bryan Hitt.

5 questions with Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon

One CD in your music collection that people would be surprised to learn you own?

“Britney Spears’ first album. I love it — every song is good. She maybe is not the greatest singer in the world but it’s a really well done album and I’m not ashamed to say it.”

What was the last regular job you had before going full time as a musician?

“I worked in a gun powder factory making bullets for the Vietnam War and then I became one of the protestors who brought down the war. It was a summer job to pay for my first keyboard.”

One question you wish reporters would ask you?

“‘What I do in my spare time?’ I ride my bike and read books on physics.”

One question you wish they wouldn’t ask?

“‘How did we get the name of the band?’ I thought everybody knew that by now. For those who don’t, it’s on the Web site — hidden. You’ll have to hunt for it — www.speedwagon.com.”

Doughty’s question for the Magic 8-Ball: “I have written a new song for the album. Will it be a big hit?”

Magic 8-Ball answer: “Cannot predict now.”

“I’ll buy that – that’s how I’ve lived my whole life. That’s really a perfect answer.”

— Stacy Nick


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• The Flaming Lips
• Pop/Rock
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This is the story of two rivaling bands. Both held the title of top rock act at least once in the 1970s and then again in the '80s.

Both battled with rotating member lineups and the highs and lows that come with fame. And when their popularity waned in the '90s, they fought to keep from following in the footsteps of most '80s rock acts that broke up and got "real jobs"

In the late '90s, riding a wave of '80s trendiness, the two former rivals joined forces to create one of the most successful tours in the country - five years running.

"The competition started in Chicago in the '60s when lead singer Kevin (Cronin) was in a band in south Chicago and the members of STYX were in another and they were archrivals," said Neal Doughty, REO Speedwagon keyboardist.

When both bands hit it colossally big in the '80s, the rumor mill caught wind of the earlier rivalry and milked it for all it was worth.

"In '81, we both had albums vying for No. 1 - one week they'd have it, and one week we'd have it," Doughty said.

But by 1999, both bands were playing fewer and smaller shows, and when they actually got around to meeting, they learned the rumors weren't true and actually became good friends.

"Naming the REO/STYX live album "Arch Allies" was Tommy Shaw's idea," Doughty said. "By then, we'd become like 10 guys in the same band."

Since then, the two bands have found success touring as co-headliners. Half of the shows STYX play last, and the other half REO Speedwagon does.

"I can't think of many bands that can do that for five years without egos blowing up, but it's still working," Doughty said. "We went about a year without seeing them (while touring with Cheap Trick), and we really missed them."

STYX lead singer and keyboardist Lawrence Gowan, who joined the band in 1999, missed the big brouhaha between the two supergroups but said the ride has been smooth sailing - so far.

"For a lot of bands, (six years) is their entire career," Gowan said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "However when you're in a band that is now into its fourth decade in existence - until you've been with the band for at least 10 years, you're going to feel like the new guy."

But Gowan said even old-school STYX fans have been accepting of the changing of the guards after Dennis DeYoung left the band in 1999 due to sensitivity to light.

"From the very first show I played with them - I vividly remember it was in Branson, Mo. - we were about 10 minutes into it and I could see that the audience was really enjoying it and felt the band hadn't been wrecked. That gave me such a boost of confidence.

"But when I was suiting up for that first show - you know, putting on your armor, about to go into battle - I remember swallowing hard at one point."

On the other side of the spectrum, Doughty, the only REO band member to stick with the group since its beginnings in 1971, is an expert at being a classic rock act.

"The travel can get to you," he admitted, adding that in July alone the band put 8,500 miles on its tour bus. "But any night you walk out and there are thousands of screaming people singing out every song - that never gets old. You just light up all over again. It's just like playing the song for the first time."

In addition to reliving their glory days nightly, both bands are putting new music into the airwaves as well.

In 2003 STYX released "Cyclorama" where Gowan was finally able to put his own songwriting talents to work for the band and see how sharing writing roles between five band members is done.

"Ultimately (each song) goes through the strainer of all five guys," he said. "We all have a part in it so nobody feels like they aren't involved. We looked at it like it was one big five-faceted brain."

But that still meant some give and take, Gowan said.

"We each came at the tree from a different angle. My goal was to make it sound like classic STYX. But JY (James Young) and Tommy (Shaw) had lived through that and they were anxious to move on and show where we are today," he said. "I think because of that the record has a duality to it. It harkens back to old times but doesn't sound like it's stuck in a time warp."

For the 2005 release "Big Bang Theory," it was pencils down. The CD features the band's versions of classic rock tunes ranging from Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression" to The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus."

For REO Speedwagon, the past year has been spent splitting time between touring and the recording studio.

Following these last two weeks of the tour the band will head back in to finish the last four tracks for their upcoming album - their first new release in 10 years.

Several of the tracks sound like the band's classic stuff from the '70s, Doughty said. They've has been trying the tunes out at live shows and the response has been good, he added. But band members are anxious to see what the fans think of some of their departures from the REO norm.

In addition to the pop rock sound the band is known for, the new album will feature songs that touch on everything from a Cajun beat to jazzy undertones, Doughty said.

"This is to let the fans know we're not just sitting around doing nothing on our days off," Doughty joked. "We don't need to make a new record and we know our audiences want to hear our old classics. But a few new songs add a little spice to the show and help us feel a bit musically recharged. Even if we don't get the No. 1 record in the country from it - we've done that already."


Originally published September 29, 2005

[SuiteMadameBlue]

Let's see, where do I begin - LOL

First, thanks Sadie for posting the article, I always enjoy reading all the articles that are posted

One question you wish they wouldn’t ask?

“I wish they wouldn’t ask me, ‘Are you going to go back to the solo career?’ If they saw the STYX tour schedule they would see that’s not possible.”

I had to giggle and think about the "never-ending tour" when he answered this one.

But Gowan said even old-school STYX fans have been accepting of the changing of the guards after Dennis DeYoung left the band in 1999 due to sensitivity to light.

Of course this part bothers me mentioning that Dennis left the band in 1999. So not true and I'll leave it at that.

"From the very first show I played with them - I vividly remember it was in Branson, Mo. - we were about 10 minutes into it and I could see that the audience was really enjoying it and felt the band hadn't been wrecked. That gave me such a boost of confidence.

Glad he didn't mention the cornfield concert, that was in the batch of the first concerts that he performed in with Carrot Styx. UGH, very sad.