Styx at 3 Rivers

[sadie65]

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/li ... ate_living

Talk | Sailing away on the Styx at 3 RiversBy NEIL WHITEColumnistLeave it to the 3 Rivers Festival to give you a real blast from the past each year.
Those folks like nothing better than to load the Capital City’s baby boomers into a time machine and transport them back for a memory-jogging tour of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
In the previous six years, the likes of Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Peter Frampton, Grand Funk Railroad, REO Speedwagon and KC & the Sunshine Band have paraded across the festival’s stages. It’s like a K-Tel record come to life.
And last week’s announcement of April’s festival lineup blasted yet another classic name of yore at us: Styx.
(We can hear many of you boomers simultaneously cheering and groaning.)
Styx got its start as an artsy progressive rock band. But it later evolved into an arena-rock act featuring singer Dennis DeYoung and guitarist Tommy Shaw that was prone to playing — as MTV.com stated it — “bombastic rockers and soaring power ballads.”
In fact, the most annoying power ballad ever recorded just might be “Babe,” the band’s 1979 No. 1 hit. It’s one of those songs that can get stuck in your head as soon as it comes on the radio, no matter how quickly you run shrieking out of the room.
“You know it's you babe, giving me the courage and the strength I need; Please believe that it's true, Babe, I love youuuuuuuu.”
Here’s the funny part. Styx also recorded the second-most annoying power ballad of all-time, the 1975 smash “Lady.”
Hey, you know the words, “You’re my lady of the morning; Love shines in your eyes!”
Now while these tunes aren’t exactly our cup of tea, we recognize that many young women — many of them Farrah Fawcett wannabes — swooned whenever they came over the airwaves.
(Styx has that kind of hold on some people. An editor at this newspaper even sheepishly admitted that she once made out with a Montgomery Ward shoe salesman in front of a fireplace to “Come Sail Away.”)
There are very few neutral positions when it comes to Styx. You either love them or hate them. That even goes for the Swiss.
Brent Johnson, the morning man and program director at B-106.7, acknowledges as much. He even claims to be a fan of the band’s harder-rocking side — led by Shaw — with songs like “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man.” And he says his wife, Leigh, is a huge fan who owns all of the Styx compilation CDs.
But Johnson admits he wasn’t too keen on DeYoung’s over-the-top theatrical performances.
“They kind of stopped being a rock band,” he said, adding the tension between Shaw and DeYoung was chronicled in “the best ‘Behind the Music’ that VH1 ever did.”
Johnson the deejay also draws the line in some cases, like when B-106.7 listeners would call in to request bad Styx songs.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Johnson said. “When they call to ask for ‘Mr. Roboto,’ usually the response is, ‘Why? I can’t think of any reason to play that.’”
So true.
“Mr. Roboto” also is way up there on the list of all-time most annoying songs. (A confession here: Even we tap our toes to the occasional Styx tune, like “Too Much Time On Our Hands.”)
But 30 years later, Styx lives on, albeit with a couple of lineup changes that no longer includes DeYoung in the band.
Still, they’ve managed to carve out a unique place in pop culture history. Comedian Adam Sandler, for instance, is a huge Styx fan who has helped introduce a new generation of kids to their music with references to them in movies like “Big Daddy.”
It’s impossible to forget Kenny Cartman belting out his inimitable version of “Come Sail Away” on “South Park.” Homer Simpson may have said it best, however, when traveling down the River Styx during one episode of “The Simpsons.” As skeletons on the shore are playing “Lady,” he says, “This really is Hell!”
But for some Styx fans awaiting the 3 Rivers Festival, it’s going to be a little piece of heaven.

[yogi]

Thats a pretty damn good article. As much as the writer makes it sound like he doesnt like Styx, I believe he loves em.

He got EVERY fact correct. EXCELLENT!!!

[ChicagoSTYX]

I also agree. The worst part about not having Babe in the set these days is that now you don’t get a bathroom break.

[bugsymalone]

Interesting read, Sadie. I do agree with Yogi. At least this person seems to know his Styx history.

What I always find interesting is that those who profess to be turned off by Styx music still find it, and the band, endlessly interesting and fascinating, and, I am certain, they probably DO like the music, but would never admit it.

The most anticipated, and second highest rated, of the BTM's on VH1, was the one on Styx. EVERYONE, it seems, wanted to know about this band.

All those closeted fans.......like the guy who wrote this article.

Bugsy