DerriD wrote:Rockwriter wrote:DerriD wrote:Styx would have had less tension with Gary than with JY. Other than that, same results because basically the same bands with switched rhythm sections.
I have to disagree. Gary and Dennis have never, ever gotten along (at least, Gary has never liked Dennis . . . I don't know if it goes both ways), not to mention that Gary had/continues to have a substance abuse problem that makes Tommy Shaw's past troubles seem like a church picnic. Plus Gary is a stronger writer than JY and would have been more likely to give Dennis a real run for his money, which only could have led to more ego/money/control battles. I think the tension would have been much, much more with him in the band, honestly. Of course, Gary is basically toast now, sadly.
Sterling
I knew about the substance abuse problems, but not the dislike. Nice to have guys around here that do their research.
LOL, I actually happen to have accidentally wandered across an old interview with Gary a while back (in some book in a used store), and he was talking about how he did not like Dennis. I've heard that through the years, too.
About a dozen years ago I saw Gary in concert in a tiny club in Atlanta, and it is hands-down the saddest thing I've ever seen on stage in my life. He was visibly hammered and staggering around. His band was not that great, and the whole thing wasn't very good. At one point he was trying to play the intro to "Take It On the Run" and no sound was coming out of his acoustic. A tech came out and was messng with it, and Gary tried to make a weak joke by saying, "Did anyone here see Spinal Tap?" And some guy at the bar shouted, "I'm looking at it right now!" OUCH! That was a tough thing to see. I know at some date or another on the EOTC tour he and his band opened for Styx, and the guys in the band couldn't believe how far he had fallen. He'd turned into a bloated alcoholic who could hardly play anymore, and that was fifteen years ago. From what I hear now, Gary's not even capable of getting it together long enough to work anymore. Sadly, one of these days we're going to come to this site and read that he is dead. What a waste . . . he was such a great player in his prime.
I hope all is well.
Sterling