MR

This is Dave Ling's review of 'The Grand Delusion' that ran in the issue of Classic Rock magazine that is just leaving the stands. Good old Dave . . . I think he liked it! As always, it's interesting to see how differently people perceive the same piece of work.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling


THE GRAND DELUSION: THE UNAUTHORIZED TRUE STORY OF STYX
Sterling Whitaker
www.thegranddelusion.com

Disregard the perception of Styx as goodie two shoes purveyors of saccharine ballads like Babe. The Grand Delusion is a gripping tale of rampant egotism, backstabbing and jealousy that provides fascinating insight into the Chicagoans’ flawed machinations. Former vocalist/keyboard player/chief songwriter Dennis De Young – discreetly sacked and reinstated at their commercial peak – is portrayed as unforgivably tyrannical, though Whitaker doesn’t take sides in a saga that includes drugs, mental illness, blackmail and that scourge of the rock world; interfering wives. The band’s bitter and ignominious topple from multi-platinum sales to hawking solo albums from PO Boxes reveals why James ‘JY’ Young once remarked that the original band would only ever reunite “when they’re playing [ice] hockey on the River Styx”.
[9/10]
Dave Ling

Congrats.
I love that mag.

Rockwriter wrote:This is Dave Ling's review of 'The Grand Delusion' that ran in the issue of Classic Rock magazine that is just leaving the stands. Good old Dave . . . I think he liked it! As always, it's interesting to see how differently people perceive the same piece of work.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling


THE GRAND DELUSION: THE UNAUTHORIZED TRUE STORY OF STYX
Sterling Whitaker
www.thegranddelusion.com

Disregard the perception of Styx as goodie two shoes purveyors of saccharine ballads like Babe. The Grand Delusion is a gripping tale of rampant egotism, backstabbing and jealousy that provides fascinating insight into the Chicagoans’ flawed machinations. Former vocalist/keyboard player/chief songwriter Dennis De Young – discreetly sacked and reinstated at their commercial peak – is portrayed as unforgivably tyrannical, though Whitaker doesn’t take sides in a saga that includes drugs, mental illness, blackmail and that scourge of the rock world; interfering wives. The band’s bitter and ignominious topple from multi-platinum sales to hawking solo albums from PO Boxes reveals why James ‘JY’ Young once remarked that the original band would only ever reunite “when they’re playing [ice] hockey on the River Styx”.
[9/10]
Dave Ling

I agree with him. The book was unnecessarily harsh on DDY.

rajah2165 wrote:

Rockwriter wrote:This is Dave Ling's review of 'The Grand Delusion' that ran in the issue of Classic Rock magazine that is just leaving the stands. Good old Dave . . . I think he liked it! As always, it's interesting to see how differently people perceive the same piece of work.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling


THE GRAND DELUSION: THE UNAUTHORIZED TRUE STORY OF STYX
Sterling Whitaker
www.thegranddelusion.com

Disregard the perception of Styx as goodie two shoes purveyors of saccharine ballads like Babe. The Grand Delusion is a gripping tale of rampant egotism, backstabbing and jealousy that provides fascinating insight into the Chicagoans’ flawed machinations. Former vocalist/keyboard player/chief songwriter Dennis De Young – discreetly sacked and reinstated at their commercial peak – is portrayed as unforgivably tyrannical, though Whitaker doesn’t take sides in a saga that includes drugs, mental illness, blackmail and that scourge of the rock world; interfering wives. The band’s bitter and ignominious topple from multi-platinum sales to hawking solo albums from PO Boxes reveals why James ‘JY’ Young once remarked that the original band would only ever reunite “when they’re playing [ice] hockey on the River Styx”.
[9/10]
Dave Ling

I agree with him. The book was unnecessarily harsh on DDY.

LOL, you should have seen what I left out, or what people said off the record. You must believe me when I say how much worse it could have been. I was as diplomatic as I could be in the circumstances.


Sterling

I am interested in this book, but does it still have to be ordered online(from Amazon)?

BlackWall wrote:I am interested in this book, but does it still have to be ordered online(from Amazon)?

That's still probably the best way. You can order it from me directly through Amazon if you want it autographed and dated, and you can get it at other online retailers as well . . . Borders.com, target.com, alibris.com. It is also available in some libraries (and coming soon to more), and you can special order it at a lot of bookstores, but not all of them. So there are quite a few choices, and more coming. I'm working on a book store distribution deal right now.

Thanks, I hope all is well.


Sterling

Rockwriter wrote:

LOL, you should have seen what I left out, or what people said off the record. You must believe me when I say how much worse it could have been. I was as diplomatic as I could be in the circumstances.


Sterling

I'm amazed at how people throw the word 'tyrant' around like it's no big deal. Heck, even Chuck referred to DDY as a tyrant...if that was true then why not quit the band and start The Chuck Panozzo Project? Saddam Hussein was a tyrant...although I'm sure if a statue of DDY is put up in Chicago somewhere, that JY will come by and topple it.

Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

Blue Falcon wrote:Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

Heh. Does "off the record" have some strange new definition of which we were not previously aware?

Looking at the history and the things that were said, it's not hard to surmise whose comments went further, and on which topics.

stabbim wrote:

Blue Falcon wrote:Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

Heh. Does "off the record" have some strange new definition of which we were not previously aware?

Where's that "Stabbim rules" avatar? lol...

To "answer" your question, BF: A LOT.

rajah2165 wrote:

Rockwriter wrote:This is Dave Ling's review of 'The Grand Delusion' that ran in the issue of Classic Rock magazine that is just leaving the stands. Good old Dave . . . I think he liked it! As always, it's interesting to see how differently people perceive the same piece of work.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling


THE GRAND DELUSION: THE UNAUTHORIZED TRUE STORY OF STYX
Sterling Whitaker
www.thegranddelusion.com

Disregard the perception of Styx as goodie two shoes purveyors of saccharine ballads like Babe. The Grand Delusion is a gripping tale of rampant egotism, backstabbing and jealousy that provides fascinating insight into the Chicagoans’ flawed machinations. Former vocalist/keyboard player/chief songwriter Dennis De Young – discreetly sacked and reinstated at their commercial peak – is portrayed as unforgivably tyrannical, though Whitaker doesn’t take sides in a saga that includes drugs, mental illness, blackmail and that scourge of the rock world; interfering wives. The band’s bitter and ignominious topple from multi-platinum sales to hawking solo albums from PO Boxes reveals why James ‘JY’ Young once remarked that the original band would only ever reunite “when they’re playing [ice] hockey on the River Styx”.
[9/10]
Dave Ling

I agree with him. The book was unnecessarily harsh on DDY.

The book was great and it was by no means extra harsh on DeYoung. If that's the guy he is, then that's the guy he is. Do you suppose that with a majority of insiders confirming it that it just MIGHT be true? He also talked about Shaw's problems and everyone else's too- at lenght. I thought he went pretty easy on DeYoung and his mom... er wife.
Geez, don't let your love for the guy and his talent (and he is talented) blind you.

Blue Falcon wrote:

Rockwriter wrote:

LOL, you should have seen what I left out, or what people said off the record. You must believe me when I say how much worse it could have been. I was as diplomatic as I could be in the circumstances.


Sterling

I'm amazed at how people throw the word 'tyrant' around like it's no big deal. Heck, even Chuck referred to DDY as a tyrant...if that was true then why not quit the band and start The Chuck Panozzo Project? Saddam Hussein was a tyrant...although I'm sure if a statue of DDY is put up in Chicago somewhere, that JY will come by and topple it.

Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

If you had roaches in your house ,would you get rid of the roaches or your house?
We all know that dictators only last so long.

Heh. Does "off the record" have some strange new definition of which we were not previously aware?

Looking at the history and the things that were said, it's not hard to surmise whose comments went further, and on which topics.

Off the record simply means that Sterling didn't have to print it in his book. Doesn't mean it can't be posted on a message board as a "rumor."

Of course, maybe they all just gripe about DDY's foot odor on the tour bus.

Blue Falcon wrote:

Rockwriter wrote:

LOL, you should have seen what I left out, or what people said off the record. You must believe me when I say how much worse it could have been. I was as diplomatic as I could be in the circumstances.


Sterling

I'm amazed at how people throw the word 'tyrant' around like it's no big deal. Heck, even Chuck referred to DDY as a tyrant...if that was true then why not quit the band and start The Chuck Panozzo Project? Saddam Hussein was a tyrant...although I'm sure if a statue of DDY is put up in Chicago somewhere, that JY will come by and topple it.

Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

I'm not sure without doing a quick read-through, but I really don't believe the word "tyrant" appears in my book. I can't really help what other people interpret and come up with on their own. I actually thought people were reasonably diplomatic, while still saying what they wanted to say.


Sterling

stabbim wrote:

Blue Falcon wrote:Give us a hint...how much worse COULD it have been?

Heh. Does "off the record" have some strange new definition of which we were not previously aware?

Looking at the history and the things that were said, it's not hard to surmise whose comments went further, and on which topics.

Well, I didn't actually reveal anything that shouldn't be said. I just said that there was more. And not all of what was said that I didn't include was about Dennis, for that matter. I could have written a darker portrayal of several others as well, if that's what I had intended to do. I strove for balance instead, and that's harder to achieve with some than with others because of their relative positions and the financial/power imbalances and bitterness that creates.

Incidentally, for what it's worth, it's not giving away any secrets to tell you that I presented my interviews with the band members themselves in their entirety except where what was said was irrelevant. So if anybody is thinking that any of the band members had worse things to share about Dennis, that's actually not the case, at least not that they told me.


Sterling

Rockwriter wrote:Well, I didn't actually reveal anything that shouldn't be said. I just said that there was more.

Right. That "off the record" jibe was not directed at you, but at someone else for knowing that some stuff was not (by your description, anyway) for public consumption, but then asking to hear it anyway.

Rockwriter wrote: And not all of what was said that I didn't include was about Dennis, for that matter. I could have written a darker portrayal of several others as well, if that's what I had intended to do.

Of course. It's just that DDY was the subject at hand ("tyrant" comment, and all that jazz.)

stabbim wrote:

Rockwriter wrote:Well, I didn't actually reveal anything that shouldn't be said. I just said that there was more.

Right. That "off the record" jibe was not directed at you, but at someone else for knowing that some stuff was not (by your description, anyway) for public consumption, but then asking to hear it anyway.

Rockwriter wrote: And not all of what was said that I didn't include was about Dennis, for that matter. I could have written a darker portrayal of several others as well, if that's what I had intended to do.

Of course. It's just that DDY was the subject at hand ("tyrant" comment, and all that jazz.)

Oh, I understand you weren't directing that at me. I do find it somewhat amusing that I can get two reviews in two reasonably major mags that are out at about the same time, and them be so opposite in how they perceived what I wrote. So much of how a book comes across has a lot to do with who's reading it and their own experiences and opinions that they then project into it. The "tyrant" thing is Dave Ling's view, not mine, though I'm really grateful for the great review he gave.

As far as editing goes, some of the stuff that I left out was not off the record. In some cases it was stuff people willingly shared, that I then deemed inappropriate for the book I was trying to write. The vast majority of that was sexual stuff that I simply didn't feel had anything to do with the music or career of Styx. Suffice it to say that these guys were huge rock stars at the height of the sexual revolution, LOL. There were some stories as well about Chuck being gay and the guys' private reactions to that (which was never a secret to them, by the way, I think they knew/suspected that from the start). But I chose to not reveal Chuck's sexuality in the book until he did in real life, right near the end of the book, so I could not use that even though some of it is incredibly interesting. If I had it to do over again, I would let the reader know right up front that Chuck is gay and in the closet from the earliest years of the band, because not having that makes the character a bit incomplete. If I do any re-editing when I get book store distribution, that's one thing I will change, and maybe throw in a couple of stories in slightly edited versions.


Sterling