yogi wrote:If Dennis had not taken JY, Tommy, and Chuck to court back in 1999 do you think that by now they would have shared the same stage ???
In one of those old interviews from back then, Tommy or JY said that when you are sued and taken to court that it puts things at a different level. So, IMO, if that did not happen it would have left open a slim possibility...but it would be unlikely.
Back at that time, DDY was still in Hunchback mode. There is a Hunchback song on BNW. His first orchestra shows FEATURED Hunchback songs. When he went on the PBS tour, at his stop here he commented on air that he would LOVE to see a PBS version of Hunchback produced and this would be the perfect venue for it...but it needed sponsors. He made it sound like the PBS tour was really an attempt to get Hunchback on PBS.
So, his Hunchback distraction went on prior, during, and years after BNW. IMO, that would have been a big issue for Tommy and JY to let him back in...if he was going to be dedicated to Styx, or splitting his time with stuff like Hunchback.
Again, IMO, Dennis should have kept quiet during the BNW tour and spent his time writing. Then towards the end, start doing interviews saying he wanted back in the band and he had been working on music. Then, if the band didn't go for it, released "100yrs From Now" type album and went on tour...again saying on tour that he wanted to be in Styx but this is the best he could do. And, he should have ditched all things Hunchback and any negative rhetoric towards Styx, finger pointing to Styx, or complaints about his treatment...and no "bathwater" type comments towards fan
That would have put immense pressure on Styx. And, MAYBE they would have considered it....especially if the album/tour were as popular as Cyclorama.
Instead after BNW you get a DDY that is CONSTANTLY whining about Styx, whining about how they treated him, whining about how their story changed, insulting the FANS with the "bathwater" comment, a whiney DDY and Susan on BTM, a lawsuit, and Hunchback promotion for years. All of this, IMO, solidified that band's decision to move on without him...and I do not believe that will ever change - even for one concert. They (Tommy, JY, and Chuck) have had enough of him. As Steve Perry would say, DDY cracked the stone with his actions and there is no going back.
And, yeah, it opens a can of worms and I know the argument back in that what DDY said was true, and blah, blah, blah. It's irrelevant. You don't go about disparaging the very people you have to work with with half of your mouth, and the other half of your mouth saying you want back in the band. People just don't work that way..