For Those Who Like Dennis DeYoung

[bugsymalone]

I realize fans of DDY are getting quite scarce here, but....here goes.

A site called Artists House Music has some terrific interviews with Dennis DeYoung. He talks about many subjects -- music, songwriting, his voice, his keyboard background, etc.

A good friend found this and, honestly, I do not know why it is not linked on his website, because there is some great stuff there.

There are several short videos, plus a transcript of the interview.

I HIGHLY recommend, if you are a Dennis DeYoung fan, reading and watching these. Some things have been heard/written elsewhere, but there are some new insights to the man and his music.

Here is the link.

http://www.artistshousemusic.com/alpert_dl/node/5369/337



Bugsy

[rajah2165]

I realize fans of DDY are getting quite scarce here, but....here goes.

A site called Artists House Music has some terrific interviews with Dennis DeYoung. He talks about many subjects -- music, songwriting, his voice, his keyboard background, etc.

A good friend found this and, honestly, I do not know why it is not linked on his website, because there is some great stuff there.

There are several short videos, plus a transcript of the interview.

I HIGHLY recommend, if you are a Dennis DeYoung fan, reading and watching these. Some things have been heard/written elsewhere, but there are some new insights to the man and his music.

Here is the link.

http://www.artistshousemusic.com/alpert_dl/node/5369/337



Bugsy

Its because individuals who like to promote the bands agenda run them off. The bathwater drinkers have unfortunately found this site.

[stabbim]

Very cool interview, Bugsy. Thanks for posting it!

Some interesting comments:

I don't know where that comes from. I think it probably has to do with a real need to please someone who cannot be pleased. I've said this before. Maybe it's not as true as I think it is, but I certainly know it's true for me and a lot of successful people. People who are very successful or who have been successful are desperately trying to please someone who cannot be pleased.

Yep. Sounds cliched, but I do think it's true more often than not.

Dark Side of the Moon is thematic, isn't it? But I listen to those songs and wonder what the heck are they talking about

Kind of an odd (and unfortunate) remark, really, since DDY is a fairly intelligent and articulate guy, and DSOTM's lyrics are not terribly opaque. Even the vocabulary and rhyme structure is, as Roger Waters himself put it, "lower 6th." Pretty simple and universal stuff.

Originally, I'd written him like Johnny Carson, with that charm but evangelical. His name was Dr. Everett Righteous. He convinced, through the power of his TV show and his influence in Congress, not unlike what actually did happen a few years later, with people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. This is before that—1981-82.

I wonder why the KWH story never specifically paints the MMM's propaganda as coming from a religious perspective. (In fact, I seem to remember KWH-era interviews where either DDY or JY mentioned that they deliberately stopped short of portraying it that way.) In the end it's all about politics, of course, but if they were trying to mirror the times, there definitely was a strong thread of religious extremism run amok mixed in as well.

Generally speaking, you've got a couple guys who are more responsible for the success than others. Maybe it's one, maybe it's two. You have to figure out how to keep those balls in the air. That's why bands break up.

Boy howdy. The "my song, your song" thing ruins more bands than sex, drugs, money, and fickle industry tastes combined.

[bugsymalone]

Update:

I had not really examined the site before I posted. There is one video labeled "Dennis DeYoung" and it is the entire interview in one video. The others posted are taken from this one.

You can download the entire transcript as a Word file, too.

Glad you liked it, Stabbim. There is an awful lot there of interest if you are a fan of the music he wrote.

Bugsy

[brywool]

I don't think it's that people don't like Dennis. I think it's that people are tired of others who say "Dennis IS Styx and the rest of the band are shit".
Dennis is great. Styx is great, but some people just can't dig both.

[styxfanNH]

The site ebbs and flows with support for one side or another. For many, it's just not worth fighting about. You can rarely discuss a topic without it being overtaken.

Both sides are stubborn and don't want to give the other side any credit.

There is a middle ground and many choose not to get there. Bottom line is this band in any incarnation has given us some pretty great music, and for whatever reason some choose not to give all parties involved collective credit. Too bad, they wrote some of the best music of my youth and it was the collective effort and diversity of music that provided the messages that I looked for then and now.

[Grotelul]

I realize fans of DDY are getting quite scarce here, but....here goes.

A site called Artists House Music has some terrific interviews with Dennis DeYoung. He talks about many subjects -- music, songwriting, his voice, his keyboard background, etc.

A good friend found this and, honestly, I do not know why it is not linked on his website, because there is some great stuff there.

There are several short videos, plus a transcript of the interview.

I HIGHLY recommend, if you are a Dennis DeYoung fan, reading and watching these. Some things have been heard/written elsewhere, but there are some new insights to the man and his music.

Here is the link.

http://www.artistshousemusic.com/alpert_dl/node/5369/337






Bugsy

Its because individuals who like to promote the bands agenda run them off. The bathwater drinkers have unfortunately found this site.

Promote the bands agenda? You are wrong again. I like the music of STYX. Some past and some present. Just because the main egomaniac is no longer part of the band anymore doesn't mean I can't support them. JY has an ego, Tommy has an ego. That is normal in successful bands. Dennis goes beyond that and treats others like dirt.

[brywool]

By the way - GREAT Dennis interview. Thanks for sharing this.

[wiseguy]

[quote="Grotelul" Dennis goes beyond that and treats others like dirt.[/quote]

[bugsymalone]

Just because the main egomaniac is no longer part of the band anymore doesn't mean I can't support them. JY has an ego, Tommy has an ego. That is normal in successful bands. Dennis goes beyond that and treats others like dirt.

I felt I labeled this thread appropriately. No need to even bother clicking on it if you feel this way.

Bugsy

[styxfanNH]

Just because the main egomaniac is no longer part of the band anymore doesn't mean I can't support them. JY has an ego, Tommy has an ego. That is normal in successful bands. Dennis goes beyond that and treats others like dirt.

I felt I labeled this thread appropriately. No need to even bother clicking on it if you feel this way.

Bugsy

Some don't get it. They just like to continue their hatred.

I watched some of it. It is good stuff. Dennis has always been pretty insightful to the music business.

Thanks Bugsy

[DavidD]

Just because the main egomaniac is no longer part of the band anymore doesn't mean I can't support them. JY has an ego, Tommy has an ego. That is normal in successful bands. Dennis goes beyond that and treats others like dirt.

I felt I labeled this thread appropriately. No need to even bother clicking on it if you feel this way.

Bugsy

Some don't get it. They just like to continue their hatred.

I watched some of it. It is good stuff. Dennis has always been pretty insightful to the music business.

Thanks Bugsy

I too watched some of it. I plan to watch more. Dennis is not only insightful for those in music, he is insprational for me in my business today. As he and Stxy were many years ago.

David
StyxOn

[Zan]

Some don't get it. They just like to continue their hatred.

Like this:]

Its because individuals who like to promote the bands agenda run them off. The bathwater drinkers have unfortunately found this site.

*yawn*

Do any of you seriously think anyone would have said boo about Dennis in this thread had this moron not been the first to open his eveready pie-hole?

Ignorance begets more ignorance.

That said, WTF, people? Is it THAT hard to just keep your opinions about Dennis to yourself in a thread THAT SPECIFICALLY ASKED people who were incapable of doing so to avoid it?

I read it. I'm always curious what past and present members are up to, no big deal. Acknowledge and move on.

[7 Wishes]

Stop. Froy's John Thomas is at full attention with this pro-Froy (I mean, pro-Dennis) post.

[StyxCollector]

I just viewed the whole interview (http://www.artistshousemusic.com/alpert_dl/node/1716) and not all the cut up snippets.

It's a very, very interesting piece to view if you've followed this band for a long time. I've met DDY in person. I've interviewed him a few times. He's as serious as a heart attack in this one. He's not his usual jokester self. Given what he says about Po8, the album makes more sense now.

[Zan]

I especially like what he says about singwriting and knowing what's a hit vs. what's a great song for him. What I find sad about the whole thing is that songs liek "Lady" and "Come Sail Away" depended greatly on other people delivering promises or going out of their way to help make them hits (ei: the DJ in Chicago playing Lady every night at 8pm, Tommy and Cahill bribing the program directors, etc.). I wish that good music was recognized as such without needing all that extra "crap" to be considered a hit - or ever HEARD for that matter. So many great, great songs are out there with no real means of being heard because they don't have the connections or resources/funding to get there.

[Rockwriter]

I especially like what he says about singwriting and knowing what's a hit vs. what's a great song for him. What I find sad about the whole thing is that songs liek "Lady" and "Come Sail Away" depended greatly on other people delivering promises or going out of their way to help make them hits (ei: the DJ in Chicago playing Lady every night at 8pm, Tommy and Cahill bribing the program directors, etc.). I wish that good music was recognized as such without needing all that extra "crap" to be considered a hit - or ever HEARD for that matter. So many great, great songs are out there with no real means of being heard because they don't have the connections or resources/funding to get there.

Boy do I understand what you mean about that . . . BUT, every song you've ever heard on the radio in your life has some trade-off story behind it. A sad reality of the business, as I'm sure you know. Even when people don't use outright payola (which is still not uncommon at all, by the way, regardless of what the labels claim), there's all this promotional jockeying that goes on, all this horse-trading, and the one with the best team winds up winning in almost every case. Radio is a self-promotion contest, not a talent show.

I have a good friend who used to have a record deal at Virgin Nashville about six years ago, when Virgin first opened a Nashville office (which failed). He was the first signing they made to the country division of Virgin, they hyped him as the next Alan Jackson, they spent more than a million bucks on this record called 'Love Trip', the whole nine yards. Sent him out on tour with George Strait, and his single was a song called "Love Trip". For radio promo they were offering that if a station added the single, they would sponsor a contest that Virgin would pay for, where some lucky listener and guest would get an all-expenses-paid Valentine's weekend "love trip" to Vegas to see my friend and George Strait in concert and then stay at this amazing hotel and all of that. Great idea, right? The song got to #38, and when you crack the Top 40, that's when you step it up a notch in promo and bring it home to the top 20, then the top 10. But Virgin Nashville was being mismanaged and was losing money hand over fist, and they needed a big seller right out of the gate, and this other artist on the label had a single that was doing marginally better, and that artist happened to be managed by the same team as a really, really big country superstar. That artist made a deal with Virgin that if they put all of their promo on him, his management would offer up all kinds of promo tie-ins to radio with their other, superstar client, who almost never does anything like that because he no longer has to. So that's what they did; that superstar client agreed to all these radio tie-in promos, Virgin pulled all of the promo budget from my friend's record and put it behind this other guy, and his single went top ten.

My friend's single dropped from #38 to #60-something in a week and then disappeared forever, and they dropped him from the label. He had a million dollar debt to the label, which makes it unattractive for another label to even look at signing you. He was practically bankrupt, and then his wife left and took their daughter because she couldn't take it anymore. He's working at a store now. So I can totally understand why people go out and play those games . . . if my friend had known then what he knows now about the hard realities of the business, I bet he would have played the game a lot harder while the opportunity was still in front of him. He'll never be in that position again. My point is, yes it's too bad it has to be that way, but I can't really fault any artist who goes out and promotes their work in whatever manner it becomes necessary to achieve success. For every song you hear on the radio today, there's another guy like my friend that didn't play the game as well, who is listening to that song play on the radio as they work at McDonald's or something like that.


Sterling

[Zan]

My point is, yes it's too bad it has to be that way, but I can't really fault any artist who goes out and promotes their work in whatever manner it becomes necessary to achieve success.

I wasn't faulting anyone, except maybe the nature of the business as a whole.

[Rockwriter]

I realize fans of DDY are getting quite scarce here, but....here goes.

A site called Artists House Music has some terrific interviews with Dennis DeYoung. He talks about many subjects -- music, songwriting, his voice, his keyboard background, etc.

A good friend found this and, honestly, I do not know why it is not linked on his website, because there is some great stuff there.

There are several short videos, plus a transcript of the interview.

I HIGHLY recommend, if you are a Dennis DeYoung fan, reading and watching these. Some things have been heard/written elsewhere, but there are some new insights to the man and his music.

Here is the link.

http://www.artistshousemusic.com/alpert_dl/node/5369/337



Bugsy

Wow, what an amazing interview! There's a lot of really interesting stuff in there. In watching this, one thing in particular kind of jumped out at me. If you click on the link "Being a Performer", Dennis talks about the different ways that performers react to getting nervous. He says that the principal way that he manifests nervousness is not to get butterflies, it's that when he has something really big coming up, he'll start to imagine that he is getting sick. That just about floored me. I wonder, with all of the controversy surrounding his light sensitivity, if he realized the implication of that statement when he said it? Very insightful and revealing, as is quite a bit of this interview. Thanks for posting that.


Sterling

[Rockwriter]

My point is, yes it's too bad it has to be that way, but I can't really fault any artist who goes out and promotes their work in whatever manner it becomes necessary to achieve success.

I wasn't faulting anyone, except maybe the nature of the business as a whole.

Oh, I realize that. I agree with you, too . . . much of what goes on in the business is really, truly sickening to me. I know so many people who have been absolutely destroyed by it. But that's what happens when that much is at stake, I suppose. Maybe there was a time when it was more about music, but as it has gone along, it's gotten to the point now where the music business is ten percent music and ninety percent publicity, imaging and promotion. They're all just glorified shoe salesmen, basically.


Sterling

[dextertragic]

If you click on the link "Being a Performer", Dennis talks about the different ways that performers react to getting nervous. He says that the principal way that he manifests nervousness is not to get butterflies, it's that when he has something really big coming up, he'll start to imagine that he is getting sick. That just about floored me. I wonder, with all of the controversy surrounding his light sensitivity, if he realized the implication of that statement when he said it? Very insightful and revealing, as is quite a bit of this interview. Thanks for posting that.

Sterling

I thought of the same thing as I watched it. I wonder how much pressure he was feeling as Styx started recording their 1st studio album in many years. I am definitely NOT saying that he wasn't really sick, but I could imagine the whole thing really messing with your head...trying to live up to the past.

Anyway, I thought this was an excellent interview.

By the way...Sterling, I ordered your book, and it's on the way...I can't wait!

Ed
http://edjames.net
http://cdbaby.com/jamesed3

[froy]

Stop. Froy's John Thomas is at full attention with this pro-Froy (I mean, pro-Dennis) post.

Stop the crack man you make no sense at all/

[stabbim]

If you click on the link "Being a Performer", Dennis talks about the different ways that performers react to getting nervous. He says that the principal way that he manifests nervousness is not to get butterflies, it's that when he has something really big coming up, he'll start to imagine that he is getting sick. That just about floored me. I wonder, with all of the controversy surrounding his light sensitivity, if he realized the implication of that statement when he said it? Very insightful and revealing, as is quite a bit of this interview. Thanks for posting that.

Sterling

I thought of the same thing as I watched it. I wonder how much pressure he was feeling as Styx started recording their 1st studio album in many years. I am definitely NOT saying that he wasn't really sick, but I could imagine the whole thing really messing with your head...trying to live up to the past.

Absolutely. For the 127th time, I refer everyone to the lyrics of "Great Expectations."

If I felt that way about my life/career, I'd probably come down with a condition that no one could diagnose too.

[stabbim]

My point is, yes it's too bad it has to be that way, but I can't really fault any artist who goes out and promotes their work in whatever manner it becomes necessary to achieve success.

I wasn't faulting anyone, except maybe the nature of the business as a whole.

Oh, I realize that. I agree with you, too . . . much of what goes on in the business is really, truly sickening to me. I know so many people who have been absolutely destroyed by it. But that's what happens when that much is at stake, I suppose. Maybe there was a time when it was more about music, but as it has gone along, it's gotten to the point now where the music business is ten percent music and ninety percent publicity, imaging and promotion. They're all just glorified shoe salesmen, basically.

Ever read So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star by Jacob Slichter?

Fascinating first-hand account of the chew-up/spit-out process of the business circa late-90s, written by the drummer from Semisonic. Inspiring, depressing, and funny as hell in places.

[bugsymalone]

I am still stunned this interview was never linked on his website. Ok ... maybe I am not.

Anyway, it was all quite interesting and VERY revealing. One of my favorite parts, being a musician, was listening/reading about his keyboard style and how it evolved. He really does have a unique way of playing and maybe it does come from his background of starting with the accordion. I remember seeing him on one of the pledge drives lying down on the piano bench, describing how he felt he needed to play a regular keyboard at first.

As to the music industry. Oh how it can suck for an artist. Dennis has said many times that he owes his career, in part, to pure dumb luck. And I know some artists who hit it big do get where they are as a matter of luck.

The other part, of course, is the promotion and the exchange of whatever is needed to run the promotion machine.

Sterling, that is a sad story about your friend, but oh so not unique in that music bidness (as we say in Texas)!


Bugsy

[Rockwriter]

If you click on the link "Being a Performer", Dennis talks about the different ways that performers react to getting nervous. He says that the principal way that he manifests nervousness is not to get butterflies, it's that when he has something really big coming up, he'll start to imagine that he is getting sick. That just about floored me. I wonder, with all of the controversy surrounding his light sensitivity, if he realized the implication of that statement when he said it? Very insightful and revealing, as is quite a bit of this interview. Thanks for posting that.

Sterling

I thought of the same thing as I watched it. I wonder how much pressure he was feeling as Styx started recording their 1st studio album in many years. I am definitely NOT saying that he wasn't really sick, but I could imagine the whole thing really messing with your head...trying to live up to the past.

Absolutely. For the 127th time, I refer everyone to the lyrics of "Great Expectations."

If I felt that way about my life/career, I'd probably come down with a condition that no one could diagnose too.

Exactly. The verse that says "Raise the bar up a little higher/They expect so much of you/Feel the madness accelerating/Because you feel that same way too" always floors me, it's so brutally honest. I know a lot of people disagree, but that song, for me, is one of the best lyrics Dennis ever wrote in that it's the real Dennis, not his persona speaking. A very revealing look at the real person, whether you like that person or not, instead of him trying to write something to make you like him.

As for him being sick or not "really" being sick, I would submit that a psychosomatic illness - a physical manifestation
of a mental or psychological condition - is just as "real" an illness as any other to the person who experiences it. There is still a stigma attached to mental illness, but it's only due to people's ignorance. If Dennis indeed does suffer from mental illness - which has been the source of quite a bit of speculation - it would explain a lot, and I think it's important to remember that if that's the case, he can't help it any more than Michael J. Fox can stop his arm from twitching. It's not a choice that anyone would make if they actually HAD a choice.


Sterling

[Zan]

Absolutely. For the 127th time, I refer everyone to the lyrics of "Great Expectations."

If I felt that way about my life/career, I'd probably come down with a condition that no one could diagnose too.

Exactly. The verse that says "Raise the bar up a little higher/They expect so much of you/Feel the madness accelerating/Because you feel that same way too" always floors me, it's so brutally honest. I know a lot of people disagree, but that song, for me, is one of the best lyrics Dennis ever wrote in that it's the real Dennis, not his persona speaking. A very revealing look at the real person, whether you like that person or not, instead of him trying to write something to make you like him.

As for him being sick or not "really" being sick, I would submit that a psychosomatic illness - a physical manifestation
of a mental or psychological condition - is just as "real" an illness as any other to the person who experiences it. There is still a stigma attached to mental illness, but it's only due to people's ignorance. If Dennis indeed does suffer from mental illness - which has been the source of quite a bit of speculation - it would explain a lot, and I think it's important to remember that if that's the case, he can't help it any more than Michael J. Fox can stop his arm from twitching. It's not a choice that anyone would make if they actually HAD a choice.

True, true, all true. Just a point of clarification, however, Michael J. Fox's arm twitches because of the medication he takes, not because of his illness. I know it's a technicality, but without his drugs, he would be virtually stiff with little or no physical motion whatsoever. So technically, he can stop his arm from twitching - it's just that the alternative is far worse.

Regarding mental illness, the thing about it is, unless the person with it is prepared to get help for it, nothing can be done to fix it. IF this was a case of mental vs. physical, there was little anyone could have done about it to change anything. This "breakup" or the ultimate demise of the band altogether was inevitable.

Honestly, I can't fault anyone at this point. All the parties involved had to do whatever it was they felt they had to do based on the information they had. I can only imagine it wasn't easy on anyone, and I'm glad that Dennis seems to have regrouped himself and gotten back on the horse, so to speak.

[Rockwriter]

Absolutely. For the 127th time, I refer everyone to the lyrics of "Great Expectations."

If I felt that way about my life/career, I'd probably come down with a condition that no one could diagnose too.

Exactly. The verse that says "Raise the bar up a little higher/They expect so much of you/Feel the madness accelerating/Because you feel that same way too" always floors me, it's so brutally honest. I know a lot of people disagree, but that song, for me, is one of the best lyrics Dennis ever wrote in that it's the real Dennis, not his persona speaking. A very revealing look at the real person, whether you like that person or not, instead of him trying to write something to make you like him.

As for him being sick or not "really" being sick, I would submit that a psychosomatic illness - a physical manifestation
of a mental or psychological condition - is just as "real" an illness as any other to the person who experiences it. There is still a stigma attached to mental illness, but it's only due to people's ignorance. If Dennis indeed does suffer from mental illness - which has been the source of quite a bit of speculation - it would explain a lot, and I think it's important to remember that if that's the case, he can't help it any more than Michael J. Fox can stop his arm from twitching. It's not a choice that anyone would make if they actually HAD a choice.

True, true, all true. Just a point of clarification, however, Michael J. Fox's arm twitches because of the medication he takes, not because of his illness. I know it's a technicality, but without his drugs, he would be virtually stiff with little or no physical motion whatsoever. So technically, he can stop his arm from twitching - it's just that the alternative is far worse.

Regarding mental illness, the thing about it is, unless the person with it is prepared to get help for it, nothing can be done to fix it. IF this was a case of mental vs. physical, there was little anyone could have done about it to change anything. This "breakup" or the ultimate demise of the band altogether was inevitable.

Honestly, I can't fault anyone at this point. All the parties involved had to do whatever it was they felt they had to do based on the information they had. I can only imagine it wasn't easy on anyone, and I'm glad that Dennis seems to have regrouped himself and gotten back on the horse, so to speak.

Interesting point about medication playing a role. The thing about a lot of people with mental illness is that one of the symptoms of mental illness is denial that you have mental illness, thereby making it terribly difficult to treat. And with artists in particular, a lot of artists who DO know that they suffer from mental illness actually choose not to receive treatment because they fear that doing so will take away the ability to create art. I cannot state categorically that that describes Dennis, but I will say that IF he had been diagnosed with some mental illness, I think he would choose not to receive treatment if he thought it was going to take away his songwriting ability.

What I CAN say is that both Dennis andTommy certainly suffer from depression at the very least . . . not at all uncommon in writers/performers. It's interesting to see how that has colored the history of the band.


Sterling

[tammy]

Thanks for posting the link - I like when songwriters talk about their songs & such. I only just started getting interested in Styx music - boy, hearing those songs again puts me right back in High School! I remember when Styx was playing at a neighboring High School (outside of Chgo) in '75 or so?

[AnnieOprah]

Some don't get it. They just like to continue their hatred.

Like this:]

Its because individuals who like to promote the bands agenda run them off. The bathwater drinkers have unfortunately found this site.

*yawn*

Do any of you seriously think anyone would have said boo about Dennis in this thread had this moron not been the first to open his eveready pie-hole?

Ignorance begets more ignorance.

That said, WTF, people? Is it THAT hard to just keep your opinions about Dennis to yourself in a thread THAT SPECIFICALLY ASKED people who were incapable of doing so to avoid it?

I read it. I'm always curious what past and present members are up to, no big deal. Acknowledge and move on.

Pot, meet kettle...