Styx Wikipedia - Part 1 Wooden Nickel

[styxfanNH]

This is the first part of the Wikipedia site on Styx. I know we can do better than what is there and get something that everyone/most could live with. Probably best if we deal with it in chunks. Remember that they are getting big on citing your sources. I imagine with Chuck's and Sterlings books out and digested, that we can probably quote both books regularly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx_%28band%29

If you are going to edit the text, copy the last version and edit appropriately.
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Styx (pronounced "sticks") is an American rock band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s, with such hits as "Come Sail Away", "Babe", "Lady", "Suite Madame Blue", "Mr. Roboto", and "Renegade." Styx is the first band to have 4 consecutive albums certified Multi-Platinum by the RIAA.[1]

Early Years
The group originally formed in the Chicago, Illinois, area in 1961 as "The Tradewinds" and played local bars while attending Chicago State University. This early line-up of the group included brothers Chuck Panozzo and John Panozzo on guitar and drums, respectively; and vocalist, pianist, keyboardist, and accordion player Dennis DeYoung. Changing their name briefly to "TW4", Chuck switched to bass guitar and the band added guitarists/vocalists James "J.Y." Young and John Curulewski.

The band members decided to choose a new name when they signed to Wooden Nickel Records; several suggestions were made and, says DeYoung, Styx was chosen because it was "the only one that none of us hated." [1]


The 1970s

Wooden nickel years
The band's Wooden Nickel recordings, Styx (1972), Styx II (1973), The Serpent Is Rising (also 1973) and Man of Miracles (1974), were a mixture of straight-ahead rock with some dramatic prog-rock flourishes and art-rock aspirations. The Serpent Is Rising would foreshadow later endeavors by the group—the so-called concept album would be a medium upon which Styx would rely heavily by the 1980s.

"Krakatoa", a mostly-spoken-word track from Serpent, served as the inspiration from which filmmaker George Lucas created the THX audio logo, Deep Note [2].

On the strength of these releases and constant playing in local clubs and schools, the band established a fan base in the Chicago area, but was unable to break into the mainstream until an earlier song, the power ballad "Lady" (from Styx II), began to earn some radio time, first on WLS in Chicago and then nationwide. In the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album had been released, "Lady" hit the top ten, and Styx II went gold soon after.


Move to A&M
On the heels of its belated hit single, Styx signed with A&M Records and released Equinox (1975), which sold well and yielded minor hits in "Lorelei" and "Light Up". Following the move to A&M, Curulewski suddenly left the band to save his marriage[citation needed], just before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and was replaced by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Tommy Shaw after a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement. The first album with Shaw, Crystal Ball (1976), was moderately successful and also includes Shaw's "Mademoiselle" and DeYoung's "This Old Man".

Its follow-up, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, reaching triple platinum certification and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in the DeYoung-penned "Come Sail Away," as well as a second radio hit, Shaw's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)".

Through the late 1970s the band enjoyed its greatest success. The album Pieces of Eight (1978) found the group moving in a more straight-ahead pop-rock direction and spawned the Shaw-penned hit singles "Renegade," and "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights), plus a minor hit in the release "Sing for the Day" that stopped just short of the Top Forty at #41. Dennis DeYoung effectively experienced a temporary hit-writing slump as none of his songs were released as singles from this album.[3]

Cornerstone (1979) yielded the group's first number one hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe" (which hit number six in the United Kingdom, January 1980 [4]), as well as becoming their biggest international hit and first million-selling single. The album also included the DeYoung single "Why Me", and "Borrowed Time" which was co-written by Shaw, plus Shaw's "Boat on the River". Styx was nominated for the twenty-second Grammy Awards[5] for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Cornerstone's engineers Gary Loizzo and Rob Kingsland were nominated for a Grammy[6] at the 22nd Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Recording.

Tension among band members was beginning to escalate; the planned second single, the DeYoung ballad "First Time," was scrapped after Shaw threatened to leave the band if it was released.[citation needed]

[stmonkeys]

Cornerstone (1979) yielded the group's first number one hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe" (which hit number six in the United Kingdom, January 1980 [4]), as well as becoming their biggest international hit and first million-selling single.





i thought boat on the river was styx's biggest selling international hit. allan?

[Jodes]

Ditto..