Gowan, JY and ME on Rock Talk Sunday night

[Rockwriter]

Yes, you read that right! Unbelievably, this Thursday I will be taping an episode of Rock Talk with Greg Godovitz (in Canada), featuring me, Gowan and JY. Greg is old friends with Gowan and somehow he managed to pull this thing off. It will air on Sunday night at 6PM EST in Canada, and you can listen online at www.cfrb.com. The show will repeat that night at 1am.

Greg has requested that if any fans have questions they want him to ask for any of us, you can send them to me and I will forward them. I probably need to have them by tomorrow. Thanks everyone! I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling

[cittadeeno23]

This could be interesting.
Good luck, Sterling!

[rajah2165]

Yes, you read that right! Unbelievably, this Thursday I will be taping an episode of Rock Talk with Greg Godovitz (in Canada), featuring me, Gowan and JY. Greg is old friends with Gowan and somehow he managed to pull this thing off. It will air on Sunday night at 6PM EST in Canada, and you can listen online at www.cfrb.com. The show will repeat that night at 1am.

Greg has requested that if any fans have questions they want him to ask for any of us, you can send them to me and I will forward them. I probably need to have them by tomorrow. Thanks everyone! I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling

Please ask JY why he is continuing to try and summarily dismiss more than half of Styx's catalog? Does he not realize that when he critiques that material that he is slapping the fans,the people who bought all those albums and singles,and the ones that went to all those shows, directly in the face? Styx has fans that liked the rock edge of the band, but also the symphonic, melodic edge of the band. When he constantly criticizes songs like Best Of Times, Babe, Roboto, Show Me The Way, Don't Let It End, etc. he criticizes fans who like those songs - and material that he himself performed on! Why can't he himself accept the bands history, realize that they had a ton of success resulting from both types of music and go from there? Why so bitter?

[gr8dane]

Should be fun.
Greg is hilarious.
He was in the band called Goddo from 75-83 .They still play on occasion and is always good.
He wrote a book called 'travels with my amp',which is lots of fun.
Lemme see,questions?None yet.

[gr8dane]

Yes, you read that right! Unbelievably, this Thursday I will be taping an episode of Rock Talk with Greg Godovitz (in Canada), featuring me, Gowan and JY. Greg is old friends with Gowan and somehow he managed to pull this thing off. It will air on Sunday night at 6PM EST in Canada, and you can listen online at www.cfrb.com. The show will repeat that night at 1am.

Greg has requested that if any fans have questions they want him to ask for any of us, you can send them to me and I will forward them. I probably need to have them by tomorrow. Thanks everyone! I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

I hope everyone is well.


Sterling

Please ask JY why he is continuing to try and summarily dismiss more than half of Styx's catalog? Does he not realize that we he critiques that material that he is slapping the fans,the people who bought all those albums and singles,and the ones that went to all those shows, directly in the face? Styx has fans that liked the rock edge of the band, but also the symphonic, melodic edge of the band. When he constantly criticizes songs like Best Of Times, Babe, Roboto, Show Me The Way, Don't Let It End, etc. he criticizes fans who like those songs - and material that he himself performed on! Why can't he himself accept the bands history, realize that they had a ton of success resulting from both types of music and go from there? Why so bitter?

He is doing it just to piss you off.

[styxfansite]

This was a question that was sent to Chuck Lofrano, DDY's Brother-in-law, that Chuck answered on ddytalk.com. Ask Jy about the his old friendship and why the vitriol he spits out now. Why is he still so bitter?

Q: Were the members of Styx - particularly Dennis and JY - ever friends, or was there resentment all the way back to the early days?
What's your recollection of their early relationships?

A: As far as I can recall their early relationship was one of friendship. They shared a room on the road in the early days and I remember clearly that Dennis wife Suzanne and JYs wife Susie were especially close and Susie was very kind to my wife when they were in Europe. I must say that I was and still am surprised at the vitriol Ive heard coming from JY regarding Dennis since the break up especially starting with VH1s Behind the Music.
Maybe JYs recent interview stating that This is the band I always wanted to have explains his reasons

[styxfanNH]

Why ask questions that you know he won't answer? Especially when you already have typed the answer?

[Jodes]

Sterling, ask about the Toronto SARS Fiasco.. Why hasn't Styx or their management tried to resolved this issue?

Its coming on over 5 years now that they've played in Toronto, and I think if they ever want to tour Canada successfully again (look at our Dollar, 1.08 Cdn = 1.00 USD money is there to be made!) they must make amends with the Toronto promoters and radio stations..

If playing co-headlining dates with Def Lep is what it took, so be it, but after the Western Canadian shows, people were talking about Styx again.. I saw their cds selling well, and people remember them blowing Def Lep off the stage each night here in Canada..

You could also ask them if they know how well the CYO DVD is selling up here as well.. Last I heard it was 1/2 way to Canadian Gold..

Thanks man!

[rajah2165]

Why ask questions that you know he won't answer? Especially when you already have typed the answer?

Why give him a free pass? Ask him to defend what he says publically. Why JY are you such an asshole?

[stabbim]

Why ask questions that you know he won't answer? Especially when you already have typed the answer?

Why give him a free pass? Ask him to defend what he says publically. Why JY are you such an asshole?

What kind of answer would you expect to such a question?

[stabbim]

Sterling: this should indeed be interesting, seeing as he was one of the hold-outs when it came to being interviewed for the book. Surely you already have a stable of backup (and follow-up) questions ready to roll...

[Rockwriter]

Sterling: this should indeed be interesting, seeing as he was one of the hold-outs when it came to being interviewed for the book. Surely you already have a stable of backup (and follow-up) questions ready to roll...

I should probably clarify, I don't think I'm going to be asking any questions of JY or Gowan. I think the format is that all three of us are guests and that Greg will be asking us the questions. That's not to say there won't be some interaction, but it's not me interviewing them, per se. Still, I'm psyched and very much looking forward to it. I WILL forward any and all questions to Greg, but I'm pretty sure he'll pick and choose the ones he deems most appropriate. I can't promise that he's going to say, "JY, why are you such an asshole?", LOL, but I WILL send it to him and let him decide.

By the way, Stabbim, I love the Fish quote at the bottom of your signature. I don't know if I ever mentioned this, but among my fondest dreams was to write a screenplay based on 'Clutching at Straws', and at one point I was in touch with Fish about it. It didn't happen, as most don't, but he's a great guy and I have the fondest recollections of that period. That Fish period of Marillion was brilliant; I consider him to be one of the finest lyricists that genre ever produced.

I hope all is well.


Sterling

[blt man]

Sterling, ask about the Toronto SARS Fiasco.. Why hasn't Styx or their management tried to resolved this issue?

Its coming on over 5 years now that they've played in Toronto, and I think if they ever want to tour Canada successfully again (look at our Dollar, 1.08 Cdn = 1.00 USD money is there to be made!) they must make amends with the Toronto promoters and radio stations..

If playing co-headlining dates with Def Lep is what it took, so be it, but after the Western Canadian shows, people were talking about Styx again.. I saw their cds selling well, and people remember them blowing Def Lep off the stage each night here in Canada..

You could also ask them if they know how well the CYO DVD is selling up here as well.. Last I heard it was 1/2 way to Canadian Gold..

Thanks man!

They can't play Casino Rama and Toronto. It is the same market (trust me - I spent years of summers in the area). This is not unusual for Styx to play the Casino circuit just outside of the major city.

[Jodes]

Yes I know there are contracts that don't allow bands to play a certain venue/distance away etc, but Rama is not "on the outskirts" of Toronto.. It's nearly two hours north!

Also, most of those contracts are 90 days aren't they? I think there's more to it then "we have a contract"..

Just saying that if Styx plays Rama say this month, there in no reason why they can't play Toronto in the Summer or Fall..

Since the Sars thing, they haven't..

[Blue Falcon]

Why ask questions that you know he won't answer? Especially when you already have typed the answer?

Why give him a free pass? Ask him to defend what he says publically. Why JY are you such an asshole?

Due to JY's ongoing crusade to re-write the history of Styx, he will probably accept the question...albeit with a slight edit to: "Why was DDY such an asshole?" Which will of course give JY an excuse to launch into another tirade about "the former keyboardist."

Sooner or later JY is going to start denying that DDY ever existed in the first place.

[Jodes]

I just wish sometimes JY would follow the old Mantra - If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say Don't Say Anything At All..

[bugsymalone]

Sooner or later JY is going to start denying that DDY ever existed in the first place.

Isn't he already doing this??


Bugsy

[brywool]

I know if I were JY, I sure wouldn't want to admit to recording a piece of crap like "First Time". He knows that that entire era of stuff pissed off and lost them some fans. The fans that songs like Babe and First Time brought to the party have long moved on I would bet. The fans that were there for the rock are probably still around. Why would he want to mention that stuff?

Ask him to reconsider their current strategy and to please record a new ALBUM of ORIGINAL, NEW songs.

[Zan]

Ask him if he's still doing the solar thing.

[styxfansite]

You can always ask him how he feels about Tommy doing his Shaw/Blades thing and has he ever thought what would happen if Tommy decided to move on and focus more on Shaw/Blades instead of Styx, what would he do with Styx then?

[stabbim]

You can always ask him how he feels about Tommy doing his Shaw/Blades thing and has he ever thought what would happen if Tommy decided to move on and focus more on Shaw/Blades instead of Styx, what would he do with Styx then?

If the point is just to be provocative, I think I'd prefer the straight-ahead "asshole" question.

[rajah2165]

I know if I were JY, I sure wouldn't want to admit to recording a piece of crap like "First Time". He knows that that entire era of stuff pissed off and lost them some fans. The fans that songs like Babe and First Time brought to the party have long moved on I would bet. The fans that were there for the rock are probably still around. Why would he want to mention that stuff? .

Idiotic, untrue statements like this really piss me off.

Did they ever have a number one record before Babe? No.

Did they ever have a gold selling single before Babe? No. Afterward they had two

Did they ever sell as many copies of a record? No. They sold more copies of Paradise Theatre than any other record.

Were they ever voted the most popular band in America before Babe? No. They were in 1980.

If anything, the switch to a more pop oriented sound provided them MORE fans than they lost.

I'll take First Time over Homewrecker any day of the week.

[Blue Falcon]

Did they ever have a number one record before Babe? No.

Doid they ever have a gold selling single before Babe? No. Afterward they had two

Did they ever sell as many copies of a record? No. They sold more copies of Paradise Theatre than any other record.

Were they ever voted the most popular band in America before Babe? No. They were in 1980.

If anything, the switch to a more pop oriented sound provided them MORE fans than they lost.

I'll take First Time over Homewrecker any day of the week.

Here's another football analogy: the Patriots whined and bitched about Bill Parcells when he was their coach because he was so tough and a disciplinarian. Well, all he did was get them to the Super Bowl and the playoffs every year. Then Parcells quit and the Pats hired a 'player's coach' in Pete Carroll. All the Patriot players started talking about what a 'breath of fresh air' it was to have a coach who wasn't such a tough disciplinarian any more.

Only one problem: the Patriots SUCKED under Carroll, which prompted his firing and the hiring of Bill Belicheat...another tough, disciplinarian coach who has only won a couple of Super Bowls since his hiring. If you want to be on top, you have to have someone making you do things you don't necessarily want to do. DDY was the leader of Styx and was like this, and they had most of their success with him in the band.

Styx is like the Pete Carroll-era Patriots right now: mediocre.

[stabbim]

Hey Zan, any popcorn left?

[Zan]

Hey Zan, any popcorn left?

Heh. No, but I can make more. I bought a shitload of it at the grocery store yesterday.

Can I interest you in some heavily distilled snake venom?

[stabbim]

Hey Zan, any popcorn left?

Heh. No, but I can make more. I bought a shitload of it at the grocery store yesterday.

Can I interest you in some heavily distilled snake venom?

Thanks, but I think I've had my fill of venom today.

I'm feeling an odd craving for 7UP, though.

[rajah2165]

Hey Zan, any popcorn left?

Heh. No, but I can make more. I bought a shitload of it at the grocery store yesterday.

Can I interest you in some heavily distilled snake venom?

Thanks, but I think I've had my fill of venom today.

I'm feeling an odd craving for 7UP, though.

Ooh your little inside jokes are just so funny...

[brywool]

I know if I were JY, I sure wouldn't want to admit to recording a piece of crap like "First Time". He knows that that entire era of stuff pissed off and lost them some fans. The fans that songs like Babe and First Time brought to the party have long moved on I would bet. The fans that were there for the rock are probably still around. Why would he want to mention that stuff? .

Idiotic, untrue statements like this really piss me off.

Did they ever have a number one record before Babe? No.

Did they ever have a gold selling single before Babe? No. Afterward they had two

Did they ever sell as many copies of a record? No. They sold more copies of Paradise Theatre than any other record.

Were they ever voted the most popular band in America before Babe? No. They were in 1980.

If anything, the switch to a more pop oriented sound provided them MORE fans than they lost.

I'll take First Time over Homewrecker any day of the week.

Did the band break up before Babe? NO. I guess by your styx-o-meter it's okay the band broke up from it as long as they were number one...

Blind and deaf idiots like YOU piss me off Rajah. WHO CARES ABOUT A NUMBER 1 SINGLE??? Tommy, JY, John, and Chuck obviously didn't if it meant a dent to their rock/progressive credibility which it did. That's why THEY FIRED Dennis after it came out. The majority of the band didn't want to go in that direction. I think it was probably okay for a one off, but after that, every song Dennis did was the same. How many ROCK songs did he write after that? Not even a handful. "Babe" made them the Tiger Beat band of 1980- funnily enough, it was Tommy that became the Tiger Beat guy over Dennis which made no sense since it was "Babe" that put them there. They weren't in those magazines before "Babe".

"Number One Single" does not mean anything. If it did, it would mean the crap that's number one these days is better than say "Suite Madame Blue", which there's NO way that it is. It means more idiots bought that song than the other songs out at that time, I'm assuming you were one of them. Hell, I was one of them! But is it better than "Fooling Yourself", "Come Sail Away", "Renegade", "The Best of Times", "Lorelie", "Lady", "You Need Love", "Mademoiselle", "Love is the Ritual", "Show Me the Way"?

NO, not by a long shot.

By comparison to their own catalog, "Babe" and "Roboto" were low points. "Homewrecker" was a lot better than "First Time" from a songwriting, performance, and creative standpoint. It wasn't from a vocal standpoint, but there's no way JY is going to outsing Dennis. I'm not standing up for JY as far as what a contributor he is/was to Styx. I'm just saying that these people who ream him for wanting to forget that period (that broke up the band, btw) need to see where he's coming from. Jeez, "Plexiglass Toilet" was a lot better than "First Time". At least it was funny, where as "First Time" could've been a friggin' Shaun Cassidy single.

"Number One" means nothing as far as artistic credibility. "Silly Love Songs" was THE number one song for 1976 over anything else put out that year (fact). Is it a good song that you'd love to hear today? NO. It was a song of that time for that period and sold a lot of records. McCartney doesn't even play it these days because he knows it is a non-timeless crappy song. It made McCartney look like he was cashing in on the disco craze and hurt his artistic credibility for a time. Just as "Babe" and "Roboto" and definitely "First Time" did for anybody who was really listening to the band. Is Dennis playing FT in concert these days? (Serious question because I don't know). I'd be curious if he is or not. I would think not, but I could be wrong.

Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight, Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, Kilroy all went platinum (some of those triple platinum) which is better than gold status, btw.

[sadie65]

I know if I were JY, I sure wouldn't want to admit to recording a piece of crap like "First Time". He knows that that entire era of stuff pissed off and lost them some fans. The fans that songs like Babe and First Time brought to the party have long moved on I would bet. The fans that were there for the rock are probably still around. Why would he want to mention that stuff? .

Idiotic, untrue statements like this really piss me off.

Did they ever have a number one record before Babe? No.

Did they ever have a gold selling single before Babe? No. Afterward they had two

Did they ever sell as many copies of a record? No. They sold more copies of Paradise Theatre than any other record.

Were they ever voted the most popular band in America before Babe? No. They were in 1980.

If anything, the switch to a more pop oriented sound provided them MORE fans than they lost.

I'll take First Time over Homewrecker any day of the week.

Did the band break up before Babe? NO. I guess by your styx-o-meter it's okay the band broke up from it as long as they were number one...

Blind and deaf idiots like YOU piss me off Rajah. WHO CARES ABOUT A NUMBER 1 SINGLE??? Tommy, JY, John, and Chuck obviously didn't if it meant a dent to their rock/progressive credibility which it did. That's why THEY FIRED Dennis after it came out. The majority of the band didn't want to go in that direction. I think it was probably okay for a one off, but after that, every song Dennis did was the same. How many ROCK songs did he write after that? Not even a handful. "Babe" made them the Tiger Beat band of 1980- funnily enough, it was Tommy that became the Tiger Beat guy over Dennis which made no sense since it was "Babe" that put them there. They weren't in those magazines before "Babe".

"Number One Single" does not mean anything. If it did, it would mean the crap that's number one these days is better than say "Suite Madame Blue", which there's NO way that it is. It means more idiots bought that song than the other songs out at that time, I'm assuming you were one of them. Hell, I was one of them! But is it better than "Fooling Yourself", "Come Sail Away", "Renegade", "The Best of Times", "Lorelie", "Lady", "You Need Love", "Mademoiselle", "Love is the Ritual", "Show Me the Way"?

NO, not by a long shot.

By comparison to their own catalog, "Babe" and "Roboto" were low points. "Homewrecker" was a lot better than "First Time" from a songwriting, performance, and creative standpoint. It wasn't from a vocal standpoint, but there's no way JY is going to outsing Dennis. I'm not standing up for JY as far as what a contributor he is/was to Styx. I'm just saying that these people who ream him for wanting to forget that period (that broke up the band, btw) need to see where he's coming from. Jeez, "Plexiglass Toilet" was a lot better than "First Time". At least it was funny, where as "First Time" could've been a friggin' Shaun Cassidy single.

"Number One" means nothing as far as artistic credibility. "Silly Love Songs" was THE number one song for 1976 over anything else put out that year (fact). Is it a good song that you'd love to hear today? NO. It was a song of that time for that period and sold a lot of records. McCartney doesn't even play it these days because he knows it is a non-timeless crappy song. It made McCartney look like he was cashing in on the disco craze and hurt his artistic credibility for a time. Just as "Babe" and "Roboto" and definitely "First Time" did for anybody who was really listening to the band. Is Dennis playing FT in concert these days? (Serious question because I don't know). I'd be curious if he is or not. I would think not, but I could be wrong.

Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight, Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, Kilroy all went platinum (some of those triple platinum) which is better than gold status, btw.

And isn't this all subjective? For the record...yes they were in Tiger Beat prior to Babe. That being said, they were also a band that came in the middle of two different musical eras...the nameless, faceless band, and the band that had to cater to the burgeoning MTV era.

Whether First Time is better than Homewrecker (and I won't make a choice there as neither song appeals to me) is strictly a matter of taste.

Just as how one interprets JY's comments, or Dennis' or any of the inane, idiotic, myopic comments strewn all over this forum is subject to personal interpretation. Railing at who posts what and who is the bigger jerk in terms of fandom...sheesh...I wish I still worked at the company that made the popcorn. You all could use some right now.

[stabbim]

And isn't this all subjective?

Yup.

Just like the outcome of a football game.