Why Was Roboto A Hit?

[Everett]

IMO it's the worst song they recorded next to plexiglass but yet it was another top 10 for dennis and almost was another number one (thankfully it wasin't) So i ask you why was this crappy song so popular? I bet if i was around back then i would've stopped listening to them right then and there. Did anyone else do the same thing?

[KWH17]

The song was New Wave-ish, and that genre became really popular in the eighties. Plus it was catchy. Plus, it was based upon a dystopian storyline, also very popular back then.


I like the message in the song, it was just packaged in a very funny way. Still I enjoy the song very much. Not the worst off that album, and not even close to the level of Plexiglas toilet. [which I also like]

[shaka]

Roboto is a good song with plenty of hooks and interesting production. I have no problem with the song or the fact that Styx stretched out and did something different.

[BlackWall]

It was the '80s. We were living in a time of "She Blinded Me With Science", "Ghost Busters", and "Walk Like An Egyptian". Come to think of it, "Roboto" really wasn't that bad.. I see where you're coming from Night Bull, but I'm not really surprised it was a hit, either. It was probably a touch more theatrical than most hits of the time, but that's our DDY. If you read between the lines, I interpret the song to be about the struggle with modern life in general. This perspective has always helped me to find an appreciation for it. "Roboto" is just a man who... is about to go postal.

[KWH17]

I interpret it a bit differently. I see the song as being an allegory for our use of technology to escape. I imagine the lyrics telling the story of someone who has hidden his true self behind technology for a long time, conducting his life, both social and private, from behind a piece of hardware.

Examples;
-You're wondering who I am
(Secret, secret, I've got a secret)

-I've got a secret, I've been hiding under my skin
My heart is human, my blood is boiling
My brain I.B.M.

-I'm just a man who needed someone
And somewhere to hide
To keep me alive, just keep me alive
Somewhere to hide to keep me alive
[in this segment, I imagine someone running to a chatroom. It is where you can both be with someone and hide.]

-I am the modren man
Who hides behind a mask
So no one else can see
My true identity

-And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For helping me escape
Just when I needed to
Thank you, thank you, thank you

-The problem's plain to see
Too much technology
Machines to save our lives
Machines, de-humanize

-The time has come at last
To throw away this mask
Now everyone can see
My true identity


Now obviously, a lot of technology that my interpretation lends itself to didn't exist back when DDY wrote the song, but that doesn't mean he didn't see it coming. Maybe he didn't know WHAT technology was going to be coming out, but I think he made an accurate guess of HOW it was going to be used.

[Everett]

If roboto had come out today would it be a hit?

[kansas666]

Didn't Denny say it wasn't even intended to be a hit? But that it was just a connective piece put in to drive the narrative? (narrative? hah, that's a good one.)

[chowhall]

If roboto had come out today would it be a hit?

Very little chance. That type of music is not what is being played on Top 40. It wouldn't make it any less of a song though. I like Roboto, it's the only single I've ever bought from Styx. Whether it's something the Band should have done is an entirely different argument.

[yogi]

I didnt like the song then and I do not like it now. I hated High Time, Cold War and I thought Dont Let it End was one of the weakest ballads ever.

I did like the entire side 2 of that album.

Basically side 1 sucked and side 2 was very good. It was Dennis's album but I thought JY's and Tommy's side 2 saved that album.

Roboto, Heavy Metal Poisoning, and Havent We Been There Before really fit the albums theme.


Back to Roboto it was catchy and a decent song, but it was NOT the Styx that I liked. Styx tried to follow the times and go a little new wave with that album. It sold, but to their base it sold them out & basically Killed the band.


P.S. It FOR SURE would be a hit today if it came out and was sung bey someone popular.

[Toph]

IMO it's the worst song they recorded next to plexiglass but yet it was another top 10 for dennis and almost was another number one (thankfully it wasin't) So i ask you why was this crappy song so popular? I bet if i was around back then i would've stopped listening to them right then and there. Did anyone else do the same thing?

Do you try to ask stupid questions?

[Toph]

IMO it's the worst song they recorded next to plexiglass but yet it was another top 10 for dennis and almost was another number one (thankfully it wasin't) So i ask you why was this crappy song so popular? I bet if i was around back then i would've stopped listening to them right then and there. Did anyone else do the same thing?

Would you have preferred another version of Blue Collar Man?

[Toph]

Didn't Denny say it wasn't even intended to be a hit? But that it was just a connective piece put in to drive the narrative? (narrative? hah, that's a good one.)

IF that was the case, I wonder what they (the band) were planning on as the first single before the record company decided to go with Roboto?

[Everett]

IMO it's the worst song they recorded next to plexiglass but yet it was another top 10 for dennis and almost was another number one (thankfully it wasin't) So i ask you why was this crappy song so popular? I bet if i was around back then i would've stopped listening to them right then and there. Did anyone else do the same thing?

Would you have preferred another version of Blue Collar Man?

Yes i would the more the merrier.

[masque]

it was popular because in my opinion for the following reasons;

1 styx was huge and their new single was going to get airplay
2 it did sort of fit the times of other popular music...probably resulting in some new fans while alienating many in their long time fan base

[cittadeeno23]

Roboto is not Styx' best work. But Dennis basically changed Styx after Peices of Eight. I was a gigantic fan from the Early 70's and followed them all the way through. I was a bit unhappy when
Cornerstone, then Paradise and then Kilroy came out. I still loved the music, but I was much happier with all the stuff up to Cornerstone. It was pretty obvious is was going to happen. They needed to go mainstream in Dennis' opinion if they were going to hit the big time. And his plan worked.
Would I have prefered it if they had kept putting out progressive rock albums like Equinox, Crystal Ball, PO8 and GI? Hell yes! But I knew they would sell out like virtually all the other bands that wanted to make it big-time. The funny thing about Roboto though is it is NOT like Babe or Best of Times or Don't let it end in which Dennis was TRYING to write a hit record. Roboto was just part of his story for Kilroy. But people seemed to like it when it came out. I only liked it because I was such a fan I would have liked anything they put out, but I was a bit shocked the first time I heard it. It was on MTV and It was the Video Debut. I'll never forget sitting there with my mouth open! "Why the hell is Dennis' hair gray? Where is his mustache? What the hell is he singing about"!!!!!
Me and my friends thought it was a joke at first!!! But it then started to get a hell of a lot of airplay on both the pop stations and the Rock stations.