An example of that respect Tyx has for DDY

[Everett]

OK, well instead of saying former keyboardist, he could have said something that more fits with the truth. Something like "former keyboardist/lead singer/background singer/primary song writer/producer/Main reason why Styx is famous/FOUNDER." OK, I like that better...lol

Or how about the guy that nearly killed the band because of robot's?

[cittadeeno23]

Granted, Kilroy and the robots were a bad idea and basically did kill the classic version of the band. But there wouldn't have even BEEN a band if it weren't for him.
And the guys touring around now calling themselves Styx would not be able to be making money off the Styx name if it hadn't been for Dennis. Period. And there is absolutely no arguing that point. No Dennis, no Styx. PERIOD.

Lead singers tend to get most of the attention, but when your lead singer is your founder, primary song writer and producer, you need to get a little respect. Even if you did ruin the band with stupid robots. LOL!!

[Higgy]

OK, well instead of saying former keyboardist, he could have said something that more fits with the truth. Something like "former keyboardist/lead singer/background singer/primary song writer/producer/Main reason why Styx is famous/FOUNDER."

OK, I like that better...lol

Even just the last part would be fine!

[Everett]

Granted, Kilroy and the robots were a bad idea and basically did kill the classic version of the band. But there wouldn't have even BEEN a band if it weren't for him. And the guys touring around now calling themselves Styx would not be able to be making money off the Styx name if it hadn't been for Dennis. Period. And there is absolutely no arguing that point. No Dennis, no Styx. PERIOD. Lead singers tend to get most of the attention, but when your lead singer is your founder, primary song writer and producer, you need to get a little respect. Even if you did ruin the band with stupid robots. LOL!!

Don't the panozzo's get any credit? With out them styx would not have exsisted period!

[cittadeeno23]

Todd said "former Keyboardist". That is what we are talking about here.
Yes, the Panozzo's along with Dennis founded the band. But Dennis is primarily repsonsible for the success of the band.
I can understand why Todd wouldn't want to mention him by name. He doesn't want to piss off his boss JY!
Maybe they can just refer to him as a former key member. And leave it at that.

[Everett]

Todd said "former Keyboardist". That is what we are talking about here. Yes, the Panozzo's along with Dennis founded the band. But Dennis is primarily repsonsible for the success of the band. I can understand why Todd wouldn't want to mention him by name. He doesn't want to piss off his boss JY! Maybe they can just refer to him as a former key member. And leave it at that.

Yeah i know that's what were talking about here. It's just frustrating that some folks here plasterise dennis as a god and don't give the other guys any credit where it is deserved. Without tommy and jy dennis would've never become what he is today. Let the bashing begin.

[Higgy]

Todd said "former Keyboardist". That is what we are talking about here. Yes, the Panozzo's along with Dennis founded the band. But Dennis is primarily repsonsible for the success of the band. I can understand why Todd wouldn't want to mention him by name. He doesn't want to piss off his boss JY! Maybe they can just refer to him as a former key member. And leave it at that.

Yeah i know that's what were talking about here. It's just frustrating that some folks here plasterise dennis as a god and don't give the other guys any credit where it is deserved. Without tommy and jy dennis would've never become what he is today. Let the bashing begin.

I know!! Where would Dennis be without JY's vocal and songwriting talent - not to mention his musicianship. Yeah, without JY Dennis would be NOTHING. And with out Tommy.... oh wait, Dennis had already had a top 10 and two top 40 hits before Tommy joined the band! Oh yeah and Styx had a top 10 and top 40 hit AFTER Tommy left the band.

Maybe, without those other guys, DDY would have had CONTRIBUTORS to Paradise Theatre and Kilroy so that we wouldn't have had to deal with shit like Cold War and She Cares.

[bugsymalone]

No sure what number of times this battle has been fought on this board, but I have a feeling it is more than once.


Bugsy

[cittadeeno23]

I don't think Dennis is a god! And I think he works his best when with Tommy and JY. NONE of their solo efforts are as good as Styx.
But I do think he is the primary reason for the success of Styx. And I agree that he would not have been able to make Styx Successeful without both JY and Tommy by his side. They all contributed. Including John and Chuck.

[Everett]

Higgy without four other guys to record those songs with they would've never exsisted.

[Everett]

I don't think Dennis is a god! And I think he works his best when with Tommy and JY. NONE of their solo efforts are as good as Styx. But I do think he is the primary reason for the success of Styx. And I agree that he would not have been able to make Styx Successeful without both JY and Tommy by his side. They all contributed. Including John and Chuck.

I admit i do agree that dennis was partialy responsible for their success but some folks here refuse to aknowledge the fact that jy and tommy helped him and the band acheive that success.

[cittadeeno23]

Well, anyone that has been a fan of the band for a long time pretty much knows that it was a 5 man effort.

[Everett]

Well, anyone that has been a fan of the band for a long time pretty much knows that it was a 5 man effort.

Exactly my point now if some folks here would aknowledge that fact this board would be a much better place. But i'm not payin 30 bucks a year for that when i can argue over here for free

[BlackWall]

Let's be fair, "Lorelei", while being a concert favorite, was a modest hit. "Light Up" didn't chart at all. DDY's commercial contribution to "Crystal Ball" was "Jennifer"( a song from the Wooden Nickel time period). Where do you think Styx would have been headed if Tommy had not come on board? Wasn't Dennis' inspiration for the whole "Grand Illusion" theme the fact that he had trouble dealing with the shift in power(Tommy)? They worked off of each other.. This is why none of their solo efforts stack up to Styx. Dennis is a great talent, but he needed the motivation. J.Y. is a key ingredient as well; maybe more so for the behind the scenes aspects, but Styx has more fans with J.Y., than they would without him.

[cittadeeno23]

I agree. All 3 do their best work TOGETHER. Tommy and JY helped Dennis. No doubt about it.

[Everett]

Let's be fair, "Lorelei", while being a concert favorite, was a modest hit. "Light Up" didn't chart at all. DDY's commercial contribution to "Crystal Ball" was "Jennifer"( a song from the Wooden Nickel time period). Where do you think Styx would have been headed if Tommy had not come on board? Wasn't Dennis' inspiration for the whole "Grand Illusion" theme the fact that he had trouble dealing with the shift in power(Tommy)? They worked off of each other.. This is why none of their solo efforts stack up to Styx. Dennis is a great talent, but he needed the motivation. J.Y. is a key ingredient as well; maybe more so for the behind the scenes aspects, but Styx has more fans with J.Y., than they would without him.

Agreed without JY they wouldin've gotten the wooden nickle deal or the a&m deal either imo.

[cittadeeno23]

Also, you always hear about JY's work behind the scenes. But a lot of people fail to mention his guitar work and backing vocals are KEY ingredients to the Styx signature sound.

[Higgy]

Okay, in all seriousness now - I totally accept the fact that Tommy was a big contributing factor to the band's success but absolutely no one can tell me that JY did anything to boost the success of Styx. His songs were south of mediocre, his singing was poor and grating, his guitar playing was adequate at best. Without JY, Styx would have been far better than they were. Really, be honest with yourself here - wouldn't you rather have another Tommy or Dennis song on any Styx album than the JY contribution? Outside of JY's contributions to Kilroy (which ironically he seems to hate), JY brought every album down - and yes, that includes fucking Miss America - which everyone pretends to like. How fucking simplistic is that song. I mean really! Its sandwiched in between Come Sail Away and Man In The Wilderness, two extremely complex and powerful songs - then you get the three chord JY wanna-be rocker bucket of shit. Yeah, it sucks!

Not only was JY completely replaceable - but if his replacement was half the talent of DDY or Tommy, the band would have been far better off.

[Saint John]

Todd calling Dennis their former keyboardist was accurate and I doubt there was any malice intended by his choice of words. It was a reference to the guy ... not a definition of what the guy meant to Styx. Higgy, this is a simple matter of context, dude. The mention required a reference to a specific person and you're trying to make it out that TS was somehow trying to diminish the contributions of DeYoung to the band Styx. But that's simply not the case. And you really stick a bucket full of dicks in your mouth when you say that Todd Sucherman isn't that good of a drummer. In 2009 Modern Drummer Magazine voted him the number one "Rock Drummer" in the world.

[Zan]

"He, who must not be named"

I think that would about cover it.

[DerriD]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again.

(Bullet just misses my head)

Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

[G.I.Jim]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again.

(Bullet just misses my head)

Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

[Jana]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again.

(Bullet just misses my head)

Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

[G.I.Jim]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again.

(Bullet just misses my head)

Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

Made you look!

[Everett]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again. (Bullet just misses my head) Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

Funny Here's an analogy for ya what tommy & JY were to styx are what the big mac and the egg mcmuffin were to mcdonald's. Take those two key ingrediant's away you got nothin.

[Higgy]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again. (Bullet just misses my head) Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

Funny Here's an analogy for ya what tommy & JY were to styx are what the big mac and the egg mcmuffin were to mcdonald's. Take those two key ingrediant's away you got nothin.

I agree. Tommy and JY are like Big Macs and Egg Mcmuffins - cheap, mediocre, fillers to satisfy those without refined tastes. Nightbull, we agree on something! I'll also add that JY and Tommy are like Wal-Mart, 7-11 coffee, and scott toilet paper.

PS - You affection for Big Macs and Egg Mcmuffins continues to paint a clear picture of you. What about Twinkees?

[G.I.Jim]

Just poking my head in to see if it was safe around here again. (Bullet just misses my head) Guess not...Ya'll play nice.

They're just pissed off because they can't admit that Dennis was the ONLY member of Styx that mattered. He WAS Styx. Nobody else contributed anything!

Funny Here's an analogy for ya what tommy & JY were to styx are what the big mac and the egg mcmuffin were to mcdonald's. Take those two key ingrediant's away you got nothin.

I agree. Tommy and JY are like Big Macs and Egg Mcmuffins - cheap, mediocre, fillers to satisfy those without refined tastes. Nightbull, we agree on something! I'll also add that JY and Tommy are like Wal-Mart, 7-11 coffee, and scott toilet paper.

PS - You affection for Big Macs and Egg Mcmuffins continues to paint a clear picture of you. What about Twinkees?

to both of you guys! I was just yanking your chain. "Fooling Yourself" is one of my favorite songs. I like a few Tommy songs. I just like to stoke the fire sometimes.

[Michigan Girl]

This is the best thread I've read in ages...very entertaining!!
Wish I had something insighful to add, but keep up the good
work. You guys/girls are great, very witty!! I am LMAO!!!:wink:

[Zan]

Man, I love egg mcmuffins.

Not the healthiest thing on the block, but T A S T Y. mmmmm.

Hi Michigan girl! Welcome to Hell!

[Saint John]

It's always hard to decipher who was a band's most important member, but from a lay person's prespective and the fact that I have lived in the city of Chicago every day of my life, I would have to say that Dennis DeYoung was the group's most important contributor. That's not to diminish the talents of Tommy Shaw, but I think Dennis and Tommy were far and away the heart of the band ... with a slight advantage to Dennis. He was the voice behind the band's "signature" sound.