Styx Top 10

[Cassie May]

This was posted by Ultimate Classic Rock on Facebook the other day, and was written by Sterling. See if you agree on his take:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/styx-songs/

Gotta love the 1976 photo UCR dredged up to accompany the article.

[Toph]

This was posted by Ultimate Classic Rock on Facebook the other day, and was written by Sterling. See if you agree on his take:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/styx-songs/

Gotta love the 1976 photo UCR dredged up to accompany the article.

What should not be there - Suite Madame Blue and (maybe) Foolin Yourself

What should be there - Show Me The Way and (maybe) Don't Let It End

What is ranked too high - Too Much Time

Biggest Crime - Come Sail Away is the consummate Styx song. It should be #1.

[yogi]

Too Much Time On My Hands is too high on the list. Lady is too low on the list. Show Me The Way should take the place of Fooling Yourself.

#1 & #2 are correct but I would flip a coin for which one is #1.

Come Sail Away was bigger and really launched Styx, but Renegade has aged better, and gets far more love today. They are both GREAT songs and I believe that Sterling may have got it right with the order.

Funny how in the photo the 'rock gods' in the band have on the fur coats and John and Chuck seem to be in the background playing second bannana.

[masque]

it's hard to argue styx songs because depending on your personal tastes you get all kinds of responses....i understand his list and overall it makes sense. my list would be somewhat different.

i would for sure have fooling yourself in the top five maybe the top three as well as the best of times.

babe and mr. roboto would be outside the top 10 for me.

i would move too much time down the list towards the bottom.

i would try to find a way to squeeze in to make room for great white hope and rockin the paradise. it's hard for me to rank them in order but i can pretty much tell you my personal faves listed of by release date;

lady
loreli
suite madame blue
put me on
crystal ball
shooz
fooling yourself
come sail away
castle walls
great white hope
blue collar man
renegade
lights
boat on the river
borrowed time
rockin the paradise
too much time on my hands
the best of times
snowblind
havnt we been here before

[pinkfloyd1973]

This was posted by Ultimate Classic Rock on Facebook the other day, and was written by Sterling. See if you agree on his take:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/styx-songs/

Gotta love the 1976 photo UCR dredged up to accompany the article.

Tommy looks like he's freezing to death (gotta love those Chicago Winters)

[Zan]

I'm sorry, but SMTW should NOT replace Foolin' Yourself! Wow. No way.

And Suite Madame Blue most definitely should be on there!

Gah!

I got no gripe with the list. I have my preferences, but there's nothing that seems out of place to me. (I don't mean "placeMENT" I just mean I think all the right songs are there)

[yogi]

Disagree Zan. Show Me The Way reached #3 in the 90's which gave Styx top 10 hits in 3 consecutive decades. How many groups can claim that? The song also introduced a whole new generation to Styx, it was The Gulf War anthem, was a very popular video and is a GREAT GREAT song.

Personally, I would remove Too Much Time from that list but TMTOMH was a video classic on MTV and a top 10 song for Styx.

Fooling Yourself is a GREAT GREAT song but IMO not near as big of a song as Show Me The Way was.

[bugsymalone]

I pretty much agree with the list. Not that I like every song on it. Lady should be much, MUCH higher. No "Lady." No Styx.

"Show Me the Way" maybe should be there, but the ones there are all associated with what is considered the classic lineup of Styx (even though a couple predate Tommy Shaw), so it makes sense.


Bugsy

[cittadeeno23]

It's mostly just about personal preference. Some people like Styx' hits, and others like the more progressive tunes.
I personally like the songs that didn't get radio airplay, or as I like to call them "too good for radio". There ARE a few of the 'hits' on my list, though. I still say 'The Best of Times' is by far the greatest rock ballad ever created. The harmonies on that song still blow me away 30+ years later.

So my favorites are, in approximate Chronological order:
Lady, Christopher Mr. Christopher, Lonely Child, Midnight Ride, Born for Adventure, Suite Madam Blue, Put me On, Crystal Ball, Fooling Yourself, Come Sail Away, Miss America, Man in the Wilderness, Castle Walls, Great White Hope, I'm Ok, Queen of Spades, Pieces of Eight, Borrowed Time, Love in the Midnight, Rockin' the Paradise, Best of Times, Snowblind and Half Penny Two Penny.
That's way more than 10 but oh well!!!

I think Sterling's list is probably his favorite 'Better Known' Styx songs.
For instance, if say a song like 'Man in the Wilderness' was one of his personal favorite Styx songs, I don't think he would have included it on the list because it is not a song that anyone other than a diehard would know. That's just my guess. I do like that Sterling continues to write articles about Styx. I cannot even count the number of times I have read his book!

[Zan]

Yogi, it's from ULTIMATE CLASSIC ROCK.

Show me the Way is NOT classic rock in any way, shape, or form.

Yeah, Babe and Lady are ballads, but they were also made in the 70s. SMTW was 1990. NOT classic rock.

Not.

Doesn't belong on the list.

[yogi]

Roboto is the furtherest thing ever from 'classic rock'. Techno rock maybe???

I took his survey to mean songs that were vital to what Styx as a band was. That's why Roboto & Babe are in there.

'Show Me The Way' linked them to 3 decades of music & top 10 hits. I would really like to know how many other bands have ever done that. Bet you count them on 1 hand. It was a HUGE song in soooo many different ways.


Fooling Yourself is a great song but other than being the follow up to Come Sail Away and pushing Tommy right to the front of Styx along with Dennis, I dont think it had near the impact as Show Me The Way did.

[Zan]

Of course, you think "that guy from Styx" is a superstar, so...



I do see what you're trying to convey, but Fooling Yourself still gets radio play, and SMTW notsomuch. I think it has more staying power and is certainly a song more people associate with Styx.

[Rockwriter]

Hello everyone:

Thanks for posting the list here, that's great!

Just to clarify, UCR actually assigns stories with a format. The format for Top 10 lists involves popularity. I had a little bit of leeway in order but not much, and I argued to get SMB in there because while not technically a "hit," it is more important to the career overall than a song like SMTW or DLIE. I probably would have gone with CSA as my #1 but they wanted "Renegade." But it's not meant, from my perspective, as a list in that order so much as the 10 songs most important to the career.

In some instances I placed a song higher or lower to keep switching off as much as possible between Tommy and Dennis, instead of having a bunch of Dennis songs in a row.

A word about that picture - my editor said, "Look in Getty and find a cool old picture of Styx." I replied, "You don't understand . . . there ARE no cool old pictures of Styx," LOL.

Thanks! I hope everyone is doing well.


Sterling

[Everett]

lol on the picture comment sterling. Depends on what one considers "cool" I guess.

[Toph]

Hello everyone:

Thanks for posting the list here, that's great!

Just to clarify, UCR actually assigns stories with a format. The format for Top 10 lists involves popularity. I had a little bit of leeway in order but not much, and I argued to get SMB in there because while not technically a "hit," it is more important to the career overall than a song like SMTW or DLIE. I probably would have gone with CSA as my #1 but they wanted "Renegade." But it's not meant, from my perspective, as a list in that order so much as the 10 songs most important to the career.

In some instances I placed a song higher or lower to keep switching off as much as possible between Tommy and Dennis, instead of having a bunch of Dennis songs in a row.

A word about that picture - my editor said, "Look in Getty and find a cool old picture of Styx." I replied, "You don't understand . . . there ARE no cool old pictures of Styx," LOL.

Thanks! I hope everyone is doing well.


Sterling

Have to disagree with you on SMTW vs SMB. SMTW hit #3! It was huge and did put them in that 3 decade elite status as well. Also4 straight presidential administrations (if you are really into obscure trivia) Ford - Bush41. It is also ranked higher on the iTunes list than SMB too. SMB was a decent rock track that broke them in Canada, but in the US it arguably wasn't even the biggest song on the Equinox album. Both Styx and DDY play Lorelei every show, but do not play Madame blue every show.

Have to give the edge to SMTW for those reasons.

[Cassie May]

What's funny about that picture is that UCR's post on Facebook was that photo, along with a caption that read (paraphrasing here), "Can you name this band? Their top 10 songs can be found here..." followed by the link. There were well over 300 replies, and, what I found to be funny (and quite telling) was that there were a lot of responses naming Tommy. ("That's Styx--I'd know Tommy Shaw anywhere.") He was the face of the band then, and remains as such now. (There were a few posts that wondered if they were pimps because of the fur coats! LOL)

[Toph]

Hello everyone:

Thanks for posting the list here, that's great!

Just to clarify, UCR actually assigns stories with a format. The format for Top 10 lists involves popularity. I had a little bit of leeway in order but not much, and I argued to get SMB in there because while not technically a "hit," it is more important to the career overall than a song like SMTW or DLIE. I probably would have gone with CSA as my #1 but they wanted "Renegade." But it's not meant, from my perspective, as a list in that order so much as the 10 songs most important to the career.

In some instances I placed a song higher or lower to keep switching off as much as possible between Tommy and Dennis, instead of having a bunch of Dennis songs in a row.

A word about that picture - my editor said, "Look in Getty and find a cool old picture of Styx." I replied, "You don't understand . . . there ARE no cool old pictures of Styx," LOL.

Thanks! I hope everyone is doing well.


Sterling

I would also argue that if you want a rock track in there at #10, that Grand Illusion (the song) is much more popular and has stood the test of time much better than Suite Madame Blue. I haven't heard Madame Blue on the radio since the early 1990s. I heard Grand Illusion yesterday.

[yogi]

Heard Madame Blue twice last week. Once out of Shreveport and last weekend out of Dallas. The Shreveport station 98.1 also plays The Grand Illusion often.

[cittadeeno23]

I heard Suite Madam Blue twice last week also, on KGB in San Diego. It's in their regular rotation. They actually play a LOT of Styx. You can listen online.

[yogi]

Does anyone know the answer to the question besides Styx name some other bands with top 10 hits in 3 straight decades? I would love to know who the other bands were.

[Toph]

Does anyone know the answer to the question besides Styx name some other bands with top 10 hits in 3 straight decades? I would love to know who the other bands were.

Here are some guesses - need to confirm.

Beach Boys (60,70,80s with Kokomo)
Elton John (70,80,90)
Chicago
Stones
Aerosmith (70,80,90)
Bon Jovi (top 10 post 2000?)
Billy Joel (70,80,90 with river of dreams)
U2? (top 10 post 2000?)
Beatles (recharts?)

All great company!

[Everett]

Does anyone know the answer to the question besides Styx name some other bands with top 10 hits in 3 straight decades? I would love to know who the other bands were.

Actually four decades in a row yogi. Walrus was a "hit".

[Toph]

Does anyone know the answer to the question besides Styx name some other bands with top 10 hits in 3 straight decades? I would love to know who the other bands were.

Actually four decades in a row yogi. Walrus was a "hit".

Fact check - did not chart on Billboard top 100

[yogi]

Walrus was not top 10 hit. Did it even crack any top 40 list? What hit did the Stones have in the 90's, Chicago in the 90's???

[Toph]

Walrus was not top 10 hit. Did it even crack any top 40 list? What hit did the Stones have in the 90's, Chicago in the 90's???

Those are both 60s 70s 80s I believe.

[gr8dane]

Does anyone know the answer to the question besides Styx name some other bands with top 10 hits in 3 straight decades? I would love to know who the other bands were.

Here are some guesses - need to confirm.

Beach Boys (60,70,80s with Kokomo)
Elton John (70,80,90)
Chicago
Stones
Aerosmith (70,80,90)
Bon Jovi (top 10 post 2000?)
Billy Joel (70,80,90 with river of dreams)
U2? (top 10 post 2000?)
Beatles (recharts?)

All great company!

Bee Gees ?
Bruce Springsteen?
Santana?
Jefferson Airplane/Starship?
David Bowie?
Elton John?
Stevie Wonder?
Fleetwood Mac?

[Baron Von Bielski]

For the most part it's a good list. There are of course a few changes I'd make, but nothing to get upset about. Even though I like the song, I'd drop Mr. Roboto for Pieces of Eight and at least put CSA as the number one.

[yogi]

There has got to be some facts on this one.

Styx had top 10 hits in the 70's with:
Lady
Come Sail Away
Babe

The 80's with:
The Best Of Times
Too Much Time On My Hands
Mr. Roboto
Dont Let It End


The 90's
Show Me The Way
Homewrecker

I would truly like to know what other groups ( not solo artists) have done this.

[Monker]

There has got to be some facts on this one.

Styx had top 10 hits in the 70's with:
Lady
Come Sail Away
Babe

The 80's with:
The Best Of Times
Too Much Time On My Hands
Mr. Roboto
Dont Let It End


The 90's
Show Me The Way
Homewrecker

I would truly like to know what other groups ( not solo artists) have done this.

Yeah, Homewrecker is the last top 40 hit for Styx and is the last 90's memory the music listening public has to remember them by.

[Toph]

There has got to be some facts on this one.

Styx had top 10 hits in the 70's with:
Lady
Come Sail Away
Babe

The 80's with:
The Best Of Times
Too Much Time On My Hands
Mr. Roboto
Dont Let It End


The 90's
Show Me The Way
Homewrecker

I would truly like to know what other groups ( not solo artists) have done this.

If you want to take the time, you can go to www.allmusic.com and type in each band. Then go under "Awards" and you will have Billboard chart and date information.