Phil Donahue: Look who's here. Danny Goldberg joins us. He's president of Gold Mine Records and manages rock artists. You have organized a group known as Rock Against Drugs. You're also concerned, as are the other guests on the program today, about what you perceive to be some real challenges to the freedom of artistic expression. Dennis DeYoung is the solo rock artist with whom millions are familiar, formally with Styx. Styx, of course, is the name of the river that runs through hell and you of course are doing the work of the devil, so we're going to watch you real close here. Jalil Hutchins and Ecstasy join us, from the rap group Whodini. Jalil Hutchins and Ecstasy. Well, you can't be all bad with a name like Ecstasy.
Does anyone have a copy of this on video of the show?????????
In the transcript they talk about the music from Styx, Kilroy and they showed clips from Styx concerts.
Here's part of the conversation:
Dennis DeYoung: That video---earlier on, when the fellow from Styx was going to announce a song it was called "Snowblind". Now that started all this thing about censorship, for me anyway, which was that Kilroy Was Her thing, was on this hit list there was a song called "Snowblind" which was an anti-cocaine song that was written by James Young and myself. An anti-cocaine song.
Phil Donahue: Can you give us line from it?
Dennis DeYoung: Mirror, mirror, on the wall --- no, I can't as a matter of fact.
Audience: (Laughter)
Dennis DeYoung: Roll the tape and I'll see if I can sing it. Anyway, it's an anti-cocaine song.
Danny Goldberg: Anyway, snowblind is like the blindness----
Dennis DeYoung: Anyway, it hwas ruined this guy's life. He's looking in the mirror essentially and he says what's happening, what have I done to myself, how did I allow this devil in white---there's one of the lines---- this devil in white to take over my soul and my life. It was an anti-cocaine song.
Phil Donahue: And it was on the hit list, meaning let's get this?
Dennis DeYoung: First of all, we were on the hit list because of our name is Styx. Right away the Fundamentalists see Styx, devil worshipers, they belong there. That's all, clear cut. And this anti-cocaine song, getting back to the perception, is that so many young people when we played this song live, would applaud the fact that we said this was an anti-cocaine song, despite what the lyrics said, even though we tried to say this is wrong, the fact that because of our society being, oh cocaine, this is hip, this is cool, they perceive it as a pro-cocaine song. So I want to tell you, what I'm to do when I try to do the right thing and the perception is still different.
Just thought I share a part of the Styx Time Machine from Suite
They were up in the attic, froze in the winter and melted and stuck together from the summers......