. . . And I believe
If we learn from the pastWe'd say haven't
We been here before. . . ?
Styx, 1983
Deja vu? Look around; there are signs that the music business may be returning to the 1970s.
The Sex Pistols; Kiss in makeup; David Lee Roth back with Van Halen.
And Styx and Kansas hitting the road - due to play Utah Valley State College's David O. McKay Center on Friday, Aug. 2. Show-time is 7:30 p.m.
What is this - some king of nostalgic joke?
Styx keyboardist/vocalist Dennis DeYoung has some explaining to do.
"Here's how it happened," DeYoung said from the band's home port of Chicago. "When RCA, who owns the rights to `Lady,' refused to give us license to include the song on our first greatest hits package, we updated the song and called in Tommy (Shaw)."
From there, DeYoung, Shaw and James Young - the latter the group's two guitarists - embarked on a promotional daytime talk-show acoustic tour.
"We didn't plan it," DeYoung noted. "It just sort of happened."
So, DeYoung, Shaw, Young and bassist Chuck Panazzo began rehearsing for a tour.
Panozzo's drumming twin broth-er, John, originally didn't go on tour because of a broken collar bone, said DeYoung. And last week, John Panozzo was found dead in his Chicago home from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. He also suffered from cirrhosis of the liver due to chronic alcoholism. He was 47.
Filling in for Panozzo on this tour is Todd Sucherman, a 27-year-old studio drummer. The surviving members of Styx plan to dedicate the remainder of the tour to John Panozzo's memory, said spokesman Jeff Albright.
. . . Got to rock on. . . .
Kansas, 1980
"Styx and Kansas sort of grew up together," said Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, from a hotel in New York. "We all played with each other in the early days. And this setup does work because most Kansas fans are Styx fans and visa versa."
Unlike Styx, Kansas - which launched its career in Topeka in 1970 - never officially broke up, said Ehart. "I think the reason people thought we were history was all the lineup changes."
The first major shakeup occurred in 1981, right after the "Audio Visions" tour. Lead singer/keyboardist Steve Walsh, who had been the band's voice for more than 10 years, quit. Kansas - then featuring guitarists Kerry Livgren and Rich Williams; Ehart; violinist Robby Steinhardt and bassist Dave Hope - recruited John Elefante to take on the keyboard/vocal duties.
Steinhardt was the next to make his exit, and the band went without a violinist until it found David Ragsdale, formerly of the Tulsa Symphony. By then, Hope had left to become a preacher, Elefante decided to become a Christian music producer and Livgren - being the shy, timid type - felt he had been too long in the spotlight.
Former Dixie Dregs guitarist Steve Morse came and went, but Walsh returned. And he brought bassist Billy Greer with him. Shortly thereafter, another keyboardist, Greg Robert, was added to the lineup.
Even through those revolving doors, music remained a priority for Kansas. "We continued playing all over the place," Ehart said. "But instead of big arenas, we kept ourselves alive by playing clubs and smaller venues."
After releasing 1995's "Freaks of Nature," the band's first studio release in seven years, interest in Kansas began to bubble to the surface, and the band toured as the opening guest for the Alan Parsons Project.
"We got our taste of returning to the big arenas during that tour," Ehart said. "We moved to outdoor amphitheaters and concert halls. And now with Styx, we're moving to bigger places. The combination of playing with Styx in larger areas is really pleasing to Kansas."
. . . The stage is set
The band starts playing. . . .
Styx, 1977
Styx's origin goes back to the late '60s in a Chicago garage.
The Panozzo brothers and DeYoung - who played accordion at the time - were known as the Tradewinds, a name that would change to TW4, and later to Styx, when Young - known as JY to his bandmates - and another guitarist, John Curulewski, joined in 1970.
Four albums - "Styx," "Styx II," "The Serpent Is Rising" and "Man of Miracles" - were released through a small RCA-affiliated label called Wooden Nickel. Though sales were slow overall, WLS, one of the area's prominent radio stations, began receiving an unusual number of requests for "Lady," a tune on "Styx II." Airplay pushed the album to gold status (500,000 copies sold) but didn't help the other albums.
A label switch landed Styx on A&M Records. The album "Equinox" yielded the single "Lorelei" and featured another album cut, "Suite Madame Blue."
Days before the band was to begin a tour, Curulewski - who passed away a couple of years ago - called it quits. After a frantic 24-hour search, the band discovered Shaw, a young guitarist raised in Birmingham, Ala.
Following the tour, Shaw made his recording debut on "Crystal Ball," an album named for one of his dynamic ballads. The album hit parade followed. "The Grand Illusion" (1977), "Pieces of Eight" (1978), "Cornerstone" (1979) and "Paradise Theater" (1980) all sold more than 3 million copies apiece, pushing those releases to triple-platinum status. The singles "Come Sail Away," "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)," "Renegade," the No. 1 "Babe" and the No. 3 "Best of Times" were instrumental in expanding Styx's popularity.
Then came 1983's "Kilroy Was Here," a rock-opera swan song that was based on music censorship. The album went platinum as the band prepared for another tour that featured a short motion picture introduction.
After the tour, Styx released a double live album, "Caught In the Act," went on an extended vacation and eventually disbanded.
"Tommy quit because he wasn't happy with what was going on," DeYoung said. "That's how Styx broke up."
The shared music bug bit De-Young, JY and the Panozzos in 1990. Styx regrouped with Glen Burtnik replacing Shaw. "Edge of the Century" took some time to catch on, but the single "Show Me the Way" became an anthem for U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Still, the band took another extended hiatus. Until now.
"Styx is back," DeYoung said. "It's the real deal. And you and I know it has a good romantic twist as much as anything now that Tommy's back. Glen is still a part of Styx. But he's chosen to be more of a writing partner.
"But there are still some big problems that need to be worked out," DeYoung said, chuckling about a recent dress rehearsal. "Yea, my spaghetti-strapped sun dress clashed with Tommy's silky formal.
"No, really, look around. Everything has its moment," DeYoung said of the neo-punk mainstream sound. "But it doesn't mean all people don't like the music we represent. It's just an added topping to the pizza."
One of Kansas' big moments came when the band was inducted as part of the Rockwalk in Hollywood, Calif., a monument commemorating various personalities' contribution to the evolution of rock 'n' roll.
Kansas - which has had hits such as "Dust In the Wind," "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Fire with Fire" - now sits alongside Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen and Dick Clark at 7425 Sunset Blvd.
"There is a committee comprised of music industry insiders and musicians that nominated us," said Ehart. "We were contacted and made arrangements to put our hands in the cement."
Ehart and DeYoung said Kansas and Styx are planning new albums within the next year.
"I'd love to make a new album and tour again," DeYoung emphasized. "Styx is back and here to stay."
"We've always tried to make things better and bigger," noted Ehart. "Kansas is planning a new album that will have us working with a symphony. It will be a Kansas album with some old remakes and a bunch of brand new songs. It will be fun."
. . . We're all together
Harmony will abound
Look at each other
All that was lost
Is found. . . .
Kansas, 1980
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Kansas albums and career timeline
1. "Kansas" (1974) - no charting singles. Original line-up: vo-calist/keyboardist Steve Walsh, bassist Dave Hope, drummer Phil Ehart, violinist/vocalist Robby Steinhardt, guitarists Kerry Livgren and Rich Williams.
2. "Song for America" (1975) - gold with no charting singles
3. "Masque" (1975) - gold with no charting singles
4. "Leftoverture" (1976) - triple platinum; contained the single "Carry On Wayward Son" (No. 11).
5. "Point of Know Return" (1977) - triple platinum; contained the singles "Dust In the Wind" (No. 6); "Point of Know Return" (No. 28) and "Portrait (He Knew)" (No. 64).
6. "Two for the Show (Live)" (1978) - platinum; contained single "Lonely Wind" (No. 60).
7. "Monolith" (1979) - gold; contained singles "People of the Southwind" (No. 23) and "Reason to Be" (No. 52).
8. "Audio-Visions" (1980) - gold; contained singles "Hold On" (No. 40) and "Got to Rock On" (No. 76). Last album with Walsh.
9. "Vinyl Confessions" (1982) - contained singles "Play the Game Tonight" (No. 17) and "Right Away" (No. 73). First album with new singer John Elefante and last for violinist Steinhardt.
10. "Drastic Measures" (1983) - contained singles "Fight Fire With Fire" (No. 58). Last album with Hope and Livgren.
11. "Power" (1986) - contained singles "All I Wanted" (No. 19) and "Power" (No. 84). Walsh returned and bassist Billy Greer and guitarist Steve Morse are added to line-up.
12. "In the Spirit of Things" (1988) - No charting singles. Last album with Morse.
13. "Live at the Whiskey" (1992) - No charting singles. Also marked violinist David Ragsdale and keyboardist Greg Robert recording debuts. Featured guest appearance by Livgren.
14. "Freaks of Nature" (1995) - no charting singles.
KANSAS COMPILATIONS
15. "Best of Kansas" (1984) - platinum greatest hits compilation featured new Kansas song "Perfect Lover" written by Elefante and his brother Dino.
16. "Kansas Box Set (1994) - Two CD compilation featured new Kansas song "Wheels;" and previously unreleased live cuts of "Death of Mother Nature Suite," "Incomudro-Hymn to the Atman" and "On the Other Side."
Styx albums and career timeline
1. "Styx I" - Styx's only non-charting album featured single "Best Thing" (No. 82). Original lineup: keyboardist/vocalist Dennis DeYoung, bassist Chuck Panozzo, drummer John Panozzo, gui-tarists/vocalists John Curulewski and James Young.
2. "Styx II" (rereleased in 1980 as "Lady") - gold album contained singles "Lady" (No. 6 one year after release) and "You Need Love" (No. 88).
3. "The Serpent Is Rising" - no charting singles.
4. "Man of Miracles" - no charting singles.
5. "Equinox" - gold album contained single "Lorelei" (No. 27). Last album with Curulewski.
6. "Crystal Ball" - gold album contained singles "Mademoiselle" (No. 36). First album with guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw.
7. "The Grand Illusion" - triple platinum album contained singles "Come Sail Away" (No. 8) and "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" (No. 29).
8. "Pieces of Eight" - triple platinum album contained singles "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" (No. 21); "Renegade" (No. 16) and "Sing for the Day" (No. 41).
9. "Cornerstone" - double platinum album contained singles "Babe" (No. 1); "Why Me" (No. 26) and "Borrowed Time" (No. 64).
10. "Paradise Theater" - triple platinum album contained singles "The Best of Times" (No. 3); "Too Much Time On My Hands" (No. 9) and "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned" (No. 54).
11. "Kilroy Was Here" - platinum album contained singles "Mr. Roboto" (No. 3); "Don't Let It End" (No. 6) and "High Time" (No. 48).
12. "Caught in the Act (Live)" - contained single "Music Time" (No. 40). Album marked Shaw's departure.
13. "Edge of the Century" - contained singles "Love Is the Ritual" (No. 80); "Show Me the Way" (No. 3) and "Love at First Sight" (No. 25). Album was guitarist/vocalist Glen Burtnik's debut.
STYX COMPILATIONS
14. "Best of Styx" (1975) - a Wooden Nickel label (RCA) compilation of cuts from first four albums.
15. "Styx Classics" (1986) - an A&M Records label compilation for the "Classic Series Collection."
16. "Styx's Greatest Hits" (1996) - contained revamped version of "Lady." Marked Shaw's return appearance.
17. "Styx's Greatest Hits Part 2" (1996) - contained new songs "It Takes Love" (written by Burtnik and Bob Berger) and "Little Suzie," sung by Shaw (co-written by with DeYoung, Shaw, Burtnik and Berger).