This is gonna be great guys, don’t you think? Guys? Um, Hello?
Greetings everyone from a time not so long ago! I’m currently writing this post from nine days in your past, so let me start off by saying hello to the future world, and I hope you’re all enjoying your flying cars! Since it’s also Monday where you are now, that means it’s time to dig up something that’s even in the past’s past straight out of the auditory time capsule we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s not worried about looking nine days older since she’s already got a face that was made for radio. And the Sponkies…. well, they look so grown up now. But they already have an adult job, and that task is to bring you this lost musical treasure that you won’t need a Delorean to enjoy…
Styx was one of the premier rock acts of the 1970’s and early 80’s, though these renegades don’t seem to get the credit they deserve for rocking out arenas and topping out charts back in the days when most people were donning polyester and hitting multi-colored dance floors. Despite all of the success the quintet enjoyed since bringing guitarist Tommy Shaw into the fold in 1976, keyboardist Dennis DeYoung wanted the band to venture into more artsy type of rock as the 80’s unfolded. That led to the love-it-or-hate-it concept album Kilroy Was Here in 1983… an attempt at musical theater which wound up being the final straw that broke the band’s back..
You’re fooling yourselves, guys…
You didn’t need a crystal ball to see that the band’s harmony was just a grand illusion by 1984. But…… they did release one more album before Shaw and DeYoung both departed, effectively breaking up the group for five years. 1984’s Caught in the Act was basically a live album of a concert they did the year before… except for the lead track. That was the last song Styx’s classic lineup recorded together, and it also happens to be one of my favorites from the band. Hey everybody, it’s “Music Time!”
While I absolutely adore this quirky music video (It’s one of my all-time MTV favorites), it’s easy to see why everyone in the band not named Dennis DeYoung felt entirely uncomfortable with it. Tommy Shaw, in fact, pretty much refused to participate in filming any of the corny scenes that are rampant in the video… in particular, he told the band where it could get bent in thinking he was going to stick his head through the salad plate near the end…
The headcheese is served…
And all I can say to that is boooooo to Shaw. I happen to be one of the few who like and appreciate both Shaw’s and DeYoung’s vision of what Styx should be, and this four minutes of pure, unadulterated fun is the best of times to me…
Though there are some things that, quite frankly, should’ve been left on the cutting room floor…
I won’t let it end. But you’ll have to wait until Monday for another lost earworm, Babe…
Domo arigato for listening, everyone!
