JY: STYX On Tour...


DESERET MORNING NEWS
JY INTERVIEW
MAY 28, 2004

Classic rock's Styx eager to renew bond with Utah

By Pat Reavy
Deseret Morning News

Question: What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?
Answer: "Give me one with everything."

And with that, not only did Styx guitarist and founding member James "JY" Young have a punch line to a joke, but also a new idea for a song title. And another chapter in the long, illustrious history of the band had been opened.

" One With Everything" appeared on Styx's 2003 CD "Cyclorama" and is the last song on a two-disc collection released earlier this month, titled "Come Sail Away: The Styx Anthology," a retrospective look at the band's greatest hits spanning its entire career.

Young called "Cyclorama" the band's best album ever during a telephone interview from his home in Chicago, strong words when you consider that the career of Styx, one of classic rock's all-time biggest bands, spans more than three decades and has produced 16 top-40 hits - including eight top 10s and numerous multiplatinum albums. From 1977 to 1984, each of Styx's albums sold at least a million copies, including four consecutive multiplatinum albums.

" There's a suspension of disbelief here with all this," Young said, reflecting on more than 30 years of Styx. "In my wildest dreams I never imagined at age 54 I'd still be doing this."
The constant road warriors are touring again, and kicking off the 2004 summer concert season at the USANA Amphitheater tonight, along with Peter Frampton and Nelson (remember the blonde-haired twin sons of 1950s heartthrob Ricky Nelson?).
" In many ways we've never left the road," Young said. Coming off successful recent tours with REO Speedwagon and Journey, Young said Styx has "gone back to minimalism on a grand scale" with its stage show. This year's show includes a medley of songs to give the band a chance to touch on more aspects of its 30-year career than in the past.

"I'm having the time of my life," he said. "Music has an incredible power, which is much larger than ourselves. Music really does have a therapeutic power. A healing power. We see that our music has had such a profound impact. That's a reason in itself to keep going, and to celebrate this power that some higher forces placed in us as a band."

From a musicianship standpoint, Young calls the current lineup - with himself and Tommy Shaw on guitars, drummer Todd Sucherman (the best-kept secret in rock, according to Young), Dennis DeYoung sound-alike Lawrence Gowan on keyboards and Ricky Phillips on bass - the best Styx has ever had.
Phillips replaced Glen Burtnik in September 2003. Burtnik had joined the band twice, once to replace Shaw on guitar during a 1990 reunion and a second time to replace original bassist Chuck Panozzo. "I was very sad about that," Young said of Burtnik's departure. "It was really his choice. He chose family over a profession that took him away from his home too much. It was a very hard choice for him. We were sad to see him go."
Phillips' musical resume includes being a member of the Babys and Bad English, as well as playing with various members of rock's elite.

Utah has long been a favorite stop for Styx. For whatever reason, the Beehive State has provided an amazing crowd each time the band has played here, Young said. Provo was one of the first cities to give "Lady" heavy airplay in the 1970s, and there's been a tight bond between the band and Utah ever since they made a tour stop here in 1973. "It's hard to say why, but the connection has been there."

" Lady" was Styx's first top-10 hit, something that even today Young fondly looks back on as one of his top-three career highlights - the others being the success that came from the multiplatinum albums "The Grand Illusion" and "Paradise Theater." "The Grand Illusion" made the band arena headliners, while "Paradise Theater" was its first (and so far only) No. 1 album. "Some of the highest highs I've ever gotten have been on stage," Young said.

There have also been moments that, at the time, might not have seemed so pleasant - such as 1981's futuristic concept album "Kilroy Was Here," which sparked the cult classic "Mr. Roboto." Longtime fans and critics didn't like the band's sudden switch in musical style when the album was first released. And they loathed the over-the-top theatrical production of the subsequent tour, which included 15 to 20 minutes of acting before a single note was played.

But ironically, Young says "Mr. Roboto" - a song later used for a Volkswagen commercial - actually launched a second generation of Styx fans.

Another unlikely source that may have helped the band gain a new generation of fans came from the foul-mouthed kids from cable-TV's "South Park," when Eric Cartman recorded his rendition of what many consider the band's signature tune, "Come Sail Away." Young said the band gave its permission for the song to be used. "It's flattery," he said. "It says you're important enough to be made fun of."

You would think that by the late 1990s everyone would had heard "Come Sail Away," right? But according to Young, the first time the teenage son of rocker Jack Blades (of the bands Night Ranger and Damn Yankees) ever heard "Come Sail Away" was on "South Park."