Former Styx rocker Dennis DeYoung has broken his silence on Tommy Shaw’s peace offering.
The rocker took to Facebook to share one of Shaw’s recent interviews with a lengthy statement. He mentioned what his former bandmate said about the band’s song ‘Best Of Times’:
“Hey kids, A quarter of a century after the fact Tommy Shaw has an epiphany. In this interview Tommy raves about ‘Best Of Times,’ calling it ‘a brilliant song.’ He goes on to say that they are proud to play it. Well thanks, T, that’s mighty kind of you. And you are correct your solo on the song is perfect… So is the one on ‘First Time’ — you sure can pick the right notes given that are so many to choose from.”
Even though he is happy that his former bandmate admires the song, he wishes for one thing for him:
“I sure wish you would have invited me back this tour to sing this one, it is one of my favorites. In case you have forgotten there’s a bunch more that youze guys are playing that I could sing and play as well, like ‘Mr. Roboto.’”
DeYoung Shared His Concerns In ‘Mr. Roboto’
In the rest of his statement, the rocker also mentioned that Shaw played a key role in creating ‘Mr. Roboto,’ even though he later didn’t want to be associated with the song:
“I know you have been playing this one as an encore for some time. You also had very kind words for that one as well calling it ‘a timeless song with an incredible arrangement.’ No need for you to come up with any songs about robots when ya got that one in your arsenal don’t ya know. Even though that song isn’t about robots but the concerns I had regarding the technology humans could create. Thank goodness that never happened.”
He continued:
“But you know that you were there adding the vocoder to the song and that was you me and JY singing in Japanese that JY’s friend’s parents came up with, man we had fun doing that one. All the band members and two engineers gathered round the board, mixing it in real time, each of us with hands on knobs with individual responsibilities, a real team effort. We wanted it to sound like machines had recorded it which even dictated the way John played his drums. It was also why the guitars are underplayed. Guitars sound too human. This song was our way of saying here come the machines.”
Does DeYoung Want To Be In Rock Hall Of Fame With Styx?
In the interview DeYoung mentioned in his statement, Shaw talked about the possibility of Styx being inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame. He was asked if his former bandmate would want to be a part of it. Shaw admitted what was bugging him about it:
“So, I used to have a lot of things bugging me. After a while, I was like, ‘Why are all these people in my head?’ I’m carrying them around, talking to them – and I finally decided, ‘Okay, everybody who’s up there gather around! I’m letting you all go!’ ‘I hate to tell you, but you’re all released and I’m afraid we’re not ever gonna talk to each other again. And I wish you the best.’ I meant it, and I mean it. By doing that, all [the noise] went away. I did it with everyone living up there. Once I did, I was like, ‘Why didn’t I do that 20 years ago?’ Highly recommended.”
You can read the rest of DeYoung’s statement here.