The Styx Reunion With Dennis DeYoung Will Never Happen

The current lineup that calls themselves Styx just did The Big Interview with Dan Rather recently. It seems that 20 years later they are still spouting some of the untruths, negativity and resentment towards the man who guided the band through their biggest success. This would be the success that allows them to tour now and sell tickets. It prompted me to finally come to some realizations that I feel like expressing here. Some may agree and some may disagree. I'm sad that it's come to this.

The Styx Reunion With Dennis DeYoung Will Never Happen

I consider Styx to be one of my favorite bands all time. One of the things I liked about the group was the optimism expressed in some of their lyrics. The idea that you're okay as you are and that you shouldn't be worried about keeping up with somebody who has a better image. Many times that image is fake anyway.

I came of age in my musical awareness in the era of Cornerstone and Paradise Theater. The latter album remains my favorite of the band, but I went on to discover their entire catalog and enjoy The Grand Illusion very much as well. Their music made me happy.

As a fan, you want to believe that the band is getting along and everything is good with them. However, it's all an image. I've grown to realize that a band becomes a corporation of sorts. It doesn't happen initially. Usually, you get a group of friends together who dream of making it big. One day, they get a record deal if they're lucky. One day, they make a hit song on the radio. If they're really lucky, then they can make a few more hits. When that happens, that's pretty much when they become a corporation.

What I mean by that is they now have an image that means something. The brand name, if you will. Look at it this way, all of the old bands that people enjoyed back in the 1970s and 80s, they aren't getting new music played on the radio anymore. Those days are gone. They can make new music all they want, but it won't go anywhere. People coming to their concerts want to hear the hits from their glory days.

At a certain point, you're stuck playing those old songs. However, many of these old bands realize how fortunate they are to have a musical catalog that people want to hear live many decades later. At some point, through lineup changes and all of that, one or two band members are the ones who own the name. Sometimes, key band members are locked out. It isn't that they have passed away or don't want to be a part of it. They are locked out from the group.

I finally got to see Styx play live when they did their Return To Paradise Theater Tour back in 1996. They sounded better than ever. I felt like the band was on their way to possibly making more hits. At that point in time, I strongly believe they could have done it. Dennis DeYoung was always the one who had the better sensibility about what worked for that band. However, when the opportunity struck, the other band members conspired to kick him out of the band.

If you remember VH1 and the Behind The Music series, you can see the hatchet job the other band members did on Dennis. It was never fun for them all of a sudden. I don't believe that. He was a dictator who demanded things be his way. I don't know about that either. While I do believe Dennis was the guiding hand, I don't believe anybody was forced into anything. Regardless, they kicked him out. They even said he didn't want to tour anymore, which has been proven to be another lie by them.

I did attempt to see the band without him not long after he was kicked out, and I left disgusted. Could they not have at least tried to find a person on keys who did his songs and sounded at least close to how he did? Other bands who have done a similar thing have done a much better job with the replacement member. It's almost as if the other two principal members didn't care who they put there. Just put somebody up there, because we're going to emphasize the music of our guitar player instead. We're going to revise what the history was. Whatever.

I've watched in the years that followed as Dennis has worked very hard to show everybody what he can still do. He recorded a far better album (100 Years From Now) than anything they have done since kicking him out, in my opinion. He is showing people he can still sing and play, and the man is 71 years old. To sound as good as he does is amazing.

My hope was that all of these years later, perhaps the band would have gotten over their attitude. Not saying everybody should become friends, but perhaps they would give us all one more tour. Sadly, I understand now that this will never happen. Maybe this has always been the case, but some of us who were holding out hope are now beginning to realize the truth.

My opinion will not be popular with the followers, and really I don't care. Without Dennis, those guys wouldn't be able to use that name and have it mean anything. Dennis was the guiding force that helped make all of that possible for them. Tommy Shaw wasn't even in the damn band when they had their first big hit.

I realize that Styx as I knew them is over. There's a band calling themselves that now, but that band is dead to me. I really don't care what they make or what they do. When I want to hear the Styx stuff live, I will just look to Dennis DeYoung. He's made a better attempt to create an authentic Styx performance than the band calling themselves that now. I look forward to the new album he's currently working on.

Everybody has to live with the decisions that they've made. Fair enough. But, those guys calling themselves Styx now aren't the noble and wonderful guys they have some people believing. They'll make the music, and people will go see it. They're doing okay financially, so why tamper with their model? They don't need to present the Dennis side of the band's catalog authentically. They don't even have to give fans some of the key hits that they might want to hear.

It's just the reality of the world. Greed runs the world. You think about music in a different light, but ultimately it's still about the money after a certain point. Those guys have the name brand with them, and the name brand allows them to do whatever they damn well please. Sadly, they've taken a name that once meant something and turned it into a tribute band. Good for them. I hope they enjoy their money. But the Styx that many of us would lie to see will never happen.

It's All Fake News

I watch and laugh at the people who keep pointing out fake news. Anything I don't agree with is fake news. That's the level it's come to. When Donald Trump pointed to the guy from CNN and called him fake news, followed by, your organization is terrible, I have to admit I had a really good laugh at that. On the other hand, it's kind of spooky to have the president of the United States say that about a news organization that has been around for as long as CNN has. You start thinking about countries that have banned media when the leaders didn't agree with them.

So, CNN has taken that as a war against Donald Trump. It's laughable. How many weeks since the beginning of this Russia nonsense, I'm not sure, but I happened to be in a restaurant that had a TV playing CNN. Sure enough, what was their news of the day? Russia and how it applies to Trump. Keep doing it CNN. You just don't get it.

This alternative media that established outlets are asking social media to censor has been around for much longer than social media and the internet even existed. Anthony Hilder produced records in the 1960s called The Illuminati. Check them out if you want to see people pointing out things that were coming in the future that are more obvious now.

Another person who was around back in the 1980s and was out in the 1990s talking about things that the media didn't want to talk about was William Cooper. Now, I know people are going to say, oh, the UFO Guy? Cooper denounced UFOs in the early 1990s and spent the last decade of his life pointing out what was going on in this world. He was a man who talked about the imminent situation that would be 9/11, and he said bin Laden would be accused of masterminding it. Months before this happened. He pointed out a lot of things. He had the book, Behold A Pale Horse, and he did the Mystery Babylon Series on his radio show, The Hour Of The Time.

Perhaps he lasted as long as he did because most people had no idea who this guy was. You had to actively seek him out in those days. He might be coming to some school gymnasium to do a seminar. He did those, and they were informative. You not only got the information he was willing to present, he taught people how they could set up their own newspapers and micro radio stations out of their own homes. Cooper was a doer, but people didn't know who he was like they do Alex Jones. In the end, he was eliminated. People don't remember him, which is sad.

He was reportedly called the most dangerous radio host in America, cited by Rush Limbaugh in some memo that Limbaugh supposedly got through the Clinton administration. Whether that was true or not, I don't know, but it certainly sounds like something that would have been said by Clinton after listening to Cooper.

But back in those days, it wasn't as easy to hear the alternative angles. There's a difference between fake news and alternative news. Fake news is a story completely made up. There is either no evidence at all or anecdotal evidence that's presented as fact. Alternative news is taking the facts that are there and coming up with a different interpretation than you may be getting from other media outlets. That doesn't mean that the facts are wrong. The interpretation is different and it's for the listener to decide.

This is the problem with all the news and why it's fake. You can find evidence of countless stories that have been faked by the mainstream cable media outlets. All you have to do is a basic search and see for yourself. Sadly, some people will look right at the examples and say they aren't real. They are so committed to that particular source that they don't want to consider the possibility that they are being lied to. They can get downright hostile if you tell them there's that possibility.

There are some interesting videos out there showing how the presidential campaign in 2016 was reported so unfairly. When you look at that, you understand the bias that was put forth against one candidate and for the other. It's there in front of you to see. Reporters and comedians laughing and saying that one person would never be the president while the other one was guaranteed victory. Afterwards, when all this reporting turned out to be ineffective in manipulating people to think a certain way, you saw footage of people crying in the streets.

The candidate who lost the election is now crying about how social media needs to shut dissenting views up because she would have won otherwise. It's not fair. There have always been people who looked beyond what was presented to them to find the real truth. You don't get the real truth from the mainstream media. You never really have, and if it was more truthful, that was many years ago.

Do you get the truth from the alternative media? Absolutely not. The alternative media has their own way of looking at things and shapes things to fit that narrative. This is not to say you're not going to get some truth from them, but you are going to be manipulated to think the way that they want you to think. They are simply using the tactics that they claim the mainstream media uses. They are no different. Even the most sincere of them is guilty of this. It's enough to leave you confused and wondering who to believe. Of course the answer is to trust in yourself and your own instincts.

I do not agree with the movement to censor certain people from social media. I do not agree with the assertion that these social media outlets are privately owned and therefore have a right to censor people with views that they do not like. When you take a company such as Twitter, for instance, when they have promoted Tweets, do you notice that they are all from the same left-leaning perspective? They can't possibly find anybody leaning from the right that is worthy of promotion? This would seem to indicate the political ideology of the people who run Twitter.

There is such a thing as free speech, and it does apply here. If you get onto the internet and the most popular search engine and the two most popular social media sites all have the left-leaning ideology that is to suppress opposing views, you have a problem. Because people mainly go through these channels, how do you suppose they will be affected if the only news that they are bombarded with is from the left and a certain ideology? Might they be affected over time to think that way as well? It's called propaganda when you don't have a choice.

What I see going on in the world today is people being so confused that they don't even know who to believe anymore. Years ago, even if society wasn't perfect, people had a little more sense that they could believe things that they were told. The world didn't seem such a confusing and hateful place back then. Times have changed, and perhaps they have changed because they are being manipulated in that direction? That's for you too decide.

When we have people questioning things that actually happened and saying it's a hoax, we have a problem. All shootings that happened are immediately called false flag hoaxes by some people. Known historical events are now questioned, such as the moon landing. Did we really go to the Moon? Now, people are even asking whether the Earth is round or flat. Maybe this all started with Roswell and the supposed UFO crash? Oh, the government is covering it up. Maybe this started with the JFK assassination and the further assassinations of other important figures in the 1960s? Whatever the case, many people these days are wondering who and what to believe.

I've come to understand that all of the media is fake at times. All of them. You can get truth from these outlets, but many times you're getting it from that perspective. The cable and network news is slanted in a certain direction. Talk shows on the radio are slanted in a certain direction. Alternate media is slanted in a certain direction. It's very easy to understand if you want to take the time to do so.

When you're listening to any news outlet, how do you feel about it? Do you feel content and comforted? Do you feel angry and outraged? Are you wondering whether you're hearing the truth or not or whether it's just anecdotal? Note how you're feeling and write down little notes on a piece of paper when you're unsure that what you're hearing is the truth or maybe you're not hearing the right interpretation. After you've gathered your notes, do some research on what it was you heard. Don't be surprised if you come to different conclusions.

What the so-called respected mainstream media outlets are counting on is that you won't think. You'll take their word for it immediately. Furthermore, they are the ones attacking alternative media. Don't look over there. They are fake news. The Russians are putting them up to it. The alternate media is using similar tactics as well.

What would be nice is to see the media report things honestly and let the viewer decide. Just the facts. That's what the media should be about. But, since we've had a television set in our home, it's been about television programming. Programming is the key word. It was going on then. It's just magnified many times these days. So when you're catching yourself saying something is fake news, be aware that it's all fake news to one degree or another.The current lineup that calls themselves Styx just did The Big Interview with Dan Rather recently. It seems that 20 years later they are still spouting some of the untruths, negativity and resentment towards the man who guided the band through their biggest success. This would be the success that allows them to tour now and sell tickets. It prompted me to finally come to some realizations that I feel like expressing here. Some may agree and some may disagree. I'm sad that it's come to this.

Did Kansas Rip Off Journey For Carry On Wayward Son

There's a guy on YouTube doing videos. His name is David Spuria and he calls himself The Real Music Observer. I enjoy his videos because he's talking about bands that generally don't get talked about anymore. If you're a Journey fan, you might want to check out what David is up to. Every aspect of the band seems to be covered by him.

I like David, but I don't always agree with his interpretation of things. I like that he gets people talking about the subjects that he brings up, and that's why I hope he continues to do this. He did a video asking if Kansas stole from Journey when they created their big rock and roll anthem, Carry On Wayward Son. I'll answer the question by saying, no they did not.

When you go back to the 1970's when both Kansas and Journey had gotten their record deals, neither band was really conforming to what the music industry expected of them. I will tell you this right now, neither one of those bands would have made it big had they began their run in the last few years. Back then, at least the music industry allowed bands to grow and find their sound.

Around 1976, there was pressure on these bands to come up with a hit. It forced a dramatic change in the band Journey, and it inspired Kansas to make two of the biggest hits in music history. Journey had a song on their 1976 album, A Look Into The Future, with lyrics sung by Gregg Rolie. It was called, I'm Gonna Leave You. Not a bad song, but not a big hit either. Kansas had begun to get FM attention with a song they had done called Song For America, but they were still looking for a hit.

The story of Carry On Wayward Son is an unlikely tale. Kerry Livgren wrote the song, but he didn't come to the band with this song early in the creative process. Fellow songwriter Steve Walsh was in a bit of a dry spell, so it fell on Kerry to write almost all of the content for their fourth album, Leftoverture. It was near the end of the creative process when he came to the band with Carry On Wayward Son.

This is where Journey fans sometimes try to say that Kansas stole the song I'm Gonna Leave You. The main riff in that song bears some resemblance to brief moments in Carry On Wayward Son. You can hear it just before the main lyrics begin with the, once I rose above the noise and confusion. That guitar riff may be all of about 30 seconds at a few different moments in the song. It's not even the main hook.

When they got to the studio, Kerry hadn't even written an a capella part to the song. We all know the beginning of the song when they all sing, carry on my wayward son. It was the band that came up with that together. That's an iconic moment in itself, because when fans hear that, they know what's coming. The main guitar riff in this song sounds nothing like the Journey song, and the lyrics for either of the band's songs are completely different.

In the music industry, bands may Inspire each other and sometimes write songs that sound in places similar to other bands. I can understand where a person might think that a band stole from another band. Led Zeppelin has been accused of this on numerous occasions to the point where they've had to give credit to other songwriters for some of their big hits.

It may be entirely possible that Livgren heard the Journey song, and while he was putting together what became Carry On Wayward Son, he was inspired a bit by what Journey had done. Anybody thinking that Kerry sat down and wrote that song because he heard the Journey song is either delusional or a hardcore Journey fan. This isn't what happened.

I understand that David is generating many hits on his YouTube page by talking about Journey and some of the controversies going on with the band. It certainly sparks a lot of conversation. David may be milking it just a bit because Neal Schon shared  the link to his video saying Kansas had stolen from Journey. In either case, the song was not stolen in this instance. It certainly gives people cause to speculate.

Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X_2IdybTV0

I'm Gonna Leave You by Journey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TlHv6UdIIM

One Of The Funniest Sitcoms Of The 1980's Was Night Court

Back in the 1980's, NBC TV had a comedy night on Thursdays. The show that gets forgotten in the shuffle is Night Court. This show was probably the funniest of the bunch, but you don't even see it in syndication much for some reason.

The show takes place in a New York court room at night, where liberal, idealistic judge Harry Stone presides. Harry's a good hearted guy with a sense of humor and a love of the music of Mel Torme. Harry Anderson stars as Harry and probably got the gig for his work on Cheers in his guest appearances there.

The show could go from off the wall comedy to messages that made you think. The show's heart was one of the things I loved about it. It had a positive message to it. This show was a nice anchor to the comedy block as it usually left you laughing.

John Larroquette won several awards playing the slimey, womanizing Dan Fielding, the District Attorney. Markie Post played Public Defender Christine Sullivan, who was known to wear her heart on her sleeve and had a love for Princess Diana and the music of Barry Manilow.

Charles Robinson played Harry's assistant Mac Robinson, and Richard Moll placed the big, intimidating, but lovable bailiff Bull Shannon. Two of the three actresses who played the other bailiff passed away. Marsha Warfield held that role and did a good job playing Roz for several seasons.

There were many good guests, including veteran actor John Astin as Harry's biological father Buddy Ryan. Buddy was a former mental patient ("But I'm feeling much better now"). You can have fun just spotting the cameo appearances of some actors who went on to bigger things, such as Brent Spiner of Star Trek fame.

Marathon court sessions were often good fodder for jokes. Harry would have to preside over so many cases before midnight, and that meant a late night for all. It could get crazy in the court room, and Harry would have to explain things and lay down the law. One time he explains and then asks, "Are there any questions?"

Somebody responds, "Why is the sky blue?"

Harry replies, "Because it it were green, we wouldn't know where to stop mowing."

The show had lots of laughs. If you can find it on TV and want to laugh, give Night Court a shot. You won't be disappointed.