You are a perfect example of why I have never wanted to meet anybody in any of the bands I like. You come off as such a whiney baby, and you make Dennis sound the same way.
You admit that you only post here to "stop the lies" and have no interest in posting about "personal musical tastes". You have no control over what people say here. If someone wants to lie about Dennis or his time in Styx, there is nothing you can do to stop it. But, the truth is NOBODY WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS CRAP until YOU started your campaign. YOU are the one who wants to talk about, not Styx fans, not "Tommy fans", etc. They would rather talk about CotC because it is one of the best albums Styx has ever released, maybe THE best. THAT is the talk you really want to stop, by posting distractions like this crap about Gary.
You are so tied up in your opinions that anybody who disagrees with you is a liar. The truth is that hanging out with Dennis backstage is not the same thing as working with him in the band. Common sense should tell anybody that. But, you are so in love with Dennis that common sense is thrown out the window and EVERYBODY is a liar. That is just riduclous on your part.
I find it ammusing that in the middle of your rant....and that is what it is, a rant...you said, "When Dennis became ill in 99 the band asked Gary to continue being their live mixer.
He thought Dennis would never tour again because he was so ill, he took the offer." If Dennis was THAT sick, don't you think the band saw that, too? Dennis may as well have quit the band when he and the label forced this path on the band. Tommy was right to want to cancel the entire thing.
But, on to other things.
You say here that Gary owes his career to Dennis. How arrogant Dennis is to believe such things. You, his surrogate, claim EVERYBODY owes their success to Dennis. Todd owes his success to Dennis...you ranted about that for days. Tommy owes his success to Dennis. Without Dennis, Crystal Ball and Renegade would not be hits. Styx would not be successful without Dennis producing...he alone invented their sound, steered the band away from Progressive and more into pop. He alone IS Styx.
That is the most self-centered and arrogant argument ever. And, proven complete bullshit by Cyclorama, The Mission, and especially CotC. All three albums are not just worthy of the Styx name but are some of the best music Styx has ever produced...and it was done WITHOUT DENNIS.
In fact, BNW, KWH, and even somewhat EotC prove that Dennis is a mediocre influence at best. Paradise Theater was the last GREAT Styx album with Dennis, 40yrs ago. Since then, Dennis has offered mediocre pop songs and ballads, and Hunchback songs to Styx. He's not the shit any more and has not been for DECADES.
He has also not been this magical Midas touch to anybody's career since then, either. Nobody in his current band has become huge pop stars. As has been pointed out, he rarely talks about them. He has not taken other people's songs and modified them to make them hits. He has had over 20yrs to prove this is the type of person and musician that he is, and he has done NONE Of it. All he has done is tried to promote Hunchback, and live off of Styx, and whine about his treatment from years, and now Decades, ago.
You are too close and believe in this myth of "Dennis DeYoung" that is unrealistic, simply not true, and over dramatized by stories of exagerated opinion.
There are a few simple facts that prove to me that money was not THE reason Dennis is not in Styx:
They had two successful tours and were in the middle of an attempted reunion. Firing Dennis ends all of that. No reunion tour is a LOSS of money. Replacing Dennis risked being able to tour AT ALL. Replacing Dennis risked hardly making any money at all. So, other factors pushed the band into taking that risk. Being without Dennis was enough of a reward to convince them to take the risk of losing everything.
Refusing to even consider a reunion of any kind. A reunion in today's world would be an instant cash grab. If all the band cared about is money, they would be all over doing some type of reunion. But, obviously, the reward of the $'s does not exceed the negatives of having to deal with Dennis in the band again.
Finally, Styx has been a stable band for 20yrs...ever since Ricky replaced Glen. Nobody has quit or been fired. They may have even ADDED Will. They are OBVIOUSLY in it to make music, to tour, to record when the opportunity comes up. Yes, it pays their bills...but they all seem happy to be doing what they are doing.
So many things have been said by Dennis and people like you that convince me that Dennis is an incredibly arrogant narcissist and drama queen. He thrives on the drama; taking credit for "rescuing" people or making them famous or whatever. He CONSTANTLY plays the victim and never takes responsibility for his own actions. He blames everybody else for where he is in life rather then taking his life in his own hands and moving forward. He is quick to call people liars, or whatever, and persecute them instead of just letting it go and moving on with life. He, and you, prove that he is a narcissist and drame queen. Nobody would want to work with somebody so toxic as the person YOUR posts describe.
SuiteMadameBlue wrote:ChicagoSTYX wrote:Believe whatever you like. I’m not trying to argue. I know what I know. Even Gary Loizzo sided with the guys and did not want to work with him. DDY has quite the reputation. Ever hear what Pat Benatar though about dealing with him? Sorry to hear about his sister. As for the Will E thing… I’m glad he’s in the band. they are more focused and creating great new music partly because of him. I welcome him and hope for a few more great albums! COTC is doing much better than anyone expected. Great time to be a Styx fan. Again, I’m not disrespecting you or anyone. I’m not calling you a liar. I think you really believe your story to be true. I will also add that the 3 times I have spoken with DDY he was nothing but nice to me and I have nothing against him personally. We are both White Sox fans!
I read their post about Dennis’s retirement on their then Paradise Theatre web page. And I have it.
I post on this forum to stop the lies that have been told about Dennis since 1999, not to argue personal musical tastes. Why, because I want them back together and the lies make sick and hurt the idea of Styx. I loved that band.
When you bring up Pat Benatar and Gary Loizzo as if you know something it does rub me wrong. Here’s what I know about GL. You see I have nearly every interview ever given. Audio and print and most before 1999.
Loizzo owed his entire Styx tenure to Dennis. In 1979 it was Dennis who moved Styx out of Paragon to Pumpkin against the wishes of JY and Tommy. That’s a fact. Even John was reluctant.
Their first and only Grammy nomination came for Cornerstone for best vocal performance by a duo or group and Gary got nominated for engineering.
Dennis used Gary on PT and KWH and Loizzo got nominated for engineering again for KWH. Damn that Mr.Roboto.
Gary mixed Dennis’s live solo shows from 1984 until 1999. Not Tommy’s nor JY’s
When Styx needed a live sound engineer for RTP Dennis gave it to Gary against JY protestations. Like Todd, JY didn’t think Gary was the right person.
Gary was the engineer on Desert Moon, Back to the World and Boomchild. Also 10 on Broadway and The Hunchback. He recorded Lady 95 at Dennis house. He mixed live sound for the Hunchback in Nashville in 1997. He recorded all of Dennis’s tracks on BNW and assisted Dennis on the mixing.
He did not engineer all of Tommy and JY ‘s songs on BNW Ron Nevison not Gary mixed their songs.
Dennis and Gary were the closest of friends and shared many family gatherings. Dennis mentored Todd, Gary’s son and encouraged him to play keyboards. Todd programed Dennis’s synths for EOTC, RPT and Grand illusion 97 tours.
Todd is credited as an engineer on Volume II and they are still friends. Now don’t you feel foolish.
When Dennis became ill in 99 the band asked Gary to continue being their live mixer.
He thought Dennis would never tour again because he was so ill, he took the offer. And like everyone involved at that time including Chuck they chose money over gratitude and loyalty.
Money always wins in these situations. As I have said over and over it was all about money not music or personalities. As Masque has said it was money and everyone can understand that.
But you and your evil twin, based on your belief in your idols words must make Dennis a villain. He isn’t.,
Benatar? Let’s hear it. It will be more bs. Told to you by your sources.
Dennis was nice to you on those 3 occasions because he is nice and a good man. He didn’t even know who you were.
Money talks.