For followers of the 1970s music revival, the inevitable has happened:
Styx is back together.
”Styx is reuniting and will be looking to make an album and to tour in the summer,” said Gary Loizzo, longtime engineer of the Chicago-based band.
Frontman Dennis DeYoung is back with the group, known for its combination of pop and pomp. But singer/guitarist Tommy Shaw recently formed a new band, Damn Yankees, with guitarist Ted Nugent.
”Styx is getting back together, but Tommy will not be involved in it,”
said a spokesman from the New York-based E.S.P. Management, which manages Shaw.
Loizzo said Styx would announce its lineup within the next few weeks.
”They are rehearsing at this point, and they`ll make their own announcement when everything is going the right way,” Loizzo said.
Styx scored seven top-10 hits in the 1970s and early `80s, including
”Lady,” ”Come Sail Away,” ”The Best of Times” and the No. 1 ballad
”Babe.” The band released its last studio album, ”Kilroy Was Here,” in 1983 before splitting. DeYoung and Shaw, the main songwriters, pursued solo careers with limited success.
Loizzo said the new album, which the band will record in Chicago-area studios, will probably abandon the conceptual approach of Styx`s previous two records. ”Chances are this will be straightforward good songs,” he said.
Bob Garcia, A & M Records` national director of artist relations, said Styx remains under contract with his label, but ”no one`s heard a thing, which isn`t unusual. If in fact that is happening, that`s great news. They`ve been gone too long.”
