Solo Careers
Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw released a string of solo albums, beginning with DeYoung's Desert Moon and Shaw's Girls with Guns in 1984. Both Shaw and DeYoung generated a moderate amount of interest with their first solo albums. DeYoung scored a Top 10 hit with the title track, "Desert Moon", which was also heavily featured on MTV. Shaw also cracked the Top Forty with "Girls with Guns" and he made a cameo appearance on the NBC television series Miami Vice. DeYoung's follow up single "Don't Wait for Heroes" also featured a video that was heavily featured on MTV, but it failed to generate significant radio airplay, only peaking at No. 83. During the filming of the video, DeYoung injured his back, causing him to back out of opening a North American concert tour for Huey Lewis and the News. Shaw, however, did tour in the fall of 1984 as an opening act for The Kinks.
Shaw's 1985 album What If and DeYoung's 1986 album Back to the World also charted, along with singles from film soundtracks. Shaw's "What If (Remo's Theme)" from Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins entered the Billboard Hot 100, while DeYoung's "This is the Time" from The Karate Kid, Part II soundtrack was featured for a short while on MTV. The first single from DeYoung's Back to the World, "Call Me", peaked at No. 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart and was a modest pop hit, peaking at No. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, by the late 1980s, both Styx members' solo careers gradually simmered down to a modest but loyal fan base. Neither DeYoung's Boomchild nor Shaw's Ambition achieved nearly the same levels of earlier albums, although Shaw's cover of Jim Peterik's "Ever Since the World Began" charted briefly. Shaw also recorded sessions with Peterik's group, Survivor, on 1986's When Seconds Count, and Shaw's solo band opened the majority of the U.S. shows for Rush's 1987-88 Hold Your Fire Tour.
Meanwhile, James Young recorded his own solo albums: City Slicker (with Jan Hammer) and Out On a Day Pass, both attracting only minimal attention. In 1995 James Young partnered with other Chicago musicians and released an album under "James Young Group" titled Raised by Wolves.
In 1989, Tommy Shaw formed Damn Yankees with Ted Nugent, Jack Blades, and Michael Cartellone. Meanwhile, the remaining members of Styx made plans for a comeback in the new decade.
Read more about this topic: Styx (band)
Famous quotes containing the words solo and/or careers:
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
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“So much of the trouble is because I am a woman. To me it seems a very terrible thing to be a woman. There is one crown which perhaps is worth it all—a great love, a quiet home, and children. We all know that is all that is worthwhile, and yet we must peg away, showing off our wares on the market if we have money, or manufacturing careers for ourselves if we haven’t.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)