Too Much Time On My Hands
Styx (/stɪks/) is an American rock band from Chicago that formed in 1972 and is best known for melding hard rock guitar balanced with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre.[6] The band established itself with a progressive rock sound in the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop rock and soft rock elements in the 1980s.
STYX was one of those iconic 70’s to mid 80’s rock bands of our youth. Anytime I listen to some STYX playing I am mentally teleported back to my teen years and all the cool teenage stuff I and my buddies did. IMO a great band of that era. 5 albums in a row went platinum, I still think that is considered a record.
OBTW, In Paradise Theatre. The Sing Snowblind which is an anti cocaine song. I recall as a teen reading that it had backwards lyrics. A US government official said that song if played backwards had the words Oh Satan Move In Our Voices. Of course I just laughed that off but I did try to find it. I took my turntable and placed the stylus at the end of Snowblind and manually spun the platter backwards, BTW not a good thing to do with a hifi cartridge, a DJ cartridge designed for back cuing would be ok. That said being a snot nosed teen I did it anyways and yes the cartridge survived doing this.
So I’m spinning the track from back to front and am not hearing Oh Satan Move In Our Voices. All I hear is gobbledygook backwards music and gibberish. Seeing how the track was spinning near the beginning I began to think this US government official was smoking something… THEN! all of the sudden I heard it, OH SATAN MOVE IN OUR VOICES! I could not believe it. I had to tell someone about it so I dragged my mom, dad and sister to the rec room where the hifi was and played this for them all in my disbelief but shock to hear it as clear as day. Was it intentional or just coincidence? You decide.
OBTW I then dug out another LP that was said to have backwards lyrics, QUEEN, The Game. Song, Another one Bites the Dust. Supposedly it has backwards lyrics of Mercury saying It’s fun to smoke marijuana…. GUESS WHAT!? It does have those backwards lyrics as clear as day too. 🙂
Oh and one more thought, Styx has had a gazillion hits and chart toppers, but one of their iconic songs, their tribute song to America and her then 1976 Bicentennial, SUITE MADAME BLUE is perfect with a good dose of melancholy. That song for America exemplifies what was great of America and why she and the world needs America to be ALWAYS GREAT! As President Reagan called America, The Citadel on the Hill. She may be in troubled times with all we see today, but in her heart and her glorious history and great founding fathers’ vision America is so well tributed by STYX in the song Suite Madame Blue.
Great tune,great band
Styx is a great band. At 67 Tommy Shaw still has the pipes and is a master of the fretboard despite never learning to read music.