The rock group Styx have been rocking forty plus years. I started listening to Styx as a young rocker back in the late 1970s. They are one of the bands that dominated my record collection. My love for the music began with the 1977 album The Grand Illusion, which contained the very popular “Come Sail Away”. Although that was the popular song on the album and dominated the radio waves, my favorite songs were “Miss America” and “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)”. And that is how my love affair with this band has gone from day one, my favorites on their albums were seldom the popular commercial hits. For example, their album Cornerstone contains the huge hit “Babe”, which is a great song. I mean, in middle school that was the go-to-song for that elusive slow dance with the girl of your dreams! But, my favorite song on Cornerstone is “Boat on a River” with Tommy Shaw on lead vocals and mandolin and it was not a hit single in America, but was top of the charts in most of Europe. Styx songs with Tommy Shaw or James Young on lead vocals appealed to me more than songs that featured Dennis DeYoung. Styx brought their tour to Kansas City a couple of times in my youth, unfortunately the tour I was able to get a ticket to was the one in support of Kilroy Was Here, the worst Styx album! Thankfully, they performed many of their songs from past albums, so I was happy. So here’s to the rock group Styx! Thank you for the music!

My Styx Top Ten

1. Blue Collar Man
2. Boat on a River
3. Renegade
4. Lady
5. Miss America
6. Snowblind
7. Crystal Ball
8. Lorelei
9. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
10. Suite Madame Blue

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