Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Tommy Shaw
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tommy Shaw | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 11, 1953 |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Affiliation(s) | Styx |
| Years active | 1976 - present |
| Official site | Official website |
Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and has released several solo albums.
Contents |
Tommy Shaw was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953 and played with many local bands in his early years. He left Montgomery after high school to join MS Funk, a Chicago-managed outfit that he played with for 3 years, which gave him a chance to be noticed by the band Styx during a 2-week club gig in Chicago. After MS Funk disbanded, he went back to Montgomery to join a local group called Harvest, which performed in a club called Keglar's Kove (in a bowling alley). Following Styx's move to A&M, guitarist and vocalist John Curulewski suddenly left the band shortly before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement was launched. While playing at the bowling alley bar, as a result of his previous experience with MS Funk in Chicago, he got the call to audition for Styx and was quickly hired.[1]
The first album with Shaw, "Crystal Ball" (1976), was moderately successful (the band still performs the Shaw-penned title track to this day) and also includes Shaw's "Mademoiselle" and "Shooz". Its follow-up, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, going platinum and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in Dennis DeYoung's "Come Sail Away", as well as a second radio hit, Shaw's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)". The album also includes its title track and James Young's "Miss America".
Styx's 8th album, appropriately entitled Pieces Of Eight, was the breakout album for Shaw's songwriting talent with his rock-oriented contributions "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man", which became `70's rock radio staples and perennial Styx concert favorites, reaching #16 and #21 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.[2][3]
Though the `80's brought the downfall of Styx, one of its shining moments was the release of the #1 pop ballad "Babe" from the 9th Styx album, Cornerstone in 1979, written by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. Tension however mounted within the band as Shaw and other band members expressed dissatisfaction with DeYoung's desire to pull the band into a pop radio & theatrical direction, while other members preferred the rock direction of the songs written by Shaw and guitarist James "JY" Young. For this reason, unbeknownst to the public-at-large, Dennis DeYoung was fired from the group in early 1980 for a brief unpublicized moment and quickly rehired.[4].
Shaw's ascerbation was furthered with his disatisfaction of the theatrical-themed album Paradise Theater and brought to a boil with the tour for the next album Kilroy Was Here, which featured a progressive stage show combined with an 11-minute movie intro and theatrical performances by the band.[5]
Shortly after the tour ended, Shaw left Styx in 1983 to pursue his solo career, releasing 3 solo albums: Girls with Guns (1984), What If (1985), and Ambition (1987). Although Shaw never saw close to the success as a solo artist as he did with Styx, he had 1 Top 40 solo hit with the title track from the 1st album.
In the early 1990s Shaw, Ted Nugent, Jack Blades, and Michael Cartellone formed the band Damn Yankees. Their biggest hit, "High Enough", was co-written by Shaw. The band had a strong concert following; however, even though the 2nd album went platinum[6], the band separated. Shaw returned to a reunited Styx in 1995 and embarked on a subsequent tour with them in 1996[7]. Tommy would later record a fourth solo record in 1998: "7 Deadly Zens". Shaw has also worked with other artists on a "Pink Floyd's The Wall" tribute album. He also worked on a KISS tribute album, "Spin The Bottle: An All-Star Tribute to KISS", on which he sang "Love Gun". A second collaboration with Night Ranger's Jack Blades Called "Influence" is due out in early March., over ten years after releasing their first collaboration, "Hallucination". Shaw-Blades did a short tour in the early spring of 2007 to that was called fun, entertaining with really great rock music with awesome covers they did on Influence from the 60's including California Dreamin'. The tour included all the favorites of Night Ranger, Styx, Tommy Shaw and Damn Yankees. Fans wanting more traveled to various shows in the cities.
Shaw currently leads a version of "Styx", but without much of the fan base that previously followed the group. The forced departure of founding member Dennis DeYoung, who wrote and sang some of Styx's most recognizable tunes, is a controversial issue.
- ^ History of Harvest at EddieWohlford.com. Retrieved on August 29, 2006.
- ^ List of Billboard Top 40 hits for 1978. Retrieved on September 9, 2006.
- ^ List of Billboard Top 40 hits for 1979. Retrieved on September 9, 2006.
- ^ Hard Rock bio on Styx. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.
- ^ Wikipedia entry for Kilroy Was Here. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.
- ^ Wikipedia entry for Damn Yankees' 2nd album, Don't Tread. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.
- ^ Wikipedia entry for Styx. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.