Styx Special Airs on AFN Radio

Filed under DoD News by on March 19, 2010 at 2:42 pm {9 comments}

By George Maurer, American Forces Network – Radio

Tommy Shaw stood alone on stage with an acoustic guitar playing the opening notes of “Crystal Ball.” The rest of Styx was off stage taking a breather after a blistering rendition of “Come Sail Away.”

I was enjoying one of the most memorable concerts of my life and, even then, it was hard to believe just one hour ago I was interviewing Shaw and James “JY” Young. As I was conducting that interview, the friendship and mutual respect Shaw and Young have for each other became obvious rather quickly. Considering what they’ve been through together, I suppose it isn’t surprising.

They say combat veterans share a bond that can only be understood by those who’ve been there themselves. I guess you can say Shaw and Young have seen their own version of combat.

Dennis DeYoung is an immensely talented musician and songwriter and by all accounts, he can also be a bit difficult to work with at times.

DeYoung preferred writing soft, complex ballads. To his credit, DeYoung’s songs were often the source of the band’s greatest successes. “Lady” put the band on the national scene in the first place and “Babe” remains their only number one single. DeYoung wrote “Babe” for his wife, who I’m sure loved it. But when he brought that same song to Styx, they weren’t nearly as enthralled.
(more…)

Recent Comments

DoDLive on Tumblr

  • photo from Tumblr

    An United States Air Force C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft from the 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard, conducts flare training off the Ventura County coast. The flares are used as tactical infrared countermeasures to confuse and redirect heat-seeking missiles.

    (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Dave Buttner)


  • photo from Tumblr

    Famed Yankees pitcher “Lefty Gomez” once remarked “I’d rather be lucky than good,” but for one Tuskegee Airman, luck and good combined to make him one of the most successful combat pilots of World War II.

    During the summer of 1944, 2nd Lt. Clarence D. “Lucky” Lester was flying the P-51 Mustang over the skies of Italy’s Po Valley providing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with cover support on their way to attack airfields in southern Germany.

    Lester was assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron, a part of the 332nd Fighter Group, and had earned the nickname “Lucky” “because of all the tight situations from which I had escaped without a scratch or even a bullet hole in my aircraft.”

    Read the story of a flight that helped Lester earn his nickname here.


  • photo from Tumblr

    The only African-American ace of World War II, and a former Tuskegee Airman, went on to have a career in the Air Force, as well as success in the business world.

    Lee A. Archer joined the Army in 1941 with high hopes of becoming a pilot, but was initially denied because of his race. When the Army’s policy changed about a year later, Archer was accepted to the training program for black aviators at the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama.

    Archer is best known for a day in late 1944 when he was involved in a series of dogfights over German-occupied Hungary. Flying a P-51 Mustang fighter, Archer shot down three German fighters. He would go on to add two more German fighters to his credit to become the first and only African-American ace of the war.

    As a civilian, Archer enjoyed even greater success, serving as vice president for urban affairs with General Foods, as CEO of North Street Capital Corp. and chairman of Hudson Commercial Corp. He also served on the board of directors of Beatrice International Foods and the Institute for American Business.

    Read the rest of his story here.