It must have been 1980 or so? I couldn't have been more than 10, I really don't know. But the first record I ever "bought" (if buying as part of a Columbia House 12 for .01 counts as buying) was Cornerstone by Styx. And the reason was because I liked the cover of the album. Whatever.
But, I do remember getting the next record, Paradise Theatre, mainly because it had gatefold packaging, opening like a large, flat book. That, and side 2 of the album was laser etched with a Styx - Paradise Theatre logo. It was super cool!
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| Yes, it's the CD insert, but imagine this as a front and back of an album! |
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| cool ass laser etching! |
There were definitely some songs I really loved, like the opening track, A.D. 1928/Rockin' The Paradise, and of course, the hugely popular Too Much Time On My Hands. After that, I seem to remember that, as a kid, some of the other songs didn't appeal as much to me. I thought Lonely People was weird, with its crazy horns and stuff; She Cares was too "pretty" sounding; Snowblind was just too out there, with the weird vocals and sound effects.
Anyway, over the years, you hear the hits and that's it. So, today, I'm looking over the Sunset Grooves potential song list and there's a few Styx songs on there. I started listening to A.D. 1928/Rockin' The Paradise and immediately hit the band group chat to say that even if this doesn't qualify as yacht rock, we need to do it. It's an incredible song and now that I'm actually a musician, I'm hearing these songs differently now and my goodness, they are great!
With regards to being a bassist, I'm listening to the tones that Chuck Panazzo got on this record and I am obsessed. His picked notes ring, have character, and when needed, are gnarly, too. I just used that song Lonely People as a reference for how I want my bass to sound on some of the songs we recorded the other day.
And I know what my next bass cover video is gonna be!
