Scorpions' Matthias Jabs: When the Smoke is Going Down

The Scorpions are set to embark on the final leg of their last U.S. tour.

Most Scorpions fans would agree, "Blackout" is the band's take-to-a-deserted-island album.

The 1982 release not only truly broke the band in America, but it is pretty much a melodic hard rock masterpiece from start to finish. While "No One Like You" -- and its breakout solo by guitarist Matthias Jabs -- was the defining hit, the album was littered with songs that could have been successful singles. I often wonder how "Can't Live Without You," "You Give Me All I Need" and "Arizona" would have fared on the charts, if only they'd been released.

Despite all the album's air-guitar anthems, however, it is the haunting closing number, "When the Smoke is Going Down," that inevitably stays with me long after the song has ended. I've always been intrigued by the imagery wafting through the seemingly perfect combination of lyrics and music as the song examines the post-show viewpoint from the band perspective.

"Just when you make your way back home
I find some time to be alone
I go to see the place once more
Just like a thousand nights before
I climb the stage again this night
'Cause the place seems still alive
When the smoke is going down."

I've been to enough backstage affairs over the years to know the routine -- with all the aftershow hoopla, greeting of fans and inevitable walk to the buses that will take the band to a new city, where the process will all be repeated again -- and this perspective rings true to me. I get lost in the song, and can totally see band members returning to a mostly empty stage for a moment of quiet solitude, reflecting on the power of the shared experience with fans an hour or two earlier and their different paths of the present. All, quite literally, as the smoke is going down.

"This is the place where I belong
I really love to turn you on
I've got your sound still in my ear
While your traces disappear
I climb the stage again this night
'Cause the place seems still alive
When the smoke is going down."

 It's hard not to see parallels between this song and the current state of the Scorpions, who are beginning the final leg of their final U.S. tour on Friday. (The tour's third stop is Monday at USANA Amphitheatre near Salt Lake City.) With their announced intentions to retire from touring, most likely at the end of this year,  the smoke is metaphorically beginning to swirl around the band's 37-year career.

But with so many memories and so much great music that always will remain only an album, cassette, CD, iPod or YouTube clip away, perhaps the smoke will never completely settle over Scorpions nation -- a place which will always seem still alive.

Here's my latest interview with Jabs, which occurred on May 22, where he called from his home in Germany during a short break from the band's grueling three-year ultimate tour. We only had 10-15 minutes to chat, so there were many topics left uncrossed on my preferred-questions list. But we did have time to discuss an array of subjects, including where the band is at mentally at this stage of the final tour, some of his favorite openings to Scorpions shows over the years, one more studio project that should be intriguing to fans and why he has been so underrated and never received his due in the annals of all-time great lead guitar players.

Oh, and we also touched on "When the Smoke is Going Down" and why he can't resign himself to the tendril mercies of that metaphorical mindset just quite yet.

DOUG FOX: I've got to say, it is such a pleasure to talk with you again.

MATTHIAS JABS: Have we talked before?

DF: We did, we talked two years ago when you came to Salt Lake City.

JABS: OK.

DF: Yeah, we had a great interview. It's been one of my favorite ones.

JABS: Oh, good.

DF: When we talked last, two years ago, you were just at the beginning of this

final victory tour around the world behind "A Sting in the Tail" and this
grand retirement idea that you'd adopted was still kind of fresh and new, I
imagine it still seemed like quite a long ways away to think about it. But
now that you're entering the homestretch and just about to embark on your
last U.S. tour, how is everything standing? How are you holding up, and what
are your thoughts.
 

Klaus Meine, left, and Matthias Jabs making it real in 2010. (Doug Fox)

JABS: Yeah, first of all, it's amazing how time flies. Two years ago and more 

when we started this final tour, this farewell tour, and you know, two years ago
I didn't expect that we would return to the U.S. one more time. It felt like
the last time. But thanks to the demand all around the world, we are playing
certain cities one more time. And that feels great. And we have had a lot of fun
on this final tour. In the beginning, you know, it started out like maybe
I'd expect it -- very mixed emotions, half sad, half OK, not knowing what to
think. But meanwhile I can tell you we've really enjoyed this tour. The fans
are fantastic and the thought is much clearer now. We know that this is
going to be the end, and we're really enjoying the final tour so much that
it's all been worth it. And now I can imagine much better that, you know, 
things will come to an end.
 
DF: Right. Now when we talked before we talked about the song "When the 
Smoke is Going Down," a fantastic song, and how, you know, maybe the smoke 
wasn't quite going down on you guys yet, it was maybe floating around 
and hovering ... but now that you're in that final stretch, can you get yourself 
to that place where the smoke is going down, so to speak?
 
JABS: Yeah, I know what you mean, but you know the difficulty is, when you're
still on the road, the next show is the most important one for our fans.
Like tomorrow, we are flying to Morocco for our very first time -- and last
time -- in Morocco. And to those people, it's the first time they'll ever see
the Scorpions, you know? We cannot, like, tour, generally speaking, with a
feeling, "Oh, the sun is going to set," like we're slowing down or
something. We have to keep it up 100 percent until the very last show and
then we can go, "Oh, OK, last night was the show and that's it now." It's
difficult mentally to think that you are on your final tour while you still
are preparing for every show like you've always done it. I don't know if
that makes any sense, but you have to sort of forget it, forget that you are
on the final tour in order to be in 100 percent shape for the upcoming shows in
order to enjoy them. You don't want to, like, be sentimental. You want to
have fun and have power. And therefore it's like in conflict to a certain
extent and it's better to decide mentally to go, "OK, surprise me. Tell me
when the last show is done." Mentally I can't do that every night to prepare
myself for, you know, this could be the last time in Salt Lake City, or the
last time in lovely whatever. It's like afterward is better than before.
 
DF: Well, I can totally understand that feeling because I think us fans are
experiencing that feeling with this tour because I know when you came to
Salt Lake City on this tour last time, I prepared myself that that was going
to be the last show that I would be able to see you guys. But then to see
that you're coming back, I was just like, "Oh, this is unbelievably great!"
I must say that you guys are really going out on a high note because I've
seen you since way back -- the first time I saw you was on the "Blackout"
tour -- and your show this last time had such energy and was so well-prepared
and everything, as a fan, I could say, "You know, I appreciate what they've
done and this was such a great show that I can accept that it's the last
one." But now, you've got to live up to that again!
 
JABS: Yeah, indeed. Yeah, I understand. You're right, even for the fans it might

be the same twist, so to speak. But I'm glad that we have another chance to
come around because everybody likes to play and perform. We are enjoying it
so much and we are in great shape. Most people say, you know, "Unbelievable,
you guys should continue." But I think our decision is the right one because
now we are in such great shape. Klaus [Meine, vocalist] turns next Friday, like in 
three days from now, he turns 64, and we will continue definitely until the very 
end of this year. If we do anything next year, we don't know yet, I don't think so.
I think the touring will probably end this year. And even though we might
finish a studio project, we don't stop making music, but the typical go on
the road and never stop touring, that will come to an end. And, I think, to
leave the last impression, like what you just said, the show was great, the
band is in good form and you leave the last impression, and the people go, "OK,
they were a great band, good career and everything." And that is the idea
behind staying like this long time on tour.
 
DF: So you may still do other studio projects?
 
JABS: We have one. You know we released "Comeblack," I don't know if you 
know about this ...
 
DF: I do. I have that, yes.
 
JABS: Good. The funny thing was when we announced "A Sting in the Tail" as
the last studio album and the last tour, the record company offered us a
contract for two new studio albums.
 
DF: Oh, OK.
 
JABS: OK, this makes one of them. We also have unreleased stuff, from, 
especially, the early '80s. It was a very creative time for us, you know, starting 
with "Blackout" and "Love at First Sting," and lots of songs which didn't make it
to the albums back then are still great, they're just unfinished. We already
started earlier this year, when we had, like, a certain break from touring. We started 
to listen to everything seeing what's good, what's not good, what's worth updating 
and improving. So this is something we're going to take a serious look at early next 
year in January or February, and I think it's a good thing and the fans will enjoy it. 
It's the sound and the musical ideas from the time when we really got very popular. 
People say the early '80s were our strongest time, anyways. It's a final album for 
the fans with a big thank you for all the support and love all these many years. 
And it's something that could be great.
 
DF: Yeah, I think that could be fantastic. Hey, I also wanted to ask you about
something that's always fascinated me, it's that special moment at the
beginning of the show, you know, when the house lights go out and everything
is dark, and there's a surge of excitement that goes through the crowd. I'm
talking about those moments right after the lights go out, but before the
band starts playing. I know what that moment is like as a member of the
audience, but I was wondering what is that moment like for you personally?
 
JABS: Oh, that is the moment when you definitely know, and the adrenaline flows
and you're just about ready to go on stage, or run up the stairs, because
you're always, like, waiting behind the stage. Then the intro starts, then
that's the moment where you have, like, full concentration. I usually warm
up half an hour before we go on stage, so the fingers are well warmed up.
That's the moment when we hear a click, like a starting click, so that we
all know when to come out of the dark. It's very dark up to the stage.
That's the moment -- and from then on, you forget everything that's
happened before the show. Then for the two hours, I'm within the music and
with the audience. It's a great place to be, on stage, I'm telling you,
because we have so many people around us who keep talking to our ears, you
know, all day. But on stage, there's nobody who can talk to us. And we are
way too loud, we couldn't even hear what they are saying. So that's kind of
cool. It's like you live in your own world.
 
DF: That's what's fun talking to you about that because those of us in the audience, 
we have an idea of what that must be like to be up on stage, but we can never really 
know. That's why I like asking about it. One thing I've thought the Scorpions have 
always done really well is capitalize on that momentum at the beginning of the
show. Over the years, you've had great concert openings. You know, I can think 
back to the "Blackout" and "Love at First Sting" tours where you come running out 
from under the drumset, and you did that different version of "Coming Home" on
the "Face the Heat" tour with Klaus out there sitting on a stool before you
guys came running out ...
 
JABS: Yeah.
 
DF: And I thought you did a fantastic job, like I mentioned a few minutes ago,
with the "Sting in the Tail" opening. How much time do you spend coming up
with those ideas, and do you have a favorite one of the tour openings that
you've done?
 
JABS: I always remember that "Blackout" opening, and it seemed so great with 
the drum riser going up and the Venetian blinds flipping over and the lights
from behind and the smoke.
 
DF: Exactly!
 
JABS: And actually we all liked that so much that we integrated it again into this
show again.
 
DF: Yeah, at "Blackout" again, right?
 
JABS: Yeah, after the drum solo, it's the same visual like [from] the "Blackout"
days. We talk about it all the time, about the new ideas. But to actually do
them, we don't take that long. We have good production people. And we have a
production meeting, say, like two months before the tour, and then
everything gets prepared, and then we usually have very little rehearsals.
The production rehearsals might take, depending on how big the shows, maybe a
week. But I know that some bands are rehearsing and practicing their music
for a show for like four weeks. We've never done this. We do maybe a day.
But it's mostly the technical side that needs to be rehearsed. Or if we do
pyro, which we don't use all the time. Sometimes we do, but the Scorpions,
we're never really like the pyro band like Motley Crue or other bands that
have explosions all night long. The Scorpions don't like it so much, it's
deafening. We don't rehearse that much, but I like that, it's like
spontaneity and the freshness at the beginning of the tour. If you don't
over-rehearse things, then it's more vital, I think.
 
DF: I agree. I've got to say that when it comes to great lead guitar players I
think you've been criminally underrated all these years. I mean, I never see
your name on the lists of guitar greats that they come out with, and I think
that's kind of a travesty. Does that bother you at all, not getting the
recognition in that fashion?
 
JABS: Actually, years and years and years ago, yes it bothered me a little bit.
Never too much because I know what I can do. Sometimes, yeah, I wonder why? 
Is it because we are a German band and we are far away from the [United] States 
most of the time? I don't know what the reasons are. I'm quite happy the way I
am (laughs], therefore I can do without that. But you know, I've never
figured out why it is. I don't know. You tell me. [laughs]

 
DF: Well, you know, I was thinking about it this morning as I was listening to
tapes driving in, getting in the mood for the interview, and it occurred to
me, I wonder if it's because you're in a two-guitar band? A lot of the top
guitarists that are considered and get the notoriety, a lot of them are
from one-guitar bands. And, to me, that shouldn't make a difference, but I wonder
if it does.
 
JABS: The attention is divided, even though I'm very clearly the Scorpions' lead
guitar player. Yeah, maybe it's because of that or because maybe, I don't
know, the Scorpions were changing guitar players. But then again, that can't
be a reason because one guitar player was there for a year and a half,
another, Uli [Roth], for five years, and I'm in the band for 34 years. The career 
basically started when I joined.
 
DF: I agree, I totally agree. My friends and I have talked about that, too, that
are Scorpions fans. You're up there in our top five or 10 guitarists of all
time, and yet we can't even find you on a Rolling Stone list of the top 100. I think 
that's insanity.
 
JABS: I don't know, maybe it's bad management, too. You know, the other guys 
have, like, a better publicist! [laughs]

 
DF: I suppose having 10,000 people a night going crazy over your work helps you
forget about all that?
 
JABS: Oh, absolutely! Yeah, I don't think about it every day.
 
DF: Hey, I just wanted to say, because I'm not sure when they're going to cut
this interview off ...
 

MODERATOR CUTS IN: Actually, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm going to 
have to ask you to wrap it up.
 
DF: OK. I just wanted to say that probably one of the most favorite parts of the job 
that I have is getting the opportunity to tell people whose music has had such a
big impact on my life, just to have that opportunity to tell them thank you.
So when I tell you that you're criminally underrated, I really mean that.
Your music and the way you play and the way you approach the instrument and
the concerts and everything -- it's really been like a real charge of energy
and excitement listening to your music for the past 30 years, so I just
wanted to take this chance to tell you thank you.
 
JABS: Yes, thank you. That's very nice.
 
DF: Matthias, thank you so much. It has been a pleasure again.
 
JABS: Yes, thank you.
 
DF: I'll see you in Salt Lake.
 
JABS: See you in Salt Lake!
 

Related content: To read the news story based from this interview, click HERE. To read my 2010 interview with Matthias, click HERE. To read my backstage report from the Scorpions' 2010 concert at USANA Amphitheatre, click HERE.

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Davy Jones: 'Remember me the way you hoped I'd be'

Davy Jones, 66, died today of a heart attack near his home in Florida.

 
As a young boy growing up in Southern California in the 1960s, The Monkees were one of my first entry points into music — albeit through television.

It was appointment TV for my brother and I on Saturdays to gather round the set and watch the weekly hijinks of the pop sensations, while enjoying the inevitable musical performance of a song near the end.

Davy Jones, as was the case with millions of other Americans, ended up being my favorite Monkee. No offense to the others, he just seemed to bring the most life and joy to the screen — and that resonated with me.

Jones, 66, died earlier today of a heart attack near his home in Indiantown, Fla. The completely unexpected news gave me pause as I fondly recalled my early fascination with The Monkees.

Fortunately, I have a more recent memory of Jones to fall back on. I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with him prior to a local concert on Memorial Day 2010. And also to meet up with him with some members of my family just prior to the show.

The interview, conducted on May 24, 2010, turned out to be one of my favorites. Not because of how I was able to craft the interview or prepare the questions — in fact, I pretty much had to throw my pre-interview notes to the wind as Jones took control from the outset and went off on many unprompted, but interesting, tangents — but just because of the excitement and enthusiasm he still so obviously had for life.

In preparing this interview for publication today — the first time it has been presented in full Q&A format — I was looking for added meaning in his words, in light of his unexpected passing.

I found it right near the end of our interview proper, before the closing small talk. Davy was expressing the joy he felt at meeting people who still recognized him in his journeys, and how it was his philosophy to leave a happy trail wherever he went.

And then he said this:

"Remember me the way you hoped I’d be."


Thanks, Davy. I will.

Note: Interview conducted on May 24, 2010


DAVY JONES: Hey, Doug, how ya doin? This is Davy Jones calling.

DOUG FOX: Hey, I’m doing great, how are you?

JONES: I’m just looking at my things here. I’ve been out on my farm all morning with my horses and I’m sorry I’m late.

DF: Not a problem at all. So you’ve got a few minutes now? Now would be good?

JONES: Sure, sure, sure.

DF: First, is it OK to tape this?

JONES: Sure, yeah, what are you writing for?

DF: You’re doing a concert here Orem, Utah, on Monday, a week from today, so I’m doing an advance for that concert in the newspaper where that town is.

JONES: Cool. We’re actually coming in from different parts of the country. My band, different members come from different places. Next week is going to be a fun week starting off in Utah because we’re then going to go on to Louisville and then up to Chicago, so it’s going to be cool. So we’ll be together to learn some new songs.

DF: You’re going to be learning some?

JONES: Well, you know, we’re going to Japan, so I’ve got a number of songs over there that I don’t do when I’m working. So we’ll just have to spruce up on those, you know.

DF: Do you find that you have to do that often, work new songs into your setlist all the time, and have to go back and relearn them?

JONES: I don’t, you just need to brush up. You pretty much get it after one go through and then it’s on the No. 2 go-through it sounds like we’ve been playing it for a while, you know. It all depends. Just on this one occasion in Japan, it has songs that I’ve performed, and had hits with in Japan, over the last, like, 20 years. So [there’s] a couple of things it might be interesting to include, but yeah, I do do different shows, in a casino, to a stage in the park or to a family audience at Epcot Center, you know what I’m saying? The songs are all there. You know, all the songs are there. You’re still listening to “I’m a Believer,” and “Clarksville” and “Pleasant Valley” — so we’ve got all that going. Then there’s just the rest of the communication that we have with the families and the people, you know, they like good music and they hear good musicians playing it, so I think everybody gets a little happy.

DF: Yes, that’s probably one of the highlights of your show. It’s why people enjoy coming, I imagine, it’s very up, and a happy atmosphere.

JONES: Yeah, you know, we make fun of ourselves, and make fun of life and try to be as normal as you can. Obviously carrying all those songs and having shared them once before, and here they all go again. They keep going and going. I hope that the records being made today are long lasting. It would be nice to have those memories, you know, for these people in 40 years later, like we had it, or I had it, maybe not you, I don’t know how old you are, but it’s an interesting thing. It’s up to me to change my presentation with the occasion. You can’t be everything to everybody all the time, so when I go into a Vegas situation, maybe I’m a little more sort of adult with my delivery. I mean, I’m not a promiscuous person, but sometimes you go on the edge, you know, and let people have to think about certain things. It’s a good thing because the songs cover everything. If you sort of enjoy music, then you’re going to be listening to 10 to 12 songs that you recognize, you know what I mean? So, you’ll know them again. It’s real fun. These musicians are quite excellent, so I’m very lucky to be in [good] company, and obviously we love to come up to Utah. I used to go as a kid up to Alta, Utah, skiing and I’ve had a few friends that lived there in the state. And it’s good, and now we’re going to the park and meet all the families, and have a good old time — and be positive and hopefully meet a couple people. We might stay on an extra day actually. Just like chill and breathe some of that mountain air.

DF: That’ll be good for you! It’s funny how you mention the families coming to the show and things like that, because there’s a local guy who met you back in an airport here in 1968, and he was going into the service, and you ended up signing a concert ticket for him and he took it with him to Vietnam as his good luck memento. He mentioned how much he’s looking forward to coming to the show on Monday night. So things like that really resonate with people.

 JONES: Well, you know, I don’t just pass over those kind of emotions. It’s really difficult. I try to, when I finish, just turn off and just go back to my horses or spend an afternoon just strumming on my guitar, you know, in the sunshine. And when we don’t want to be on the beach, we can go up to Pennsylvania to a lovely old house we have up there and still be able to ride and still be able to enjoy that for two to three months. After 50 years one would think that there is something with a little bit of a schedule going on, you know. It’s awfully hard for me to have sympathy with people in the media, I’m talking about the so-called baby boys and baby girls that come out of nightclubs at 4 in the morning and sort of like make obscene gestures. But why are they there? Why didn’t they just go to Denny’s and have a nice sandwich and then go to bed at 10:30, you know what I mean? Enjoy the day! It all depends what it is. I’m pretty happy in Florida. My wife and I, we’ve been married since August, and we’ve known each other, we worked in children’s theater together. And I think also, it’s the first time I’ve had a companion that’s in the business, and is active and working. So, you know, I know what it feels like to be sometimes waiting for her to come home. My past experiences, I didn’t realize the pressure and the strain and the responsibility. So I’m glad to travel with her. We tend to [share], for the show, a lot of ideas about our performance. She’s a flamenco dancer and has danced all over the world, and so she’s got a lot of rhythm and she knows what she’s doing. So we do some movement things and she dances in my show sometimes, she won’t, unfortunately, be there [in Utah], she’s dancing this week in a festival in Miami. It’s quite a passion. So, unfortunately, she’s not going to make it. But we were there about a year ago, we went to, not this last film festival, but the one before that. I’d done an episode of SpongeBob. They actually viewed, with the screen in front, the screen back and all the actors doing the names and voices and then I pop up. It’s quite interesting, I enjoyed it. But I love the mountains. Obviously a few other people have found that to be good, too. I’m a seasonal person. So, I’m sure you’ve experienced that up there and looking forward to meeting, as I say, people, and just enjoying an afternoon in the park.

DF: Well, here we have two seasons — winter and summer.

JONES: Well, that’s good enough, too. Two out of four is not bad.

DF: The thing is, today it’s totally snowing here if you can believe that.

JONES: No.

DF: Yeah, we haven’t had snow for probably about a month, and then today ... but it’s supposed to warm up again so I think your show will be fine, but we are getting snow today.

JONES: Maybe I should go into the blanket business. Somebody’s going to be selling hand warmers or things like that. Hey, it doesn’t matter to us. That’s the difference. It could be 10 or 10,000 people, it doesn’t matter. When I was in the theater, I worked so hard on the matinees, because everybody’s kind of holding back, you know, waiting for the evening show. It felt like that way. Or maybe that’s like the fantasy that you have. You know, they say don’t go a matinee, you’ll only get half a show. But me, I don’t. I enjoy trying to top what I just did. It’ll be fun. It’ll be nice for everybody. Just bring the families and just make sure they all bring their blankets if it’s going to be cold, and we’ll warm you up with some familiar music.

DF: Where do you live, what state?

JONES: I’m in Florida half of the year, and I’m on the road a third of the year, then I’m in Pennsylvania. We have a place just outside of Harrisburg, in Snyder County, and then we have a little place where I’m talking from right now, which is a little further up the state from Hollywood, Florida, where we have our apartment. Just a little further upstate, Indiantown. It’s 20 miles west of Stuart. So we’re inland between Okeechobee Lake and the ocean. And we keep our horses here in the winter. We’ve had two beautiful foals born. Beautiful, two colts.  So we’re looking forward to that. It’s a bit of a passion. I can’t beat ’em with what I’ve got, so we’re going to try to breed a couple and see what happens in a couple of years from now and concentrate on other things.

DF: Well, I think that is something people, unless they’ve done the research on you, probably don’t know ... I know I was surprised at how involved you are with horses. And that I even saw where you said that if you hadn’t got your break in the entertainment industry, you thought you might have ended up as a jockey.

JONES: Yeah, and I’ll probably end up as a trainer one day, but not until I can do it full time. I don’t want to be going on the road, you know, laughing and singing and then calling and finding out how the horse is doing. You know what I mean? I want to be able to get myself into a position where maybe I do do a couple or three or four things a year. I don’t live in Hollywood, California. I’m not walking the beat, you know what I mean? I don’t have high-powered press agents, and agents, and publicists. You know, as Ringo [Starr] said when I asked him about, “Do you have a resume?” He said, “If they don’t know who I am by now, they’ll never know.” And that’s all he said. Aw, screw it man! Let the performance be the thing that speaks, you know? Not some history that people remember you from, you just go on and do it. And they say my ... he’s getting better and better, you know. I mean, that’s what you want to do. You want to entertain them to the point that they’re impressed, you know? It’s a natural thing for us. We’re there and that’s what we do. I was just in Pittsburgh for a couple of days, hosting a PBS special with all kinds of doo-wop groups from the ’60s and ’70s, you know, Paul Revere and Peter Noone and Roger McGuinn and all these people and Sandy, Sandy, ah what’s her face now ... Jackie De Shannon, who wrote some lovely songs back in the ’60s. She was there and we co-hosted this thing together, a PBS fundraising thing, so that was kind of cool. We do things with the Indiantown education coalition. We do a benefit every year in a local place, and we get a couple other people and we raise 20, 30 thousand dollars, and some kid goes to college, you know what I mean? Just quiet little things, commuting and stuff. I was up with Michael Bolton, I did a benefit with him for battered and abused women. He does it every year and has done it for about 20 years. And then the Boys and Girls Club of Florida, and other sorts of things that are able to be sort of shared. But it’s awfully difficult when you’ve got children and grandchildren, you’ve got performances, you’ve got travel ... very rarely are you sitting down at Thanksgiving, you know, eating with everybody else. Memorial Day, you’re rarely there, you know what I mean? And everybody’s celebrating with a glass of vino and you’re sort of like in a hotel lobby waiting to get picked up for the soundcheck.

DF: Right.

JONES: So you can’t grumble. There are ups and downs, there are benefits and setbacks, you’ve just got to be able to balance them all. Some people can’t, and that’s why you get all this bad behavior. It seems like you have to have rehabilitation these days to be famous. It takes years to be able to present yourself, both on stage or you know in print. It doesn’t really matter. You just have to be positive, so that the negativity that you see all the time in television, you know they’ll be researching these things they do and these exposes and stuff. You never saw the stars like Lauren Bacall and Bogart and Mickey Rooney, you didn’t hear scandal, you know what I mean? And they weren’t in your face and filming you going to the bathroom, making obscure situations that we’ve all experienced like Big Brother or something. Well that Big Brother’s going to go to college and you share sort of a dorm and things like that. And then you have to pass each other or say, “Good morning” or then you have to sit in the rec room together or do whatever. But then because they’re being filmed they use bad behavior because that brings attention. You know, all the quiet people, you know what I mean, who are also contributing. So they contribute continually and loud voices become a very unnecessary thing in your life. It’s very difficult, even ... well, even [scoffs], as a writer, you’re a writer, I write, sit down and do stuff, OK. It’s very difficult to have the same needs you had when you were 21. So I go out and have a beer with the boys, and I might have some fish and chips down at the local pub or something, but it’s not something you’re able to frequent because of your schedule and because of commitments and all. So that’s why I think a lot of people run into trouble who have celebrity, and then all of a sudden they don’t have it and then bad behavior brings them back into the forefront, and other unnecessary [things]. Everything can’t be peaches and cream, you know what I’m saying? You’ve got to have a bit of roughness there once in a while. And you see these young people, whether it’s Miley Cyrus or whether it’s, well you remember the days of the Osmonds ... and all that family kind of stuff. Well, people are more Christian than one would imagine. They are more interested in simplifying than one would imagine. The bad news always seems to make headlines, but you know, there are a lot of people with families alive and well and living in America. You know what I mean? It’s unfortunate there are some states that are troubled more than others, and every good intention is sort of given them, and what speed or what rate, I don’t know. But, I mean, I’m lucky. I’m going away this weekend. I’m coming to Utah. I’m going to travel on a plane and people will think, “Hey, you’re Davy Jones, aren’t you?” We try to leave a happy trail. All right? So bad behavior is not associated with who we are. Remember me the way you hoped I’d be. You know what I mean? And that makes it all good. And then the music speaks for itself. Maybe the sun will be shining and it will be nice and warm and we’ll all be just, like, getting some vitamin D. Let’s pray for that, OK?

JONES: Will you be coming to the show?

DF: Yes.

JONES: Well, introduce yourself, and we’ll see what happens. Looking forward to it.

DF: OK, I would love to.

JONES: All the best.

DF: Thank you.

JONES: Goodbye.

'A Different Kind of Truth' sets Van Halen fans free

Back in the late 1970s and early 80s when Eddie Van Halen was constantly rewriting prevailing wisdom on what people presumed possible to achieve on electric guitar, he used to describe his playing approach as falling down the stairs and landing on his feet.

Applying that same analogy to “A Different Kind of Truth,” Van Halen’s first studio album with lead singer David Lee Roth in 28 years, it sounds like Eddie should update the status of his guitar acrobatics to sliding down the banister, dismounting with a front pike somersault and sticking a perfect landing at the bottom.

As far as classic Van Halen fans are concerned, “A Different Kind of Truth” – pound for pound, perhaps the heaviest VH record ever -- constitutes several giant steps in the right direction.

From the opening guitar growl of "Tattoo” to the sustained 30-plus seconds where he slowly wrings every last bit of fuzz and distortion out of his instrument to close “Beats Workin’,” “A Different Kind of Truth” expertly testifies that Eddie has once again taken his guitar playing “Back to the Future.”

There was a reason, after all, that when Marty McFly needed some serious guitar mojo to forcefully frighten his father into critical action during the popular 1985 Michael J. Fox flick that he did so with a cassette tape labeled “Edward Van Halen.” In its original incarnation, Van Halen always did tend to scare parents while unabashedly encouraging the young at heart to become “Unchained” and “Hot For Teacher” or simply to “Dance the Night Away.”

Classic Van Halen was quite literally a glimpse into rock’s future, as nearly every new album contained at least one reinventing-the-instrument guitar moment. Think “Eruption,” “Spanish Fly,” the “Mean Street” intro, “Cathedral,” and “Little Guitars Intro,” not to mention any number of “How-in-the-world-did-he-do-that?” in-song solos that routinely sent guitarists worldwide scurrying back to the woodshed to learn at the frets of Professor Van Halen.

And sometimes the guitarist trying to learn what the younger Van Halen did was the guitar god himself. When I had the opportunity to interview him in 1998 during the course of the Van Halen III tour where the band was playing a lot of Roth-era songs that hadn’t been played in more than 15 years, Eddie told me that relearning a part of 1978’s “I’m the One” had given him fits.

“It sure blew my mind -- I didn’t realize how much my playing has changed over the years,” he said. “You know, it’s an unconscious thing, but there’s a lick in the beginning that I’m going, ‘Man, how in the hell did I do that?’ And it took me a while to learn.”

“A Different Kind of Truth” is literally Van Halen relearning, revisiting and reclaiming its legacy as the greatest American rock band of all time. Much has been written about the band going back into the vaults and revamping up to seven old demos -- many of them from the unreleased recording sessions financed by KISS bassist Gene Simmons prior to the band’s official debut with Warner Brothers.

While that approach may indeed seem at odds with conventional wisdom, just ask yourself this question: When has Van Halen ever done anything by the book? From a listener’s standpoint, I couldn’t care less if the smoking guitar riffs that billow throughout “A Different Kind of Truth” were written last century, last year or last night. The simple truth is there remains nothing else quite like it in music today.

When discussing “A Different Kind of Truth,” there is no getting around the chip off the old block in the room. As Roth declared during the band’s 2007-08 tour, this edition of Van Halen is three parts original, one part inevitable. The latter half of the equation refers to the addition of Eddie’s son, Wolfgang (21 next month), on bass, following the subtraction of Michael Anthony.

Clearly, Anthony, who had remained a member of the band through all three of its previous lineups, was popular and extremely fan-friendly. His onstage exuberance and background vocal abilities are missed. However, it’s quite likely that were it not for Wolfgang, there would have been no reunion with Roth, no new tours and no new music. The potential to play with his son was likely the main impetus that led Eddie back to rehab, back to the stage and, eventually, back into the studio for the new recording sessions after years of band inactivity – sans a somewhat disastrous reunion tour with second-singer Sammy Hagar in 2004. In that respect, it’s hard to begrudge father and son this unprecedented opportunity.

Yeah, but can he play? The proof is in the creme brulee. Wolfgang is not only locked in step with his uncle, drummer Alex Van Halen, but he adds his own little flourishes throughout the entire record and holds up the bottom end with aplomb. The kid is more than all right. And the rhythm section on this entire record is off-the-rails powerful.

The typical sign of a great album from an established band is if there are three or four tracks that you would want to see in concert. Let’s just say I would be ecstatic if the band played the entire record from top to bottom’s up. Track by track, and there are a blazing baker’s dozen of them, this album ranks right up with the band’s best work.

Here’s my song-by-song breakdown:

“Tattoo” -- The diehard Van Halen camp has not been so split over the merits of a lead single since the release of “Jump.” Half the fanbase seems to love it, while the other half loathes it. I fall into the former group. While it did initially raise some red flags with those who hoped the band would return to its hard rock roots, those fears would prove to be completely unfounded. When the initial reviews started filtering out in advance of the album’s release, I scoffed when many claimed “Tattoo” was the worst song on the record. I now hear their point. I still love the song, with Dave’s lyrical imagery and Eddie’s guitar solo making it already better than most anything else on the radio today. I also like the subtle keyboard in the verse -- the only spot on the album where any keys are apparent — and the “Down in Flames/You’re No Good” volume swell ending.

Favorite lyric: “Swap meet Sally, tramp stamp tat, mousewife to momshell in the time it took to get that new tattoo.”

“She’s the Woman” -- While “Tattoo” hints of “Down in Flames,” this is the first track that draws heavily from an earlier demo. Same title and music, completely different lyrics. While on the subject of lyrics, I’ve got to give it up to Roth here. It’s incredible having his gift of gab and wink-and-a-nod sense of humor back in play. This song is a perfect example. The last Hagar-attempted lusty love song with the band was the wholly unappetizing “Up For Breakfast,” and its line upon line of third-grade fruit metaphors (“Cherries on bananas ... honeydew my melon”? Seriously? Gag me with a prune!) But with Dave we get lines like “suburban garage a trois” and “I want to be your knight in shining pickup truck.” Upbeat and fast-paced, this track features a funky feel and Eddie’s trademark between-vocal guitar fills and squeals. This song also answers all questions about Wolfgang’s bass abilities.

Favorite lyric: “The song ain’t dirty it’s really just the way we sing it.” (Reminds me of the famous Jessica Rabbit line from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”: “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way.”)

“You and Your Blues” -- At this point in time, I can’t get enough of this song. A syncopated Eddie riff sets the mood and carries the song for the first 15 seconds before Alex and Wolfgang join in mid-first verse. I’m probably not recognizing them all, but Dave name checks at least nine different blues songs in the lyrics. This is Van Halen-style blues, in that you don’t get pulled to a darker, somber place while commiserating with the lyrical point of view. Instead, the upbeat chorus lifts your spirits even while it hammers home the suffering viewpoint. The background vocals also stand out -- checking off another question lingering from Anthony’s departure. I could see this as a potential single.

Favorite lyric: “Ain’t goin’ down to no crossroads, ain’t gonna dust no broom, no evil woman’s got a hold on me, ain’t goin’ to heaven anytime soon.”

“China Town” -- This is as heavy a song as Van Halen has ever recorded. It’s 3 minutes and 12 seconds of pure adrenaline. If you could somehow bottle this, you could put Red Bull and Rockstar out of business. Alex’s drumming throughout this breakneck pace is incredible. Looking for your mind-blowing guitar moment of this album? Check out the last 12 seconds of the song -- as Eddie unleashes a free-falling torrent of notes that just make you shake your head and say, “Wow!” I would love to see the band open its new tour -- which as I write this opens tonight in Louisville -- with this song. Besides, how can you not love a song that begins with the line, “Headless body in a topless bar”?

Favorite lyric: “Heroes aren’t born they’re cornered, and this corner is where we write the story.”

“Blood and Fire” -- Longtime Van Halen fans recognize the main music motif in this song as “Ripley,” an instrumental written by Eddie when he scored the soundtrack to “The Wild Life,” a 1984 movie by Cameron Crowe. Fans have always wondered what it could turn into with lyrics and the full band treatment. Now they know. Lyrically, with its talk of “forgotten empires” and “lost victories long past,” it seems to be an autobiographical nod to the band’s history. Dave even inserts his trademark concert exclamation of “Look at all of the people here tonight!” Speaking of trademarks, this marks the first of several standard spoken mid-song slowdowns (think “Everybody Wants Some!,” “Unchained” and “Panama”) with Dave breaking down the third wall and talking directly to the listener. “Told ya I was coming back. Say you missed me. Say it like you mean it.” The transition from spoken word to over-the-top guitar solo still gives me goosebumps, even after a couple dozen listens. I kind of feel like rating Eddie’s guitar solos is a bit like judging Michael Jordan’s dunks in that even his average takes are on such a higher plane than the competition it’s almost unfair. It’s mostly futile to compare Eddie to others, he’s best compared only to himself. With that in mind, this solo stands up to some of his best work.

Favorite lyric: “Look at all of the people here tonight.” (This line never ceases to put a smile on my face.)

“Bullethead” – So far, I have a real love/like relationship with this song. When I’m scanning the songs on the disc, it’s never one of my first choices to listen to. Yet, when it does come on, invariably I enjoy it. With its blast-from-the-gates guitar squeal, this is another blistering rocker. Musically, it dates back to the Simmons demo, but with new lyrics, albeit the same title. Personally, I place it toward the bottom of this album, but I know many others who rate it near the top. This album tends to invite that very rare phenomenon where opinions are across the board on what the best songs are. I’ve read hundreds of comments, from professional reviews to message boards, listing the best and worst songs on the album, and someone’s treasure is another’s throwaway track. To me, that’s actually the sign of a very good album.

Favorite lyric: “How many roads must a man walk down, before he admits he’s lost?”

 “As Is” -- This song is just a monster! I remember Eddie saying once that before there were lyrics to “Me Wise Magic” he referred to the song as “The Three Faces of Shamus” because of its trio of distinct musical sections. In that case, this song might as well be called “The Five Faces of Shamus” for its handful of abrupt turns and changes of pace. Alex kicks things off with an 18-second drum intro before Eddie and Wolfgang join in, and just when you’re settling into what you expect to be the main groove it all turns upside down with what turns out to really be the song’s main riff. Discerning fans will recognize a striking similarity in the predominant riff to the explosion-of-jam moment he played during his walk-on appearance of “Two and a Half Men” in 2009. (On the show, that was given the tongue-in-cheek title of “Two Burritos and a Root Beer Float.”) Everybody is just firing on all cylinders throughout the song before eventually settling into an ethereal rideout section that eerily endures for more than a minute. Great, great song.

Favorite lyric: “It's not who you squeeze, but who returns once again to squeeze you no doubt, love ’em all I says, let Cupid sort ’em out.”

“Honeybabysweetiedoll” -- There is so much going on musically in this song that I’m still finding amazing things in it with each new playback. It opens up with 30 seconds of guitar wankery and weird sound effects. The main segment is a roiling undertow of a riff that pulls you in and relentlessly pummels you before finally releasing you exhausted at song’s end. Dave handles most of this song in a lower register, half singing, half speaking his way through. The final minute and a half is all instrumental and features a furious solo by Eddie and some guitar playing that has a surprising Mideastern flair.

Favorite lyric: “Stone soul sistah soccer mom, muchacha-miga, cherry bomb.”

“The Trouble With Never” -- Another top flight song that could be a potential single. There’s much to like about this song, from its main verse and chorus to the couple “Alice in Wonderland” references and some nice backing vocals. But my favorite section of the song is the middle, which features a more-than-a-minute-and-a-half departure from the proceedings. It kicks off with a killer, wah-induced guitar solo lasting 45 seconds before easing into another classic Dave-speak breakdown that sets up a thundering reverie before returning to the original chorus. Amazing!

Favorite lyric: “Let’s un-plan the moment, dance the night away, selective amnesia is only a heartbeat away.”

“Outta Space” -- The backstretch of this album is just unbelievable. There is no let-up and no filler. It’s undoubtedly buoyed because three of the final four songs are revamped from a trio of all-time demo favorites -- their explosive main riffs having lost none of their power in the intervening 35-plus years, and, in fact, even gaining more of an edge in the hands of a battle-tested and –scarred Eddie.This song is based on “Let’s Get Rockin’ ” and is flat-out stellar as Dave updates it with his take on overpopulation and political correctness.

Favorite lyric: “Need no polar bear to scare me, no Eskimo to share with me his fate, woo, we outta space. No blog-o-sphere to sell me, no dolphin needs to tell me, no starving kid to make the case.”

“Stay Frosty” -- If “Stay Frosty” weren’t poised to become the catchphrase of 2012 -- Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters has already chanted it like a mantra -- then you could call this “Son of Ice Cream Man.” Completely different song, of course, but the formula is the same -- the only thing missing is Dave dedicating one to the ladies and a hearty “All right, boys!” before the song ramps up from acoustic to power-based boogie blues. Dave’s storytelling talents are in fine form here, transporting the listener on a journey to various religious leaders who offer sage advice along the lines of: “Don’t want them to get your goat, don’t show ’em where it’s hid” and “You want to be a monk, you’ve got to cook a lot of rice.” There are not one, but two high-octane guitar solos, and Alex and Wolfgang keep up the oft-frenetic pace.

Favorite lyric: “Stay Frosty, and there's nothing you can’t handle, far and wide, far as you ramble, trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.”

“Big River” -- Reworked from a fan-favorite demo titled “Big Trouble,” this is another amazing song. It’s almost redundant at this point: The musicianship on here is first-rate. Great catchy tune, with a pair of mind-numbing guitar solos.

Favorite lyric: “Listen to a sea shell, you can hear the sea, listen to a beer glass, that river belongs to me.”

“Beats Workin’ ” -- Top to bottom, this is one of my favorite songs on the album -- a potential party rock anthem for the new generation. Opening with a 45-second setup, the song receives a complete jolt when the extremely catchy main riff (originally from the demo “Put Out the Lights”) explodes onto the scene. This song is vintage Van Halen. Great vocals, blazing guitar with three solos, great backing vocals, heart-thumping rhythms. Not only does this make a great closing number, especially with its exaggerated fadeout, it would also make a fantastic single.

Favorite lyric: “One empty floor, stands between the stage, and the welfare door, heads or tails, of the same bread, coin of the realm, just like the man said.”

In summation: Forget all the infamous backbiting, sniping and animosity between various members throughout the decades. Forgive the years and years of wasted time and lost opportunities. Throw the “No news is good news” slogan to the wind.

Trust your ears. This is the exactly the type of “Truth” that can set long-suffering Van Halen fans free.

After a couple dozen listens, my fur-rising factor rates “A Different Kind of Truth” on a nearly equal hallowed plane as “Van Halen I” and “Fair Warning” -- my two personal favorites based on 35 years of utmost fascination with this little old band from Pasadena.

Ultimately, only time will tell if it stands the test of ...

(Editor’s note: The breakdown segment in “Mean Street” just struck this poor boy down ... )

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Styx's Lawrence Gowan: Mystery Man in a ... 'Mystery Van'?

Lawrence Gowan performs during Styx's "The Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight" tour. (Photo: Jason Powell

 (Editor's note: This interview was conducted on Sept. 16, 2011, and published after Styx's appearance at USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah, on Sept. 23.)

If you’ve ever seen Styx keyboardist/vocalist Lawrence Gowan in concert, one thing should be readily apparent: Dude’s got a great sense of humor.

If it wasn’t immediately obvious from his early days in Styx – he replaced original frontman Dennis DeYoung in 1999 – when he would periodically roam the stage with a Polaroid camera taking instant photos of his bandmates performing and hand them out to the crowd as souvenirs, then it became more so over the years as he added further flamboyant stage antics and often hilarious pre-song banter to his onstage repertoire.

In several previous interviews, I’ve also never known him to be lacking for a witty quip to any question that deserved one. Which is why I knew I was on safe ground to try and have a little fun with him in our latest interview.

With that in mind, I reached out to two of his Styx bandmates in advance, guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw and drummer Todd Sucherman, searching for inside questions that might momentarily knock Gowan off his game. Both delivered excellent queries that yielded vastly different responses.

Shaw’s question, regarding a certain recent reoccurring antic that kept cracking the pair up on stage, provided the lead section of my concert advance story for the Daily Herald. (You can read that story HERE.) The question was posed in a way that Gowan did not recognize it as a red herring, but his answer touched on some of the behind-the-curtain-type things band members do on stage to keep things fun and entertaining for themselves.

The fact he didn’t recognize Shaw’s question as an inside parry allowed Sucherman’s suggestion to score a direct hit. Gowan’s immediate response to a reference of “Dr. Starlight” was to have none at all. The couple seconds of complete silence on the other end of the phone was priceless. And listening to him stammer his way through the next few sentences, while obviously trying to figure out how the information might have reached me, was a fun interviewing moment.

Gowan’s humor is also evident in the nightly lyric quiz he throws at the audience where he belts out a well-known line from a rock classic -- Led Zep’s “Black Dog,” Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” are staples -- and exhorts the audience to sing out the ensuing words. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to put him to the test on some lyrics of my choosing. He started strong out of the gate, but then stumbled down the stretch. Ironically, he failed to recognize the lyrics to an old-favorite Styx song – one in which he gets to strap on an electric guitar on the extremely rare occasions it makes its way into the setlist.

I had the chance to chat with Gowan after the band’s Salt Lake show and we shared some laughs over the inside questions and lyric quiz results. His great sense of humor makes him eminently teaseable – a rare quality indeed -- but he certainly gives as good as he gets.

Many bands of Styx’s era have made key personnel changes over the years, with varying degrees of success. It’s a tricky proposition whenever a major vocalist is involved – especially when deciding whether to pursue the best talent available or search solely for a sound-alike.

Styx – which also features guitarist/vocalist James “J.Y.” Young, bassist Ricky Phillips and part-time bassist Chuck Panozzo -- chose the former option with Gowan, a popular solo artist in Canada, and by so doing, scored a direct hit of its own. The strength of that decision has been validated on stages across the country over 100 nights a year since 1999.

Here’s hoping you enjoy my latest interview with the “Strange Animal.”

DOUG FOX: Well, you’ll be playing in Salt Lake a week from today [Sept. 23] with a group I’m not sure if you’re actually familiar with, it’s a band called REO Speedwagon ... ever heard of them?

LAWRENCE GOWAN: Ah, you know what, my knowledge of rock is deep enough that I have heard of REO Speedwagon.

DF: OK, I wasn’t sure if you’ve ever done any shows with them or anything.

GOWAN: Once or twice. As I recall, there might be about 11 million people who are familiar with one of their records (laughs). We’ve toured so much with those guys ... it’s funny, the kind of rapport we’ve built up with them over the initial years, particularly when we were out touring with other acts, is the kind of rapport we’ve built up now with Foreigner, with Boston and other bands who really have embraced the double-bill concept and know that people absolutely love it, and they can sense the kind of, what do you call it, the symbiotic thing that goes on between the bands, it actually enhances the night.

DF: Now every summer you guys are always part of a co-headlining package, like you’re just mentioning all these other bands that you’ve gone on tour with. As you are a part of those, No. 1, do you have the time, and secondly, do you take the time to go check out the other bands at all and see what they’re up to and what they’re doing?

GOWAN: Yes, we always do because we want to see what kind of state they’re in (laughs). Basically we like to know how the audiences are reacting to the other bands that are out there. We’re very much, we want to give people a great night’s entertainment of rock because it bodes well for us when we come back. So, for example, I would go out and watch Def Leppard, I’d be thoroughly entertained, and I loved watching their audience. I realized a lot of their audience, had never seen Styx before and were suddenly becoming Styx fans. So that’s one very good band and we got on tremendously well with those guys. So it was great for both bands. I remember Joe Elliott telling J.Y. that one of the first concerts he ever saw [was Styx] — I think it was in Newcastle, no that’s wrong, it was Sheffield, of course, that’s where they’re from — back in ’77 and how much he liked Styx. So I mean, that’s another great thing, it just kind of builds a great kind of comradery that ends up elevating that tour. I remember by the end of that tour everything was on full cylinders, to the point that at the end of the tour, I know that Joe was wearing a coat that J.Y. gave him, Sav [bassist Rick Savage] gave me his bass. I gave him the coat that I wore at the Super Bowl, he wore it onstage for the next couple of years. So, you know, it’s like that. I mean, I knew their show extremely well, in fact, I got to where I was, because I was playing guitar backstage so much, driving J.Y. and Tommy completely insane with my guitar affections. It’s funny because to learn some Def Leppard songs, Phil Collen would show me some licks before the show. So it’s fantastic to have the actual guy from the actual band who played the actual lick on the record show you how it’s played.

DF: That would be very unique.

GOWAN: So it’s things like that. And I guess, for me, I went out and watched Yes this summer, more than any other band we’ve ever been out with, because that takes me back to when I was 15 years old and just really completely immersed myself in progressive rock — and Yes was the band for me. And so to be on tour with those guys and to hear those songs every single night was a fantastic experience. It connected me with the 15-year-old who still very much, hopefully, is in every night on stage. So, anyway, that’s the connection.

DF: Well, you’re good because you just wiped out about five of my questions just by covering those bases ...

GOWAN: My answers, Doug, are so long-winded, you just go in there and pick something that sounds like an intelligible sentence and use it (laughs).

DF: One thing you mentioned just sparked another memory for me when you were talking about Def Leppard and them showing you the guitar licks and things like that, but back when you toured with Def Leppard and Foreigner, I actually had the opportunity to interview Tommy, Mick Jones and Vivian Campbell ...

GOWAN: Oh? All at the same time? Great!

DF: Not together, but all before that tour, in separate interviews.

GOWAN: OK, yeah.

DF: And so what I did was, I wanted to ask each of the guitarists if they could get up onstage with the two other bands, what song would they love to play, as a guitarist, of the other bands’ music. And both Tommy and Mick each had songs for the other groups, but when I got to Vivian — of course, Foreigner was one of his big bands growing up and he played with Lou Gramm in a side project [Shadow King], he said, “You know, I’m really not that familiar with Styx, and I couldn’t tell you what that song would be.” By the end of the tour, though, or even a few nights in, he probably would have realized he knew a lot more about you guys and figured out a song he’d like to do that on.

GOWAN: Absolutely. That’s quite likely.

DF: About REO specifically, what are some of the things that make it so the two bands have such an affinity for one another?

GOWAN: Well, it obviously pre-dates my time in Styx, really. Although I’m well into my 13th year with the band and this year is the year that they were touting the fact that this lineup has played more shows as Styx than any previous lineup, so that’s a big deal. But still, you’d have to put REO Speedwagon ... the Chicago, I guess you could call it rivalry I suppose, when REO and Styx were out at the same time. Probably, and I’m surmising a lot of this because I wasn’t there for it, but there was probably a bit of mutual respect mixed in with a bit of mutual rivalry, mixed in with trying to outdo the other band in some way, I suppose. I’m guessing that. Now, that takes a different form when you’ve been around and had a successful career for over a quarter of a century. That transforms into something else, but the pride thing still exists, definitely. Look at the fact that Tommy and Kevin [Cronin] wrote that song a couple of years ago.

DF: “Can’t Stop Rockin’.”

GOWAN: Yeah “Can’t Stop Rockin’.”

DF: There you go again, I was just going to ask you about that (laughs).

GOWAN: There’s all that connection between the two bands. Sorry, but what was the actual nature of your original question?

DF: Specific things that make your pairing with REO special, maybe the way the bands interact ...

GOWAN: Oh, they’re the only band that we’ve ever done the two-bands-onstage thing with. You know, people out on stage playing all at the same time.

DF: With Todd playing the fake guitar?

GOWAN: Right. Smashed after about three shows. That’s how much he loves The Who. Anyway, yeah, so there’s that, and they’re the only other band we’ve ever gone into the studio with. I mean there were 10 of us in the studio one day, 11 of us actually, Chuck was there, too. So, yeah, that’s the only other band that we’ve done that with, so we have a close affinity and whatever happens on the night we play Salt Lake City, who knows. We might take advantage of the fact that we’ll eat up every single minute that we can with playing as many, you know, Styx classics as possible, as they will do the same thing with their REO [hits]. You can never say for sure what’s going to happen.

DF: Do you know if there are any plans to play “Can’t Stop Rockin’ ” when you get together?

GOWAN: I do not know. It’s the kind of thing that I can never say for sure because I feel if I say, “Yeah it’s going to happen” like we’re planning on it, at the last minute it will be scrapped and you’ll be like, “What’s going on?” (laughs) Or vice versa.

DF: So there’s a possibility, but who knows?

GOWAN: Yeah, there’s always a possibility.

The members of Styx. (Photo: Ash Newell)

DF: Now with Styx, you guys play so many shows every year that I imagine things come very naturally on stage for you now. You’ve been playing together for so long and every element seems to fit together in its proper place. But are there things you still work on, just little things that you still critique or tweak in the never-ending effort to play a perfect show?

GOWAN: The funniest question, the most common question bands get asked, particularly bands playing a lot of material that’s 25 years old, is “Don’t you get tired of playing the same song?” Now that’s a question you get when a song is 2 or 3 years old, let alone 25 or more. It’s funny, the reason, at least for us, and I’m on stage with five other very like-minded people, every opportunity that you play a song in front of an audience is another chance to engage. It’s not the notes that you’re necessarily playing, it’s the fact that there’s an emotion that exists in that moment with that audience on that stage in that city and with those other musicians on stage. The opportunity is there to kind of lift that song higher than you have in the past in some way. And sometimes these can be extremely subtle ways that eventually amount to something really quite outstanding. It’s the tiny, little nuances that are within each song, between the notes, you know, in the breath in between lyric lines, the taking in of what the audience is kind of pushing back your way, that suddenly makes it take on a life of its own. And it’s not a tough thing, even though we might play “Foolin’ Yourself” a hundred times a year on a hundred stages. Each time there are things that you just ... first of all you can’t take your eye off the ball because the song changes gears so many times, and second of all, like lyrically and musically there’s a lift that happens if you’re ready for it every single night. And that’s the challenge for musicians, be ready for where the lifting, exhilarating moments are and try to make everything of them that you can. And that’s how you play it. Once again, I’ve drifted so far from the question I can’t imagine what it was.

DF: You’ve actually tapped into something that I think is the essence of what most people who go to concerts, at least I know it is for me, but we love going and thinking that the show that we’re seeing that night is somehow as special to the people who are playing it as it is to us being there, and it’s somehow different and unique in its own way.

GOWAN: And that’s a feeling that, luckily, I’m in a band of guys that are onstage where that same emotion is being sought out every single night. Yes, I do remember what you were asking, are there little things we tighten up here and there. It’s ongoing, never-ending ... it will never end — it can’t. And you know something? The moment it does that, you can hear it from the band immediately. It’s so crazy evident to an audience when a band is just simply hitting switches, you know what I mean, instead of engaging with the musical capacity of something. So, yeah, we continue to do that, and I can’t really foresee a time when we wouldn’t be doing that because this is the type of people we are and that’s what we bring to the stage.

DF: OK, for example, can you tell me about this inside thing that you and Tommy have had going on these last few shows where you keep cracking each other up?

GOWAN: Oh my ... we try to avoid the inside jokes on stage in some ways because the audience should be in on it to some degree. But because we spend so much time together, it’s almost impossible sometimes. So I happened to tell Tommy a couple weeks ago, I mean there’s always some little thing floating around that snowballs into an inside, inside, inside joke and try as we might to keep that off the stage, there are moments when it’s just invariably going to rear its head and it’s usually when we’re on the same mike, usually in “Miss America.” Usually not in “Lady” because that’s too early in the show usually for us to be playing any games with. But even in “Lady” we won’t make any eye contact because of the latest thing. And the latest thing, I can tell you was just this bizarre dream I had where Tommy came up to me before a show and described how he wanted me to play this particular song. It was in E flat. And he showed me, in the dream, showed me how my posture should be like for this part. Well, that just kind of stuck with me. And just before we walked onstage, I went, “You know what’s funny? I had this dream last night where you showed me this certain posture on this thing in E flat.” Well, he cracked up. Well, of course, oh no, that means the moment we come together onstage he’s going to definitely, there’s going to be a flicker of the eye that’s going to go, “Hey, remember that stupid dream?” By the time we get to Salt Lake City it will probably become something else, some other little thing. and, you know, it’s funny. These seem like the most insignificant and superfluous, and meaningless things and yet, they can be part of what’s really the glue, the joie de vivre that comes into the performance. So, hey, only a person like you I think would pick up on that. Some people that have seen the show a few hundred times would pick up on that sort of thing. Other people out there just go, “What a strange bunch of people!” (laughs)

DF: Well, we’ll have to keep an eye out for that next week.

GOWAN: You almost feel dumb revealing these things, but just think of it as an inside thing you could have with your family that only you understand. And it blurts out when you’re in the most public of places. “I hope that doesn’t happen on stage.” And we try to make a musical moment of it. That’s the difference.

Lawrence Gowan at USANA Amphitheatre on Sept. 23, 2011. (Photo: Doug Fox)

DF: Last summer we talked prior to the beginning of “The Grand Illusion/Pieces of Eight” tour and I know out here in the West we’re kind of feeling a bit neglected because we didn’t get to see any of that.

GOWAN: OK, right I know. J.Y. has said that. We have not done that show yet west of the Mississippi and it’s time we did.

DF: Yeah, I was just going to ask, I’ve heard some rumblings that maybe next year that might happen. I just wanted to check and see if there was anything new to report on that.

GOWAN: Well, we’re all really proud of that show and the DVD is coming out later on this year of us doing it in Memphis, and we almost didn’t want to burn ourselves out on it too quickly. We did 22 of them, and we actually reprised it a couple weeks ago in Atlantic City. But it’s a different type of staging, it’s a different type of screen content and everything. It’s a completely different mindset to do that show because, for example, “Come Sail Away” comes fourth in the night, you know what I mean? It’s the fourth song on that record. So it’s almost like we want to meter that out judiciously, you know what I mean? We definitely would like to play it all and completely on the western side of America, but more likely it could be next year. It could very well be next year because we’ll be promoting that DVD. I hope it is. It’s yet another piece of the tapestry that makes up this band and hopefully we will do it at some point. We couldn’t do it on this one because this is a double bill.

DF: Are you still able to find time to work in a few of those songs into the setlist, though, that you hadn’t been playing regularly from those two albums?

GOWAN: It’s funny, Doug, after we did it in Atlantic City, even the next night, you’re like, “Oh, come on, we’ve got to play one or two of these.” I know we started doing “Pieces of Eight” and we did “Sing for the Day,” and so we went a little bit deeper in album tracks for the next good number of shows after that. It’s quite possible that may happen in Salt Lake City but I stay out of the setlist thing. I used to get completely involved, and it’s best if I just leave it to Tommy and J.Y. because they have the best sense of what we should be playing anyway.

DF: Well I have a setlist request for you where you need to interject yourself, but I’ll bring it up a little later.

GOWAN: OK. All right.

DF: But first, because we started to talk about some of the upcoming projects you guys have in the pipeline with the DVD you have coming out and the release of “Regeneration I and II” being released together, what I’m really wanting to know is when can we expect the completion of “Dr. Starlight”?

GOWAN: (Pause) Oh my ... ! That’s incredible that you would even bring that up. Oh my ...  (laughs)! Holy crap! Wow! Now where did you hear of that? How did you ... what do you know? I’ve got to find out your information here.

DF: I’ve got to come clean — I had an inside source tell me that’s what I should ask you.

GOWAN: It’s a fantastic source whoever it is. Is he a Deep Throat type of individual, I guess? In the Watergate sense not in the ...

DF: Yeah. He sits behind you every night.

GOWAN: (Pause, then laughter.) That would be him. It would be him. OK.

DF: Honestly, I don’t know anything about it except I tried to find out, and I found some old song from Rhinegold, was it?

GOWAN: Rhinegold, yeah. Rhinegold is the first opera in the ring cycle by Wagner, yes. A dreamy, classically based thing and, you know, I have all kinds of other little musical projects that pique my interest when I’m sitting in a hotel room somewhere and once I got out some of my oldest stuff that was never even recorded and the guy that sits behind me went, “Hey, what’s that?” So, you know, (laughing) there’s all kinds of little things like that. Actually the thing I’m most focused on right now is that next year, when I do my little solo run, because I’ve done that in the last year, I’ve done seven solo shows in Canada, you know, that’s where my records were sold, and a good number of Styx fans made the pilgrimage there, that’s what’s involved in that. And it’s a different type of show, it’s the entire career that I had prior to joining Styx. Last year I did the 25th anniversary of an album I had called “Strange Animal,” which was a No. 1 album in Canada and had three songs go to No. 1 and it was a triple platinum record, and so we did the 25th anniversary of that, played the entire album and people really responded well.

DF: Yeah, I read good things about that.

GOWAN: Yeah, good. So next year is the 25th of an album called “Great Dirty World,” but particularly there’s a song called “Moonlight Desires,” which is a No. 1 video and song in Canada. So I’m working on a conceptual thing that revolves around that. Because I was an ’80s video act, known as that very much in Canada, I kind of elevate that as much as possible too (laughs) in the live show. So that’s mainly what’s gotten my focus at this time. But, hey, listen. “Dr Starlight,” it still bugs me that it hasn’t been properly done, [so] who knows?

DF: Maybe it will show up in the middle of “Miss America” some night?

GOWAN: Fantastic question, though, I mean, that shocks the hell out of me that Doug Fox from Salt Lake City asks about that piece of music.

DF: Well, he did say you would be freaked out by that!

GOWAN: I am freaked out! Yeah.

DF: In the past when we’ve talked, and in other interviews I’ve seen, as far as your tenure in the band, you’ve enjoyed drawing on the David Lee Roth-Sammy Hagar comparison ...

GOWAN: I like that comparison, yeah ... (laughs) go ahead.

DF: I’m wondering now in light of the current lineup of Van Halen, does that alter your view on that comparison at all?

GOWAN: (Laughs) OK, so what’s the current ...

DF: Well, David Lee Roth is back ...

GOWAN: Back in the band. Does it alter it, no, it doesn’t alter it at all. Another good comparison would be (laughs) ... you know, there really are no comparisons. I mean, I try to draw these analogies so that, I think the most difficult thing for people to understand is why Styx didn’t go the way of other bands who had to get new members, because invariably if you’re around for a quarter of a century, you’re probably going to need a blood transfusion of some description at some point, and sometimes it’s more drastic than others. Styx chose not to go with somebody who sounds like any previous member of the band. It’s not that I’m avoiding saying Dennis’ name — he made a tremendous contribution to the band, but I just don’t sound like him and I don’t play like him, and to some people that’s part of why the band has continued on because it kind of acknowledges his contribution to the band and it also acknowledges John Panozzo’s and John Curulewiski’s contribution to the band and even Glen Burtnik’s with the fact that he was such a great stage presence with the group. So we are the culmination of everyone who has been in the band in the past, but we are different people now. I mean, Ricky plays Chuck Panozzo’s parts on stage, but he plays them like Ricky Phillips, invariably. I can only do my own interpretation of the songs, and really it comes down to whether the audiences are accepting of that or not. And, you know, I guess at this point, the majority of them have been very accepting of it, and they understand that that’s how a band often has to continue or they cease to exist.

DF: Right.

GOWAN: So that’s the situation here, and I love the fact that when I first joined the band, the first words out of Tommy’s mouth were, when we were about to sing together, it was, “Hey, don’t play a Styx song here, play that song ‘A Criminal Mind.’ ” And then at the end of it, he said, “We should make that a Styx song.” And we’ve done it on a couple of live things. We did it on that “CYO” thing, which I thought was a great thing. That, to me, was an indication that they understand that you really don’t replace anyone in a band. That doesn’t exist. And I think that’s part of why the public has a tough time with it sometimes, is when they see someone as a replacement, but it’s not that. The continuation of the band depended on them making a change. So it’s a change they made and that’s it. For Van Halen it’s a completely different situation as to what their politics were and the same thing with Genesis and the same thing with countless other bands that have had to deal with this. That’s where it stands.

DF: Well the whole Dennis DeYoung comparison, I’ve written it before and told a lot of people who’ve asked me, I love the main incarnation of Styx before, so there’s no slight at all, but to me, the band now is such a fantastic live band, and your contributions obviously are a big part of that ... to me you bring much more of a rock performer element to the live show.

GOWAN: And that’s part of the schism that took place. They really became of two different musical minds, and that’s understandable and there’s nothing wrong with that. And in order to address that you may have to go through some painful times — and they did. And they came to the conclusion that it was best to change the band.

DF: Right. And another thing I think that you really add is like an element of humor ...

GOWAN: Oh, OK. (laughs)

DF: So, to me, while there’s always going to be the inevitable comparisons, it’s obvious, like you just said, you never really set out to replace Dennis, but were more intent on just incorporating your own talents.

GOWAN: Yeah, exactly. I was far more interested, and every day I feel like I joined a great band. There is no replacing anyone in any band — really ever. It’s just the way it changes. I mean, did Ron Wood replace Brian Jones? No. Of course, it’s easier for the public to accept when someone has left the planet, I suppose. But really, when particular musical differences are really ingrained and become, to some members they become a real sticking point, a band has to make a change. And this band made a change. And it’s so long ago now, it’s hard for me to even ... there’s so many old pictures of us now, you know? So it really feels like ... and the other thing is Dennis is out there playing, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking both. I love it when people say, “I saw the band in the past and I loved it then, [and] I love it now.” And there are more Styx fans.

DF: Now when I mentioned sense of humor, there are little things that are noticeable, but one of them that I really like is the lyrical song quiz that you give the audience before launching into a certain seafaring number ...

GOWAN: Yeah.

DF: So I was wondering if I could turn the tables on you a bit and give you a quick test of lyrics?

GOWAN: Shoot!

DF: I’m afraid these will be too easy. “She’s got electric boots ... ”

GOWAN: “A mohair suit.”

DF: Yes.

GOWAN: “I read it in a magazine.”

DF: OK (laughs). “What’s a poor boy to do ... ”

GOWAN: Oh, that’s ... uh ...

DF: I’m going north of the border. I’m going to Canada.

GOWAN: Oh, OK. I know the line so well, but I can’t get it. You’ve got to sing it.

DF: (Semi-sings) “What’s a poor boy to do ... when he’s falling in love with you.” Does that sound familiar?

GOWAN: Yeah it does. Who is that by?

DF: That’s Loverboy, “Take Me to the Top.”

GOWAN: (Laughs) I’m sorry! I lose, I failed on the second question.

DF: OK ... “Jumped into a taxi, bent the boot, hit the back.”

GOWAN: Nope, I don’t know that.

DF: That’s Peter Frampton, “Do You Feel Like We Do.”

GOWAN: OK.

DF: “I’m your mystery man in a ... ”

GOWAN: Mystery van? (laughs)

DF: “I’m your mystery man in a gold Lincoln ... ”

GOWAN: No.

DF: “Midnight Ride?”

GOWAN: You got me. (Laughs, then suddenly realizes it's a Styx song.) Oh, it’s J.Y.’s! Oh, I love doing that one. I love playing “Midnight Ride,” that’s actually funny [to not recognize it].

DF: That’s the one last question I had for you, that I mentioned earlier that I wanted to talk about a setlist thing?

GOWAN: Yeah.

DF: For more than 10 years, it’s been my personal mission to see the full “Midnight Ride” in concert again. And I mention it to J.Y. every time I see him, and he always smiles and laughs. But then I thought, “Why not go to the guy who actually gets to play guitar on that song, he probably has a lot of fun.”

GOWAN: I love ... when I see “Midnight Ride” ... you know, we haven’t done it in a couple years, but when I used to see it right in the setlist I was elated because I took it as a tremendous vote of approval that my guitar playing was good enough to hack through those few chords behind, of course, Tommy and J.Y. And I loved playing that on stage, just loved it, you know, for that reason alone, plus I love the way J.Y. sings that. Actually, the J.Y. song I hope we do, and I love and I wish we’d do more of, is from “Pieces of Eight.” It’s “Great White Hope.”

DF: OK.

GOWAN: I absolutely love that song. I don’t get to play guitar on it, but that’s J.Y.’s personality, it’s so front and center and so strong. I see that as kind of where he was going when he was writing “Midnight Ride,” and worked his way up to that. But anyway, “Midnight Ride.”

DF: Tommy has said he loves playing it, Todd says he loves playing it, you love it ...

GOWAN: Yeah, everyone does.

DF: Does J.Y. not like playing it? I can’t figure it out (laughs).

GOWAN: I don’t know. One thing I know about Styx is you’ll never completely discern what J.Y. is thinking at any given time. And I learned that early on. Never kind of assume anything from the guy because he will surprise you every time. So he may suddenly go, “I want to do ‘Midnight Ride.’ And then on a night when four other guys are going, “Hey, let’s do ‘Midnight Ride,’ ” he’ll go, “I don’t want to do it.” So I have no idea. To try to unravel the mysteries of J.Y. ... well, if we ever do, it would probably be the end of the band.

DF: Well, you could just interject and say there’s been a request to see more of your guitar playing live!

GOWAN: That’s fine. Not a problem. I’ll say we’ve got to get “Midnight Ride” in there, definitely.

DF: I told him, “If I just get one more time, I could die a happy man (laughs).”

GOWAN: Exactly. Yeah, let’s do it!