Founding member Chuck Panozzo (far right in group picture) will join the band tomorrow night in a rare performance. When Bob and I saw them last summer at the Venetian Festival - it was the first time we had ever seen him with the band and needless to say, it was a real treat!!!!
He released his memoir this week - The Grand Illusion - Love, Lies & My Life With Styx. In it, he discusses his life as a gay man in rock 'n roll in the 70's and 80's. This morning's South Bend Tribune has an article about Chuck and his book:
In 1977, Styx released its breakout album, "The Grand Illusion," the first of four consecutive triple platinum albums for the band. On Tuesday, Styx bass player and founding member Chuck Panozzo released his bold and brave autobiography, "The Grand Illusion: Love, Lies, and My Life With Styx." The book candidly chronicles his public life with the band, and the grand illusion he was living in his very private life as a gay man struggling to come to terms with himself. For nearly 40 years, Panozzo kept his sexual orientation secret -- even from band mates Dennis DeYoung, James "JY" Young, Tommy Shaw and his twin brother, John -- always afraid that he would be found out and exposed, harming both himself and the group. "As liberal as the '70s were in many ways, it still wasn't open to gay society," Panozzo says during a telephone interview from his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. " In those days, it was nothing for police to just barge into bars where gay men were congregated and shake them down. It was a totally different time." As far as the gay community has come as a collective, individually, you are still on your own. But, in the '70s, if I had come out, I would have to be out. I had no idea what the mind-set of the people would be. I couldn't drag Dennis, John, JY and Tommy into my own personal situation, so I felt it was better to say nothing and go along with the crowd." Although the band's success brought crowds of screaming female fans, Panozzo was disinterested in the bras, panties and propositions being thrown his way, instead finding ways to sneak out to gay bars while the band was on tour. Born and raised in the blue-collar neighborhoods of the South Side of Chicago, Panozzo felt pressure to keep his homosexuality hidden." The idea of being rejected is rather intimidating," he says. In 1990, Panozzo finally decided to come out to the band when he was diagnosed as HIV positive. It was an anti-climactic moment, as the band members had already suspected it for years." I always say if a guy isn't dating anyone by the time they are 40, I would kind of figure that they might be either asexual or gay," Panozzo says. "So they pretty much figured that one out, but because I was rather reserved, I don't think they were about to approach me on the subject. We were focused on our career." There was concern from at least one member of Styx that Panozzo would become "one of those guys that act up," so Panozzo agreed not to come out publicly. "At that point, I would call myself a coward," he says. "I was a 'don't ask, don't tell' guy." When Panozzo was diagnosed with AIDS in 1998, it was unavoidable that he would come out openly, as he was forced to take a break from playing and touring. He made a public announcement at a Human Rights Campaign Foundation dinner in Chicago in 2001."It was very apparent to people that I had lost a ton of weight," he says. "When I was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, that was when I had to back off and say I have to stop everything now." Now, Panozzo says that he is in good health and plays occasional shows with Styx (he will join the band for their show at the Morris Performing Arts Center on Saturday)." I feel very good," he says. "I live a productive life, and that was my whole fear with it. What if I would have to live 30 more years with a disabled lifestyle, or I couldn't really function as I used to before, and got really sick? Now, it is not like a criminal death sentence but a chronic illness." For the Styx fan, the book also offers many interesting stories of the band. Panozzo charts the history of the band from its inception as a three-piece outfit, comprising the Panozzo twins on rhythm guitar and drums, with DeYoung on accordion, through his brother's alcohol-related death, to the bitter departure of DeYoung from the band. He has not spoken to DeYoung since. In the book, Panozzo tells the humorous tale of how the band came to play rock 'n' roll. Already popular on the local wedding circuit, the trio scored its first big gig playing at a Catholic high school dance. They bombed. After the show, the nun who had given them the gig gave them advice that changed the course of the group: Play rock 'n' roll." It was a hideous disaster," Panozzo says. "Up to this time, we were basically a wedding band. We were playing these wedding songs and the kids are looking at us like, what are you doing? That was when the light bulb went on, and we said if we are going to have any success in playing in front of people our own age, we can't play music that is more appropriate for people our parents' age." The book tells of the band's early struggles, such as how its first record label invested only $160 on marketing its second album -- all on postage stamps to mail the record to radio stations -- and how the band found its first major success when the program director at the influential Chicago radio station WLS vowed to play its song "Lady" every night at 8 p.m. until it became a hit. It worked. Panozzo says that he is humbled by the reaction that his memoir has drawn. It has struck a chord with Styx fans, gay and lesbian readers, and just about anyone who has ever struggled with self-acceptance. "It is just overwhelmingly wonderful," he says, "that my little story has been accepted and embraced."
No comments:
Post a Comment