When Roger Glover stopped in to talk with Scott Muni in 1988, Deep Purple was celebrating the 20-year anniversary of their break-through single, a cover of Joe South’s “Hush.” To commemorate the event, the 1988 version of the group re-recorded the song and included it on their new live album, Nobody’s Perfect. This album release and the accompanying tour serve as the basis for the discussion here, resulting in some great sound bytes regarding the importance of live music.

00:00 – Intro to the re-recording of “Hush” 01:22 – The shame of cutting the previous tour short / the new tour as a continuation 02:13 – Elton John losing his voice 02:39 – Playing live more fun than studio recording / recording every night to loosen up 03:36 – Where Nobody’s Perfect was recorded 04:15 – Intro to “Highway Star” 05:37 – Touring again without recording a new album 06:18 – Taking the time to do solo projects 07:07 – Intro to “Perfect Strangers” 08:42 – The audience as producer 09:39 – The growth of songs through live performances 10:45 – Perpetuating the myth behind “Smoke on the Water” 11:12 – 20 year anniversary of “Hush” / Joe South 12:31 – Photography plans for the next live album 13:40 – Intro to “Strange Kind of Woman”

The release of the concept album Kilroy Was Here in 1983 brought tensions to a head within Styx, with Dennis DeYoung hoping to continue along a more theatrical path than guitarist and songwriter Tommy Shaw. Shaw left the band after the tour supporting Kilroy to make a solo album, and DeYoung decided to take the opportunity to record one as well.

This interview, recorded in 1984 in support of Desert Moon, touches on some interesting material about Styx and the new solo album, but is perhaps most significant as a result of its timing. At this point, DeYoung was certain that Styx would be getting back together, which, as history now tells us, did not happen until the 1990 reunion.

00:00 – Styx is still together / reason for making a solo album 01:17 – Styx is staying together independent of Desert Moon’s success 01:59 – How the new solo album is different than Styx 02:56 – No creative limitations within Styx 04:03 – Reaction to The Beatles / how they spoke to him 06:59 – TW4: the original band / a band for the right reasons 08:15 – Recording with new musicians on Desert Moon 09:00 – Touring in support of the new album / the musicians 10:15 – The misconception of Styx as a business / the New York Times article 12:18 – A pattern of how to write songs 13:34 – Optimism in lyrics / lyrics based on himself 14:45 – Critical acclaim as the goal for an artist / impossibility of answering criticism 17:59 – Having a stage to say something meaningful 19:09 – Dennis’ unknown sense of humor 19:28 – Success coming in small stages 20:12 – Wild and crazy times with Styx / Heineken plug 21:27 – Bitterness about success coming slowly with “Lady” 22:20 – Midwestern boys / staying in Chicago 23:20 – Life before Styx / playing the accordion