Sweet, sweet sounds fill the air: Join us in our celebration of Styx’s mighty Equinox, which was released 47 years ago today on December 1, 1975.
by Mike Mettler, resident Styxologist
Equinox, Styx’s fifth studio album, was released 47 years ago today on December 1, 1975. Equinox was also the band’s first album on a major label, A&M Records, opening the door for their subsequent, best-selling international success. (Under their original recording contract, Styx’s first four LPs were released on Wooden Nickel Records, a Chicago-based independent record label.)
Equinox ultimately reached No. 58 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 1976, and has since been certified by the RIAA as achieving Gold status, or 500,000 copies sold. (We here at Styxworld demand an immediate recertification to bring Equinox up to what we truly believe is its fully deserved and justified platinum-selling status, STAT!) The album’s lone single, “Lorelei,” reached No. 36 in the U.S. and No. 6 in Canada, also in 1976.
Right out of the gate, Equinox's lead track, “Light Up,” fused Styx’s best instincts for how to blend harmonies, keyboard hooks, and power chords together to memorable effect, resulting in a song that continues to grace many of Styx’s live setlists (usually accompanied with a quite incredible audience-generated visual effect to boot). Two other hard-driving singalong Equinox songs, “Lorelei” and “Suite Madame Blue,” are also in regular live rotation.
For the record, as of this posting, “Suite Madame Blue” leads the Equinox streaming pack on Spotify with 5.6 million listens followed closely by “Lorelei” at 5.1 million, while “Light Up” currently stands at 1.7 million.
“Equinox really was the start of some great records for A&M,” says Styx co-founding guitarist/vocalist James “JY” Young, the man who now takes “Lorelei” to new lead-vocal heights whenever it’s part of the band’s live set. “We had an evolved sense of who we were, and what we could accomplish. And our goals were then set that much higher. In the context of Styx, I think it all came together on that record.”
In the wake of the album’s release, however, Styx also had to deal with an impending personnel change. “The first time I ever heard anything from Equinox was at my audition for the band in Chicago,” clarifies guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw, who joined Styx on December 12, 1975 — less than two weeks after the album’s release date! — right as the band was set to go out on tour. Tommy came on up from his homebase in Montgomery, Alabama in order to replace then recently departed guitarist/vocalist John “JC” Curulewski, an original Styx bandmember. “The first thing I heard,” Tommy continues, “was JY singing ‘Midnight Ride,’ which just blew me away.” (Oh, if only we could all hear “Midnight Ride” grace some future Styx sets. . . paging JY!!)
JY points out that, after having cut November 1974’s Man of Miracles at Golden Voice Studios in South Pekin, Illinois on a budget, recording Equinox at Paragon Studios in Chicago with ace producer Barry Mraz at the controls was clear evidence things had already very much changed for Styx. “We went in there with tremendous confidence of our own validity, and I think the album sounds like it,” JY reports. “For one thing, it was the first time I played a Marshall amplifier, ever, in the studio. I always wanted to sound like The Who — and to me, this is the album that really sounds like The Who. ‘Lorelei’ — you can totally hear The Who there. ‘Light Up’ — [original keyboardist/vocalist] Dennis DeYoung gets the credit for this [JY hums the song’s signature keyboard-and-guitar intro], but adding the power chords between the phrases is something [legendary Who guitarist Pete] Townshend trademarked. Thank you, Pete! We happily lifted that.”
And, as we all saw quite handily all throughout 2022, Styx celebrated Year 50 in as many magical ways as possible. For starters, the band performed in Tallahassee, Florida, last February 22, and then they immediately followed up that gig the next night by doing another show in guitarist/vocalist Tommy Shaw’s hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, on February 23. A fantastic summer 2022 tour with Loverboy and REO Speedwagon oh-so-appropriately dubbed Live & UnZoomed followed soon enough comprised of 45 shows all told, and many other great gigs occurred throughout the balance of the year, including a swing in Western Canada with Nancy Wilson’s Heart in October. All told, Styx played 96 shows in 2022, and they show few signs of slowing down here in Year 51, a.k.a. 2023.
But for now, let’s get back to the beginning! Cementing the initial Wooden Nickel contract was a pivotal point in JY’s mind, for it legitimized the groundwork Styx had been laying down in the local clubs in Chicago they’d been playing in up to that moment. “To me, there is an arc to every artist’s career,” he explains. “First, you become known initially as a performer. And then there’s the arc of, if you’re a writer, will you write your own stuff? If so, then you begin to establish yourself with new songs and new music. You may do a cover song here or there, but mostly you go with new material written by you or by others. That goes on for a while — and then you get signed.”
Canada actually embraced Equinox somewhat earlier than the United States did, a phenomenon not lost on longtime Canadian resident and Styx keyboardist/vocalist for the past 23 years and counting, Lawrence Gowan. “Well, ‘Lorelei’ was on Canadian radio, and that’s where I first became aware of the band,” confirms Gowan, who joined Styx in 1999. “In Ontario, we didn’t have ‘Suite Madame Blue’ — we had ‘Lorelei.’ And when I heard it, I remember going, ‘Oh, what band is this?’ — because I thought they were British. I was into anything that had synthesizer on it from that era, & I had just started learning the names of synthesizers then. So about ‘Lorelei,’ I’d go, ‘That sounds like the ARP 2500 that was on The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley.’” (There’s that Who connection again. . .)
Continues Gowan, “When ‘Lorelei’ came on the radio, I really liked it right off the bat. I thought, ‘Hmmm!’ And when I found out they were American, I thought, ‘That’s the first progressive rock band not from the U.K. to suddenly be noticed.’ And,” Gowan adds with his signature mischievous chuckle, “I had a feeling I better learn these songs, because (slight pause) . . . you never know.”
You never know indeed. And now, during many an exciting extended-set Styx live gig, you can hear Mr. Gowan take full charge of “Suite Madame Blue” as he moves from behind his keyboard to the top of the elevated stage perch positioned up behind drummer Todd Sucherman, with full, rich harmonies in tow by all other singing Styx members, including JY, Tommy, bassist Ricky Phillips, and guitarist/vocalist Will Evankovich. So light up, everybody, and keep basking in the that eternal ice-fire glow that Equinox provides upon each and every listen.
