Early life & music career
Tommy Shaw was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953 and played with many local bands in his early years. He left Montgomery after high school to join MS Funk, a Chicago-managed outfit that he played with for 3 years, which gave him a chance to be noticed by the band Styx during a 2-week club gig in Chicago. After MS Funk disbanded, he went back to Montgomery to join a local group with his childhood friends called Harvest, which performed at a club in a bowling alley called "Keglar's Kove". Following Styx's move to A&M, guitarist and vocalist John Curulewski suddenly left the band shortly before they were to embark on a nationwide tour, and a frantic search to find a last-minute replacement was launched. While playing at the bowling alley bar, as a result of his previous experience with MS Funk in Chicago, Shaw got the call to audition for Styx and was quickly hired.
Styx — 1970s
The first album with Shaw, "Crystal Ball" (1976), was titled after his own composition and also includes his songs "Mademoiselle" and "Shooz". Its follow-up, The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, which went platinum and also featured a radio hit by Shaw, "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)".
Styx's 8th album, appropriately entitled Pieces Of Eight, was the breakout album for Shaw's songwriting talent with his rock-oriented contributions "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man", which became `70's rock radio staples and perennial Styx concert favorites, reaching #16 and #21 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.It also featured a minor radio hit Shaw's tune "Sing For The Day".
[edit] 1980s — 1990s
Though the `80's brought the downfall of Styx, it began with Styx riding a wave of commercial success with the #1 pop ballad "Babe" from the 9th Styx album, Cornerstone in 1979, which was written by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. However, tension mounted within the band as Shaw and other band members expressed dissatisfaction with DeYoung's desire to pull the band into a pop radio & theatrical direction, while other members preferred the rock direction of the songs written by Shaw and guitarist James "JY" Young. For this reason, unbeknownst to the public-at-large, Dennis DeYoung was fired from the group in early 1980 for a brief unpublicized moment and quickly rehired, but this conflict would arise again. Shaw's ascerbation was furthered with his disatisfaction of the theatrical-themed album Paradise Theater and brought to a boil with the tour for the next album Kilroy Was Here, which featured a progressive stage show combined with an 11-minute movie intro and theatrical performances by the band. Shortly after the tour ended, Shaw left Styx in 1983 to pursue his solo career.
Shaw released 3 solo albums in the 1980s: Girls with Guns (1984), What If (1985), and Ambition (1987), scoring a Top 40 hit with the title track from the 1st album.
1990s — present
In the early 1990s, Shaw, Ted Nugent, Jack Blades, and drummer Michael Cartellone formed the band Damn Yankees. Their biggest hit, "High Enough", was co-written by Shaw. The band had a strong concert following; however, even though the 2nd album went platinum, the band separated.
Shaw returned to a reunited Styx in 1995 and embarked on a subsequent tour with them in 1996. Tommy would later record a fourth solo record in 1998: "7 Deadly Zens". Shaw has also worked with other artists on a "Pink Floyd's The Wall" tribute album. He also worked on a KISS tribute album, "Spin The Bottle: An All-Star Tribute to KISS", on which he sang "Love Gun".
Tommy teamed up with Night Ranger's Jack Blades in a duo appropriately called Shaw Blades and released an album entitled "Hallucination" in 1995. A second collaboration entitled "Influence" was released in early March 2007 and the duo appeared live on VH1 Classic backed up by famed Nashville songwriter Gary Burr. Shaw Blades did a short tour in Spring 2007 that was well-received. The tour included songs from Night Ranger, Styx, Shaw's solo albums and Damn Yankees. The duo also recorded the classic Christmas song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" which was released in 2002 on the album "A Classic Rock Christmas", a compilation of classic Christmas songs recorded by various Classic Rock artists.
As of 2007, Shaw leads Styx along with James "JY" Young. Shaw & Young are the only remaining members from Styx's heyday.
Hall of Fame
Tommy Shaw will be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in February, 2008 at their awards banquet to be held in Tommy's hometown of Montgomery, AL..
Friendly Advice
Tommy Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's sitting by the door
I've gone over all the facts
I can't take them any more
But every time my feet hit the street
My head starts aching and
My knees get week
I feel like a dog
No matter what I come back again
My friends all try to give me friendly advice
They all agree I shouldn't be so nice
Women really like it when you push them around
But it's not me
So here I go again
Ignoring all the signs
It doesn't take a scientist
To read between the lines
But right about the time
I'm sure I've had enough
I've decided to call it quits and I'm
Ready to get tough
You turn it on with those
Those big brown eyes
The next thing you know
I'm out buying long-stem roses
I'm like my daddy
Old-fashioned
I don't know what to do
I'm a creature of habit
I don't know what else to do
It's like a game
That's been rigged
So nobody wins
The overall message of Tommy Shaw's song "Friendly Advice" is the internal struggle of breaking up with someone you know is not good for you, but you can't seem to escape from them. The first verse talks about how the singer has packed his suitcase and is ready to leave, but as soon as he steps out onto the street, he turns back around out of fear or perhaps love for the person he's leaving. He feels like a dog, as if he's lost all power over his own decisions. The second verse talks about how his friends are giving him advice and telling him to toughen up, but he doesn't want to "push [women] around" which shows that he doesn't want to change who he is when it comes to love. When he finally decides he's ready to call it quits, the person he's ending things with turns on the charm and he gives in once again, leaving him feeling trapped and like it's a rigged game with no winners.
This song is a relatable one for many people who have found themselves in a similar situation. Shaw's lyrics do an excellent job of portraying the inner turmoil that someone can go through when trying to escape a toxic relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
My suitcase is packed
I am ready to leave.
It's sitting by the door
It's waiting for me to grab it and leave.
I've gone over all the facts
I have considered everything carefully.
I can't take them any more
I can't handle it anymore.
But every time my feet hit the street
Whenever I step outside.
My head starts aching and
I get a headache and
My knees get week
I feel weak in the knees.
I turn back around I let myself in
I come back home.
I feel like a dog
I feel like I am being trained like a dog.
No matter what I come back again
I keep coming back and repeating the same mistakes.
My friends all try to give me friendly advice
My friends try to help me by giving me advice.
They all agree I shouldn't be so nice
They think I am too kind to others.
Women really like it when you push them around
Some women prefer a more assertive partner.
But it's not me
But that's not who I am.
So here I go again
I am about to make the same mistake again.
Ignoring all the signs
I am not paying attention to the warning signs.
It doesn't take a scientist
It doesn't require a genius.
To read between the lines
To understand the hidden meaning.
But right about the time
When I start to realize.
I'm sure I've had enough
I am convinced that I have had enough.
I've decided to call it quits and I'm
I have decided to quit and
Ready to get tough
I am prepared to stand up for myself.
You turn it on with those
You make me feel attracted with your
Those big brown eyes
Beautiful brown eyes.
The next thing you know
Suddenly,
I'm out buying long-stem roses
I am buying roses to make you happy.
I'm like my daddy
I am like my father.
Old-fashioned
Traditional.
I don't know what to do
I am clueless.
I'm a creature of habit
I am used to doing things in a certain way.
I don't know what else to do
I have no other ideas.
It's like a game
It's like a competition.
That's been rigged
That has been fixed or predetermined.
So nobody wins
So nobody gets what they want.
Contributed by Adeline P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luis Carlos Dávila
i fell like a dog no matter what i do!!! breaking in!!
Luis Carlos Dávila
my friends are all drunk they give friendly advice!!
Jamison Dean
I heard Tommy hated this song...Yet I think its cool in its own weird way! I loved this whole album.. But Ambition rules!...Who is the beautiful girl on the front cover?
Nathan Milliron
He hated it so much he had it buried to the end of the album when it was reissued (it originally was track 4 on Side 1).