Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, best … Read Full Bio ↴Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and has released several solo albums.
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..
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..
Straight Down The Hole
Tommy Shaw Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Tommy Shaw:
Afraid to Love And it's inside can't remember, I've always had this image i…
All In How You Say It Angel of my heart I wanna see you again But I've got…
Ambition One cold grey morning She left her home No note no warning…
Are You Ready For Me Are you ready for me I hear you're really something Is i…
Back In Your Kitchen Well you had me from the start, you are so…
Bad Times Make a wish Climb a tree Make believe that you still love…
Cavalry Some men may be... when it comes time to do…
Come In And Explain I know it's later than we think But come on, can't…
Count On You When I feel like the world's gone mad And I need…
Diamond "See you boys later" "All right" "Play hard" My friends…
Down On The Ground I thought what I was hearing Was the sound of mission…
Ever Since The World Began I'll never know what brought me here as if somebody led…
Fading Away Too bad there's bad conversation Too bad there's poor choice…
Free To Love You I don't want to grow up to be a preacher I…
Friendly Advice My suitcase is packed It's sitting by the door I've gone o…
Get On the One Lost and lonely at the station Wanting to be anywhere but…
Girls With Guns I'll tell you now And I won't tell you twice Where, when,…
Half A Mind You said you were leaving On the very next train This litt…
Happy Xmas (Happy Christmas Kyoko) (Happy Christmas Julian) So this…
Heads Up Heads up the sky is falling Too late I heard them…
I I get no kick from champagne, Mere alcohol, Doesn't thrill…
I'll Be Comin' Home If I don't die I'll be hung in the middle It…
In This Night I wanna be the hero I wanna be the man I want…
Jealousy I open the door I turn on the lights I can feel…
Kiss Me Hello If you had things to do over Would you do them…
Lay Them Down Mischief in motion Seemed innocent enough Wild-eyed devoti…
Little Girl World The young girl says no to her fumbling beau And she…
Lonely School I drove past where we used to live You might have…
Love You Too Much Tried to call you late last night But you just let…
Money Money, get away. Get a good job with good pay and…
Nature Of The Beast Feel the chill that's in the air My eyes are dry And…
No Such Thing No such thing...no such thing You're waiting for the lightn…
Ocean I'm running from the future And I'm looking at the past I…
Open Arms Lying beside you, here in the dark Feeling your heartbeat wi…
Reach For The Bottle There's a hold in the picture There's a flaw in the…
Remo's Theme There′s a message I'm receiving And it′s coming in clear But…
See Me Now Oh babe I'm on top of the world And I can't…
Shadows In the Moonlight She was raised in Kentucky in a good christian home They…
Somewhere In The Night Driving through the midnight rain Blinded by the light Thi…
Stop Knockin' Busted and broke And I'm too old to toke I'd pay somebody…
Sweet Emotion Talk about things nobody cares Wearing other things that nob…
The Great Divide Believe in that our love was over We climbed to the…
The Next Right Thing They say hope is romantics, slow down like the Titanic But…
The Outsider Jimmy was the son of a sailor Another lonely military brat …
The Race Is On The race is on The race is on and I don't…
This Is Not A Test The music's interrupted by an old Familiar sound We've hea…
True Confessions I must have made some impression To scare you away Here's …
Umpteen Miles My daddy died upon this mountain Spent his life working with…
What Do You Want From Life You can't eat And you can't sleep You fell in love And yo…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Rick Shiels Golf
That’s PHENOMENAL 🤯 well done Matt! You’ve just completed YouTube 👏
Joel
Huge fan of your video Rick 🙌 Maybe you could come down to my local course one day 🤔😂
Wesley Payne
Ole shielsy
squibx88
YT golf 🐐 stamp of approval
jimmy jim
@squibx88 i think i speak for everyone when i say you guys need to collab
jimmy jim
you need to collab with good good
Trying 2 Save Bogey Golf
Who comes back to this video just to remember one of the greatest shots in golf history!
Jackson Clark
came back to see the good good good days…..
Terry Mc
Come back once a month at least bro 😂😂
Brodie Miller - The Golfer
It still gives me goosebumps bro