Thirty years later, this harkens back to when Tommy Shaw was with Ted Nugent and Jack Blades in a supergroup and Styx still had Dennis DeYoung. “Yesterday’s just a memory, can we we close the door?”
Tommy Shaw from Damn Yankees discussed the band’s successful tour, noting that their album went gold before its first concert. They mix old and new songs, with a focus on musical merit rather than name recognition. Shaw highlighted the band’s chemistry and the positive reception of their new material. He recounted the band’s formation, including a serendipitous meeting with Ted Nugent and Jack Blades. Shaw also reflected on his departure from Styx due to creative differences and his preference for the new band. The conversation touched on their touring lifestyle, the band’s harmony-rich songwriting process, and their approach to live performances.
Tommy Shaw Damn Yankees 1990
Sat, Nov 16, 2024 8:52AM • 15:55
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Damn Yankees, new album, tour success, musical acceptance, band chemistry, solo careers, Styx breakup, songwriting process, live performances, rock and roll, band dynamics, publicity shots, travel arrangements, Michigan roots, harmony in music
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Tommy Shaw
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Oh. Nestor, this Nestor, Hi, this is Tucker with Damn Yankees. How you doing good? I’ll
Tommy Shaw 00:04
give you Tommy Shaw here in a minute. Great. Nestor, how’s
Nestor Aparicio 00:06
it going? Boss?
Tommy Shaw 00:07
Oh, it’s going pretty good.
Nestor Aparicio 00:09
I must say that I am indeed the world’s biggest sticks fan.
Tommy Shaw 00:12
Oh, that’s great.
Nestor Aparicio 00:13
So you know that was before I was a critic, but now that I’m a critic, I hate you like
Tommy Shaw 00:21
about the Damn Yankees.
Nestor Aparicio 00:22
I like this. I like the stuff, and I’m happy here. You got some new stuff out. Yeah, so
Tommy Shaw 00:26
you gotta, you gotta come see us, and then you’ll be a definite Damn Yankees fan.
Nestor Aparicio 00:30
How is this tour coming? It’s, man, we’re,
Tommy Shaw 00:32
we’re hearing all these horror stories about, you know, tours being slow at it, but we’re doing big business, really. Yeah, must be a good package or something. Jag company helping sell that. Or, I don’t know what the deal is, but people are coming and they’re staying.
Nestor Aparicio 00:49
They played a bar here about a year and a half ago. They did really, really well. Yeah,
Tommy Shaw 00:53
I think they did go out. They must have gone out and drummed up a lot of business for the new band, and now they’re kind of reaping the benefits. Are
Nestor Aparicio 00:59
they doing the old stuff too? They’re doing, they’re mixing it up, you know, about half and half. So you’re happy with the progress you earn album, the two hits now and yeah,
Tommy Shaw 01:07
I mean that the record was gold before we played our first concert. So, you know, usually it takes getting out on the road to support your record, to get it to that first milestone like that. So we’re very happy with it. You know, the thing that I like about it that is that we’ve been, you know, the music has been accepted just on the basis of, you know, musical side of it, rather than the fact that it’s the names of the band, you know, the band members. So, you know, it’s been accepted musically, which is a great, great thing for us,
Nestor Aparicio 01:39
is there kind of a stigma because you guys were stars already, sort of something we have to fight through.
Tommy Shaw 01:44
In some ways it’s positive, but in some ways it’s, you know, it gives people, you know, some sort of preconceived notion about what it might be like. And usually those preconceived notions aren’t anywhere near what reality is. And this is one of those cases, you know, you can listen to our old stuff, but, you know, you listen to our new stuff. It’s got a personality and a sound all its own, because it’s just, it’s the chemistry that that makes the sound. And, you know, it’s just like when you when somebody has babies, you know, you never know what they’re going to look like. They’re all, they all kind of look like their parents, but they all have a look of their own.
Nestor Aparicio 02:22
I see you guys as kind of crazy guys together. Me from everything I’ve seen on video, and it’s like, you don’t, you can’t get enough for each other. It’s like this, this, like new relationship or something where you just want to go hog wild kids in a candy
Tommy Shaw 02:37
store out here. And, you know, the chemistry is just so perfect. I saw Peter Frampton two nights ago, and he was giving me a hard time about it, because I know he, I think he would like to be in this band. To every all my musician friends want to be in this
Nestor Aparicio 02:52
band. Ted’s a great guy. Ted had me backstage one time at hammer Jackson, Baltimore. He’s just, he’s a wild
Tommy Shaw 03:01
time to find out here. And, you know, we do not come through town quietly, you know, we make a lot of people nervous, and that’s what this is all about. You know, rock and roll is not supposed to be nice and well behaved.
Nestor Aparicio 03:13
What made you all go into into this double bill? I mean, instead of going around and playing the Rock and Roll clubs, and, well,
Tommy Shaw 03:19
who wants to play gloves when you can play in front of a larger
Nestor Aparicio 03:22
audience or so about you guys just need to sweat on the walls, if you ask me. I mean,
Tommy Shaw 03:27
we do like we like the I love the way we look in basements with written all over the wall and get a little dirty. You need that? Well, there’s definitely that. You know, we took, we took one picture. You know, when we first started doing this, we had to take a lot of publicity shots. And this one photographer set up the beauty shot, you know, with the and had that, had the girl there, moosing up everybody’s
Nestor Aparicio 03:49
hair. It was like your hand on your chin and all that, you know,
Tommy Shaw 03:52
it’s like, suck your cheeks in with you, you know, just take the picture and just give us a comb so we can comb all this out of our hair. Because it’s just not, you know, it’s just not us. It’s been, you know, in our pictures, most of the time we look like, we look like when we wake up first thing in the morning. And that’s kind of what everybody wants to do. You know, I don’t think we need to create any kind of false identity for ourselves. So
Nestor Aparicio 04:16
how did this thing get together? I mean, I’ve heard all these romantic stories. What’s the bottom line? Who called who first? And how did you bump into TED or whatever?
Tommy Shaw 04:25
We’re sitting next to each other when we were getting ready to release our last solo records, and we were both on Atlantic, and we were at this really long, boring presentation, and the only two cool things about the presentation were Ted’s record and my record. And we both were sitting there going, guys, that sounds, you know, we’re just kind of giving each other a five on the way we liked each other’s music. And he said, you know, Ted said, Let’s get together when this is over with. And most of the time when you say that. You have good intentions, but usually your schedules never cooperate. Somebody will be in the studio while the other guy’s on the road and all the other guys on vacation. But the way it worked out, we were both finished at the same time, and Ted came to New York, and Michael and I were already playing together. Michael toured with me on my last tour, and so the stuff was already set up. And, you know, grungy little rehearsal, all I was getting for free. And Ted came in, wired some gear, and we just jammed. And it sounded real good, you know. So next time he came through New York, we did it again. We even went in and cut it down low. It sounded pretty nice. But when we heard night Ranger broke up with then we both said, tell Jack Blakes to get his ass here right now. And so we got on the phone with Jack, and he was, he was pretty, you know, just kind of stymied by the whole thing. It was like, what you and Ted’s like, you know, what could this be like? So he got on the plane. Immediately came. He was there the next day, and, you know, we went into rehearsal and it sounded exactly like the Damn Yankees. And so all of us it was like, you know, you can imagine what we felt like we were sitting there on this little secret. And so we all took a break and started calling our friends, and we overheard Ted trying to describe to one of his friends what it sounded like. He said, sounds like a bunch of Damn Yankees playing, you know, just kicking American rock and roll. So, you know, we kind of looked at each other, you know, and thought, Man, that sounds like a great name for the band.
Nestor Aparicio 06:31
So how about the travel back and forth? How did that all work out?
Tommy Shaw 06:34
Well, it’s the same thing we’re doing now. None of us ever even considered that until we started doing interviews when people started asking us that question, because we’re all so used to being on the road and traveling anyway.
Nestor Aparicio 06:47
How long have you lived in New York?
Tommy Shaw 06:48
I’ve been there over five years.
Nestor Aparicio 06:50
Did you ever live in Chicago with sticks?
Tommy Shaw 06:52
I lived there for about two years, and it wasn’t when I was it was after I left sticks. I moved to Chicago. Actually, I’m heading out
Nestor Aparicio 06:59
there this weekend. I want to be there when you’re there. I’m going to vacation out there. So vacation out there. Really. Going to get the Comiskey before they rip it down. Yeah? Shame, yeah. Well, my cousin played for the White Sox forever. And i What are you going to do? I mean, it’s baseball, you know, it’s
Tommy Shaw 07:13
money. Life looks great to me, though. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 07:16
I want to find out about Friday night when I head in there to make this not a one shot thing in the public side, are you guys going to move to one place or something?
Tommy Shaw 07:26
No. I mean, I don’t think that would change anybody’s this band isn’t about real estate. Rock and roll is a gypsy sort of a life anyway. So none of us are going to move to Michigan. I don’t think those guys are going to leave their places to move to Manhattan anytime
Nestor Aparicio 07:44
soon. Ted is definitely not man. Ted is Michigan. Ted is back woods, yeah.
Tommy Shaw 07:48
I mean, he says Detroit, but he lives on a ranch, you know, 100 miles from Detroit.
Nestor Aparicio 07:54
Your solo career. Why was it so? You know? Why did it take off? Mean, girl with dawns, I thought was a great song, and his song should have been like a number one song.
Tommy Shaw 08:05
Really aspired to compete with with other big solo artists. I just wanted not to be in sticks. And so I did achieve that,
Nestor Aparicio 08:15
but I think it might have cost you the pocketbook there for a little while
Tommy Shaw 08:18
record companies and, you know, I had my sling with it, and I did music that I loved, you know, I just wasn’t competitive on, you know, with the in the business stuff, you know, I still get pleasure out of it, but it was kind of an expensive experiment. And one thing I did realize, you know, my third record to this day, you know, it to me, is a competitive record. It’s the best record that I made, but it probably should have been my first record. So, you know, it was I finally had one that I that was competitive. But by that time, I lost my desire to be in that sort of, you know, relationship with my fans. I wanted to be in a band again.
Nestor Aparicio 08:55
So what happened to sticks? Why did, why did it fall apart? Well,
Tommy Shaw 09:01
the chemistry just shifted the power of the band. You know, there was a power struggle in there. And I was, I was always the new kid in the band. And never really, you were never an original. I was never an original, and never really was. Was accepted that way, even after I grew up in the band. And so, you know, my suggestions are always looked at, you know, like, well, you know, let’s just humor him. But now, in retrospect, I’m finding out that my ideas were right on the money. You know, the songs that I thought kept sticks from having truly classic albums to this day are the ones that everybody that I know fast forward. Sword skips over. And you know, if things have been different, if I’d gotten my way, I think the band would have a few more classic songs than they do, and
Nestor Aparicio 09:49
which songs were yours now, Crystal Ball was yours. Ray crystal ball fooling yourself. Too much time in your hands. Too much time.
Tommy Shaw 09:58
Blue Collar. Man, Renegade.
Nestor Aparicio 09:59
Yeah, those were yours. Yeah? Like, the best of times that kind of stuff was all Dennis, yeah. Now, what’s your relationship with? Dennis?
Tommy Shaw 10:07
Well, right now, I don’t have a relationship at all with any of them. Haven’t spoken to them since the first day we started making the Damn Yankees record, and that was the day they asked me to drop the Damn Yankees and come to a sticks record.
8Nestor Aparicio 10:21
Also that you weren’t invited to do a sticks record. Well, yeah, it
Tommy Shaw 10:25
was funny. I was in, I was in LA jack, and I had rented, you know, we all had apartments out there and and I was waiting for Nevison to say, All right, we got drum sound to come on over. And it was Dennis D young instead saying, well, got everything together, you know, we need to make a record right now. And it was kind of a, you know, it was, it was a strange situation to be in, because I had considered going back and doing a record with them for a couple of years, and all of a sudden, you know, I was put in a position, well, you got to drop Damn Yankees Now to do this. And there was no way I was going to do that. I had long since, you know, just had a strong desire to do Damn Yankees. And you know, it was something it was worth risking all the guaranteed money of doing the sticks record and tour. You know, I knew that. I knew there would be a guaranteed ton of cash to do that, but with the Damn Yankees, I get to have all this fun, and we’re still doing okay, and I’m just having the time my life. So they put their own record together. That’s done. I think it’s gonna be out September. And that’s just four of them, though, and a guy named Glenn Bert Nick.
Nestor Aparicio 11:40
Glenn Bert Nick, so what was Jay why in the Panasonic? I mean, what is Dennis done since Desert moon or I mean, what have they been doing with their lives? What were you doing with your life? I
Tommy Shaw 11:51
mean, well, I’ve been working with Nugent since 88 on this Damn Yankees thing. So I’ve been putting this together for two years,
Nestor Aparicio 12:00
and they invited you back. When? When exactly was it? Well, it was,
Tommy Shaw 12:04
we started making this record. Started recording it, october 23 of 1989
Nestor Aparicio 12:13
and they called you then. So will a sticks reunion ever happen with you? I mean, are you now? You’re out, right? You’re no longer a member anymore, right?
8Tommy Shaw 12:22
All it, all it takes, is the right set of circumstances. I don’t I would never say I’ll never play with you again. There’s no point in that. I still have a great fondness for sticks. You
Nestor Aparicio 12:33
don’t hate those guys. There was
Tommy Shaw 12:37
never any hatred or anything. It was just, you know, just a desire to get off the roller coaster. You know, because the roller coaster just what you know. How long can you be on a roller coaster and still enjoy it? Certain point you got to get off and get your balance again.
Nestor Aparicio 12:56
How old were you now? I’m 3636 Nugent and Jack,
Tommy Shaw 13:00
we’re all just within three or four years of each other’s age.
Nestor Aparicio 13:05
I wasn’t sure how old you were. I just never thought about Nugent. You have an age that’s the same now you did 1980s
Tommy Shaw 13:13
well preserved, I guess, preserved for the rock and roll era.
Nestor Aparicio 13:17
So why does this album have so much harmony to it? You know, Laird Everly Brothers might like to put in harmony when
Tommy Shaw 13:24
Jack and I got together. That’s just what we did. And when we write, that’s just what we do, it comes off that way. You know, we had it come again, come about, just sat down and wrote it. You know, it’s one of those, all the damn Yankee stuff. There was no, there was no, like, wrenching of, you know, our brains to try and get anything to happen. These songs just flow. When we get together, you know, one guy will come up with a riff, or someone will come up with a melody, or vice versa. All we got to do is say, Okay, let’s write a song now, and everybody just jumps in there. You know, there’s no, no loss of there’s no, you know, it hasn’t been any kind of a writer’s block, a group writer’s block, someone short of ideas, and somebody else will certainly jump in there.
Nestor Aparicio 14:11
So with the show, is it co build, or is it, how much time are you getting? How much time are they Yes, an hour.
Tommy Shaw 14:17
And they do, they do the rest, right? But you know, for us, it’s like, who the we’re out here to let everybody know who the hell the Damn Yankees are, because no one knows. We’ve never been out here, you know? So we are, you know, we’re a new band,
Nestor Aparicio 14:32
and you’re doing all just Damn Yankees for cereal. No, we
Tommy Shaw 14:35
still. We’re doing some of our past. We’re doing our favorite things from the past. What do you what are you doing? Depending on the night. I’ll either do renegade or blue collar man. What is Ted do? Ted will do free for all Cat Scratch, Cat Scratch Fever and Jack does. Don’t tell me you love me or rock in America,
Nestor Aparicio 14:55
you get one of each. Is that? Right? Yeah, the time doesn’t allow you. That’s what’s. If you were to come out and do your own thing in a club or something, you guys could probably just, you know, go to plus and we
Tommy Shaw 15:05
go out and play clubs. We just don’t we just don’t advertise anymore. We’ll go out after the gig and take over somebody’s gear and play like that. But I personally not too crazy about clubs. I don’t smoke and I hate being singing in a smoke filled room, right? All right. Well, I like going there and spontaneously doing it, but I don’t like the I don’t like advertising and letting myself know That tonight I have to go sing for in the smoke filled room. There’s something, some psychological we have to do it to get paid
Nestor Aparicio 15:42
well. I certainly hope I can hook up with y’all next Saturday and say hello and all right. Well, anyway, I’ll see you merry weather next weekend. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Good luck. See you.
