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Twin brothers Chuck and John Panozzo first got together with their neighbour Dennis DeYoung in 1961 in the Roseland section of the south side of Chicago, eventually taking the band name "The Tradewinds". Chuck Panozzo left to attend seminary school for a year but returned to the group by 1964. Tom Nardini was brought in to teach Chuck the guitar. Chuck decided to play Bass Guitar for the band. John Panozzo was the drummer, while Dennis DeYoung had switched from accordion to organ and piano. In 1965, the name "Tradewinds" was changed to TW4 after another band called The Trade Winds broke through nationally. By 1966, the Panozzo brothers had joined DeYoung at Chicago State University and kept the group together doing gigs at high schools and frat parties while studying to be teachers. In 1969, they added a college buddy, John Curulewski, on guitar after Tom Nardini departed. Guitarist James "J.Y." Young came aboard in 1970 making TW4 a quintet. In 1972, the band members decided to choose a new name when they signed to Wooden Nickel Records; several suggestions were made and, says DeYoung, Styx was chosen because it was "the only one that none of us hated". The band's Wooden Nickel recordings, Styx (1972), Styx II (1973), The Serpent Is Rising (1974) and Man of Miracles (1974), were a mixture of straight-ahead rock with some dramatic prog-rock flourishes and art-rock aspirations. The Serpent Is Rising would foreshadow later endeavors by the group—the so-called concept album is an idiom upon which Styx would rely heavily by the 1980s. On the strength of these releases and constant playing in local clubs and schools, the band established a fan base in the Chicago area, but was unable to break into the mainstream until an earlier song, the power ballad "Lady" (from Styx II), began to earn some radio time, first on WLS in Chicago and then nationwide. In the spring of 1975, nearly two years after the album had been released, "Lady" hit #6 in the U.S., and Styx II went gold after. On the heels of its belated hit single, Styx signed with A&M Records and released Equinox (1975), which sold well and yielded a minor hit in "Lorelei", #27 in the U.S. More importantly, it contained the rock anthem "Suite Madame Blue", which gained the band considerable recognition and airplay on FM radio in the relatively new Album Oriented Rock (AOR) format. Following the move to A&M, Curulewski suddenly left the band in December 1975 just as they were to embark on a nationwide tour. After a frantic last-minute search, the band brought on singer, songwriter, and guitarist Tommy Shaw as Curulewski's replacement. The first album with Shaw, Crystal Ball (1976), was moderately successful and also includes Shaw's "Mademoiselle" (which was another minor hit, reaching #36) and DeYoung's "This Old Man". The Grand Illusion (1977) became the group's breakthrough album, reaching Triple Platinum certification and spawning a top-ten hit and AOR radio staple in the DeYoung-written "Come Sail Away,", which reached #8 in 1978, as well as a second radio hit, Shaw's "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)", which reached #29 the same year. Through the late 1970s, the band enjoyed its greatest success. The album Pieces of Eight (1978) found the group moving in a more straight-ahead pop-rock direction and spawned the Shaw-written hit singles "Renegade,", #16 in the U.S., and "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)," #21 in the U.S., plus a minor hit in the release "Sing for the Day" that stopped just short of the Top Forty at #41. Cornerstone (1979) yielded the group's first number one hit, the DeYoung ballad "Babe". By early 1980, "Babe" had become the band's biggest international hit and first million-selling single, reaching number six in the United Kingdom. The album also included the #26 DeYoung hit "Why Me", and "Borrowed Time" which was co-written with Shaw, plus Shaw's "Boat On The River". The popularity of the album helped win the band a People's Choice Award for Best New Song in 1980. Styx was nominated for the Twenty-Second Grammy Awardsfor Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Cornerstone's engineers Gary Loizzo and Rob Kingsland were nominated for a Grammy at the 22nd Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Recording. Wikipedia contributors. Styx (band). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. October 31, 2009, 04:29 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Styx_(band)&oldid=323049262. Accessed November 1, 2009.