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To: DallasBiff
Mr. Roboto is a great song. The problem that some of the band and some of the fans had was that they refused to recognize the 1980s had started.

Styx was a 70s band that entered the 80s.

Lady - 1973
Lorelei - 1975
Suite Madame Blue - 1975
Come Sail Away - 1977
Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) - 1977
Miss America - 1977
The Grand Illusion - 1977
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) - 1978
Renegade - 1978
Babe - 1979
Too Much Time On My Hands - 1981
Mr. Roboto - 1983

Note that Dennis DeYoung kept his hair short in the 70s while the rest of the band had long hair. In addition to being a founding member and writing many of their hit songs, he recognized the shift in music going into the 1980s. His crime to fans wasn't that he wrote and performed Mr. Roboto, it was that he didn't pass it along to Flock of Seagulls or some other 80s band. Then they would have loved it.

Dennis DeYoung was prescient enough to recognize the threats from computer technology that had already started. The band and the fans wanted to pretend that the world was still long hair, bell-bottoms, open shirts with exposed chest hair, folk rock and marijuana rock. They should have listened to him, both for the influence on music and how the world was changing with risks attached.


You're wondering who I am
Machine or mannequin
With parts made in Japan
I am the Modren Man

I've got a secret I've been hiding under my skin
My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain IBM
So if you see me acting strangely, don't be surprised
I'm just a man who needed someone and somewhere to hide
To keep me alive, just keep me alive
Somewhere to hide to keep me alive

I'm not a robot without emotions, I'm not what you see
I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free

...

I am the Modern Man (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
Who hides behind a mask (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
So no one else can see (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
My true identity

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For doing the jobs that nobody wants to
And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For helping me escape just when I needed to

The problem's plain to see
Too much technology
Machines to save our lives
Machines dehumanize

The time has come at last (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
To throw away this mask (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
Now everyone can see (Secret, secret, I've got a secret)
My true identity

26 posted on 11/16/2024 12:47:17 PM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits

The construction and performance of Mr. Roboto is (was) just fine. As a standalone tune, the lyrics are kind of interesting. But, making the whole stage show about it was a big mistake.


72 posted on 11/17/2024 12:52:59 AM PST by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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