I guess I should also mention that while this song did replace Lies, Lies had replaced Best Thing on the second pressing of the album. Best Thing had also been on their first album. When I first heard this song, I was thinking it was literally "unfinished," and was trying to figure out why they'd put a song that wasn't completed on that album. That was a long, long time ago - 35 years. I am a collector of Styx, in particular, and have test pressings and acetates of their Wooden Nickel 45s.
I guess I should also mention that while this song did replace Lies, Lies had replaced Best Thing on the second pressing of the album. Best Thing had also been on their first album. When I first heard this song, I was thinking it was literally "unfinished," and was trying to figure out why they'd put a song that wasn't completed on that album. That was a long, long time ago - 35 years. I am a collector of Styx, in particular, and have test pressing and acetates of their Wooden Nickel 45s.
@thealbumcollector I am also a huge fan and have not only the original Wooden Nickel releases on vinyl, I also have the re-releases on vinyl as well (the ones with the different names and cartoony covers).
@AtlantaDrummer26 I recently picked up a video shot during the Grand Illusion tour taken by members of the crew - so much of the footage is shot from unusual angles (side of the stage, or even back of stage). I know how to reproduce it for posting on here, but have had a lot of bad luck doing that and have been threatened with expulsion from the site. I have several bootlegs as well: one from when Tommy had just joined the band. None of them are of great quality, though.
I was glad to finally get this on CD when they released all four wooden nickel albums remastered on two discs (even though I already had them all on CD). I appreciate that you did your homework, but... The first appearance of this song in my collection is on a German pressing (RCA label w/Wooden Nickel cover) of Best of Styx in the late 70s. I have all 5 of the German pressings of the RCA reprints (w/Wooden Nickel covers). I also have all 5 of the U.S. RCA reprints with different covers.
I was always unimpressed with this song. I had the album with this on it, and only later found the original Miracles album with Lies. So for me, that song was the real undiscovered gem. To someone else's comment, I've also wondered why Styx pretty much ignored all their older songs once they got big. Even if you listen to old Crystal Ball era concerts you won't hear Man or Miracles or You Need Love or Southern Woman or any of their great older works. Seems they just wanted to forget all that.
@BobNeubauer They did not ignore them. Contractually, they could not play them because their first manager owned all the rights to the Wooden Nickel songs. The only song they DID play was Lady because it was a hit. Until the song Lady was re-packaged on Best Of, their first manager collected EVERY penny that song made. Don't believe me? Ask Chuck Panozzo......HE is the one who told me all about this when I met him in 2004. Picked his brain for 2 hours. Oh the stories I could share.
@romeokid69 Wow, cool that you talked with Chuck. I'd love to hear stories about the band's early days. A friend and I got really into the first 4 albums back in the 80s, and I still love most of those songs, especially A Day. I knew there were copyright problems with those Wooden Nickel songs limiting them from putting them on "Best of" albums (which is why they re-recorded Lady with a slightly different name so it could be on one of their later hits CDs), but I hadn't...
@romeokid69 (continued)... considered that would prevent them from playing them live. My guess is they could have played them, but they would have had to pay their first manager for the privilege, so they just didn't bother. But I would love to hear really old performances of some of those first 4 album songs. I once saw a video of "Best Thing" played live in Milwaukee, at some outdoor hippie festival. Pretty cool.
@BobNeubauer The thing about Chuck is, he is the one guy you will get the whole truth from. Tommy does not like talking about Dennis because although he does not hate him like JY does, he prefers to concentrate on the present. JY just outright hates Dennis. Chuck says he will always have fond memories of those times. The whole reason why Glen Burtnik left the band the second time was because he could not stand JY, who, quite honestly, is not the nicest guy in the world.
@romeokid69 That makes sense. I've heard of other artists/bands under those same restrictions. It's weird because as long as they're not recording, in general, any band can play any song live regardless of who owns the rights; but, they can be contractually prohibited from playing their own music (which, of course, isn't their own because they got taken to the cleaners by a bad manager - the worst case ever was what happened to Badfinger). I also spent an evening w/Styx backstage 97.
I’m gonna guess this is a DDY-song. For all he did for Styx, this would be why I don’t like him. Not a bad song but.. y’know a bit too Barry Manilow for me…
One of the many little-known gems from Dennis DeYoung. Too bad I was too young to know about them back when this album came out. But I have the CDs now, and I'm going to see Dennis in a few weeks! He's still awesome.
MY DEAR COUSINS JOHN AND CHUCK,WE ALL GREW UP TOGETHER IN THE ROSELAND AREA OF CHICAGO AND WENT TO ST.ANTHONY'S GRADE SCHOOL. THEN SEPARATE WAYS ONTO HIGH SCHOOL. BUT,WE STILL KEPT IN TOUCH ON WEEKENDS WHEN YOU PLAYED AT LOCAL SCHOOL DANCES. THEN WE ALL GOT MARRIED,RAISED FAMILIES OF OUR OWN,SOME OF US MOVED AWAY BUT,WE NEVER FORGOT BECAUSE YOUR MUSIC KEEPS US IN TOUCH. JOHNNY,I MISS YOU TERRIBLY. THERE'S A BIG BAND IN HEAVEN NOW.SOMEDAY I WILL GET TO HEAR YOU PLAY THE DRUMS AGAIN. LOVE YOU!
This song came on the radio while I was driving home after hearing my brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was 44. His "song" was unfinished. Thanks for posting!
Bless you(Hip-O Records) for releasing this- the complete & remastered first four "Wooden Nickel" label STYX albums. It's like they read my mind! Even the CD cover & booklet art is dynamite.(from a Styx fan of course).
This is a very good song I was surprised by it, since the other songs under Wooden Nickel for the most part have similar sounds, this sounds like what Styx would later become famous for. A nice hidden gem of a Styx song.
Actually, when "Man of Miracles" was first released, it had "Best Thing" on the album, which was also on the first Styx album. I found this song on another version and bought it, so I could have all of the Styx songs (at the time they had 11 albums). Later I found out that "Lies" originally by the Knickerbockers was on ANOTHER version, so I bought that one, too. Not sure which (Unfinished Song or Lies) was released first. I always thought it was this one, but I could be wrong.
@Galilee1964 Thank you for clearing that up. My original vinyl has Best thing and it disturbed me that the CD's of the wooden nickel collection had this. It really sounds like this was played in two different keys and they switch it up during the second chorus. But that just might be me.
@Galilee1964 Lies was released first, then replaced with Unfinished Song when they rereleased their 1st 4 records with another label. But I bought that first, so always knew Unfinished Song. One I day I found the original Wooden Nickel version in a used record shop and heard Lies for the first time.
@Galilee1964 Lies was released first on the second pressing of Man of Miracles (replacing "Best Thing" which also appeared on the first album). "Unfinished Song" appeared on the Wooden Nickel re-release called Miracles which came out in 1980.
When I first saw this video, I didn't know that Unfinished Song was the name, I thought it was actually unfinished and therefore nameless.
thejybarber 1 month ago
watch?v=ysNd4QGOgeY
TubeSalvation 2 months ago
Very nice Ladyrose721
syphen90125 3 months ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
I guess I should also mention that while this song did replace Lies, Lies had replaced Best Thing on the second pressing of the album. Best Thing had also been on their first album. When I first heard this song, I was thinking it was literally "unfinished," and was trying to figure out why they'd put a song that wasn't completed on that album. That was a long, long time ago - 35 years. I am a collector of Styx, in particular, and have test pressings and acetates of their Wooden Nickel 45s.
thealbumcollector 3 months ago
I guess I should also mention that while this song did replace Lies, Lies had replaced Best Thing on the second pressing of the album. Best Thing had also been on their first album. When I first heard this song, I was thinking it was literally "unfinished," and was trying to figure out why they'd put a song that wasn't completed on that album. That was a long, long time ago - 35 years. I am a collector of Styx, in particular, and have test pressing and acetates of their Wooden Nickel 45s.
thealbumcollector 3 months ago
@thealbumcollector I am also a huge fan and have not only the original Wooden Nickel releases on vinyl, I also have the re-releases on vinyl as well (the ones with the different names and cartoony covers).
AtlantaDrummer26 1 week ago
@AtlantaDrummer26 I recently picked up a video shot during the Grand Illusion tour taken by members of the crew - so much of the footage is shot from unusual angles (side of the stage, or even back of stage). I know how to reproduce it for posting on here, but have had a lot of bad luck doing that and have been threatened with expulsion from the site. I have several bootlegs as well: one from when Tommy had just joined the band. None of them are of great quality, though.
thealbumcollector 1 week ago
I was glad to finally get this on CD when they released all four wooden nickel albums remastered on two discs (even though I already had them all on CD). I appreciate that you did your homework, but... The first appearance of this song in my collection is on a German pressing (RCA label w/Wooden Nickel cover) of Best of Styx in the late 70s. I have all 5 of the German pressings of the RCA reprints (w/Wooden Nickel covers). I also have all 5 of the U.S. RCA reprints with different covers.
thealbumcollector 3 months ago
I was always unimpressed with this song. I had the album with this on it, and only later found the original Miracles album with Lies. So for me, that song was the real undiscovered gem. To someone else's comment, I've also wondered why Styx pretty much ignored all their older songs once they got big. Even if you listen to old Crystal Ball era concerts you won't hear Man or Miracles or You Need Love or Southern Woman or any of their great older works. Seems they just wanted to forget all that.
BobNeubauer 5 months ago
@BobNeubauer They did not ignore them. Contractually, they could not play them because their first manager owned all the rights to the Wooden Nickel songs. The only song they DID play was Lady because it was a hit. Until the song Lady was re-packaged on Best Of, their first manager collected EVERY penny that song made. Don't believe me? Ask Chuck Panozzo......HE is the one who told me all about this when I met him in 2004. Picked his brain for 2 hours. Oh the stories I could share.
romeokid69 2 weeks ago
@romeokid69 Wow, cool that you talked with Chuck. I'd love to hear stories about the band's early days. A friend and I got really into the first 4 albums back in the 80s, and I still love most of those songs, especially A Day. I knew there were copyright problems with those Wooden Nickel songs limiting them from putting them on "Best of" albums (which is why they re-recorded Lady with a slightly different name so it could be on one of their later hits CDs), but I hadn't...
BobNeubauer 2 weeks ago
@romeokid69 (continued)... considered that would prevent them from playing them live. My guess is they could have played them, but they would have had to pay their first manager for the privilege, so they just didn't bother. But I would love to hear really old performances of some of those first 4 album songs. I once saw a video of "Best Thing" played live in Milwaukee, at some outdoor hippie festival. Pretty cool.
BobNeubauer 2 weeks ago
@BobNeubauer The thing about Chuck is, he is the one guy you will get the whole truth from. Tommy does not like talking about Dennis because although he does not hate him like JY does, he prefers to concentrate on the present. JY just outright hates Dennis. Chuck says he will always have fond memories of those times. The whole reason why Glen Burtnik left the band the second time was because he could not stand JY, who, quite honestly, is not the nicest guy in the world.
romeokid69 2 weeks ago
@romeokid69 That makes sense. I've heard of other artists/bands under those same restrictions. It's weird because as long as they're not recording, in general, any band can play any song live regardless of who owns the rights; but, they can be contractually prohibited from playing their own music (which, of course, isn't their own because they got taken to the cleaners by a bad manager - the worst case ever was what happened to Badfinger). I also spent an evening w/Styx backstage 97.
thealbumcollector 1 week ago
@StyxFan93 Thanks again, man. I always thought "Unfinished Song" was much better than "Lies".
j1001s27sw 5 months ago
I’m gonna guess this is a DDY-song. For all he did for Styx, this would be why I don’t like him. Not a bad song but.. y’know a bit too Barry Manilow for me…
Bornonlyonce 5 months ago
@Bornonlyonce Oh come on now. Babe and First Time are WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY more Barry than this song is. LOL
romeokid69 2 weeks ago
One of the many little-known gems from Dennis DeYoung. Too bad I was too young to know about them back when this album came out. But I have the CDs now, and I'm going to see Dennis in a few weeks! He's still awesome.
P1ckUpStyx 7 months ago
i very much prefer renegade. renegade is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warriorslover45 9 months ago
MY DEAR COUSINS JOHN AND CHUCK,WE ALL GREW UP TOGETHER IN THE ROSELAND AREA OF CHICAGO AND WENT TO ST.ANTHONY'S GRADE SCHOOL. THEN SEPARATE WAYS ONTO HIGH SCHOOL. BUT,WE STILL KEPT IN TOUCH ON WEEKENDS WHEN YOU PLAYED AT LOCAL SCHOOL DANCES. THEN WE ALL GOT MARRIED,RAISED FAMILIES OF OUR OWN,SOME OF US MOVED AWAY BUT,WE NEVER FORGOT BECAUSE YOUR MUSIC KEEPS US IN TOUCH. JOHNNY,I MISS YOU TERRIBLY. THERE'S A BIG BAND IN HEAVEN NOW.SOMEDAY I WILL GET TO HEAR YOU PLAY THE DRUMS AGAIN. LOVE YOU!
LADYROSE721 9 months ago 7
@LADYROSE721 All us Styx fans also miss John terribly. Thanks for your post.
lurch321 1 month ago
Why doesn't Styx or Dennis Deyoung play these songs? It would seem to me like one or the other would want to get these songs heard again.
mrroboto5785 10 months ago
totally, man!
jpsacrelige317 1 year ago
simpleな作風でmelodyasな作品でとても好きです。
65ALLAN7130 1 year ago
IMO- the best wooden nickel song they recorded.
maxmzone 1 year ago
Wonderful song, great singing. I love it.
bbuteo 1 year ago
This song came on the radio while I was driving home after hearing my brother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was 44. His "song" was unfinished. Thanks for posting!
imtallpaul 1 year ago 6
I think this originally was the b-side of their "Young Man"-single, but I have never found it...
dick667 1 year ago
I love it! <3
Schnookiecake 1 year ago
One sweet song DDJ was so natural singing this song.
syphen90125 1 year ago
Bless you(Hip-O Records) for releasing this- the complete & remastered first four "Wooden Nickel" label STYX albums. It's like they read my mind! Even the CD cover & booklet art is dynamite.(from a Styx fan of course).
gemini16th 1 year ago
Sooooo Gooooooooood!!!!!!!!!
AlexanderDelarge100 1 year ago
This is a very good song I was surprised by it, since the other songs under Wooden Nickel for the most part have similar sounds, this sounds like what Styx would later become famous for. A nice hidden gem of a Styx song.
mrroboto5785 1 year ago
Actually, when "Man of Miracles" was first released, it had "Best Thing" on the album, which was also on the first Styx album. I found this song on another version and bought it, so I could have all of the Styx songs (at the time they had 11 albums). Later I found out that "Lies" originally by the Knickerbockers was on ANOTHER version, so I bought that one, too. Not sure which (Unfinished Song or Lies) was released first. I always thought it was this one, but I could be wrong.
Galilee1964 2 years ago 2
@Galilee1964 Thank you for clearing that up. My original vinyl has Best thing and it disturbed me that the CD's of the wooden nickel collection had this. It really sounds like this was played in two different keys and they switch it up during the second chorus. But that just might be me.
wwenthin 1 year ago
@Galilee1964 Lies was released first, then replaced with Unfinished Song when they rereleased their 1st 4 records with another label. But I bought that first, so always knew Unfinished Song. One I day I found the original Wooden Nickel version in a used record shop and heard Lies for the first time.
BobNeubauer 2 weeks ago
@Galilee1964 Lies was released first on the second pressing of Man of Miracles (replacing "Best Thing" which also appeared on the first album). "Unfinished Song" appeared on the Wooden Nickel re-release called Miracles which came out in 1980.
AtlantaDrummer26 1 week ago