SOTW: Styx's "The Best of Times"

I had the recent privilege of interviewing the regal Judy Torres, who you might know as one of Freestyle’s beloved figures thanks to her hits “Come Into My Arms” and “No Reason to Cry.” Perhaps you recognize her name from her popular Sunday night Freestyle show on WKTU 103.5FM. I’d rather not contain her work to Freestyle, or any genre for that matter, because Torres should be heard as part of that incredibly talented NYC cohort who deserve to have a Broadway show built around them. This cohort of stunning vocalists prove that what this city really needs is a cabaret comeback, and fast. (For a beautiful exploration of New York’s cabaret’s past, stay tuned for Shane Vogel’s forthcoming The Scene of Harlem Cabaret: Race, Sexuality, and Performance.)

Torres has given me too much to think about as I prepare my Freestyle article for revision. As I interviewed her through fan-tears, however, it was her brilliant reflections on her training that reminded me that a scholar must rehearse before they write about the performers they study. When a musician explains how they came to be self-taught, you are given a peek into their past, a feel for their old family living room furniture. Typically anecdotal, specifics about their training reveal intricate systems of independent learning. Self-training requires an innate talent for improvisation: one has to assemble a motley combination of teaching aids, be they handed down from family or other formative babysitters like record players. Eventually, there might be an elementary schoolteacher who takes on a burgeoning musician. Nevertheless, it is an astonishing thing to imagine all those makeshift exercises when formal lessons were out of reach.

From her childhood Bronx apartment, Torres would turn up her alarm clock radio and sing along with Styx’s lead singer Dennis DeYoung. He provided the keys for her to “get vibrato.” She would lay belly-down on the floor so that she could feel her diaphragm working to produce that distinct vocal wave heard on “The Best of Times.”

Have you ever tried to sing to Dennis DeYoung (at home or karaoke)? Below (and by way of Torres) I invite you to sign up for DeYoung's most challenging lecture.

The Best Of Times - Styx


The embed was disabled on youtube, but here's a link to the video (you want to catch this video) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCGn_bU_kI

Suerte,
ATV