#kilroy was here
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The image of Chetney sticking his head outta the hole in Laudna Land would not leave my head.
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Hi i don't know much abt styx aside from general prog fandom osmosis but kwh has always intrigued me a little bit. Can you explain it in excruciating detail? (genuinely i'm not being sarcastic)
*cracks knuckles*
on february 22, 1983, styx released their eleventh studio album Kilroy Was Here. it was a concept album/rock opera though dennis deyoung likes to call it more of a "rock theatrical experience" in recent interviews. they even made a minifilm they played before the concert!!!! you can find it and the rest of caught in the act on youtube
it was made partially as a response to the rise of the satanic panic in the early-mid 1980s. people started to believe that rock music was evil and hiding satanic messages. the band was targeted by the public when they were accused in particular by the government of arkansas (i think?) of putting backwards messages (called backmasking) in their song Snowblind (the line "i try so hard to make it so" sounded like "satan moves through our voices" to some people. i own a copy of paradise theatre, that track in particular is damaged.).
and then dennis deyoung had a GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!!
imagine a big ol lightbulb flashing over him while the rest of the members of styx watch in mortal dread
so basically the album follows a sort of loose and vague backstory that's somehow still solid enough for people to follow some sort of a plot in their head (which is slightly backed up by Caught In The Act, the designated KWH "concert," which i'll get to in a second). the basic synopsis (paraphrased but still in excruciating detail) is as such:
set in a futuristic chicago(?) rock and roll has been made illegal under code 672 (prohibits the playing and purveying of rock music). Dr. Everett Righteous (played by JY), who was responsible for this, is the leader of the majority for musical morality or the MMM for short. the MMM is one of the strongest organizations in this universe since you know. they literally convinced congress to criminalize an entire genre of music for the entire country. righteous also hosts a television show where he encourages the public to burn guitars and records in a huge bonfire during “nightly rallies”. he also projects himself onto a big triangle over the skyline which i think is fucking hilarious i haven’t been able to get over it
Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (played by Dennis DeYoung, of course he's the title character), was a prolific rock musician at the time of the ban. he was thrown in prison for breaking the law and after being framed of murder. they accused him of bashing an MMM crusader's head in (which he obviously didn't do) after they raided one of his concerts at the paradise theatre. he then goes to rot in prison and is subjected to attempts of brainwashing by the dr. righteous show with the other “rock n’ roll misfits” they’ve arrested. it doesn’t work lol. i don't understand how it would work BECAUSE IT'S NEVER EXPLAINED
the prison kilroy is rotting in is maintained/monitored by japanese import, mass produced robots dubbed the "robotos," hence the title track. ignore how racist they look, it was 1983, this is not my fault
i mildly dislike them but it sucks how they’re essential to the plot ANYWAYS
here comes Jonathan Chance, (played by Tommy Shaw, albeit reluctantly) who is a rebel that is part of a underground resistance (that's only really mentioned once). with his friend, he breaks into some unknown area that is most likely a recording studio and hijacks the live television recording of the dr. righteous show. he proceeds to namedrop himself and then run off
credit to @mccoys-killer-queen for the gifs!!
kilroy sees this happen, which inspires him to attempt to escape the prison. kilroy incapacitates a roboto that visits his prison cell and disguises himself as it so he can escape without being noticed (i do not like the way he does this)
after kilroy escapes, he goes throughout the city and leaves messages for jonathan, leading him back to the paradise theater which is now the Dr. Righteous Museum for Rock Pathology
it's got a bunch of shitty animatronics that include people like jimi hendrix and elvis presley, but at the very back is an animatronic of kilroy repeatedly bashing in someone's head
this is my favorite part of the minifilm which i've basically explained sorry. you see like what you think is another roboto emerge from the shadows, and then it takes off its mask AND IT'S THE ACTUAL KILROY!!!
(this is taken from the live show, the transition is so goddamn dope)
and then dennis deyoung prances around and has his little pick me theater main character moment and sings mr. roboto and dances and stuff it looks so stupid. the live version of mr. roboto is way funnier than the official music video i don't know. i posted it about here before but i love this part in particular
so that's how kilroy and jonathan meet and that's basically the plot of one of styx's most popular songs!! sorry i gave kind of a play by play of the minifilm
now here's the fun part !!!! (unfinished lore/controversy)
unfortunately the reception of this album was less than satisfactory for most people back in '83, since KWH was way far away from the brand that styx had made for themselves in the 70s. they made art rock and prog, but this was just straight up synthpop. some people liked it though. i read somewhere in an article that it "alienated their male audience" and honestly if you're alienated by a little bit of gay pick me theater bs from your favorite band, that's a you problem
caught in the act was the designated "kilroy concert" that styx did sometime in 1983. the concert, however, doesn't give any. depth. to any additional explanations of multiple plot holes present in the story. as much as i love and cherish dennis deyoung he didn't do a very good job at writing this.
caught in the act felt more like a compromise than a show, seeing as the banter after the performance of mr. roboto was very bare? kilroy explains to jonathan that he was framed for murder, and then he goes in depth on the night it happened. "the crowd was totally psyched," he says, and then it goes to JY performing a guitar solo, which leads into the rest of the concert. the entire concert was portrayed as a flashback and gives no real backstory to any of the established characters. and then at the tail end of the concert they get "raided" by the MMM and you watch as an MMM officer murders one of righteous' own followers with kilroy's guitar. they cut back to kilroy and jonathan, they sing haven't we been before, and then kilroy hands jonathan this sick ass glowing guitar, then they perform the world's worst finale. the dance party ending of caught in the act. it sucks. it's horrible. i hate it. also there is no dennis deyoung in the kilroy was here universe lmfao
i'm still grateful for the concert though don't get me wrong!!! amazing concert
if the rest of styx didn't want to rip dennis deyoung apart for making them do this (i recently learned from a manager that DDY made them turn down an opportunity to perform at one of the largest concerts of the 80s, because he was like "but muh kilroy"), i believe songs off the album like High Time and Double Life would have been performed at Caught in the Act. both extremely lore-heavy songs, especially double life. i really wish they played double life. but c'est la vie, i guess.
literally everyone in the band hated dennis' guts so much while they were making this (justified, he was a stubborn asshole during production) but god was it worth it. for me at least. i imagine one of the conversations about production went like
JY: dennis have you considered that maybe this is a bad idea
Dennis: i'm gonna make you the villain of the story if you don't shut the FUCK UP
i still think that JY had a little bit of fun though. he was hamming it tf up as dr. righteous i'm sorry you need to watch the mv's which you can find on youtube as well
but unfortunately tommy shaw wasn't having a good time at all, he literally quit on stage and stormed off and styx split for a while bc of this album i mean LOOK AT HIM HE'S SO PISSED OFF
overall this album is both cheese AND corn, worst album i've ever listened to, and yet it's given me a purpose in life. i've written 7,000+ words in one document about this album just to try and fill in the blanks the lore has, it's got so many. it's a running joke on this blog, i really hope you check out the album, because i think it's wonderful and it's endearing regardless of the controversy, it's too late for me. save yourself
#styx#styxposting#kilroy was here#styx band#dennis deyoung#tommy shaw#jonathan chance#dr. righteous#styxblr#robert orin charles kilroy#this took me two days to prepare and write#sorry to everyone else that already knows the story front and back because of me (consider this a refresh)#or to anyone that already knew the story even before me#god i wish i was there to experience it.#i would've died and gone to heaven#i watch the live show and my heart is warmed because i know for a fact that someone in that audience was as insane about this story as i am#and was probably losing their shit in the audience#perhaps it was a birthday gift. or something they had completely given up hope on seeing#also righteous canonically owns a fried chicken brand named Dr. Righteous' Fried Chicken as a play on KFC#i had to stop watching the minifilm for fifteen minutes and go do something else because i was so disgusted by the fried chicken plot point#and DDY milks the fuck out of it in CITA when he goes 'and i was eating that G R E A S Y fried chicken'#the pain and agony#it's so unnecessary#caught in the act#i might be a little ill in the mentally
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#smile for me#smile for me game#comic#avalon#boris habit#kilroy was here#superman s#it's all here babyyyyyyy
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Kilroy was here is a meme that became popular during World War II, typically seen in graffiti. Its origin is debated, but the phrase and the distinctive accompanying doodle became associated with GIs in the 1940s: a bald-headed man with a prominent nose peeking over a wall with his fingers clutching the wall.
#MASH#MASH history#had an urge to start making posts that are just like... random history#because ive seen so many cool facts on tumblr and elsewhere#i just like knowing contexts#hawkeye pierce#bj hunnicutt#kilroy was here#a lot of what i wanna do is actually based on the queer history filtered through the show
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fellas is it gay if some submissive and breedable twink inspires you to escape from prison, leaves you mysterious coded messages, and wants to meet you in secret while you plan to overthrow the government by serenading each other? asking for my friend Kilroy
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So I found a way to emulate the old Magic School Bus Explores games. I played through Explores the Solar System (Ohmygod the physics so bad for a platformer), and Explores the Human Body, which is the game I want to talk about for a brief moment.
So there is this feature called “magic eyes” which lets you do a fake X-eat vision of the area you’re in but it shows ridiculous things like melting Mona Lisa faces, the tin man, aliens, and… this was in Arnold’s Heart
EXCUSE ME??? KILROY WAS HERE?? The fucking graffiti trend from WWII?? What CHILD IS GOING TO UNDERSTAND THAT? For that matter What adult playing with their kid in 1994 was going to get this ?? I only know of this because of a popular tumblr post!!!
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little sketch comm of kilroy for @secret-unburnt-guitars 😈
#commission#digital#sketchy#fanart#styx#dennis deyoung#kilroy was here#robert orin charles kilroy#band art#stuff for others
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Here me out
what if Steve Rogers was the guy who drew the “Kilroy was here” meme during WW2
#bark says a thing#marvel#mcu#captain america#steve rogers#kilroy was here#meme#marvel tag#captain america civil war#captain america the first avenger#captain america the winter soldier
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I couldn't sleep knowing that I drew an ms paint doodle that aged like milk in these times of war so I made a follow up.
Moved by the genocide of Gaza citizens and heavily deprived of sleep, the so-called "genocide enabler" departs on a journey to change himself for the better.
#character art#art#fanart#free palestine#free gaza#freepalastine🇵🇸#i stand with palestine#palestine#kilroy was here#self improvement
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m^o_o^m
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Well, Anyway I’m Da First Living Creature To Set Foot On Da Moon “Haredevil Hare” (1948)
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happy 41st anniversary to kilroy was here (1983)!!!!!!!
here’s my collection of little kilroy-related trinkets and name. license plate. things. i’ve collected over the past couple years :3333
#styx#styxposting#kilroy was here#styx band#dennis deyoung#tommy shaw#jonathan chance#dr. righteous#styxblr#robert orin charles kilroy#mr. roboto#don’t ask me why i have two copies of the same cd
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If i had a nickel for every album thats about aliens coming to earth and being musical stars id have two nickels which isnt a lot but its weird it happend twice
#dont get me started on music cuz i wont stop#styx band#kilroy was here#klaatu#3:47est#richard/blogpost
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Batman | Justice League
Diana Prince/Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Teen
Summary:
Bruce is bound and determined to stay a part-time member in this whole Justice League experiment. With a rambunctious group of protégés to train and a secret identity to protect, he has neither the time nor patience for co-workers who like to casually flirt on the job.
But he can’t control his kids’ knack for finding trouble, or their deftness at making new friends.
OR
Seven times a Justice League member helped out a BatFam kid, making a reluctant friend for life in Bruce Wayne. And one time he thanked them for it.
Chapter 4:
He was indisputably the most gorgeous person Wally had ever met. Tall, slender, and long-limbed, he held a deep crouch without the usual signs of discomfort, hinting at a level of flexibility Wally envied and idolized. His tanned skin was set off by a robin’s egg shirt, the neck cut low enough to show off a loose charm necklace looped around his throat twice over. His dark jeans were an incredible fit, hugging his waist, thighs, and calves in a keen example of tailoring. Practical gray motorcycle boots, buckles scuffed and durable leather worn soft, protected his ankles and toes from damage.
Wally had to look twice. Maybe three times. Definitely, he’d stop after four.
#fic#batfam#batman#superwonderbat#bruce wayne#dick grayson#wally west#i swear on my cat's crabby ass we're finishing this fic#kilroy was here#chapstickaddict
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domo arigato
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“Kilroy Was Here”
Want a cultural reference that Steve and Bucky would, 100% be familiar with? Kilroy is it — A long-nosed, bald figure, peeking over a wall accompanied by the words “Kilroy was here.”
This little doodle and quote is associated with World War II GIs, and over the course of the war could be found everywhere US soldiers passed through. Building walls, weaponry, bombed out ruins, barracks, canvases, vehicles and aircraft...any flat surface was fair game. To millions of military personal throughout the war, it was a legendary sight.
Why?
In the simplest terms, it was cheap and easy entertainment in the face of war. It was a morale booster, an emblem of pride, a challenge, an Allied rally cry, and a mark of progress. “When you saw that ‘Kilroy was here’, then you knew the operation was bound to be a success.”
Precursors
This strange little calling card did not spring up fully formed from nothing, it in-fact had two key forerunners.
“Foo was here”
During World War I, the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) left “Foo was here” along with a familiar long-nosed figure peering over a wall, chalked on the side of railway carriages. “Foo” is assumed to have been an acronym for Forward Observation Officer (officer responsible for directing artillery and mortar ).
Mr Chad
A similar doodle could be found through Britain from 1938, as a commentary on wartime rationing and shortages. Mr Chad would be accompanied by messages following the template of “Wot? No [blank]?” — “Wot? No Tea?” “Wot? No Bread?”. The figure itself was potentially based on the Greek Omega symbol, or a simplified impression of a circuit diagram.
I have no doubt that the boys, along with the Howling Commandos would have been familiar with the imagery. I personally love the headcanon of defrosted Steve or Post-WS Bucky absently doodling Kilroy on paperwork, napkins, or scrap-paper, the same way kids in the 90′s drew than dang “Cool S” on everything.
If you want more in the topic, my full research notes on all topics are available for all $3+ Patreon patrons!
Image Sources
Still from film “Kilroy Was Here”, 1947 | Source
Kilroy Was Here Marker, Neilsville, Wisconsin, 1993 | Source
Kilroy engraving on the National WWII Memorial, Washington, D.C. | Source
Kilroy on aircraft, c.1944-45 | Source — Photographer: Dick Bastasch
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Article, 3 Nov 1946, page 3 | Source
This post has been sponsored by my much loved and long-time Patreon supporter Joanna Daniels. She and I would like to dedicate the post to the loving memory of her mother Joan Daniels. She will be sorely missed.
[ Support SRNY through Patreon and Ko-Fi ]
And join us on Discord for fun conversation!
I also have an Etsy with up-cycled nerdy crafts
#Steve Rogers#Bucky Barnes#Howling Commandos#Kilroy#Kilroy was here#WWII#World War II#US Military#History#1940s#1930s#Wartime#captain america#Captain America: The First Avenger#CAPTAIN AMERICA REFERENCE#fanfiction#fanfic#fanfic writing#Fanfic references#fanfic research#writing#writing resources#writing reference#fan fic writing#historically accurate#historically accurate steve rogers#historically accurate bucky barnes#Allied Forces#ca:tfa#Marvel
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