REO Recall First Meeting With Styx

REO Speedwagon singer Kevin Cronin recalls when the only way to make money in music was to win a "battle of the bands." He says high schools loved those competitions because they only had to pay the winner. His school sponsored one and he thought his band would win easily. Audience members got a ticket as they came in, and that's how they'd vote.

One of the competitors was a band called The TW4, and Cronin says that band sent their girlfriends out to sidle up to guys and ask if they were using their tickets. Cronin's band lost -- but oh, does he remember The TW4. They later became Styx. Cronin says they've had many a laugh about that, because they frequently tour together.

(AP)