I would never claim to be some sort of brilliant tweeter. I have my account, and I dutifully throw observations and snarky commentary up there. Mostly, it’s little more than links to different things that catch my eye during the day. Occasionally, though, an interesting little chat springs up around there, as was the case this past week when I expressed my helpless admiration for a certain Tommy Shaw single.

Shaw was a guitar player for the ludicrously bombastic nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties rock band Styx. The group broke up shortly after the mammoth success of their 1983 album Kilroy Was here, which introduced the world to a futuristic conflict between imperious moralists who outlaw music (represented by Dr. Everett Righteous) and upstart kids who just want to rock (represented by Jonathan Chance). Robert Orin Charles Kilroy was the former rocker who escapes imprisonment at the hands of the oppressors, in part by disguising himself as “Mr. Roboto.” In the early-eighties, this sort of thing could actually become a Top 5 hit on commercial radio (although, it’s probably no more ridiculous than the idea goo that dribbles out of will.i.am’s brain on a regular basis, making him and his dim cohorts kajillions of dollars).

Before 1984 was over, both Shaw and Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung released relatively high profile solo debuts. In terms of chart success, DeYoung got the better of the face-off, copping a Top 10 single with title cut off of his album Desert Moon, although there surely can’t be that many people who would now claim to like the song, except ironically (that’s how I claim to like it, for example). Okay, so it’s not like “Girls with Guns,” also the title cut to a solo debut, is some beloved standard now. I may find it irresistible, but otherwise how often does this track even get played these days, outside of the Shaw household?

What’s more, even I robustly sing along, I’m fully aware that the song is pretty dopey. Propulsive, catchy, fun, but also dopey. After all, this is song that cautions against spending time around girls with guns because “They don’t need you/ They couldn’t love you/ They couldn’t be any fun.” So I’ll readily concede that some warped nostalgia plays into my affection for the song. Of course, intricate explication of my inner motivation doesn’t come into play whenever the iPod shuffles it up. I simply let go and enjoy it.

Tommy Shaw, “Girls with Guns”

(Disclaimer: The Twitter conversation referenced above led me to explore the availability of “Girls with Guns” and Girls with Guns as a physical object, something that could be purchased in your favorite local, independently-owned record store in a manner that provided compensation to both the proprietor of said store and the original artist. My cursory investigation turned up no evidence of such availability, though it can be purchased diligently. Good luck to Shaw on wrenching any of that money away from the music industry bigwigs who’ve orchestrated the system in their skilled, long-term quest to deprive musicians of equity. This song is shared here with the belief and understanding, then, that there’s no good way to purchase it. Despite that conviction, I will gladly remove it from the interweb if contacted by an individual or corporate entity with the due authority to make such a request who is making such a request. Speaking of your favorite local, independently-owned record store, you should really get down there today.)