Even decades later, Styx’s deliriously catchy “Mr. Roboto” makes no sense whatsoever. Oh, there’s plenty of plot to go around. The early-’80s hit single was part of a blindingly self-flattering Dennis DeYoung-composed “rock opera” about a world without, you know, rock that features a character named Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK, right?).
But after that, things get quite murky. Styx seemed to cop to this on the resulting tour for parent album Kilroy Was Here, airing a lengthy and quite boring preamble video that outlined a narrative centering on this performer imprisoned by an anti-rock ‘n’ roll group called the Majority for Musical Morality, and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous. Kilroy escapes by overpowering a robot prison guard, sneaking away inside its metal shell.
There’s more, but never mind. Released on Feb. 28, 1983, “Mr. Roboto” was part of a master’s thesis on tedious faux-Orwellian bugaboos. And that’s leaving aside DeYoung’s teeth-splintering mispronunciation of the word “modern.”
To the surprise of absolutely no one (except, I guess, Dennis DeYoung), the tour was a disaster — both artistically and commercially. Styx fell apart, and never really reconstituted the same way again.
Yet, Kilroy Was Here nevertheless went platinum. The album, like “Mr. Roboto,” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts. Mainly because “Mr. Roboto” remains this confusing-but-what-the-hell earworm that’s just so inescapably, hilariously memorable.
From its crunchy synthesizer riff to its mid-century B-movie-inspired video to its zeitgest-shifting Japanese catch phrase, “Mr. Roboto” is cheese. But cheese, you’re reminded, tastes so damned good. So, you’ll find me singing along, every time, even if I have no earthly idea what I’m actually saying. Domo arigato, Mr. DeYoung.
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