Ted Nugent Insists There Was 'No Friction' in Damn Yankees

Ted Nugent has responded to Tommy Shaw’s recent comments regarding the end of their supergroup, Damn Yankees.

“It was one of those things that wasn’t meant to be forever,” Shaw explained during an interview with UCR. “It’s something that we had a great time doing. We made two records and you could kind of feel it pulling it away at the seams after that.”

Now, in his own conversation with UCR, Nugent has added clarity to Shaw’s remarks.

“I know he didn’t mean that in the terms of friction,” Nugent declared. “There’s no friction. There was moments of where we — I don’t even think it elevated to an argument — about a bridge, a chord injection. I would come up with something spicy, they would contemplate it, and if I could make the case, they’re smart guys. They’re musical animals. So we all make the case for our musical inflections, injections, recommendations, and we’re all respectful of each other.”

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The core members of Damn Yankees — Nugent, Shaw and bassist Jack Blades — have reunited twice since the supergroup’s 1994 breakup. They most recently shared the stage together at the NAMM convention in 2010.

Ted Nugent Says Damn Yankees Wanted a ‘Next Musical Step’

Rather than friction, Nugent asserted that Damn Yankees ended due to the members’ desires to return to their respective previous bands.

“Coming apart at the seams was [Shaw] couldn’t wait to revitalize Styx,” the guitarist noted, adding that he was supportive of the idea. “And I couldn’t wait for him to revitalize Styx. I couldn’t wait to hear what [Blades’ band] Night Ranger would do with the team.”

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Nugent admitted he had similar feelings, including a desire to revisit his solo work.

“So we were coming apart at the seams because I couldn’t wait to get back on stage and play my favorites every night. My ‘Stranglehold,’ my ‘Hibernation,’ my ‘Cat Scratch,’ my ‘Wang Dang,’ my ‘Wango Tango,’ ‘Great White Buffalo,'” he explained. “I was fulfilled every day with the Damn Yankees, but I also had these cherubs, naked cherubs coming out of the clouds where I’s going, ‘Stranglehold’ is really fucking cool. So I couldn’t wait to unleash those. Plus I had more musical ideas. So when he said coming apart at the seams, no, it wasn’t a friction development. It was a next musical step desire by musical forces.”