* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ _________ | \| \ / |/ _ \ _________ / | // _____ || / \_/ \ | \ // / \ \\_ \_ NOTES| | \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \_ FROM| | \ || / ---/______| \ \_ THE| | ___\ || | | /______ __/ \ EDGE| | ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | #22| \_____ / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | ______/ \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ Notes From The Edge Special Anniversary Edition October 3, 1991 * * * * * * * * * * FROM THE EDITOR: ================ It's really hard to believe that it's been a year since we got Notes off the ground. In all honesty I can't even remember when I posted my first inquiry regarding the existence of a Yes mailing list. Sometime last September is as close as I come to remembering. And neither do I remember who was the first to respond. But I most certainly do remember those few willing souls who gave me the extra shove I needed in the direction of publishing Notes myself. Mike Borella, Mike Maddock, Ross Colvin, Marty Schwartz and Tanguy Kervahut; where would Notes be without these 5 guys? Plus of course all you wonderful readers who have taken the time to contribute to the newsletter, making it what it is today. A lot of people ask me how I ever got involved with the net, and where I got my 'inspiration'. Many of you know that I'm a psychology major, and that I have almost no formal education in computing, aside from that class I took a couple years ago in Pascal, which I of course floundered through miserably. But that was then...Spring of 1990 I transferred here to the University at Buffalo (yes it's very windy and very cold, and no, I don't know why I came here...:-). At UB any student can get a computer account on any of the three mainframes. The VMS/VAX system is most popular with us know-nothings :-) Last fall, 1990, I needed to have an account for an astronomy class that I was taking. So I stumbled around for a while, found out how to get one, got one, and then had to figure out how to use it. It wasn't long before I found News. I lurked for a little bit, noticing that newsletters for various bands existed, but never heard anything about Yes. So I inquired, and the notion was born. The rest, of course, is history. Notes has blossomed beautifully. I don't think I'd ever anticipated what it might become. Since October 3, 1990 there have been 20 issues. Remarkable. Eventually we had the lyrics server, the rarities list, the discography... and now we're upgrading services to include an automated server! Only in my dreams...hell, not even in my dreams! Our membership has climbed steadily, with a brief plateau over the summer when the number of people joining barely outnumbered those who lost their accounts for the summer. And now we're at: 441. Still can't believe it. I've been fortunate to actually meet, in person, so many of you. So many in fact, that I can't count them on my fingers. Maybe fingers and toes...hold on, I'll see... First person I met because of Notes was Jepher, who was going to school in Rochester which is pretty close to where I am. That was w-a-y back last fall sometime. After that I didn't get around to meeting anyone else until the end of March. I made plans with Mike Borella to ride down to Philadelphia together for the April 16th show. I was quite surprised to find that I knew one of his friends that would be joining us. He graduated from high school with me, and to this day lives down the street from me back home in Syracuse. Small world. With plans for the first Philly trip in mind I managed to meet Mike prior to actually having to, and that only served to strengthen the friendship we had formed through Notes. That same weekend we met Tanguy Kervahut in Montreal--Tanguy who bears the distinction of being the first on the net that I ever corresponded with :-) Another face to match with all those characters on the screen. When the trip to Philadelphia rolled around in mid-April there were so many more people to meet. There were Mike's friends who were riding with us, one of whom, Dean Gitters, was on the mailing list at the time. Then in Philadelphia there was Dave Markfield, Kurt John, Mike Loux, Graham Orndorff, Ruth Heckert, Mike Savett, Rob Petrone, Scott McDaniel and company, and Joe Pizzirusso with whom I had formed a strong e-mail friendship. Truly a lot of fun-- one that sparked my love of fine Chinese cuisine :-) It's only fitting that Notes led me to my first encounter with Yes live. Scary, but true. Since I stumbled on them with 90125 I'd never gotten around to seeing them. And now I've seen them three times, and one of those times (at the Buffalo Aud) from the third row on the aisle where I was thrilled to shake a few hands as they walked by. Believe me, so far that's been one of the wildest experiences of my life. :-) Next came YesFest. Again, Mike, Dean and I met up with other subscribers, namely Diane Westerfield, Dori and Gary Kelly, Joe P., Eric Law, and even MaryLynn Orzechowski for a brief instant. I also met Doug and Glenn Gottlieb from Yes Magazine, and Suzanne Cerquone of Wonderous Stories Magazine. Of course the highlight of YesFest was seeing Steve, Rick, Alan, Chris and Tony. And watching them play was amazing. Being able to meet all these people who share this love of Yes music with me was wonderful. I look forward to my next opportunity! And if you have the chance, I highly suggest you get together--there's already one thing that we all have in common. I never had any plans for Notes, perhaps that's why it has done so well. It really is directed by those who put in the time and effort to contribute and I just pour everything into the mold. I don't know what the future holds for Notes. I think it's best that way. We'll all be surprised. Thank you so much everyone for making this experience so fulfilling for me--beyond my imagining. Indeed, music does have magic... Cath V111PBXX@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu * * * * * * * * * * ROB PETRONE: ============ From: IN%"v1180g@templevm.bitnet" "Rob Petrone" 10-SEP-1991 A long time ago, in a newsletter far far away, (Issue Number 1 to be precise) a young, eager Yes fan with a flair for organizing and the courage to take on the rather cumbersome task of editing a newsletter wrote: To date, there are already 50+ people on this mailing list! Great! And to think that on Friday, when there were still only 6 of us, I was worried! Looking back on it now, I'm sure Cathy laughs heartily. In the mere span of one year, her baby has blossomed into an enormous entity, a forum wherein unique ideas are exchanged, puzzling questions are pondered, new and exciting information is disseminated, and just a whole lotta fun runs rampant! Her brilliant creation, which, five newsletters later would come to be known as /Notes from the Edge/, has expanded to include a very extensive discography compiled by the erudite Mike Borella, a list of rarities compiled by our dedicated archivist Dave Markfield, and a great lyrics server thanks to the hard work and patience of Messrs. Christian Walters and Pete Vosshall. So to say this project is entirely Cathy's baby would be to leave out the key people who squired it, not to mention the 300something of us (and still growing) who are the lifeblood that issued from that union. Quite a far, far cry from just six members, eh, Cath? ;-) I am fortunate enough to be among the few people who can say they were there back at Issue Number 1. However, my story is rather unique in that although I was reading the newsletters back when they were only about four pages long and the "Thanks to" list only included about five or six people, I didn't even have access to the list by computer! Another member of the list and my good friend of fifteen years, Mr. Patrick Quairoli, was responsible for getting me the newsletter every three weeks or so. I, a mere criminal justice major (at the time) at Temple University, was inept behind a computer keyboard, and didn't even know what e-mail was! Pat, a computer science major at Widener University, used to print out the newsletters from his account and give them to me. But oh, how I longed to add my own input and be a productive contributor to this little community. So, on my own account at work, I studied hard, got my hands on /The Temple University Reference Guide to Academic Computer Services and Resources/, and took on the painstaking task of teaching myself all about networks, and Internet, and e-mail, and before I knew it, I sent one of my first e-mail messages--a subscription request to V111PBXX. And now, I am happy to be a prolific contributor to /Notes from the Edge/, but more important, to be privileged enough to share this wonderful experience with all of you, my Internet family. And I have even had the rare opportunity to actually meet some of you in person! And this is a story some of us know too well... The date was April 16th. The place, somewhere in Philadelphia Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, at a restaurant called Da Chen, an elite group of Yesheads converged to drink plum saki, burn down the restaurant kitchen, and enjoy an evening of live Yes music at the Spectrum. Of course, I am referring to the Yes concert in Philadelphia where those of us lucky enough to live in or near enough to the City of (Brotherly) Love got together to meet each other and go to the concert. Although I had already seen the concert a few nights before at the Taj Majal in Atlantic City, and did not go to the Spectrum show that night, I did meet the group just for the sake of friendship and to have fun. And fun we had. After the show (the tail end of which I heard as I waited outside the open doors of the Spectrum) we all went back to the hotel where we partied to the tunes of Yes. Thanks to Mike Borella, Marty Roesch, Mike Loux, Dave Markfield, Graham Orndorff, Scott McDaniel, Ruth Heckert, Kurt John, Joe Pizzirusso, and all the others...and of course, our optimistically long haired editor, Cathy Leak who made this meeting possible and as enjoyable as it was. Let me urge anyone who is planning to attend concerts in the future to get together with the list members! It truly enhances the enjoyment of the evening. Oh, and a little tip: for those groups who will be rather large, it helps to describe yourselves to each other over the net and make composite sketches to help identify each other! (I still have my original, by the way, for those of you from the meeting who would like copies!) As for the future of /Notes from the Edge/, I can only say this: may our little community continue to flourish and expand as we have thus far, may it bring more of us together to become friends as it did that fateful night in Philadelphia, and may it continue to bring Yes fans from around the world fun and enjoyment for ten true summers long...or even longer. Until next issue: Catch the wind...and hold on tight! Regards from the City of (Brotherly) Love, Rob Petrone * * * * * * * * * * ROB TALBERT: ============ From: IN%"RNT3515@TNTECH.BITNET" 10-SEP-1991 Being a Yes fan in Tennessee is not easy. Not only does one have to put up with such diverse "cultural" influences as Hank Jr. and Conway Twitty, news and events come slow. Liking rock music is fine, as long as it's not (in the words of a charming gentleman in line with me for a ZZ Top concert) "that British faggit myoo-zik." Just remember, not ALL Tennesseeans are like this... Not only am I a Yes fan in the wrong place, I became one at the wrong time. I first became a fan right after _Big Generator_ was released, and steadily grew in admiration of them. _Big Generator_ is an excellent album, but the stream of events following it were not ideal for a first-time fan, especially one who can't keep up with the events of the band. I got my information from chance occurrences with articles in _Rolling Stone_ (truly a desperate situation). Then I ran into Christian Walters on Relay on BITNET, and his nickname was Olias. I asked him how Sunhillow was these days, and a conversation ensued which eventually got me the address of this list. It was as if all the information I'd been refused by an indifferent press in the past three years had all opened up. The first issue of _Notes from the Edge_ I received impressed me all the way from the graphic header through the news, reviews, and such inside it to the very end. I could tell I had stumbled onto a good thing. How many things would I have NOT known about if not for _Notes_? _Union_ (until I walked into a store and wet my pants at seeing a new Yes album). The tour. Singles. Bootlegs. Album involvements. Member activities. I could keep going, but I'd overrun my file space quota. In short, getting onto this list was about the best thing that had happened to me as a Yes fan. I'll certainly miss it when I graduate. As with any good production, _Notes_ has many possibilities. the discography is still growing. The BITNET network could easily allow _Notes_ readers to arrange trips, concert get-togethers, bootleg exchanges, and so forth. In the magazine itself, discussions of lyrics (just what the heck DOES "straight light moving and removing sharpness of the color sunshine" mean, anyway?), albums, arrangements, etc. could intensify. I'd like to see musicians such as myself get together electronically and talk music. And of course, there's so much more that can be done, limited only by the imaginations of the readers and the performance of BITNET, both of which are enormous. So, as far as I'm concerned, _Notes from the Edge_ is the perfect interaction for Yes fans: a fast, cheap, informative way to keep up and discuss. Let's hope it will be around for a long, long time to come. gaudi, Robert Talbert ps: "Cetacei" really is Sanskrit for "y'all come back now, y'heah?" pps: Not. * * * * * * * * * * JEFF HUNNICUTT: =============== From: IN%"HUNNICUTT@VXC.UNCWIL.EDU" 10-SEP-1991 Hard to believe that it's been a year since NFTE began....time flies. I remember seeing the call for subscribers to NFTE and thought, great! People who like Yes and want to discuss all aspects of the band that I have loved for years! It seems like things happened so fast...the anticipation of the upcoming ABWH II project and curiosity about what Squire and Co. were up to turned to anticipation over what was to become the developing Union album and subsequent tour. It was also about that time I had posted to alt.rock- n-roll, a question about what Peter Banks was up to and as an afterthought asked if anyone had ever run across a Drama bootleg. That question got me a response from Mike Borella who said he had such a recording and would make me a copy. That was the beginning of an internet friendship that lasts still. It brought to the fore the need for a forum of sorts that ended up being the rarities list that Dave Markfield runs today. Through this list I have been able to obtain the many beautiful recordings that I would otherwise never have run across. It has also allowed me to share what i have with others who wanted live recordings. NFTE has been the first point of information about the band, the music, the tour, and solo efforts of the involved musicians. It keeps us in touch with each other and the thoughts and opinions we share. It has for me, been a spark of light in an area where there was so little true information and mostly rumor and speculation. I have yet to meet any of the members of the list, but would like to. This may still come to pass, but geographical restraints being what they are, I will have to wait and see. Perhaps if there is another Yesfest this wish can become a reality. Still I feel many of you are close friends. Though you are but words on the screen, or letters in my mailbox, you are just as real to me as friends nonetheless. I would like to see NFTE continue to be the repository of information on Yes music and Yes member related topics. Hopefully the band will not wait long to do more music and tour, giving us exactly what we want...more YES! I will continue to contribute as long as I feel I have something valid to say and you want to listen. I want to thank Cath for getting this list off the ground. I would also like to thank all those who take part in NFTE, you make it what it is! I look forward to the future with NFTE. ----------- Jeff Hunnicutt ------------- University of North Carolina at Wilmington ---------- Network Management ------------ ------------------ "I can feel no sense of measure, no illusion as we take, refuge in young man's pleasure, breaking down the dreams we make...real." * * * * * * * * * * VICTOR KAN: =========== From: IN%"kan@dg-rtp.dg.com" 10-SEP-1991 My first experience was Cathy's initial announcement of the list's creation (in alt.rock-n-roll?). My first correspondence with her was about cover art, but Cathy just replied to it rather than putting it in the digest. I was hoping that record companies would start including folded, full sized versions of the cover art with the small show-through version on the back, along with the liner notes. The only other members of the list whom I've met also happen to work here at DG. Jim Pendergraft is my project leader and Dave Cochran is the customer service representative for the product Jim and I work on. I wonder...is there a high correlation between Yes fans and people who work on debuggers and their GUIs? We also went to the Raleigh show together with a few other friends from work who aren't on the mailing list. As for the future of the list, I wonder how much will be going on now that the Union album has been out for a while, the tour winding down, etc. I guess we can start talking about YesYears. Yep, I bought it for $49.95 + 6% sales tax at the Wiz in New Jersey. Surprisingly, Noteworthy Music is asking $52 for it. Hey, I was home visiting my parents! I'm not stupid enough to drive 1000 miles round trip to save a couple of bucks on a CD box set. We can also talk about gossipy things like what the band would like to do to the evil Jonath*n Eli*s after he altered Union so much. What are we Yes fans going to do now that WEA is putting the EcoPak into production? Will we boycott our favorite band because Atco is part of WEA? Will we start a campaign to beg the band to switch labels, e.g. to Arista? What can we do? | Victor Kan | I speak only for myself. | *** | Data General Corporation | Edo emacibus, ergo sum. | **** | 62 T.W. Alexander Drive | Columbia Lions Win, 8 October 1988 for | **** %%%% | RTP, NC 27709 | a record of 1-44. Way to go, Lions! | *** %%% * * * * * * * * * * DIANE WESTERFIELD: ================== From: IN%"wes5@midway.uchicago.edu" "Diane Westerfield" 20-SEP-1991 _Notes From The Edge_ is, in a word, great. Great for passing information and great for meeting people. Great for trading tapes, too. I probably wouldn't have gone to YesFest if I hadn't had some people to stay with at the hotel -- and of course the people I did stay with were Cathy, Mike, and Dean. I might not have been able to get to my front row seat at the World Music Theater had it not been for Dave Scidmore and his brother. I've traded tapes with Cathy and Dave. I've had some interesting conversations with John Arcarese. Thanks be to the net in general, too, or otherwise I never would have met Baron Munchausen (Bryan Wilkinson). The most enjoyable aspect of _Notes_ is the excitement and enthusiasm of everyone involved. I still have Cathy's letter about her third row seat in Buffalo -- it's so much fun to read! It's quite a trip reading all the old _Notes_ and correspondence, when we were all spreading rumors about the impending _Union_. Now that the boxed set is out and the tour is over, we're cooling down. But there are solo albums/tours to look forward too, and maybe another Yes album soon. So let's keep it going, people! "Ten true summers we'll be there and laughing too" Diane Westerfield wes5@quads.uchicago.edu * * * * * * * * * * MIKE BORELLA: ============= From: IN%"borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu" 25-SEP-1991 Most people are surprised when I tell them my pre-Yes musical background. Come to think of it, I'm pretty surprised too. I grew up listening to heavy metal and punk. No, really, I did. It sounds strange coming from a guy who loves and collects progressive music these days, but that's where I started. I vaguely remembered Yes getting real popular back in 1983, but I didn't listen to popular music back then. I was the first guy on my block to buy a Metallica album. Slayer, Venom, Megadeth and Anthrax soon followed. And remember, this was back when even the heavy metal fans hated those bands. So how did the rebellious 15 year old that I was get into a bombastic, pretentious band like Yes? I was listening to the radio one fine afternoon and a local station was playing album sides. I tuned in around the middle of Drama's Machine Messiah and was stunned. You see, I've always had a soft spot for complicated music. Even then I'd throw on some classical when nobody was around. What I heard was a classically oriented rock song. Wow. So I grabbed a tape and captured the rest of the album (I didn't know what it was until the end) on a lousy cassette. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Eventually I got a complete copy of the album and it shot to the top of my favorites list (up there with Metallica and Co.) Some time went by before Dean Gitters (who, among other things: [1] Is a long time friend of mine, [2] is the guy who came up with the name "Notes From The Edge", [3] unfortunately doesn't have net access anymore), brought over Relayer and gave me a listen. "Who is that vocalist???? Man, he sucks!!!!! Where's the guy who sings on Drama?? This album is a waste of vinyl!!!!" I spit these thoughts out furiously before the 5 minute mark of Gates of Delirium. Dean still kids me about the "waste of vinyl" part because Relayer is my second favorite Yes album now (#1 still being Drama). My infatuation with Drama continued but I couldn't bring myself to listen to Yes's other albums. My Yestory might have ended right there, but as a freshman in college I was blessed with a girlfriend who was a major fan of progressive rock in general and Yes in specific. I slowly found myself putting on The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge more and more often, and even experimenting with 90125. Then Big Generator came out. And they toured. We packed 4 people into my Nova and drove from snowy Potsdam, NY to snowy Ottawa, Canada and saw one of the most amazing shows I had ever seen to that point. Even though the Big Generator Yes wouldn't compare to the ABWH shows I saw a year and a half later, I'll never forget my first impression with Yes live. The next two years passed and as I got more and more Yes albums (even Relayer) I found my musical tastes slowly shifting towards the more complicated and majestic. I was delighted to find bands that displayed killer musicality in a rock format. Around Xmas of 1988 I heard the news: there were two Yes factions. Luckily, my roommate knew how to put things in perspective. When I told him about there being two Yesses, he solved the name problem more eloquently than anyone: Call Squire, Rabin, Kaye and White "Maybe" and call Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe "Definitely". By the time the ABWH album had come out I was more into Yes than anyone else I knew. I had tracked down most of the "family tree" and many solo albums. My friends joked with me about memorizing the Yes evolutionary chart in the ABWH tourbook, but it came naturally. I wanted to hear all the music these guys had put out, and in order to do that I had to know what bands they were in! Once the ABWH fervor wore off, I was back to collecting solo albums and the like. By the summer of 1990 I had gotten a fair number of them, even the ridiculously priced Japanese imports. Then in late September of that year, I was reading one of the musical newsgroups when a brave soul offered to start the Yes mailing list. Again, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I offered to help any way I could, and was soon swept up into a three-ring circus of reunion talk, full mailboxes, late night article writing, and new friendships. These friendships started off with a few simple tape trades, and culminated when 16 or so of us got together for the Philadelphia show in April of this year. By then I had already met and become fast friends with Cathy, and we had visited Tanguy Kervahut up in Montreal. Tanguy had agreed to get me tickets for the Montreal show, and was good enough to put the money down for them. This was another wonder of the net...I could approach a total stranger far away, ask a favor, and they would actually do it for me! I had never experienced such a level of trust before. At the Philly show we gathered early for dinner and again afterwards for a "party" of sorts (those damn Pennsylvania alcohol laws still piss me off! :-]). Even in the few hours we had together, I felt several of those "electronic" friendships solidify. I met Tanguy again at the Montreal show, and then of course, there was YesFest, which is chronicled elsewhere in generous detail. :-) I guess I never expected to meet people via computer. It still seems silly when I think about it. I'll admit that before the first Philly show I was prepared to accept the worst: Yes, I was driving 450 miles to hang out with a bunch of unwashed, slide-rule sporting computer geeks! But I was thrilled to find that behind the terminal screens were an interesting group of people. They weren't computer fans that happened to like Yes. They were Yes fans that happened to like (or just use) computers. Not that liking computers is such a bad thing...you see, in May I found myself with a bachelor's degree in computer science, and an interest in teaching. The next logical step, of course, is grad school! I'm not even going to try to explain why I chose California as my new home, nor why I chose UC Davis as my new school, but I did find myself looking at a 3000 mile drive. I had kept pretty good touch with Dave Markfield (who lives in Indianapolis) and Paul Zeman (who lives in Sacramento), and they both opened up their homes to me on my cross country trip, for which I am ever so grateful. As anybody who's driven coast to coast in the US can tell you, it's not only expensive, it's BORING! I found myself looking forward to having someone to talk to besides myself more than saving money. And although I wasn't able to stay with Paul, I've since met him and he's introduced me to people who share my tastes in music. I guess the effect that Yes had on me was unique. Not only are they an end to themselves, they also were a bridge for me into a new, exciting world of underground progressive music that, unlike Metallica, will never top Billboard's charts. They've helped me meet a good number of people who share my musical interests. And Notes From The Edge is unique too. It has brought out the best of Yes fans world-wide. It's a friendly, helpful environment, full of people willing to share their ideas and music. Much to my pleasant surprise I've formed many friendships through the newsletter and hope to continue to do so. To think about how far we've come is mind boggling. And to think that much of the credit lies with a shy, sensitive 22 year old woman whose warmth, intelligence, and competence shines in each issue... well, that's something to be proud of! -Mike Borella borella@toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * DAVE MARKFIELD: =============== From: IN%"ILWN500@INDYCMS.BITNET" "David Markfield" 25-SEP-1991 Here on the one year anniversary of Notes...our illustrious leader has honored me by asking me to write a few of my thoughts concerning Notes and the previous year. My first thought is of course....."Oh my God, you mean it's been a year already!!!" Anyway I first came across the list like most people in the list of musical lists. It was a very pleasant surprise. And I was really amazed that it had not been done sooner. I joined at around issue #2 or #3, I can't recall which it was. And anyway it was quite a nice experience meeting people who enjoyed and appreciated YES as much as I do. Nice to know I wasn't the only one. Anyway the thing that struck me first about Notes was that while it was a list devoted to YES, the people on the list had a sense of humor about the music and were not treating it as religion. This was very nice and a somewhat refreshing change from some of the other lists I've been associated with. One of the best things to happen as a result of the list was the spirit of community that developed when YES decided to tour. People from all over the list were inviting people to join them for shows. I took quite a few people up on their offer and went to Philadelphia for the first of YES's shows in that city. I could go into quite a lot of detail about the trip and the time but that wouldn't really sum it up quite adequately. Suffice to say that it was a very special time for me where I met quite a few wonderful people and have established relationships some of which I know will stand the test of time. :) It is incredible the stereotypes you have of people on the net and it is also incredible how wrong you can be and just how delightful people really are. As for the future of this list, well...... The list has grown quite considerably since I first joined and I imagine it will continue to do so. I know that there is an archive server in our future so that should make life easier for back issues and discographies and rarities and GIFS should be coming at some time down the line. I would hope also for the future of the list that list members try and get together. It is a very worthwhile and fun time. Anyway to Cathy....thanks for a fun year and look forward to many more. David Markfield * * * * * * * * * * MIKE MADDOCK: ============= From: IN%"mmaddock@polyslo.csc.calpoly.edu" 1-OCT-1991 So, we have come to the end of the first year of the "Notes". I remember when it was just a spark in Cathy's eye. I guess that I will talk about my early involvement, and my relative non-involvement since. It was about fourteen months ago ( I think ) that I came across this posting in rec.music.misc. Someone was asking about the 7" single of "Don't kill the whale". Well, more appropriately they were asking about the previously unreleased "Abeline". Also, contained in the post was a question if there was a Yes newsgroup or newsletter. This was of course our beloved Cath. I responded to her post, because I have had the single for about three years now. I offered to make her a copy of the song (even though it took about six months to finally get it to her.) I also said that I didn't know of any newsgroup, but if she came across one, to let me know. In her next note she said that she wanted the song, and that she didn't find a newsgroup. But, she was looking for information on starting one up. I remember some information exchange between us after that, but I don't remember what it was about. I do remember how excited Cathy was getting when everything was coming together. Then the next thing I knew the first Yes newsletter was in my mailbox. It is so cool to have this collection of people internationally wide all talking about the same thing. I have never been that active in the newsletter since the opening. My main contributions have been that of information. I am an avid reader and I make copies for three friends of mine that are big fans as well. I also keep copies compressed away in a useless account. I go through them every once and a while looking for information that I have forgotten. The parts of the letter that I like the most is new information. I love to hear about new releases, tour dates, current activities, future works, and so on. I guess the parts I skip over the most are the album reviews. I don't think it is that useful to review an album that is over fifteen years old. Now don't get me wrong, album and song analysis I find very fascinating. That is, in depth analysis, not reviews. If anyone has ventured over to rec.music.beatles you might have caught Alan Pollack's "Notes" on selected Beatles songs. I found these to be the most interesting, entertaining, and enlightening things that I have read about music in general. If someone with a lot more music theory than I wanted to venture into the realm of analysis I think that this newsletter could really become much more than just a newsletter. Having a review of Rick's "Family Album" is useful, it is just not as useful as getting into depth about, say "Wiggles" or "Awaken". Well, most people have hit the space bar by now to get to the next page, so I will end my lecture. Happy anniversary to all the readers. Keep us growing. Michael, ___ MGM ...to post of not, just say Yes ... * * * * * * * * * * CONTRIBUTORS: ============= Rob Petrone, Rob Talbert, Jeff Hunnicutt, Victor Kan, Diane Westerfield, Mike Borella, Dave Markfield, Mike Maddock, thanks! * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================== For New Subscribers, Contributions, Questions/Comments/Criticism: Cathy Leak V111PBXX@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU NFTE Server (Lyrics, Backissues, Discography, Rarities, Surveys): Automated. For help send subject line "send main help", or refer to NFTE #21 YES-ARCHIVE@MEIKO.COM NFTE Server problems: Mike Borella BORELLA@TOADFLAX.EECS.UCDAVIS.EDU Mike Stok MIKE@MEIKO.COM For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso JOEP@CBMVAX.CBM.COMMODORE.COM ******************************************************************************** --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #22 >-- ********************************************************************************