* * * * * * * * * * ______ ______ ____________ _________ / \ | \ __/ \ __/ \__ _________ | \| \ / |/ _ \ _________ / | // _____ || / \_/ \ |NOTES \ // / \ \\_ \_ | |FROM \ || _____ ___\ \ \_ \_ | |THE \ || / ---/______| \ \_ | |EDGE ___\ || | | /______ __/ \ | |#29 ___/ \ \\ \_ \_ // | | \_____ / ___\ _/ \_ \ \_ _// | ______/ \__ \__/ ___/ \_ \____ | \_/ \__ ___/ \___ _/ \__ \__/ \ \_________/ \_____/ \_ \_____/ \ \_ | \_ | \__ __/ \_____________/ Notes From the Edge #29 January 3, 1992 * * * * * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE... ================ Notes From The Editor --the voice of wisdom :-) YesYears Video --comments? Union --thoughts on the Union "world tour" "Firebird Suite" --various versions? Yes --probing past and future accomplishments of the band New Yesfans... --recommendations? Jon Anderson --more regarding _Animation_ Rick Wakeman --Rick and the Hitchhiker's's Guide to the Galaxy??? Steve Howe --looking for CD imports? Roger Dean --reflections on a visit to the art show at the San Francisco Art Exchange --potential appearances at the SFAE January 12th-15th King Crimson --the boxed set --in Goldmine Kinetic Discs --in support of... Progressive Rock --where does the future lie? Birthdays --mark your calendars!! :-) Contributors --encore! encore!! Addresses --nothing new... * * * * * * * * * * NOTES FROM THE EDITOR: ====================== Well, I'm in luck! The forces-that-be haven't stolen back my net connections, yet :-) So here we are once again... I'd like to wish all of you the happiest of New Year's, since, as I write this it is New Year's Eve. Not much time left to wreak havoc before you have to clean up your act for 1992 :-) Anyway...we have a few projects underway for NFTE. Actually they're still only ideas, with some motivation behind them. We're trying to set up a general index for all back issues of NFTE, and also have started actually doing a little bit more than just intending to start an FAQ file. Remember that any help is always welcome! If you're interested in helping out, or if you have any suggestions, please, feel free! Drop me a line! Deal? :-) Read on, and enjoy. Cath Editor, NFTE V111PBXX@Ubvms.Cc.Buffalo.Edu ***please note that Mike Borella is serving as contributing editor for this newsletter. --Ed. * * * * * * * * * * YESYEARS RETROSPECTIVE: ======================= 2-JAN-1992 Can anyone out there whose seen the new YES Retro-video that was released with YesYears give a quickie review of it? I'd like to pick it up but I'm a little suspicious that it's mostly Rabin-era interviews and snippets instead of what I think most die-hard Yes fans are hungry for, early Yes footage/previously unreleased. The box notes aren't too specific about it's contents so I'd like to know if anyone would care to review it for us??? -- Gary Hanley Gary_Hanley@DGC.CEO.DG.COM * * * * * * * * * * WORLD TOUR FOR REAL? ==================== 22-DEC-1991 I note in issue #28 that Yes are to play two dates in Japan in February/March 1992. So maybe this is a "world" tour after all! Usually bands tour Japan and Australia on the same trip, either Oz first and then Japan or vice versa. So maybe those of Yes fans down under might yet get to see them live. I hope so anyway! Should they eventually come here it seems it will be without Bruford and some of the other personnel who toured America. This will be disappointing, but I suppose having at least some of them play live would be better than none at all. Robert * * * * * * * * * * EENIE MEENIE MINIE MOE: ======================= 20-DEC-1991 Okay, gang, here's a really trivial trivia question. I don't know the answer myself, so I really hope someone out there does. There are _numerous_ renditions of The Firebird Suite. Which one was used as the opening on the Yessongs album? Time-wise, it _might_ have been the Shaw/Atlanta version, but I can't quite convince myself that it's that one. So, does anyone know for sure? Myrddhin Emrys aka Mitch Gorman emrys@cellar.org cellar!emrys@tredysvr.tredydev.unisys.com soon (I'm working as fast as I can) to be olias@sunhillo.uucp * * * * * * * * * * DEEP THOUGHTS: ============== 30-DEC-1991 Well, the call has gone out to ask some of those lurking, archetypal Yes questions that we've all been waiting to ask... and after a long thought, I think I've come up with some. 1. What is there left for Yes to accomplish? And who needs to be in the band to do this? 2. How much, percentagewise, of Yes' material is really that good? And what makes that stuff good? 3. Why is Yes your favorite band (or one of your favorites)? My answers: 1. There are two things left. One, they need to make one big, humungous, final album -- this much-heralded "Close to the Edge for the 90's". Something that will make everybody's jaws go slack and say "goddamn", something that will end their long career with a bang, something that will ensure that this band will burn out, not fade away. After this, the only thing left would be to end it, on one hell of an upbeat note, and pass the torch onto somebody else. As to who needs to be in the band -- the _Going for the One_ lineup: Anderson, Squire, Howe, Wakeman, White. I'll let you figure out why. 2. Of all of Yes' work, not including live performances, I'd say about 80% of it is at least pretty good, stuff I'd want to listen to multiple times. Of this 80%, 20% is just OK, 30% is good, 30% is really good, 15% is incredibly good, and 5% -- maybe four or five songs -- are brilliant. What makes them this way I think are the creativity, originality, technical expertise, and the ability to say "to hell to rock and roll standards". 3. Yes is my favorite band for the same reasons as why their songs are good, so see #2. =) Let's hear from you guys now! Robert Talbert * * * * * * * * * * ENLIGHTENING THE NEWER FANS: ============================ 24-DEC-1991 Hi, Yes people! I'm brand new to the list, although some of you may recognize my name from the Genesis list. My favorite band is Genesis, and people on the list are trying to get me involved in other "progressive rock" bands. Some of my other favorite bands before I got on the internet were the Police, U2 and Duran Duran (plus solo projects) as well as Genesis. Then, on the urging of Genesis list members, I listened to Marillion and really liked them. And Rush, which I don't like that much. I've tried to join the Marillion mailing list, but they're in bad shape with the owner kidnapped and all. At least the Yes list has a responsible owner (as well as the Genesis list ;))!! I like to join mailing lists and see what people think about the bands I enjoy. It was nice to find a bunch of people who've heard Tony Banks' solo albums, for example, on the net. And when you discover a new band, it makes it that much better. I've gotten (yes, this is true) one album of Yes' -- 90125. People tell me it isn't typical of Yes. I'll be getting the rarities from the boxed set from someone (I like trading tapes, but I do it too much!!) soon. The local record stores around here, in Asheville, NC, are pathetic -- the used stores didn't have much Yes besides 90125 and UNION (I heard some of the UNION songs in the Kurd concert a while back, and liked them). The local stores are *awful* -- you can't find anything. If anyone has any advice about which Yes albums I should look for in the future, please let me know. Scott ______________________________________________________________________________ | mcmahan@cs.unca.edu | "Driven lights move randomly, the never ending | | mcmahan@uncavx.unca.edu | show" -- Tony Banks, 1983 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * * * * * * * * ANIMATION ON CD: ================ 20-DEC-1991 I think I have seen an ad for it in Goldmine as a Japanese import but I could be out of my mind. Around 1979 or so, there was a live radio broadcast (on WNEW in NYC I believe) of Animation and they (as in JA and Animation) played some Yes tunes (Starship Troopers, Roundabout) as well as songs from the Animation album. David Kuznick david@ait.com * * * * * * * * * * ANOTHER ROLE FOR RICK: ====================== "Tim Meekins" 27-DEC-1991 I was reading the book "Don't Panic - The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion" by Neil Gaiman the other day. Chapter 10 of the book discusses several stage adaptations of THHGthG radio scripts. One of them was called th Rainbow production and an article about it appeared in "The Stage" in Jul 1980: "A five-piece band backs the twenty-strong cast of _The Hitchhiker's's Guide to the Galaxy_, a musical [it was actually a play] based on the radio series that opens at the Rainbow for an 8 week run on July 16th 1980....." "....." "One of the diversions will be rock musician Rick Wakeman, soaring down from the roof on a flying saucer and dressed like the legendary Mekon, SF's most endearing little green man." "....." I thought all the Rick Wakeman fans would get a kick out of that. -tim [ For those of you into the genre, Neil Gaiman writes a fantastic monthly comic for DC entitled "Sandman" -Mike ] * * * * * * * * * * HOWE ON CD: =========== "Larry Schwarcz" 3-JAN-1992 Well, I suppose that someone on this list would be interested in this. Yesterday (1/2/92) I saw both, 'The Steve Howe Album' and 'Steve Howe: Beginnings' on CD. They were both brand new as Japanese imports. However, they were also about $24 each! If anyone's interested, they were at: Amoeba Music 2455 Telegraph Avenue Berkeley, CA (Sorry, I don't know the Zip) (510) 549-1125 Later... Larry Schwarcz lrs@cup.hp.com * * * * * * * * * * ROGER DEAN'S ARTWORK: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL =========================================== Yesterday Mike Borella and I managed to catch the Roger Dean exhibition at the San Francisco Art Exchange (obviously in San Francisco :-) At Mike Maddock's suggestion we talked to Michelle Ellis who showed us upstairs to where Roger's pieces are currently being kept. She said for a while they had them downstairs in the front room, with _Tales_ in the front window looking out onto the street, but that every time the sun came out and decided to shine they had to move it out of the window :-) Michelle herself was very interested in Roger's work, although she admits that she isn't very familiar with Yes' music, and pointed out many interesting things to us. (Cath) She was very considerate and helpful. Her knowledge of Dean's work was more or less limited to the Views and Magnetic Storm books, but she was enthusiastic about the art. She pointed out many things that I had never noticed before. (Mike) We'll try to go through each painting-by-painting (although the actual process involved a long look at this painting, a longer look at that painting across the room, a look at something Michelle pointed out, another look at painting #1, and so on and so forth :-). The first piece on the wall across from the stairs was the cover from Steve Howe`s _Beginnings_, with an empty space in the cave where his photo was later to be placed for the album cover. I really didn't notice anything remarkable about this painting (well, I mean, it was absolutely beautiful, but I have rarely looked at the album cover, so I don't know how to compare the two). (Cath) It was rather small compared to the other ones. I didn't spend too much time on it, except to notice that the water looked lifeless. After that I noticed that most of Dean's pictures with moving water had the same problem. Oh well, his technique is so amazing that its barely noticeable! (Mike) The first thing that strikes you about these originals is the sharpness and clarity of the colors. We all know how important the colors are to the pieces, but this becomes extremely evident when you see them in person. They just take your breath away. And the exceptional detail is amazing...we stood there picking out little things that never would have had the chance to catch your eye just by looking at the album covers. Plus there were works there that didn't make it to album covers... (Cath) There's quite a bit of detail in the album covers that is hard to see on the album, and get compressed into microscopic size on the CDs. Alpha and Tales, especially. Dean's ability to merge body structures of 2 or more animals together to create an exotic crossbreed is genetic engineering at its best! :-) (Mike) At some point Michelle drew our attention to the _Asia_ painting, and relayed a little story that I find quite humorous. It turns out that John Wetton visited the gallery at some point, and was interested in buying a piece (or more?), and when he saw the _Asia_ painting he pointed out the compass point in the middle of the pearl and explained how much that pissed him off that you could see that compass hole on the album cover! :-) Mike pointed out that somehow we've come to expect perfection from Roger, to such an extent that we assume he would never even need a compass to draw a perfect circle! :-) Today I pulled out the CD of the album and looked for myself...well, the CD is such a small version of the painting it's no wonder I had to look really hard to see it, but there it was. (Cath) The compass hole is quite noticeable on the original, but of course, I didn't notice it until Michelle pointed it out. :-) The pearl is supposed to represent wisdom and the dragon (which is an oriental dragon, BTW) is chasing (seeking to attain) the wisdom of the pearl. I've always thought that the art and the album don't go very well together, but since Dean doesn't listen to the music before he draws the cover, it isn't surprising for the match to be off occasionally. (Mike) Next to the _Asia_ painting was _Alpha_, again, and as always, beautiful in person...the detail is astounding when you compare it to the album cover... (Cath) There are several strange creatures jumping about in the left foreground that I've never seen before. Eyes seem to be a theme here. (Mike) Michelle said that they did have _Astra_ in the gallery but that it was so huge they couldn't bring it upstairs, that it was hiding away downstairs somewhere and we couldn't get to see it just then. She said that it's 3 times as large as the _Asia_ painting, which wasn't that small itself (approximately 3' X 4'). (Cath) There were many sketches from Roger's preliminary work on _Astra_ when he was playing with ideas for the robot. It's neat to see the earlier stages of his work. All the various eyes and lips and positions he explored in the process are fascinating. (Cath) There were at least a dozen of preliminary Astra drawings. Some were just sketches and others were more filled out. These are the cheapest pieces available, for those of you with $6000.00 or so to spend. (Mike) _Tales_ was intense. You could sit in front of it for hours and still pick out little details that you hadn't noticed before...and somehow in its entirety and in person it flowed, and the theme became a little more apparent to me...there is a lot of ancient mysticism in it, in content and style. The Peruvian line drawings grabbed my attention, anyone familiar with these would recognize the great monkey anywhere, and it becomes much more prominent in the original painting. We're all familiar with the Aztec pyramid from the album cover, plus there are what appear to be fossilized reptiles that grab your eye when you take a closer look...I could go on and on...this one lost a lot in "translation" to album cover... (Cath) This one is amazing. The fish contain embryos, there are fossilized reptiles in the rocks...quite a bit of detail from a cover I never paid too much attention to. Never my favorite but seeing it in person brought it up a few notches. (Mike) _Relayer_ has long been my favorite album cover, and the painting really blows you away...if you can't imagine why, it's silly for me to try an explain... (Cath) Relayer captures the essence of the short poem that comes with the album, but unlike Deans other work, it is minimalist with colors. There is so much that gets covered up on the back with copyrights and song titles and so on. One of the best, and it's yours for only $500,000. :-) (Mike) Other album cover paintings: Drama Classic Yes Yesterdays (the little boy and girl) The original logo in blues and reds There were also several paintings that weren't Yes-related. _Nightwing_ is very beautiful...touching, and delicate...the creature (I'll refer to her as female, since the features really strike you as quite feminine) is so real looking...her face so soft, jeez, I wouldn't have been surprised to see a tear trickle down from her eye, that's how real her emotion seemed to me... (Cath) There is one painting that Michelle referred to as _Floating Waters_, although this is different than the one that is available as a poster... this is one of a wizard strewing stars into space, while standing upon a "platform" of rocks and floating waters. There are real butterfly wings used as parts of the wizards cape...I even said to Michelle how real the wings looked, with their sheer delicacy and brittleness, and just had to laugh when she pointed out that they were indeed real butterfly's wings! Not to say they didn't look real (too much so!), but that it just didn't occur to me that Roger might try that! It's very beautiful. (understatement, as usual :-) (Cath) I can imagine Roger Dean hunting colorful butterflies just to pull their wings off. :-) His subtle use of 3 dimensions doesn't show up when printed. The Dragon from the cover of Magnetic Storm was done this way as well, but the wing wasn't real. Dean pasted the wing on to the finished painting and made it stand up somehow. A most remarkable effect to make the painting "realistic". (Mike) This seems to be one of Roger's favorite techniques: the "cut and paste" attitude. The flowers in the Dragon painting were done this way as well, along with parts of other works which I can't quite recall. (Cath) The other _Floating Waters_ poster was also there (I believe it was just a poster (lithograph?) that they framed), in fact she said that they have several autographed ones available. This is a stunning piece, and whereas I really wanted it before I saw the Dean originals, now I know I really *need* it :-) (Cath) A while ago I was looking through an album cover art book featuring a bunch of Roger's work, but it beats me as to what the name of it was (neither of his books--_Magnetic Storm_ or _views_, a generic sort of book), and I was looking at all the different album covers Roger's done, and one really struck me with it s brilliance. This was over a year ago, but yesterday there it was in the art gallery. If I recall correctly, and believe me, I'm at a loss--this name just popped into my head fifteen minutes after I admitted to Mike I had no clue whose album it was from-- it's from a band called Greenslade. God I could be so wrong about this name, but I have this feeling that this was the name...someone please correct me if this is wrong. But this piece was just beautiful. I remember that the album cover had an old wise looking man (?) perched on the rock in the foreground, but the painting did not feature anyone at all on the rock. But still beautiful! Intense. (Cath) There were also the following: *The Dragon from the cover of Magnetic Storm *Two paintings of Roger's "mushroom cities" (my name for them :-) --Mike says Roger and Martin (his brother) want to build an entire city of buildings like this. --Michelle said that Roger has this theory that curved living spaces reduce stress and tension because they are so soft and womb-like. He's actually researched this theory through children. *Two paintings of what appear to be underground scapes. One in beiges and tans on the verge of yellow, another in dark blues and blacks. *A desert scene akin to the Union landscape. (Cath) The two underground "cities" were interesting but lacked the horror of some of H. R. Giger's work. Maybe that's not the emotion Dean was reaching for but it is what I associate with the underground. They were more gothic yet vague in purpose. (Mike) Really, if you have the opportunity to see this, even if you have to make a few hours' drive to San Francisco, this exhibition is so worth the trip. You'll really be blown away by how much is lost in the conversion to album cover. The colors are the first thing that struck me, and of course all the wonderful detail. And if you have a few hundred thousand to spend, this is the best place to do your shopping :-) (Cath) I'm not much for collecting art since all it does is hang on a wall, but I could see myself spending hours just staring at some of these pictures. I wonder what exquisite colors and details the missing Fragile and Yessongs hide? I recommend this to any Yes fan who appreciates art (and even to those who don't). (Mike) Oh, and by the way, Michelle has told us that Roger will be in town (SF) for a convention from January 12th through the 15th. Therefore there's a big chance he'll be stopping by the gallery and perhaps bringing along more artwork. (Cath) Michelle will be in touch with me with more details about Dean's visit, so let me know if you'd like more info as I get it. (Mike) So go! It's really something special, and we could never do the work justice this way, and neither can the album covers. The San Francisco Art Exchange, 458 Geary Street, San Francisco, California. Cath Mike Borella Editor borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu V111PBXX@Ubvms.Cc.Buffalo.Edu * * * * * * * * * * OUTSHINING YESYEARS: ==================== 30-DEC-1991 I have a very very generous sister and brother-in-law, because they got me the King Crimson box set for Christmas. I just wanted to tell all you guys that it is very good, and if you are even passively interested in King Crimson -- really, one of the best prog-rock bands ever -- you should check this out. The packaging is excellent, better than Yesyears, I'm afraid. The obligatory booklet is HUGE -- 62 pages, I think. It's in the form of a scrapbook/journal, starting in 1968 at King Crimson's inception and continuing to the present. There's little diary-style entries from Fripp at various points as well as reprints of articles and reviews and transcriptions of interviews. The fact that Robert Fripp included *negative* press as well as positive bothered me for a while, but overall this way of doing it works better than a totally upbeat narrative, at least in this case. Pete Frame did one of his fascinating family trees too, and boy, is it something. I didn't know that KC had links to Foreigner... Bad Company... tons of obscure rock bands... This thing makes the one in Yesyears look downright anorexic! There's four discs, covering 1969-1971, 1972-1974, 1981-1984, and live stuff from 1969-1984. The compilation discs look and sound excellent (Fripp and Tony Arnold did some major re-mastering of the KC catalogue recently...), although I'm afraid the live disc gets very tedious at times (the live version of "The Talking Drum" -- just over 7 minutes in studio form on _Larks' Tongues in Aspic_ -- is almost 30 minutes long!!!), although the live version of "Indiscipline" is great. So, if you've got $70 sitting around with nothing else better to do and want to have a great anthology of prog-rock, I think _The Essential King Crimson: Frame by Frame_ should do you just fine. Robert Talbert * * * * * * * * * * KING CRIMSON FEATURED IN GOLDMINE: ================================== 30-DEC-1991 The latest issue of Goldmine has a decent Crimson/Fripp interview article as well as a discography. There's even a contest to win an autographed boxed set if you answer a few questions. After I perused the article I noticed that Fripp denied that Crimson's original breakup was his idea. He wanted the band to go on without him but the record company wouldn't hear of it. When they did call it quits, John Wetton took it in stride, but Bruford was very upset. -Mike Borella borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis.edu * * * * * * * * * * IN PRAISE OF KINETIC DISCS: =========================== 20-DEC-1991 I got the Casternac disc from Larry Kolota and it is good. I received it within a week so no waiting forever like some mail order places. Give it a listen. Let's get progressive music back where it should be! David Kuznick david@ait.com * * * * * * * * * * PROGRESSIVE ROCK IN VOGUE? ========================== 30-DEC-1991 Those of you who visit Tower Records as much as I do probably read PULSE! magazine, the store's free publication, pretty ravenously too. But they did an article recently (in the issue with Neil Young on the cover) that had an article on progressive rock I think you all might find interesting. I won't reprint it here -- it's kind of long -- but basically the writer is a fan of progressive rock, although a very subdued one. He starts off by talking about _Tales from Topographic Oceans_ and how pompous, pretentious, etc. ad infinitum it is, but then says that he likes it anyway. The whole premise of the article was to wonder, given that so many 70's fads have come back into vogue recently, if prog-rock might do the same. He says basically sure, why not. He goes on to talk about how much he loves old Yes and King Crimson and so on... he even mentioned a lot of the obscure prog-rock bands I heard of for the first time in Notes as possible carriers of the 90's prog-rock torch. Now, while I am thrilled that some rock journalist out there has the balls enough to break tradition and say he _likes_ prog-rock, in general even, his "support" was very negative in nature. He kind of compared art rock to disco and other tasteless things from the 70's, and said as long as *those* things were coming back around, why not art rock? Anyway, you might want to check this article out. If anybody wants, I can type it in and send it to you via a text file (perhaps with a personal rebuttal of some points... =) ) on request. Robert Talbert RNT3515@TNTECH.BITNET [ I've read the article and I agree that it's pretty good. Prog rock has been getting quite a bit of press recently with an article in January's Guitar for the Practicing Musician as well. The Pulse article was written for a skeptical audience so the author chose a tongue in cheek approach which actually works for a reader with a sense of humor. :-) However he's so subtle at times prog rock fans might get offended at first. If you want to learn more about progressive rock music, including many bands that sounds like Yes, join the Gibraltar mailing list at: gibraltar-request@maestro.mitre.org I'm thinking of writing a bit more about bands that Yes fans might find interesting. If you'd like to read something of that nature, let me know - Mike ] * * * * * * * * * * IN THE SPOTLIGHT: ================= January ------- 3 Andre Czausov 5 Roger Spreen 8 Steve Kilpatrick 10 Dave Scidmore 10 Ruth Zurawka 10 Dave Weiss 11 Mike Perrott 11 *Tony Kaye* 13 *Trevor Rabin* 13 Edward Ju 16 Michael Rawdon 16 Dan Gilbert 17 Ray Peck 17 David Dawkins * * * * * * * * * * CONTRIBUTORS: ============= Gary Hanley, Robert Pearson, Mitch Gorman, Robert Talbert, Scott McMahan, David Kuznick, Tim Meekins, Larry Schwarcz, and Mike Borella. * * * * * * * * * * THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT ADDRESSES: ============================== 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 Additions/Corrections to the Rarities List: Mike Stok MIKE@MEIKO.COM Additions/Corrections to the Discography, Lyrics, & GIFs: Mike Borella BORELLA@TOADFLAX.EECS.UCDAVIS.EDU For Import CD's (last resort): Joe Pizzirusso JOEP@CBMVAX.CBM.COMMODORE.COM ******************************************************************************** --< END OF NOTES FROM THE EDGE #29 >-- ********************************************************************************