GURU: HOLD ON, HOLD ON PP GURU SUNSHINE SHINE ON THROUGH

Even though the PP Guru had mentioned that he was possibly California bound in last Friday's chapter of his month long autobiographical mini-series as dictated by the timeline of Yes studio album releases, there was still some lag time before he ventured to make his move.
When Yes had reformed in the mid-eighties after a three year forced hiatus due to the disappointing failure to make and break in their home of the U.K (and was not in the US as Sparky's speedy encyclopedia indicates. They have the facts vice versa. Drama was adequately successful in the US, at least in the Tri-state area. WNEW-FM played the shit out of Does it Really Happen? when the promo single was sent to stations and the shows at Madison Square Garden were completely sold out!), they had to look themselves real hard in the mirror and decide what was the best coarse for the band's survival in the new wave dominated market. A heavy face lift was in order.


And so thus begins the PP Guru vocational school/ college years.

Between the time of late 1980 and late 1983 , Yes, all members past and present had managed to find themselves into creative limbo with the exception of Steve Howe and Geoff Downes going on to form Asia, (and later, GTR) the other half of that supergroup forced together by David Geffen was occupied by King Crimson/UK vocalist, John Wetton and ELP drummer Carl Palmer (Geoff and John still remain the best of friends today and are considered the best songwriting duo ever, since John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The PP Guru just listened to the latest duo's recent recording called Icon yesterday and it's definitely a return to true form. Wetton has never sung or sounded this good on a CD in a decade or so.) Jon Anderson was incognito in the south of France, Italy, and Greece to lay down vocals for a series of records teaming up with Vangelis, the Oscar/Grammy winning synthesist and soundtrack composer to Chariots of Fire and Bladerunner, Trevor Horn, never to sing on record again formed a record label called ZTT records and wrote songs (see next paragraph for who) while Rick Wakeman was out doing his bit for the New Age or Christian music biz in a slew of easily forgettable albums (although the PP Guru gives him kudos for his 1984 concept album,...uhm, 1984 ) and Chris Squire and Alan White ... And just what about those two?

They were getting a new band together, well, at first they tried to put together a band with the recently discarded members of a John Bonham-less Led Zeppelin called XYZ (anagram for EX YES & ZEPPELIN), before settling on getting together with South Africa's first legenday guitar superstar, Trevor Rabin (Rabbit) who had just moved to Los Angeles for a breath of fresh air. Squire on a prowling night of debauchery, stumbled upon of all people in the LA area, founding keyboard player member, Tony Kaye (see, that's why LA is a such a small world- and that's why the PP Guru loves it here so much! Everybody who is everybody is out here!) . Squire gave Kaye the 411 on a project that their manager Brian Lane had got set up for him and Alan and invited Kaye to jam on it. Tony, since the time of the Yes Album, had became a somewhat sucessful session player playing and jamming with the likes of David Bowie & Badfinger- he even had a formed a new group with Yes's first guitar player, Peter Banks called Flash (which didn't last very long). So it was a new group of three ex-players from Yes who decided to go back in SARM studios in London (where they had also cut Drama) and emerge as a shining new group who had the name Cinema all picked out and ready to go and producing them was none other than ... Trevor Horn. Yeah sure, why not, it's not as if he had anything else better to do.

Just one problem though, knowing Trevor havingthe strongest lead voice amongst the three wasn't very confortable handling both the lead guitar parts and singing at the same time, so a search was underway for a new lead vocalist. For some reason, the demos ended up in Jon Anderson's hands (singing soft contemptary love songs with Vangelis 24/7 was obviously getting to the guy) and was from there that Chris popped the question: 'Jon, how would you like to come and help ?'. Jon said 'all right, just as long as you call it Yes.'

Record company went nuts. They had thought Yes a footnote in the annals of Rock music - but upon delivering a finished project that sounded so rejuvenated and refreshed, the record company (now Atco, and not Atlantic, although technically it's the same label both owned by Warner/Atlantic/Elektra) had no recoarse but to release this record that was predicted to take the radio world by storm. Named 90125, after it's catalogue number, the new Yes had embarked on a journey that they had never known before: worldwide acceptance - because not only was its' first single "Owner of Lonely Heart' a powerful bonafide single on both radio and in the dance clubs (what?), not only was the the video for that song became the band's first video in heavy rotation (look for a cameo of King Crimson/Roxy Music/ UK keyboard player and violinist Eddie Jobson in the full unedited version. Eddie was slated to take over Tony Kaye's touring duties, but Tony changed his mind, not letting stage fright to completely assimulate his long absence from performing live) on MTV but was much talked about at water coolers across the USA, and not only would they succeed in following the money train with other videos of Leave It and It Can Happen - but have it all lead to a Grammy nomination for best rock instrumental for the track titled Cinema , but all the major success of the album can be attributed to the fact that Trevor Rabin came up with the idea for Owner of a Lonely Heart while ... sitting on the toilet. Which is proof positive that the best laid ideas of man has to develop completely after a fully digested meal.
The school where the PP Guru went to study sound
engineering in 1983. The Recording Workshop located
in nowheresville, Chillocothe Ohio.Where the PP Guru
had to sleep in a log cabin, protecting himself from
bears and mountain lions armed with nothing but
a soldering iron.

The PP Guru can go through a endless array of how Cary Coatney came up with some of his asinine ideas for the Deposit Man (the eight page undrawn prologue story that opens with God and the Deposit Man discussing theological issues while jumping on a trampoline together came together while he was dropping some friends off by the porcelin pool. Schmuck editor for Death Comics, Scott Goodell was supposed to use the story for a anthology that he was never paid for - and it was a story that he ordered him to write. Coatney labored on that story for two days and still hasn't seen a cent for it) and what influenced him or such not - but the comparsion to Yes is likened to a dictomony that if an established idea finds itself losing steam (such as a ten year television sitcom) after a long while. Then that should be a justification to reinvent yourself (which a lot of retailers say to Cary Coatney concerning Deposit Man) - which is what Yes has done in the face of adversity. Although, the lines have been drawn in the sand for cross- over appeal.

The massive success of Owner was bringing in major droves of screaming teen ager girls who wanted to rip apart Rabin and eat him alive (although they could have started on his entrails- before the band was about to go on tour, Rabin had a near death experience when his spleen just decided to make a hasty stage exit. So he had to get his appendix removed. Not a good way to start out your mid thirties). At 39, Jon Anderson was now regarded as a major sex symbol, while grandpa keysman Tony Kaye was looked upon as the party animal in the band.

While the PP Guru was happy to see his old time fav band back in action after such a long absence, he does not consider this album to be avery good album. It's his least favorite one. The titles, for one thing, on songs such as Hold On, Leave it, Our Song, and Changes sound like rejected episode titles from The X-Files or some such, but he gives the collaboration of lyricists Anderson and Horn some consideration when it isn't trying to sound too contrived in the chorus parts. The only songs that the PP Guru has any affinity to is City of Love for it's reggae/heavy thumping metal hybrid. Changes as a good appreggiated percussion opening that still stick in the PP Guru. However, on the remastered version, there is a good unused song called "It's Over" which sound like a vain attempt of Yes trying to come off sounding like Queen that's worth a listen - also club mix versions of Owners of a Lonely Heart are sprinkled throughout. What were we really thinking of back then?

Looking back on it now, the PP Guru was in a state of flux himself. With Linda Freeman now in and out of his life due to her college studies, the PP Guru had to immerse himself in some career decisions himself. He worked at a budget saving department store called Bradlee's to raise up money to enroll in a vocation school in Chillocothe, Ohio to study sound engineering. There he learned how to splice and edit recording tape, operate a sound board, mike up drums, and solder on frazzled patch cords that go into the sound boards. The PP Guru was busy learning about terms such as in phase or out of phase, and was learning to apply tricks such as the ones that one would hear on 90125 such as reveberated noise gates on draums and digital synthesizer programming that was especially made capable by the Yamaha DX-7- which was a hot affordable keyboard at that time.

Unfortunely, while the PP Guru was going to school, he met a another girl that would steal his heart away from Linda - only because she was a bigger Yes fan. The Chronicles of Susan Tamar Proper or 'Tamar' is too long to get into here- Cary Coatney on the PP Guru's behalf has already submitted that story to a publication called Comic Effect, that takes up nearly 40 pages - which almost the entire magazine itself. He's still waiting for it to see the light- but to make a long story short- the PP Guru and Tamar broke up because one of us had to failed to see the show together. The PP Guru used to go back and forth to visit Tamar in her native home of Williamsburg, Virginia and we agreed upon that her first trip to New Jersey to visit the PP Guru's deranged family (although why the PP Guru would want to expose Tamar to the seedy alcoholic stammerings of in sorely need of a REALITY CHECK ROGER was beyond him) would be highlighted by seeing Yes at the Meadowlands Brendan Byrne Arena - and Tamar somewhat changed her mind two days before the show- and the PP Guru was mad that he had purchased the tickets. So a replacement had to be found and the PP Guru had to ask a bank teller to take Tamar's place. The PP Guru had forgotten her name, but he does remember that she lived in a far away town of Wharton, NJ and the the PP Guru's mother was very upset that he had gotten into a ninty minute conversation with her on the phone that racked up some serious long distance charges. Which the PP Guru didn't understand- he thought long distance meant out of state, not ten towns over. But nevertheless, the PP Guru severed that relationship because the PP Guru's mom would yak up a storm with that nice bank teller, and it just didn't interest the PP Guru to go out with a girl who knows your mom more than you do.

The PP Guru attended some electronic music courses at NYU and did some junior college to learn piano technique and applied music theory before shuffling off to San Diego to throw everything away and become a beach bum.

The entries to tomorrow's long winded tales will be shorter due to Marillion being in town for two days. The PP Guru is going to both shows.

Personal: Jon Anderson - vocals, Chris Squre - bass & vocals, Trevor Rabin, guitars, keyboards, and vocals, Alan White- drums, percussion, and vocals, and Party Animal Tony Kaye, Keyboards. Guests, Graham Preskett - violin and Dipak - sitar on It Can Happen.
Produced by Trevor Horn and was recorded at both Sarm Studios and Air Studios in London during the spring and summer of 1983. Favorite lyric: Justice to the left of you, Justice to the right / speak when you are spoken to, don't pretend you're right - Hold On (Rabin/Anderson/Squire)

Toledo was just another good stop along the good king's highway when trying to connect with:

~

Coat
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90125

90125
Album by Yes
Release	November 7, 1983
Recorded	Early - August 1983
Genre	Pop rock
Length	44 min 49 s
Label	Atco Records
Producer	Trevor Horn
Professional reviews
AMG link Rolling Stone link
Yes chronology
Classic Yes (1981)	90125 (1983)	9012Live: The Solos (1985)

90125 is a rock album by Yes released in 1983. The album is notable for marking a radical shift in style, with Yes largely trading in their trademark progressive rock sound for contemporary, synthesized 1980's pop. The title of the album, incidentally, refers to its original catalogue number.

This new incarnation of Yes came about almost by accident. After their late 1980 disbanding, Chris Squire and Alan White began recording as a duo, even releasing a single in 1981. After acquiring South African musician Trevor Rabin, the trio were joined by none other than original Yes keyboardist, Tony Kaye, who had left in 1971. They christened themselves "Cinema" and began recording what they thought was their debut album, comprising mainly of original music Rabin had originally earmarked for a solo album, and produced by Drama-era singer Trevor Horn.

Everything changed in the spring of 1983 when Jon Anderson was played some of Cinema's recordings by Squire. When Anderson professed interest and became keen to join, it was realized that Yes, essentially, were reforming. Rabin was dubious at first, not wanting to be perceived as Steve Howe's replacement, but rather, the lead guitarist for a new group. However, he quickly changed his mind once Anderson brought in some new lyrics and put his distinctive vocals on the existing music tracks. Thus, after a three year gap, Yes was back.

Released that fall on Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco, 90125 launched Yes to the MTV age and to a whole new breed of fans. The music was catchy, contemporary and well-liked by reviewers and their new fans (many of whom had little clue of the band's previous incarnation). Lead single, "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" became the band's first (and only) US #1 hit, driving 90125 to the Top 5 and selling three million units, by far Yes' most successful album. The British sales were not as spectacular, but still solid, and succeeding hits, such as "Leave It" and "It Can Happen" ensured 90125 had a lengthy chart life. In additon, "Cinema" won the 1984 Grammy for the best rock instrumental.

Recently in 2005, a Max Graham remix of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" reached #9 in the UK singles charts, bettering the original's #28 peak.

Track listing

1. "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" (Trevor Rabin/Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Trevor Horn) - 4:29
2. "Hold On" (Trevor Rabin/Jon Anderson/Chris Squire) - 5:16
3. "It Can Happen" (Chris Squire/Jon Anderson/Trevor Rabin) - 5:29
4. "Changes" (Chris Squire/Jon Anderson/Alan White) - 6:20
5. "Cinema" (Chris Squire/Trevor Rabin/Alan White/Tony Kaye) - 2:08
6. "Leave It" (Chris Squire/Trevor Rabin/Trevor Horn) - 4:14
7. "Our Song" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Trevor Rabin/Alan White/Tony Kaye) - 4:18
8. "City of Love" (Trevor Rabin/Jon Anderson) - 4:51
9. "Hearts" (Jon Anderson/Chris Squire/Trevor Rabin/Alan White/Tony Kaye) - 7:39

90125 (Atco 790 125) reached #16 in the UK. It also reached #5 in the US during a chart stay of 53 weeks. 90125 was remastered and reissued in 2004 with several bonus tracks.

Personnel

• Jon Anderson: Vocals
• Chris Squire: Bass guitars, vocals
• Trevor Rabin: Guitars, Keyboards, vocals
• Tony Kaye: Keyboards
• Alan White: Drums, percussion, vocals

Sources

• 90125, CD booklet essay, Brian Ives, c.2004.
• AllMusicGuide.com
• "Top Pop Albums 1955-2001", Joel Whitburn, c.2002

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Done - Sparky