#30DaysOfYes

[unicornery]

How It All Began

TL;DR I was a weird, lonely, radio-obsessed teen and heard Roundabout on a ‘70s request show I listened to regularly.

30 Days of Yes: Day 23 — The first song you heard. 

Of course there’s a possibility that I encountered the Billboard number one hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart” sometime between 1984 and 1997, but for official purposes, the first Yes song I heard, and the song that made me a fan, was “Roundabout.”

At the time, the Des Moines radio station Star 102.5 had a popular program called “Seventies Saturday Night.” It was a DJ-hosted show that played pop, funk, disco, rock, and more from 7-11pm, and took listener requests from all over central Iowa.

I started listening to the show when I was in sixth grade. I had been to a birthday party at the Legion for a classmate where the parents invited the whole class (always a big fan of those), and they had a DJ who threw in “YMCA” among the pop hits of the day. I happened to be radio channel surfing one Saturday and got excited to stumble upon “YMCA” again.

Through junior high and high school, I listened to Seventies Saturday Night whenever I could. If I was out with my family, we’d listen to it in the car, but most of the time I listened to it in the living room on the family’s big Sony stereo. The one with the 5-disc CD changer, dual tape decks, and a digital tuner. I had friends at school but I wasn’t always included in social activities on the weekends (see my joy at the everyone’s-invited type of party), so I really did spend a lot of time at home on the farm listening to the radio.

One Saturday night in my sophomore year of high school, I was in my usual spot on the couch listening to my show. Possibly playing Tetris, the one game I had for my green Game Boy. With no DJ intro, I heard the initial swelling crescendos contrasted with gently picked guitar intro, followed by the whole band kicking in. The different sections of the song, the keyboards, the prominent bass (did I mention we had a subwoofer), and the dramatic “in and around the lake” section held my interest throughout its 8-minute-plus runtime. Transfixed may be too dramatic a word, but it was about that. By the time they got to the outro, with the chanted vocals and guitar riff to tie it all together, I was all in. The DJ came back on to say that the last song was by “Yes.” In that moment, my life changed forever.

In the non-Saturday-night parts of the week, I still listened to some top 40 radio, and Oldies 93.3 with mom, but starting to drift to classic rock stations more and more.  When I listened to those stations, I kept an ear out for “Roundabout,” and came to learn another Yes song, “I’ve Seen All Good People.” The Fort Dodge station even played “Long Distance Runaround” into “The Fish” sometimes (Triple Shot Thursday, baby).

I got my first Yes CD, the Classic Yes compilation, on March 1, 1997. I wish I had written down the date of hearing “Roundabout” for the first time, but at least I kept for posterity the sales receipt from the Musicland where I bought that album. I don’t know what convinced me to get that over the other compilation that was available at the time, perhaps nothing more than Roger Dean’s painting being more appealing than the collage/assemblage on the Highlights cover.

[pinkcloudcoach]

Oh, my loves, all of THIS 💖 You know I was reduced to ashes, and it was deciding to be true to what my soul craved that restored me. I knew to be free I would have to find another way. That required willingness, curiosity, courage, audacity, tenacity and a desire for truth & freedom. What do you crave more than choosing to go through life uncomfortably numb? #whollysober #beforeyoudrinkthinkpink #possibilities #intentions #neuroplasticity #kindness #alcoholcoach #30daysofyes #exploresober #soberfreedom #pinkcloudcoaching #egofriendly #whatdoyouwant #becoming https://www.instagram.com/p/CNp6azTDxJC/?igshid=c3r64hv2p3mw

[mykalwithay]

This month I’m saying #𝐘𝐄𝐒 to:⁣ 𝗪𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 (physical and emotional)⁣ 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 (to myself and others)⁣ 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (romantic and professional)⁣ 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (for the body and the soul)⁣ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 &⁣ 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 (old and new)⁣ ⁣ Welcome to #𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫⁣ ⁣ #manifest2019 #theslaycontinues #positivity #sayyestoyourself #joy #30daysofyes https://www.instagram.com/p/B4UywBBAHAi/?igshid=1ufhdtav8tyfc

[peoplepleacesaandthings]

[pieaterpieater]

grab the mixtape here

“Thirty Days of Yes is a subscription mixtape that will release a song a day over 30 days. Developed in response to the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, to drive the 'Yes' message and show support for the LGBTQI+ community, particularly the youth community who don't have a voice in this public debate. 100% of the profits will go to LGBTQI+ youth organisations, Minus18 and Twenty10.”

[mandy-morello]

Have you seen my #30DaysOfYou Challenge? I'm uploading 1 video a day in order to improve my confidence. Head to my Facebook to laugh/cringe/cheer me on 😬😬😬 (at London, United Kingdom)

[vizual-desperado]

Listening to preteens share their idea for a short film and dear God these kids. Every theme was either about death or isolation but all of them inspired hope & change. A lot of them are woke as fuck tho real talk. Any how, day 1 of 30 days of yes have earned me a complimentary round of free drinks & its only 5:10pm. #30daysofyes #fuckitchallenge #growthchalange #FTCK (at New York, New York)

[peacepersonified]

Only this matters. he wanted to be on Facebook. I just made his dream come true. Make someone's dream come true as you walk throughout your Friday. I'm well into your tomorrow and only 3 seconds shifted his trajectory. How dare we say no when yes only takes a moment in time? #30daysofyes #growth #transformation #onlythis #happinessis #wearetheones #shifting #shaping #serving #thestoryteller #therebelexperience

[unicornery]

30 Days of Yes: Day 5 — A song from your favorite album

For a long time, my favorite Yes album was Close To The Edge, then a few years ago I was trying to think of an album to recommend someone to get into the band, and I realized how solid The Yes Album is. So now it goes back and forth between those two, or is maybe a tie. And since I did a song off CTTE for “Favorite Song” on Day 1, I will choose a song from TYA for today.

The Yes Album was released in 1971 and it represented the first major lineup change for the band. Peter Banks was out on guitar and Steve Howe was in. It is known for containing the song “I’ve Seen All Good People,” released as a single edit under the title “Your Move.”  The full track is still played on rock radio to this day!

In my mind, TYA is anchored by the twin pillars of “Starship Trooper” and “Yours Is No Disgrace.” Both clock in at over 9 minutes, and represent a transition from the more traditional song lengths on the first two albums, toward the longer-form pieces that were to come.

I really loved “Yours Is No Disgrace” ever since the first time I heard it on the Classic Yes compilation (the first Yes CD I bought, back in 1997). I must admit I was hooked in by the gimmick of the guitar sound passing between the right and left channels.  It’s a fantastic showcase for Steve Howe’s artistry, and he is supported well by Tony Kaye’s hammond organ riffs and as always, Chris Squire’s basslines. Above all, it rocks so hard, like Heart of the Sunrise, but they find such a great groove on this one. In the pocket. Things of this nature.

[unicornery]

30 Days of Yes: Day 30 — Why they’re your favorite band

There’s things I struggle to find a “favorite” for - I’ll never be able to pick my favorite movie of all time, and with top foods, I could go back and forth between sushi and pizza forever. Even favorite album you saw I had trouble with!  But as far as a favorite band, the answer is easy: Yes. Yes are my favorite band because I love their music in all its forms. I truly celebrate their entire catalog. I think their ‘70s material, or what the Yes Music Podcast’s Kevin Mulryne calls “The Main Sequence,” is absolutely brilliant, but there is so much great stuff to enjoy in the ‘80s, ‘90s and beyond. There’s a lot of bands I love, but nothing has ever spoke to me the way Yes music has. I think it’s cool that they’ve kept the band going so long, in so many different forms, and are still touring and bringing the music to the people. I think they have a fucking sweet logo and some amazing cover art paintings from Roger Dean.

As mentioned previously, I got into them as a teen, and I was primed to be A Big Fan of something, so I became a Yes Fan. I felt like I really hit the sweet spot - they had a huge back catalog of releases but they were still making new music. They were big enough to have this legacy and be respected, but it felt (and still feels) like a special thing I stumbled into that I get to be a part of.

Out of any band I like, Yes had the highest highs. I really mean that. They had some duds, like any band, but at their best, Yes represent the peak of what Progressive Rock has to offer.  I can listen to albums like Close to the Edge or Going for the One now and remember how I felt listening to them in high school. I’m really glad they’ve been a part of my life for so long and I’m grateful to you all for going on this journey with me.

[unicornery]

30 Days of Yes:  Day 15 — A picture of the bassist

I don’t have super good sources for either of these, info on photographer etc. I chose these pictures of Chris Squire to show off him playing the triple-neck Wal bass, as well as the huge flex of having a white suit with black accents, and then a black suit with white accents! Silverstein’s zebra could never!

Some have described it as a backgammon suit.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chris-squire-performs-with-yes-at-the-oakland-coliseum-in-news-photo/645822682?adppopup=true

Chris Squire was a founding member of Yes and was, until his untimely passing in 2015, the only constant throughout countless lineup changes. He appeared on every Yes release from the debut Studio album through the live Like It Is: Yes at the Mesa Arts Center. His melodic style of playing increased the prominence of the bass in rock / progressive rock and he really changed what a bassist could contribute to a band’s sound. A quick search around the web will show tribute after tribute to Chris and his music, and how he inspired stars and hobbyists alike in their bass playing. 

Chris’s nickname was Fish and his solo piece on Fragile was entitled “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)” after this. His 1975 solo album was called “Fish Out Of Water” - the song “Hold Out Your Hand” off this LP could easily have been a classic rock radio staple and is well worth a listen.

Keyboardist Rick Wakeman may be known for his silver capes. but Chris was no slouch in the stage fashion department either.

above photo by Neal Preston

photo by Debi Doss

His death hit me pretty hard and it made me feel very grateful that I’d gotten to see him live because he was a really dynamic performer. Being 2nd row on Chris’ side for the show in Omaha and getting to hear “Awaken” was a life-changing experience. I kind of can’t imagine how the rest of the band was able to carry on with the 2015 tour after he died, but perhaps knowing he had picked out Billy Sherwood as his replacement made it a bit easier on them.

[unicornery]

30 Days of Yes: Day 1 — Your favorite song

“And You And I” is from the 1972 album Close to the Edge. It has four sections:

i. Cord of Life ii. Eclipse iii. The Preacher The Teacher iv. Apocalypse

There are so many amazing Yes epics and maybe on a different day I would choose one of them, but in my heart it’s my favorite. I particularly enjoy live versions, especially after bassist Chris Squire started playing the harmonica at the end of ii and into iii. I have included a live version from the Union tour so you can hear Chris playing the harmonica part. The studio version is obviously amazing too, so look that up if you can. I remember listening to the beginning of the studio version over and over trying to hear what was being said - it sounds like the engineer saying “Ready?” and then guitarist Steve Howe saying “Ok,” then going into the acoustic intro.

The song has the typical Yes lyrics that are more about the sounds of the words than their meaning, which I enjoy, but also some sweet sentiments in the parts you can understand.

[unicornery]

30 Days of Yes: Day 29 — A letter to your favorite member

Dear Steve,

I really enjoy your guitar playing and the different types of guitars and other instruments that you play. I especially like when you play the pedal steel.

I’m sorry that I accidentally had the flash on when I started taking a video of your show in Aurora, IL in 2019 and that you had to address the crowd about it. I don’t go to very many concerts and I don’t take videos that much in life so I forgot the flash would be on by default.

Thanks for making amazing music for so many years. I’m excited to hear The Quest on album and then performed live! Please take good care of yourself and your guitars.

Sincerely,

Rachel H Iowa, USA

[unicornery]

30DaysOfYes Bonus

because I forgot to explain the iconography on the Three Album Tour tee:

the black-green gradient in the Yes logo on the front, and the overall fade to black in the background is from Close to the Edge:

The film perforations (I had to look that up), chartreuse or yellowish green cast, the mannequin head, and the chair are all from The Yes Album:

And the black angled lines in the background are from the buildings on Going For The One. I just learned that they are the Century Plaza Towers in Century City, CA. Yes never committed to the man ass on merch like Rush did with their man-in-star logo, so I’m not surprised he didn’t make it as a design element on the three album tour tee.

[unicornery]

30DaysOfYes day 10 bonus

Descriptions of some other times I have seen Yes live

doing a cut because this got long

The first time I saw them was at the Orpheum in Minneapolis, on the Ladder tour. I drove up from Ames with my mom. I was a fan of the Ladder album already so I was glad to hear those songs live. We had balcony seats but went down closer to the stage after the show to see the set design and everything. I remember Steve had a fancy rug he stood on to play, and as mentioned in one of the previous entries, he left the stage during “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” Some folks on the linked Forgotten Yesterdays page were saying Jon was just getting over the flu but I don’t remember his voice being super out of whack. I think it was just really excited to be there. So the only two times I have seen Jon have been when I went with someone to a show, and both of those were in Minnesota! Just realized that.

After that I went over ten years not seeing Yes live. I talked about this on Day 2 and offered some theories why.  I also talked about the show I saw in 2011 at the House of Blues in Chicago. My favorite memory of this show is the crowd singing along with “Starship Trooper.” 

One of the most memorable shows I went to was on the 3-album tour in Omaha in 2013. You can read about that here: https://unicornery.tumblr.com/post/45398383539/to-paraphrase-charlie-kelley-tweens-everywhere This was the first time I had really good seats (2nd row) and it would also be the last time I got to see Chris before his untimely passing.

2015: Getting to see Yes in my home state and adopted home town of Des Moines had the potential to be very special but ended up somewhat disappointing due to the tour being co-headlining with Toto and the unseasonably (for State Fair time) cold, rainy conditions. No disrespect to Toto but they played a “Georgy Porgy” that may still be going on, while I was anxiously waiting for Yes to start their set. Yes had a good song selection I felt, and I particularly admired the audacity of kicking off the show with “Don’t Kill the Whale.” Oooh and also a post holding up a curtain on the stage blew over and almost smacked Steve right in the head! After that, the crew assigned an FFA kid to hold the post steady so that didn’t happen again. Someone also got him a warm 1/4-zip sweater to put on over his shirt. I feel like the Register didn’t even send someone to review the show. Pretty pathetic, on their part, for a Grandstand show from two major bands.

In 2016 I returned to Chicago to see the band again. I booked an Air Bnb (my first and so far only) within walking distance of the venue, The Copernicus Center. I was really excited to hear what they would play off of Tales, feeling a bit pragmatic that they wouldn’t play all four sides, and of course the idea of Drama straight through was enticing. Their rendition of Siberian Khatru was particularly amazing this night. I made a Concert Friend at this one and gave him my number, but he was disappointed when I said I was from Des Moines. Sadface.

2017 - back to Chicagoland - the Yestival with Carl Palmer’s ELP Experience, Todd Rundgren, and Yes playing one song from each of the first ten albums. Carl Palmer was AMAZING and I was so glad I got to see him. The less said about Rundgren the better, and the Yes set was a lot of fun. I also made Concert Friends here who bought me a Concert Wine. It was neat to be able to talk with them about what songs we thought they might play for each position.

2018: see prev post

2019 - another trip to the Chicago accent area for another Yestival show at a casino’s outdoor venue. This time I was in the front row which had never happened before! I was wayyyy to the right side of the seating (aka stage left), but it was still neat to be 1st row. “Gates of Delirium” was a highlight since I had never seen it live. Towards the end of the show, there was a bit more dancing and grooving in my row, and this woman kept bumping into me, and apologizing, and it turned out she was Billy Sherwood’s girlfriend Elisa. She was impressed I knew all the lyrics to Roundabout, which I felt a bit “are you fucking with me?” or being condescending like Greg Proops* being surprised that a fat woman would know all the words to the song? Or she could have been being sincere. There were vague promises of getting me backstage, which i was 99.99% sure wouldn’t happen because again, I did not get the VIP package. I looked Elisa up later and she is a musician in her own right! It made me proud of Billy that he would choose a partner who is an equal and has her own creative pursuits.

*I once heard Greg Proops on a podcast talking about seeing Roxy Music live.  There were two fat ladies in the audience having fun, rocking out, and singing along with “Love is the Drug” and this was somehow surprising for him, that they would know all the words. Whatta maroon! Really affected my judgement of him.

[unicornery]

Day 8 — Your favorite lyric

this is from the song “Close to the Edge” off the album of the same name. It was the band’s first side-long song. (The 18:43 run time takes up one side of a vinyl record) Listen to these lyrics here: https://youtu.be/ZESXXSDIPpk?t=428

Sudden call shouldn't take away the startled memory All in all, the journey takes you all the way As apart from any reality that you've ever seen and known Guessing problems only to deceive the mention, Passing paths that climb halfway into the void As we cross from side to side, we hear the total mass retain

Sometimes I don’t like looking up the lyrics to songs, by Yes or otherwise, because I find out I’ve been singing them wrong for many years!