As Steve guessed, yesterday's songs have in common the fact that each of the bands featured future members of Yes. Bodast's guitarist was Steve Howe*, Winston's Fumbs' organ player was Tony Kaye, and the Syn featured both Chris Squire and Peter Banks, Yes's original guitar player.
The occasion for my posting these tracks is the current tour featuring Steve Howe, Chris Squire, and Alan White in various permutations, including (oddly) a reunion of the Drama-era Yes (was there a huge demand for that?). What's really odd about this is that Chris Squire's component of the tour is being billed as a reunion of the Syn, since that band's singer Peter Nardelli is on board as well. I suppose two original members (at least: no idea who's drumming, but Peter Banks isn't playing guitar) is enough to constitute a legitimate reunion, and that raises the interesting question: can anyone think of another reuniting act with more time between incarnations? The Syn broke up in about 1968 as Squire and Banks went on to Mabel Greer's Toy Shop (which more or less turned into Yes). But here it is thirty-seven years later, and not only are they touring**, they're working on new recordings. Curious...
* Although not featured on this recording, another member of that band was Bruce Thomas - yes, Bruce Thomas of Elvis Costello's Attractions. Surprisingly, it turns out that Thomas played with at least three future members of Yes: according to this site, he was also in the band Bitter Sweet with Tony Kaye, and he did session work with Rick Wakeman on Al Stewart's Past, Present and Future. So, my idea to re-do "Roundabout" in the style of "Pump Me Up" is nowhere near as farfetched as I'd originally thought...
** Oops...as I was writing this and looking for info, I found out that the tour's been cancelled due to immigration paranoia. Apparently, sources at the FBI discovered that the lyrics of "Siberian Khatru" are a complex cipher which, when decoded, reads KILL AMERICAN PIGS. BOMB IOWA. Who'd've guessed? Jon Anderson is under arrest in London, having been caught developing an amplification system that would allow his voice to melt steel.
3 comments:
As I've said before, I love Drama-era Yes (aka The Buggles).
And does John Anderson really need amplification for his voice to melt steel?
The Syn singer is Steve, not Peter Nardelli. Pete Banks has been left raving mad for being dropped from the newline-up of the band. He's posted some very whingy complaints against the band all across the internet. Very funny, very Banks!
Thank you, anonymous Syn expert. I've only ever heard this Syn track, so I can't claim to be able to recognize who's singing...
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