Monday 24 August 2015

GEOFF DOWNES OF YES – CARRYING ON WITHOUT CHRIS SQUIRE (INTERVIEW)

geoff downes pub pic 2015

On Friday, August 7th, legendary Prog Rock band Yes will begin a new tour. Co-headlining with Toto, the tour will hit twenty-six cities, beginning in Connecticut and wrapping up in British Columbia. And although combined these bands have sold close to a hundred million records, what makes this tour stand out from all the others in the past forty-plus years of the band is that bass player Chris Squire will not be onstage with them, a fact that adds a hint of melancholy to what is usually an exciting event. Squire, a founding member who has appeared on every one of the band’s twenty-one studio albums, passed away this year on June 27th from a rare form of leukemia. The band members knew that Squire’s treatment would prevent him from participating in the North American tour so former Yes member Billy Sherwood was handpicked to take his spot. “The other guys and myself have agreed that Billy Sherwood will do an excellent job of covering my parts and the show as a whole will deliver the same Yes experience that our fans have come to expect over the years,” Squire said in a statement in May.

So with the tour looming on the August horizon and their third annual cruise from November 15-19, the band has reconvened to share the magic and wonderment of a band called Yes. Glide had the honor of speaking with longtime keyboard player Geoff Downes a few days ago about the future of Yes and what it was like when he first came into the band in 1980 following his tenure in the Buggles, whose 1979 catchy yet quirky “Video Killed The Radio Star” was used to launch MTV on August 01, 1981.

Downes made his first appearance in Yes on their 1980 album Drama. The band would split in early 1981 but with bandmate Steve Howe, Downes would form Asia with ELP drummer Carl Palmer and King Crimson vocalist John Wetton. Their synth-heavy pop tunes, including the #1 single “Heat Of The Moment,” would garner them major success for a few years. Downes would continue to work with various former bandmates in other projects, as well as releasing his own solo albums. He would reunite with Yes in 2011, recording the albums Fly From Here and Heaven & Earth with them. In 2013, they did a tour playing three of their classic albums, The Yes Album, Close To The Edge and Going For The One, in their entireties.

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CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM YES AT GONZO
Union (Standard DVD)
DVD - £9.99

Union
DVD - £12.99

Union (2CD)
2CD - £7.99

Rock Of The 70's
DVD - £12.99

The Lost Broadcasts
DVD - £7.99

Rock of the 70s
DVD - £9.99

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