Produced by Wayne Hall and Jeffrey Crecelius

'IT'S CHRISTMAS' as yer man sings in that song (which doesn't feature in our festive collection). Mark and I select a few prog or prog-related Christmas songs to rank in another totally pointless but fun seasonal activity.

• Is your favourite in our selection?
• What is 'proggy'?
• What is Christmassy?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Mark and I met someone who can fill in a few more gaps in the Yes story this week. We managed to track down and speak to Peter Woolliscroft who was only a short time into his studio engineering career at Advision studio in London when Yes turned up to record Tormato. He shares his recollections of the sessions which are rich and extensive and it was a pleasure to welcome him to the show. Listen out for revelations about Tormato and a little bit about Peter’s extensive list of work with some of the biggest names in rock and pop.

• How were things set up at Advision for Yes?
• Would it have been better to employ a producer?
• Who walked into reception accompanied by an avian pal?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week Mark and I spoke to Chris Kimball about a 70s oddity in the Yes instrumental arsenal - Alan White's North drums. After restoring, playing and recording with these strange objects, Chris is ideally placed to explain why they look so weird and why drummers like Alan White were interested in using them.

It's another engrossing story from a very knowledgeable musician and it's packed with detail so I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

• Why are North drums shaped like that?
• What were they made of?
• Why did they disappear?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week Mark and I have had a great time re-watching 3 videos from the Going For The One era. As you may know, there is an extensive behind-the-scenes film of what went on at Mountain Studios in Montreux in 1976 and I was wondering if the feel of that process was evident in the following tour. So Mark suggested the film of Glasgow on that tour and I added the mash-up of the title song which takes film footage from several different concerts and matches it to a good quality soundtrack.

All 3 videos are embedded into the show notes for this week. You might want to watch them before listening to us discuss our reactions.

• What was the mood like when Yes were recording Going For The One in Switzerland?
• Did the melodica trio end up on the album or not?
• Why did Rick Wakeman take his shoes and socks off in Glasgow and what did he do next?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

As always, it was a sheer delight to welcome Stephen Lambe and David Watkinson back onto the show this week to talk about their latest collaboration, YES in the 1980s.

It's a great book which goes into detail about the often tortuous journey of the band in the decade of excess. Solo albums and other groups closely associated with Yes are included in a volume which boasts 2 sets of full-colour photos as well as countless other illustrations, a lot of which are presented in printed format for the first time.

A must for all serious Yes fans (particularly the five per cent), the book is available now from Burning Shed at the link in this week’s show notes. We asked the dynamic duo all sorts of questions including:

• Why write a book about the decade which could - or should - have killed off progressive rock?
• What hidden stories are uncovered?
• What untaken paths would the authors like to have see Yes take in the 80s?

It was a great pleasure to welcome back to the show former Yes keyboard player and prolific solo artist, Oliver Wakeman.

We asked him about some of his latest releases including Dark Fables, Tales From Gaslight and his soundtrack to Yendor.

It was particularly interesting to hear recollections of working with original Yes guitarist Peter Banks and Oliver also shared some remarkable tales from his Yes days including what happened when he first joined the band in Canada, what Chris Squire said to him and something to do with sellotaping two keyboard pedals together...

• Was Oliver's entry to the band smooth and straight-forward?
• What was Peter Banks like to work with?
• Why does Oliver keep coming back to epic structures and story-telling in his music?

In this second part of our look at what Steve Howe did next, Mark and I listen to his solo album, Spectrum.

It includes contributions from Tony Levin, Dylan Howe, Virgil Howe and Oliver Wakeman and features many fabulous examples of Steve's virtuosity and versatility.

• How does this rank among Steve's solo albums?
• What are the contributions of the 'guests' like?
• Is that 'Hour of Need'?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall and Jeffrey Crecelius

In a break from our very well-received technical episodes, Mark and I return this week to the what did they do next series.

We are still in the so-called YES hiatus period of 2005-ish and we have just two band members yet to consider, the first being Steve Howe. SO we’ve taken a look around the various sources to see what Steve was up to at this point and one of the most useful was, perhaps unsurprisingly, his autobiography, All My Yesterdays.

So, what do you think we chose to talk about this week and listen to next week? You will need to be a bit of a hard-core Steve Howe fan to know the answer, I suppose, but keep listening and see if you are correct then take the opportunity to listen yourself this week and then see how our opinions differ from yours next week. Do let us know, of course.

• What was Steve up to now?
• Who was he working with?
• What Yes connections can we discover?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

I asked our friend Miguel Falcão to tell me a bit about how Chris Squire achieved such a remarkable bass sound for Tormato. Instead of sending me a few bullet points, Miguel was kind enough to record a complete audio description of the technical minutiae of the master's solution. Mark and I listen to this amazing in-depth piece and discuss a few of the points Miguel makes.

Many thanks to Miguel and if you haven't heard his staggeringly accurate Yes bass covers, then you are missing out a great deal. See the links in the show notes at https://yesmusicpodcast.com/ to remedy that immediately.

• How did Chris Squire achieve 'that' sound for Tormato?
• What technology did he employ?
• Was the approach the same on every song on Tormato?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

It was a great pleasure to speak to another dedicated Yes fan this week and one who has had the privilege to be involved with the new album, The Quest. Paul K Joyce provided the orchestrations for a number of the songs on the record and worked closely with Steve Howe as producer.

Paul takes us through the story of how this all came about as well as his Yes story and some of the remarkable and unexpected turns his career has taken. Prepare yourself to hear about Tangerine Dream, Noddy, Bob the Builder, Time by Steve Howe and more in a delightful interview.

• What was Paul's million-selling single?
• How did a biology student end up composing orchestral arrangements for The Quest?
• Is Paul a Yes fan?

This week we decided to go really deeply into the technical weeds of Yes and look at an instrument which appears on Tormato and not very many other places in the musical universe. We are joined by the remarkable Chris Dale who has devoted many years of his life to collecting and renovating this, rarest of all musical instruments, the Birotron. We discuss what Rick Wakeman had to do with this fascinating story, what the Birotron is and why it was never put into production despite 1000 musicians wanting to buy one.

It’s another deeply hidden part of the Yesstory and one which Mark and I enjoyed finding out about enormously. I hope you also find it an interesting diversion.

The time is finally here for Mark and me to present our in-depth review of the new Yes studio album, The Quest. We are also delighted to be joined by Henry Potts, the man behind the essential Yes online source, http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/ which has been cataloguing the crazy world of Yes and its former members since 1998 - and we thought we were doing well with 10 years!

So listen out for that conversation.

 First of all, Mark and I give our impressions of The Quest, then there's a surprise contributor and finally a round-table with Henry.

Mark and I had a brilliant time this week speaking to Richie Castellano about his Band Geek Yes covers. Multi-instrumentalist Richie is passionate about Yes and a lot of other music and if you haven't seen his Band Geek YouTube channel, then what are you waiting for? It's amazing.

We chat about topics like:

• How does Richie choose songs to cover?
• What is the rehearsal and production process like?
• What have been Richie's favourite Yes covers?

So listen out for that conversation.

In a truly epic episode, as is appropriate for the 500th, Mark and I present a competition and have the privilege and pleasure to speak to not one but two Yes keyboard legends - founder member, Tony Kaye and present band member, Geoff Downes.

We talk to Tony about his recently-released and highly remarkable debut solo album, End of Innocence, as well as asking him some of the questions about Yes which have been keeping us up at night for years (well, not really).

Geoff Downes discusses new studio album The Quest which is, of course, a must-hear interview and there are lots of audio messages from Producers, Patrons and friends of the show to enjoy.

Miguel Falcao and David Pannell have very kindly provided brand new jingles and we think the episode is a fitting way to celebrate 10 years of the show.

We hope you enjoy it!

• What was the inspiration for End of Innocence?
• Why has Tony only now created his first solo album?
• What is Steve Howe's production like on The Quest?
• How successful does Geoff Downes think the new record is?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

In the second part of our look at what Rick Wakeman did after leaving Yes for the final time, we welcome Yes author and classical music expert, Simon Barrow onto the show to discuss Rick Wakeman at Lincoln Cathedral.

Hopefully you have had a chance to listen to the album but if not, check out the videos below.

• Why is there a piano piece on this disc?
• How does the album sound?
• Was it all worthwhile?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

This week Mark and I embark on another 'what did they do next' quest. Once again we come to Rick Wakeman and what he did after leaving the band in 2005.

So we discuss the next release from Mr. Wakeman which turns out to be a most unusual release, even for him.

Take a listen below and then join in with our assessment of the package next week.

Also, this week, you can't have failed to notice that Yes have released a second online single from the new album, The Quest. It's called Dare to Know and Marka nd discuss our first reactions to it in a special Two Pence. Let us know if you agree!

• What was Rick Wakeman doing in a cathedral?
• Can he even play the pipe organ?
• What is the new Yes song like?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week I was able to speak to Scott Schorr about how he created the LEVIN TORN WHITE album. You may not know Scott's name but you're bound to have heard some music he has been involved with.

Founder of record label and music publishing company, Lazy Bones Recordings, Scott describes himself as 'a successful Music Producer, Arranger, Songwriter, Beat Maker, Mixing Supervisor and Video Editor'.

He has produced recordings for some people you might have heard of such as Jordan Rudess, Marco Minnemann and Mike Keneally as well as numerous albums by Tony Levin. If you haven't heard the LEVIN TORN WHITE album, then it's time to remedy that situation.

• How did this meeting of 3 iconic prog artists happen?
• What do the track names mean?
• What was it like working with these 3 characters?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Jeffrey Crecelius, Preston Frazier, and Wayne Hall

This week Mark speaks to one of the unsung heroes of Yes’ recent releases (going back to the Like It Is live series), Maor Appelbaum. If, like me, you haven’t a clue what a Timbre Farm is or what difference a Saturator/Clipper makes to the sound of a record, then you’re in for a treat.

It’s a fascinating and in-depth conversation, so many thanks to Mark and Maor for making this happen.

• What IS mastering?
• Which Yes records has Maor worked on?
• How do you make a recording sound as good as possible?

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

This week Mark and I finish off our investigation of some of the interesting songs from the Yes official Spotify playlist, Yes not Yes.

We listen to 6 of the songs we didn’t know and we hear from listeners who left comments filling in details on some of the others. It was great fun and I think we both learned a lot.

• What did we learn from listeners and other sources?
• Are all the contributions worthwhile?
• How long would the Yes family tree of contributions be?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

This week has been a little quieter in the land of social media and conspiracy theories - at least for Yes. So Mark and I decided to go through a Spotify playlist created by Yes official which is called Yes Not Yes. It includes lots of music which Yes members and alumni have been involved with over the years and it’s a very interesting collection. Take a listen to what Mark and I have to say about the selection and then add a comment to the show notes for this episode to tell us what you know about the music that we clearly don’t!

• Which Yes members are included?
• Do you know who plays on every song?
• Are there any musicians missing?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

I'm officially on leave but Mark and I had to comment on the storm around Ice Bridge Gate this week.

If you haven't been on social media for some time you may have missed what happened so we aim to bring you up-to-speed on all the tortuous twists in this tale.

• Who wrote The Ice Bridge?
• Where did it come from?
• Why is a very similar tune on a 1980 film and Sale of the Century?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Well, here we are. Friday 23rd July 2021 and we have brand new Yes music to enjoy. The Ice Bridge is available for all to listen to on Yes’ YouTube channel and Mark and I share our initial reactions to it. Sneak preview - we love it.

We also speak to the wonderful Claire Hamill in an interview I’m sure you will enjoy as much as we did. There are some amazing and hilarious recollections about Alan White and others to enjoy.

• What was the London music scene like in the early 1970s?
• What was Alan White like?
• How was recording with Yes tribute band, Fragile?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

I had no time to do any news collation this week but I did have time to speak to the redoubtable Geoff Bailie and the equally impressive Mark Anthony K about what could have happened if the ill-fated Paris Sessions of 1979 had ended in a Yes album.

I also invited Geoff to give is thoughts on the forthcoming new Yes album, The Quest.

• What was that music like?
• Was it worth finishing off?
• Would we have had Drama or 90125 or anything else from the band?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week there was some fairly significant Yes news - The Quest is the new studio album which will be released on 1st October 2021. Mark and I will be talking about this, as you can imagine, in our two pence later in the episode.

Before that, we finish off our examination of The Syn’s 2005 album, Syndestructible which we are taking as what Chris Squire did next in the Yes hiatus period. Stay tuned for our thoughts on that and get involved yourself by adding your comments on the show notes for this week.

• What did Chris Squire do in the hiatus?
• Why was it a return to former times for him?
• What was the result and was it worth it?

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

This week I am officially on holiday from the day job but that didn't stop Mark and me discussing the next person in our What Did They Do Next series - it's Chris Squire. He never really left Yes but during the hiatus period he did get up to some interesting things...

• What did Chris Squire do in the hiatus?
• Why was it a return to former times for him?
• What was the result and was it worth it?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Produced by Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Preston Frazier

This week Mark and I are delving deeply into a 5% for something topic so if you consider yourself a casual fan of the world’s greatest progressive rock band you can either stick around and learn or save yourself a chunk of time by leaving now. I recommend you stay and become inducted into the mindset of the YMP enthusiasts. It’s fun, or at least I’ve found it so for 10 years now.

So assuming you are still with me, we will be diving into a comparison of two Yes albums, The Ladder and Fly From Here, based on our own, entirely arbitrary measures. Do let me know if you agree or disagree with our findings by commenting on the show notes for this week’s episode or maybe opening your window and shouting for the world to hear - whichever you’d prefer.

• Which album is 'better'?
• What is the artwork like?
• What is the music and production like?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week, Mark and I watched the concept DVD Tour of the Universe from Jon Anderson which was the first major release from him after leaving Yes at the start of the band’s hiatus period in the mid 2000s. We have a chance to feed back on what we found out a little later and then we come together to discuss it all.

There’s also a rather important 2 pence where we discover quite a bit about the new Yes album. Stay tuned for all that.

• What did Jon Anderson do next?
• What is a concept DVD?
• Who produces the new Yes album?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

In a special, extra episode, I have the pleasure of talking to the man who helped Yes to transform their sound and approach in 1970, Steve Howe.

He told us about his time in Asia and how the band got back together in 2007 with its original line-up which is featured on the latest release, Asia, The Reunion Albums, 2007-2012.

We also had a chance to hear about the slightly different approach on Steve's latest Homebrew collection, which is to be released in July 2021.

As always, it was a delight to speak to Steve, one of my all-time musical heroes.

Let me know what you think of the interview.

Once again this week, Mark and I are looking at what did they do next. We have reached the Yes hiatus period from 2004 and we are using the opportunity unashamedly to examine what each of the 5 members of the band did in this interregnum. First, we will look at one of the Yes men who did really leave at this point, in fact, never to return, Jon Anderson. What did he get up to once he had recovered from total exhaustion at the end of the 35th Anniversary Tour? Listen on to find out.

It's the second part of our look at what Igor did next. In fact, we have bent the rules again in order to listen to the excellent ELP tribute album, Encores, Legends & Paradox from 1999.

• What are these versions of ELP songs like?
• Which Yes men are included?
• How does Igor come over?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week, Mark and I return to the surprisingly long series on what did Yes members do when they left the band. It’s Igor Khoroshev’s turn this time and, as you’ll hear it’s more than usually difficult to decide what he went onto next but we do have a go at it.

This week Mark and I had a highly enjoyable conversation with Dave Kerzner about his position with Billy Sherwood, Jon Davison, Jay Schellen and Jimmy Haun in Arc of Life. We talk about what he would like the band to grow into and delve a little into his keyboard work with Geoff Downes and Tony Banks. It was a real pleasure to welcome Dave back onto the show.

Produced by Jeffrey Crecelius, Wayne Hall and Preston Frazier

After the sad news we shared last week about Phil Naro, Mark and I have decided to listen to parts of Yessongs this week and compare the performances with later live offerings. It’s what we’ve done before in our Yes Tracks Through Time series.

Most Yes fans agree that Yessongs captures the band at its best and it often comes top in the best live albums lists and polls but what about other versions of these classic songs?

• Is Yessongs really the only live record worth listening to?
• What radically different performances exist?
• Are they just as enjoyable?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

Mark shares the news of the loss of a member of our global Yes fan community, Phil Naro, and we re-play an interview Mark did with him back in 2016. Rest In Peace.

We also finish off our look at Conspiracy, the album by the band of the same name which features Billy Sherwood, Chris Squire and a number of very famous guests.

This week, Marka and I had the opportunity to think about the next person to leave the band - Billy Sherwood. What did he do next after the end of The Ladder tour? We’ll let you know a little later.

At the end of this episode, I’m going to play a very interesting piece of audio from Daniel and Amanda Krohn. It’s about From A Page, the Oliver Wakeman led Yes mini-album. We will return to this topic soon.

It’s been a week for thinking deeply...or maybe not. Anyway, Mark and I have been listening to the oft maligned sides 2 and 3 of Tales from Topographic Oceans which have not been played as often as sides 1 and 4. 'Why not?' I hear you cry. Or maybe I don’t. In any case, that’s what we will be banging on about in this episode.

In part 2 of our occasional 'What did they do next' series, we listen to Return To The Centre Of The Earth. We also welcome Nic Caciappo onto the show to explain his personal connection to the Rick Wakeman album.

It's a great conversation and a lovely treat to meet Nic, at least virtually.

• What is this album like?
• How was Nic involved?
• Was it a worthwhile idea?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

This week we return to our occasional What did they do next series and it’s Rick Wakeman’s turn again. After some fairly typical personal and legal upset, the band and Rick parted ways and there was to be no repeat of the Keys to Ascension positivity.

This left Wakeman free to indulge other passions and so he ramped up one of his long-held ambitions - to return to the centre of the earth. Mark and I discuss this project a little later on and then next week we will report back on the music itself.

In a change to our plans (which were not to release an episode at all over the Easter weekend), the host of the Underrated / Overhated podcast, Jacob, has given us permission to play his episode which features none other than me and Mark.

Many thanks to Jacob for a really fun conversation. We hope you enjoy it and check out the rest of Jacob's podcast as a result.

Unusually for recent weeks, it’s just Mark and me this week having some fun considering the relative merits of TAAW and Magnification. Quite a distance apart in time but linked by some pretty obvious themes as we shall see later. Do give us your opinions on these albums via your comments in the show notes for this week’s episode on yesmusicpodcast.com

Jacob, a musician and podcaster from Bristol, UK joined Mark and me this week to talk about Yes lyrics.

• What typifies Yes lyrics?
• What are our favourites?
• Which lyrics make us cringe?

Joining us on the show this week it's that man again, Geoff Bailie. The redoubtable gentleman of prog helps us to discuss some written and audio contributions from Jeremy North, John Parry, John Thomson, Simon Barrow and Stephen Lambe. Do you agree with any of us? Let us know!

After a suggestion by Dave Watkinson and a twitter chat between him and Henry Potts, Mark and I have been listening to the compilation album Keystudio and thinning about what could have happened if it had been released in place of Keys to Ascension and Keys to Ascension 2. Please take a listen to our thoughts and then get involved yourself by sending in your thoughts via any of the ways on yesmusicpodcast.com.

It’s been quite a week. Mark and I managed to scoop an amazing world exclusive thanks to Bob Cesca and Tim Panella. They joined us to talk about the period in which they both worked with Yes on remixes, artwork, videography and more. We discovered not only untold stories but also Yes music which has never been heard in public before, 20 years after it was recorded by Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Alan White and Steve Howe.

Listen out for the full, fascinating conversation as well as some undiscovered Yes music.

This week, Mark and I have been listening to and watching some recordings of the Union Tour in 1991. It’s a special one for Mark as it was his very first experience of Yes live - what a way to start. Listen out for our thoughts on that a little later in the episode when we compare notes on a couple of live versions of songs from the Union album and a couple of older songs.

This week, Mark and I complete our look at what Tony Kaye did after leaving Yes in 1995. We listen to Run Like Hell from the album, catchily entitled, 'Pigs And Pyramids - An All Star Lineup Performing The Songs Of Pink Floyd..

We also have time to consider the other Yes-related song on this album, 'Comfortably Numb' which features Chris Squire, Billy Sherwood and Alan White.

Finally, we muse on what other line-ups of a Yes Power Trio might look like.

This week, Mark and I return to the perennial favourite series, What Did they Do next. When Trevor Rabin left Yes to pursue film scoring after the Talk tour, Tony Kaye also said goodbye not only to the band but also to the music industry, as we will hear a little later. What did he do next and when did he return to music? Stay tuned to find out.

This week, Mark and I had the pleasure of speaking to Billy Sherwood about Arc Of Life, the band and the album.

We also asked him about the widely rumoured new Yes studio album and he was, unsurprisingly, less forthcoming about that. It did lead to some light-hearted moments which we think you will enjoy though.

• Where did Arc Of Life spring from?
• Who plays what?
• What are the plans for the future of the band?

Listen to the episode and let us know what you think!

It was a delight to welcome Yes and DBA keyboardist Geoff Downes back onto the show this week. Mark and I speak to him about his excellent new DBA album, Halcyon Hymns as well as a couple of aspects of what’s coming up for Yes in 2021, specifically the rumours around the new album and the possibilities of touring. So listen out for that conversation.

This week, Mark and I have had the chance to listen to the whole of the new Arc of Life album so listen out for our initial reactions to that.

We also have time to think about a 2 pence suggested by Jeremy North and I need to correct an omission from last week when we played Daniel and Amanda’s contribution to the What if Rick Wakeman had joined Yes before the Yes Album question but didn’t have time to add any feedback.

This is our first episode in the YMP’s 10th Anniversary year and it’s a real epic. I asked Patrons and a few others for their contributions to this week’s topic and the response was amazing. So this is another episode you might want to listen to in parts. It may well be the longest episode ever but I also think you’ll really enjoy hearing everyone’s thoughts on Rick Wakeman and The Yes Album. Incidentally, if you sent me a contribution but I haven’t included it, please do let me know and I’ll apologise and add it to next week’s show.

Recorded on the last day of 2020, we bid a grateful farewell to a year which has been difficult for everyone. However, it's also been one of the most successful years for the YMP!

Mark and I have chosen our own 6 favourite episodes from the past year and we invite you to add your own selections to the comments below.

We also look ahead briefly to 2021 which is, of course, the 10th Anniversary Year of the YMP. It would be fantastic if you were able to join in the recording of the 500th episode from the top of Yes Tor in Devon, UK, on 17th August 2021. Many more details to follow! We hope to see you there!