Why did Asia's popularity fall so quickly ?

I think people came to their senses and realized how boring they were, brilliant guitarist that he is i've never forgiven Steve Howe.

 

You actually had Asia albums framed?

 

Don't Cry is a really good and fun little song. IMO of course.

Pat

 

Those are official RIAA awards given out by the record company to the band members, band management, Producer/Engineer as well as major market radio stations, record execs etc. Ive sold plenty of Asia awards for $700+ so don't laugh!!

 

Carl Palmer's mom is apparently not much of a haggler...

D.D.

 

??? Sure, people wanted to hear Culture Club in 1983 - that was a huge year for them!

 

"Long gap"? It was 28 months - a longer gap in mid-80s terms than it'd be today but not a particularly elongated pause.

Boston took off 8 years between albums and had a big hit in 1986, less than a year after Asia flopped with "Astra"...

 

Based on this post and others, I get the impression fans weren't wild about "Alpha", and that did future damage.

On the surface, "Alpha" did well in terms of sales, but it offered a steep decline after the debut. "Asia" hit #1 and sold 4 million US, whereas "Alpha" stopped at #6 and only pushed out 1 million US.

A decline of 75% sales would be tolerable if "Asia" had been a "Jagged Little Pill"-type hit - an album where a massive drop in sales is almost inevitable - but 4m US was entirely "repeatable" in 1983...

 

Agree. The slick rock styles of Asia weren't dead by 1983 - Journey remained huge - but I think the market was shifting elsewhere.

Look what happened to Toto: massive hit in 1982, but essentially flopped in 1984.

Don't forget that 1983 was dominated by "Thriller", too...

 

What went right: well, they had the familiar and marketable pedigrees (Yes, ELP, King Crimson, UK and even the Buggles connection helped somewhat). They had videos in heavy rotation on MTV and ample FM airplay.

What went wrong: as already mentioned, the "Asia in Asia" which was a PR disaster. Not sure that that the first tour was much more than a moderate success. Locally, they only had a theater date, and presuming that they may have hit arenas in larger cities. An act with the largest selling album of the year should have been cleaning up live. Agreed with earlier post that the second album went in an even poppier direction "Don't Cry" but Wetton had been pushing in that direction since the 2nd UK record. If they maintained some elements of progressive, they had might have kept some of their audience. By the time Howe bailed, they were finished as a viable big selling act. Yeah, they had that one hit, "Go," and one or two others, but nothing was going to salvage them by that point.

 

According to setlist.fm, the 1982 tour started in theaters - with three in upstate NY, which surprises me - and migrated to bigger venues by June 1982.

They continued to play arenas through 1983. Apparently they didn't tour the US again until 1992!

 

I bought the debut when it was #1 in 1982 and loved it, still do.

But when Alpha was released, I was disappointed . The consensus among me and friends at the time was that it was a wimp record, with the guitar buried in favor of endless layers of soft keyboards with Wetton overemoting on Barry Manilow style ballads. A big turnoff for us teenage rockers.

A third of a century later, this 52 year old rocker appreciates the LP a little more than his 19 year old self did. The hit single, as well as true colors and never in a millions years have the force of their debut.

But at the time, a big letdown.

 

Though I'm not an Asia fan, I own both of the first 2 albums because I collect target CDs.

I should dig 'em out and give 'em a listen - haven't played them since I bought them around 2009 or so. I admit to a soft spot for "Heat of the Moment"!

 

You are fortunate they did not do Astra with the target label.

 

When Geffen backed out of the Astra tour, that pretty much sealed the band's fate. If they had toured that record, they very well may have cohered into a more lasting proposition. Without it, they disintegrated. What audience remained, moved on.

 

When I first heard them the only member I new was Carl Palmer. I liked the song Heat of the moment and bought the 45. I had no expectations and liked it for what it was, a nice pop song. They never got better. But they sure do have a bunch of greatest hits.

 

Exactly my thoughts, they were almost a parody of AOR, like The Tubes' "She's A Beauty"

 

An AOR parody right down to the album art. As a 16yr old kid in 1982 I could see this for the cynical contrived mess it was. I see no passion or artistic vision here just middle aged men doing a job to get paid......they should have fixed cars or painted houses.

 

Asia's debut was about the same level of progness as what both Yes and Genesis were doing in the early 80s.

I had their debut and saw them twice that year, first when they were brand new at the Tower an then when they were much bigger, at the Spectrum.

Heard their second album at a friend's and was not motivated to buy it or any others.

 

IIRC, Geffen back out of the Astra tour because the album was obviously tanking. "Go", "Hard on Me" and "Voice of America" all seemingly had airplay/hit potential, but when "Go" tanked a single, the LP's fate was sealed commercially, tour or no tour.

So IMO, the Geffen move was an effect of a failed LP, not a cause of it.

 

Don't Cry? More like ....Don't Try....

The debut was a disappointment for prog fans but is really polished, well-produced AOR. The second was just too wimpy, more Steve Howe doing his thing could have given it a bit of an edge but he lost the power struggle with Wetton.

 

Having been a devoted 70s proghead, I eagerly looked forward to Asia's debut and was well-rewarded. It was love at first spin, and the damn thing still holds up, track for track. The second LP suffered from sophomore slump, but there was still a good five tracks comparable with its predecessor, especially "Midnight Sun", which I believe may have been a leftover from the first LP's sessions. A loss of overall quality combined with personnel mishegas halted the band's momentum, and the rest is history.

By the time the original foursome reunited decades later, only the truly devoted still cared. Too bad, as the band sounded better than ever and the songs were uniformly strong. Subsequently, Howe left again and sadly, Wetton has had major health issues of late. In their own way, the original Asia has shown amazing staying power, and my love and appreciation for their efforts has rarely wavered.

 

Chris Bliss - he opened the show I saw in Stockton, too.

In Northern California in 1982, they sold out in Stockton and Santa Cruz, but they were a couple hundred short of filling the two shows at the Warfield. The next year they announced a show (or two?) at the Cow Palace, but cancelled.

I was an early fan based on their pedigree who was disappointed they didn't sound like "Roundabout," or even play it or anything old at the show (other than "Clap"). I went to see them again a few years ago here in town with a free ticket and I'll say this for them: Carl Palmer is the only drummer whose solos don't bore me.

 

From a U.K. perspective Asia never really happened. From memory, heat of the moment made the charts then nothing. The album piqued the interest of veteran proggies but it never went stellar. I liked the album but not enough to go and see them live. The follow ups were poor IMHO.
What slightly works me is the view that this was a massive departure for the participants. Asia was not that far removed from some of the pop tracks off Love Beach (yikes) PM, Buggles or Wettons solo material at the time. Only Howe didn't have the pop sensibilities or track record, and it shows.
I would love to hear the first album as a remix. The early eighties gloss and gates tamded. It might be a revalation.

 

As much of an AOR and Prog fan that I am, I feel that the songwriting and melodies just weren't there. Asia takes a huge dip after Heat of the Moment and Only Time Will Tell.