Yes Union Live 30 disc megaset

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tonylevin'ssuitcase, Feb 26, 2021.

  1. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    The CD's in the earlier Union Live set sound so much better then this free download. I found this download to be way too bright but hey it's free so can't complain.
     
  2. Judge Judy

    Judge Judy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    I'm listening.
     
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  3. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    OK back when he was in Asia with Payne they weren't as popular as Asia with the original lineup. Someone sent me his email address. I emailed him because I bought this CD and about 1/3 of one of the songs the melody was exactly the same as 'Video Killed The Radio Star' and in the credits their was no mention of Downes or Horn. So he emailed me back and asked me to send him a tape of the song and take some photo's of the front and rear inserts as well. So I sent it to his studio in the UK. I live in the US anyway I never heard back from him. I even emailed him a month after I sent the package and no reply from him. I was doing him a favor that he asked me to do and he said he would get back to me and he never did and I sent that package with a signature required so I know he received it.

    This is something completely different and I may be wrong but I heard when he got the call that Howe, Wetton and Palmer wanted Asia to reunite that Downes just took off and didn't say anything to Payne who was his partner for a number of years.
     
  4. Judge Judy

    Judge Judy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY, USA
    I see. I'm actually reading up on all this now and I didn't realize that Asia had become one of those situations where there's more than one band operating under the same name, just like Yes and Yes featuring ARW, etc. What a mess. I can certainly see him leaving to go do a much more lucrative reunion with the original lineup, but I don't know... maybe send the guy a card or something? Just bailing kind of sucks. As for your experience, an email saying "Thanks." probably would have been all you wanted, I'm guessing.
     
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  5. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    Even though Steve wasn't in Yes in the 80's I think he still retained ownership with Chris and Alan. He would have been an owner at the time this happened.

    Jon, Trevor and Rick were the guests.
     
  6. reddyempower

    reddyempower Forum Resident

    Location:
    columbus, oh, usa
    Ok thank you
     
  7. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    I may be wrong (I am a lot, ask my wife... :shrug:). Other Yes experts can chime in.

    I know at the end Steve, Alan and Chris were the 3 owners. I assume it still is with Chris' family.

    I remember reading somewhere that Tony Kaye was asked to play on 90125 to have more of the original members, but I can't imagine he was still an owner more than 10 years after he left the band.
     
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  8. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Well the Asia with John Wetton and Carl Palmer ended in 1990. So Downes put together an entire new Asia with Payne as the lead singer. I really don't like Payne's voice as it sounds more like a singer from a heavy metal band. They did release some good albums and they toured but on a much smaller scale. A guy named Dave Gallant ran the official Asia website and was in the know about everything. Yes all I was expecting from Downes was a thank you. I am surprised that he didn't speak with a lawyer as this song by another band lifted so much of 'Video Killed The Radio Star' not The Buggles version but just the melody. Yes when Downes got the call for the reunion he bolted out of where he was and joined the other guys. He really should have spoke with Payne. I mean he spent a number of years with him and then just left. So when Asia reunited I think that the band said Payne could call it Asia featuring John Payne but I'm not certain of the timeline.
     
  9. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Not sure how he screwed you. A response would've been nice, but if every person I forgot to email or text back in my life held it against me, I'd have zero friends. Maybe he heard it and didn't think it was similar enough to merit any action, or maybe it showed up on a very busy day and then he forgot about it and never listened. Who knows.

    Now John Payne, he definitely got screwed by Downes, no disagreement there. I can't blame him for jumping to the reunion but from most accounts the way he went about it was not classy.
     
  10. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Why wasn't Jon Anderson a partial owner of the name Yes? If anything he and Chris were the 2 original members.
     
  11. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    I think Jon sold his shares to get out in 79 or 80.
     
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  12. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    Well you see it was very different back then with that Asia lineup. It wasn't so big like the original lineup. I did email him about a month after I sent the package just to see if he received it and he never replied. As far as the melody goes about 90 second of a 4 minute song was instrumentally the exact same melody as 'Video Killed The Radio Star' anyone would notice. Now maybe he didn't care. I've heard stories about Downes and met him a few times when Asia was huge in 1983 and either he was very shy or just rude. Where as Palmer and Wetton were so friendly and so nice and very outgoing. Howe was never available to meet in Asia but that's his call. Yes the way Downes handled the situation for the reunited Asia with Payne was beyond brutal. Payne was very close to Downes and I heard Downes just left and didn't even let Payne know he was reuniting with the original line up.
     
  13. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    It's apparently an LLC setup whereby when someone leaves the group (voluntarily or otherwise), they are bought out. Apparently there's a trademark or something from the 1990s that still has Jon's name on it, so legally he was able to use the name "Yes" when he toured with Wakeman and Rabin.
     
  14. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    I understand but then why is Howe a part owner since he left and was gone until 1989 with ABWH?
     
  15. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    Steve was still an owner in the LLC for Drama, along with Alan and Chris.

    I think Chris had to get Steve's approval for Cinema to use the Yes name. Since Alan was in, Steve was the only one who might oppose it.
    I guess since he would get money out of it, why not?
     
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  16. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    I think the latest incarnation is Yes '97 LLC, put together post-Keys. Controlled by Howe and White (and, until his death, Squire).
    https://www.corporationwiki.com/California/Calabasas/yes-97-llc/46015510.aspx#people

    EDIT: There is a Yes 2002 LLC, naming Anderson/Squire/Howe/Wakeman/White in its filings, but California lists the entity as "suspended" and a third-party site indicates that Wakeman and Anderson are "inactive" - consistent with them being bought out.
     
  17. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I followed them (casually) through a lot of the Payne era. Just saying I wouldn't get upset about it or take it personally. I'm a musician, we're absent-minded and have a lot of random things going on in our minds a lot of the time. It's also possible Downes just didn't care enough to act on it (unless the track was a huge hit and made a ton of money, it wouldn't have been worth the expense to hire lawyers to litigate it anyway).

    By all means we can rake him across the coals for how he split with Payne though. Whether you like JP and his Asia albums or not, that's a really crappy way to end a creative partnership.

    I'm curious what the song was though.
     
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  18. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    I wonder if that was all somehow dissolved in 1981 when the band officially split. Obviously in later years, the lucrative market for reissues and archival things meant even broken-up bands retained their corporate partnerships (at least in a legal sense), but I don't know if anyone had that kind of foresight in 1981.
     
  19. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member

    Location:
    Alabama
    Now now now, Lift Me Up is a great song
     
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  20. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I believe Howe is a larger part owner of the Yes logo, which is partly why YesWest never used it. ARW actually used it on T-shirts, which I believe was a legal no-no.
     
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  21. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    The U.S. trademark on the Yes logo is owned by Anderson, White, and Squire. I believe this is what gave Jon a foot in the door to tour under the name.
    Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (click on "Current Owner(s) Information")
    But according to Henry Potts, Howe and Dean own the copyright for the logo.
    Where are they now? - Yes
     
  22. nicotinecaffeine

    nicotinecaffeine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    It's got some good ones, but man...it sounds so clipped together.
     
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  23. Scottb

    Scottb Senior Member

    Location:
    Nanuet, NY, USA
    I'll have to see if I can find the song as it was so long ago. Yes the way Downes treated Payne was terrible considering Payne was in the band for so many years. He couldn't even call Payne and just let him know this opportunity came up and I couldn't say no. Something short and sweet.
     
  24. zen

    zen Senior Member

    Those PayneASIA albums did nothing for this (1982-85) fan.
    In 2015, I borrowed all the John Payne-ASiA albums from a friend (apart from Silent Nation) and overall, I didn't really care for his vocal approach.
    I also missed the original lineups approach to making pop records. Essentially (for myself) the band/brand lost the magic.

    Maybe, Downes came to his senses, quietly moved on (from the Payne-ful relationship ;)) and rejoined the winner team. Show biz U know.

    NOW, back to the 30 disc mega set discussion...
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2021
  25. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    It's too bad past and (then) present couldn't have gotten along. Apparently Wetton never really approved of Downes continuing Asia with Payne, and so they weren't on particularly friendly terms (I believe Payne talked about the one time their paths crossed but I can't really remember specifics). I can't really see the Asia reunion happening with Payne as a 5th member, but it's a bummer the creative partnership had to end. Certainly the Asia reunion albums were locked into a certain sound and style, but the Downes/Payne relationship, while not as successful, stretched the stylistic and sonic limits much more than the original band did and it's a bummer Downes couldn't continue collaborating with both in some way.
     

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