Two poll results

Part II of the poll of albums with 3+ Yesmen covered the 1980s and '90s, not perhaps the most impressive period for the multi-Yesman album compared to the likes of Fish Out of Water and The Six Wives of Henry VIII in the 1970s, but there were 102 votes and these are the result:

1. Symphonic Music of Yes (w/ Anderson, Bruford, Howe): 31 votes
2. The Buggles: Adventures in Modern Recording (w/ Horn, Downes, Squire): 18 votes
3. Steve Howe: Portraits of Bob Dylan (w/ Anderson, Downes): 14 votes
4. Tales from Yesterday (w/ Banks, Howe, Moraz, Sherwood): 10 votes
5. Esquire: Esquire (w/ Squire, White, Horn): 8 votes
6. Rick Wakeman: The Classical Connection II (w/ Squire, Bruford, Howe): 7 votes
7. Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome (w/ Horn, Howe, Rabin): 6 votes
8. Peter Banks: Can I Play You Something? (w/ Squire, Bruford): 3 votes
9= Encores, Legends and Paradox, A Tribute to the Music of ELP (w/ Banks, Downes, Khoroshev): 2 votes
9= Clive Nolan & Oliver Wakeman: Jabberwocky (w/ R Wakeman, Banks): 2 votes
11. Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Liverpool (w/ Horn, Howe, Rabin): 1 vote

The winner, Symphonic Music of Yes, is a bit of an oddity, often overlooked. The core band performing with orchestra and choir were Howe, Bruford and bassist Tim Harries (from Bruford's Earthworks), with Anderson guesting on two tracks, and ABWH additional keyboardist Julian Colbeck guesting on another, but the key figure behind the project was arranger/keyboardist Dee (then David) Palmer. Palmer is best known as a former member of Jethro Tull and did an orchestral album of Tull music in 1986 with various Tull members. She followed this with an orchestral Genesis album in 1987 and one for Pink Floyd, before Symphonic Music of Yes in 1993. Further albums for Queen and The Beatles followed.

I was surprised by its win given it doesn't seem like a particularly well regarded project. Symphonic Music of Yes is sometimes best remembered for a promotional appearance on US TV by Howe and Bruford in which they performed "Roundabout" with Howe, ill advisedly, singing lead vocals.

Second placed Adventures in Modern Recording has received new found attention as the bonus tracks on the latest re-release include a two-part "We Can Fly from Here" and a piece that became "Life on a Film Set" on Fly from Here, as well as a regular album track "I am a Camera", The Buggles' version of "Into the Lens".

The final poll, for the period from 2000 onwards, is now on the main page.  Every one of the eligible albums involves Billy Sherwood, nearly all in the leading role. Sherwood has become the nexus for projects with multiple Yesmen, and Cleopatra Records is often the label involved. As well, Kaye is on all but one of these (Conspiracy) and White is on all but one (Raised in Captivity), illustrating how both work regularly with Sherwood. In contrast, none of these projects involves Anderson, Moraz, Khoroshev or any of the more recent Yesmen.

Once part III has run its course, there will be a final poll with the first and second place from each part, plus any new releases. (There are several multi-Yesmen albums in the pipeline: Nektar's Spoonful of Time is expected to feature Howe, Wakeman and Downes, while Sherwood's Prog Collective and his Supertramp tribute both include Kaye, Squire, Wakeman and Banks, and at least one also has Downes.)

We then had another poll about the possibility of Yes - The Musical! This was after Squire mentioned the possibility of Yes doing a project on Broadway, although a second interview has since made clear that he means some sort of residency rather than a musical production. Still, here are the poll answers (120 votes):

No, oh my god, no, no...: 51 votes (43%)
Yes: it should be a science fiction story based on Roger Dean's artwork: 41 votes (34%)
Yes: it should be about the history of the band: 22 votes (18%)
Other: 4 votes (3%)
Yes: it should be a fictional story about regular people in the 1970s/80s: 2 votes (2%)

The 4 'other' votes included 2 suggesting the residency idea that we now know Squire means, 1 opposing the whole idea, and another suggesting the creators of South Park produce it - clearly a great idea. So, that comes out as a narrow majority in favour of the idea, most of whom then favour something sci-fi-y connected to Roger Dean's artwork.

Broadway beckons

Yes on Broadway? With Jon Anderson back? A recent interview with Chris Squire mentions the idea in passing. It's an interesting interview, mainly about Squackett, but this remark, made in response to the familiar question of whether Anderson will ever return, is just the sort of whacky idea with minimal details that gets us fans speculating. So let's take a look at it. Here's what Squire says:

"There’s been talk of YES possibly doing something on Broadway in New York. People have approached me with that idea and there are discussions about that. A possible project like that and you might see Jon [Anderson] re-involved as you would other ex members of YES. Once again there’s nothing concrete about that yet and now that we have Jon Davidson [sic] on board, our next project will probably be making a studio album with him. But we won’t close the door on other possibilities in the future …we’ll see what happens."

In interpreting this, I would start with two big caveats: it's not at all clear what this is about, so let us recognise that we are speculating here; and, whatever this is, it's an early stage of discussion and so there's a high chance it won't happen.

Also, Squire says their "next project will probably be" a studio album with the current line-up. So, work on a studio album is unlikely to seriously start before the beginning of 2013, so if this Broadway thing is to happen, it would seem unlikely to be before the second half of 2013 and could well be much later.

So, what is it? My first thought was a musical based on Yes songs, with the band being involved putting it together and promoting it, but not performing, as Queen did with "We Will Rock You", as other acts have done. However, Frumious B on Yesfans.com suggests some sort of run of special live shows, going back to a classic line-up of the band, connected to the band's 45th anniversary (although the timing, it seems to me, would put this activity possibly beyond 2013 and that anniversary). Those seem like the two most obvious possibilities, but could it be anything else?

There's been talk in recent years of a film using Yes songs. This would either involve Roger Dean and some fantasy story, the "Floating Islands" project (see this 2008 interview); or something biographical about the band's history, which Squire mentioned in a 2007 newspaper interview. The 2007 article made the comparison with "Yellow Submarine", so possibly there's a middle ground between these two approaches: about the band and a fantasy story. Could one of these ideas have mutated into a theatrical production? This would seem to get us back to some sort of 'Yes - The Musical'.

So two options: (1) Yes - The Musical (maybe somehow related to prior film ideas); (2) special live shows. Anyone else want to throw out other ideas?

Let's look at what Squire says more carefully. He speaks of "YES possibly doing something", so active involvement from the band. I'm not certain that really tells us much. They could be actively involved in a musical without performing, or that would readily fit a live show option.

He goes on: "and you might see Jon [Anderson] re-involved as you would other ex members of YES". Note he says "might" and note he talks about "other ex members", not just Anderson. If the plan was a special run of live performances re-uniting the classic band, you would think they would have to have Anderson or some other key ex-members (Wakeman R? Rabin?) on board. What would be the point of the current line-up doing it; how would it differ from any other live dates? It seems to me that this sort of optional involvement of various past band members might imply a musical, something where past band members can have input or help promote the endeavour (and they'd want to as it's a money-spinner for songwriters), but the process is driven by the Howe/Squire/White core regardless.

As I said, whatever it is, it probably won't happen! But if it did, what would you want to see? I've started a poll on the Where Are They Now? front page where you can vote for an option or make suggestions, or leave comments on this blog post the usual way.

[EDIT 25 May 2012] Squire has now expanded on the Broadway concept in a new interview. Frumious B was right. I quote:

Squire is open to the idea of a Yes reunion as part of a residency at a Broadway theater in New York. "The idea of 'Yes on Broadway' has come up," he says. "It would reflect the history of Yes. It requires the collaboration not only with Jon Anderson, but also other ex-members, including keyboard players like Patrick Moraz and obviously Rick [Wakeman] would be looked at as well. Of course, it would have to depend on if there's any interest from that side as well. It's something that's brewing, but it's very much on the backburner."