Would you buy a flight case from this man?

Wakey is shilling for the Union 30 super deluxe set and, well, he's a little sloppy.  I think this is what happens when you go for the low-budget promotional opportunities.

another entry in the franchise

Continuing in the ongoing trend of adapting movie properties for television, it's been announced that Disney+ will be bringing a new entry in the National Treasure franchise to the small screen, as reported in this article at Deadline.  It's a reboot with a younger female protagonist.

https://deadline.com/2021/03/national-treasure-tv-series-reimagening-latina-lead-disney-plus-mira-nair-1234720950/

It would be great to see Trevor and Paul get involved in either this or the next big screen installment, which appears to be making some progress out of Development Hell, maybe?  Hopefully?

another achievement from Mr. Human Highlight Reel Composer

For college basketball enthusiasts it's that holy time of year - March Madness is upon us once again - and long-time fans are aware of Trevor's involvement in creating theme songs for sporting events on TNT, but he also had a role in updating the long-running theme (composed by Bob Christianson) for the annual NCAA basketball coverage on CBS Sports, as revealed in this article on the MSN website:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/da-na-na-na-dun-daa-na-na-the-story-behind-cbs-s-iconic-ncaa-tournament-theme-song/ar-BB1eItTy?li=BB15ms5q

The only time Radovich remembers having serious discussions about new NCAA tournament theme music came in 2010 when CBS first partnered with Turner Sports to air March Madness on four different channels. Some executives argued a new era required a complete rebrand — an overhaul of the graphics, logos, music and on-air talent. Others were adamant Christianson’s song remained a fixture.

The result was a compromise. Trevor Rabin, a former YES guitarist who also composed the theme for the NBA on TNT broadcasts, subtly remixed Christianson’s song, preserving the core melody but adding some contemporary flourishes.

A Guide to Field Recordings: Around the World in 80 Dates (part two: Eight Egos on a Lazy Susan)

A series examining recordings from the Around the World in 80 Dates tour of 1991-92 in relation to the Union Live 30th Anniversary reissue.

The boys in the band(s).
courtesy of The Groovy Archives

Before I get into the shows which comprise this upcoming release, let's consider the tour as a thing unto itself, and certainly one of the most unique elements of Yes' history as a band.

In 1991 it could be acknowledged that Yes did not possess the kind of following which would have made the Around the World in 80 Dates tour an absolute blockbuster in all major markets, but as an example of an Event type of tour with the stunt casting of the opposing lineups uniting, it could have been the tour which set the precedent for the modern-day touring infrastructure.

Instead, that was accomplished by Irving Azoff with the Hell Freezes Over reunion tour of the Eagles in 1994.  Which is not to say that this tour did not at least point the way towards what was possible.

And we can still appreciate that the Around the World in 80 Dates tour was indeed a special occasion not only in Yes fandom, but the touring landscape of the time.  There was a shift occurring which would thoroughly impact the Progressive genre over the course of the decade and so the release of Union and this tour was likely a perfect example of right place, right time in order to deliver one of Yes' greatest moments of cultural impact, even if the tour itself was the actual carrot for fans and casual observers, supported by the very slender stick of the Union album.  This was the first tour in which the album to be promoted was not actually the true focus of the promotional efforts.  The two factions - ABWH & YesWest, or, as I'm more likely to categorize it: the merging of Classic Yes and YesWest - setting aside their litigious differences and agreeing to share a stage, could be seen by many as nothing short of a miracle.

But the modern age of reunions had begun and nothing was necessarily impossible, just likely difficult and expensive.  So I am characterizing the Around the World in 80 Dates tour as the right thing to do, but for all the wrong reasons.  And if you're a student of Yesstory, then you know exactly what I mean by that.

Another interesting consideration is the touring history post-1987.  As has been noted in various histories and fandom discussion, many considered The BIG Tour to be a missed opportunity in terms of worldwide markets, with five months' worth of performances in North America (and two separate cancellations of multiple dates) and a seven-date Japanese tour in 1988 the only activity beyond those boundaries.  On the other hand, ABWH undertook extensive touring beginning in the summer of 1989 throughout North America, which was almost derailed by Tony Levin's illness towards the end, but they were able to finish out the scheduled West Coast dates with the aid of Jeff Berlin.  In the fall they moved on to the UK and Europe, and then in 1990 toured in Spain, Japan, and returned to the US for a month's worth of performances, including an appearance at the Arista Records' 15th Anniversary Concert at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.  So it's not like there was an entire absence of Yes music in the marketplace, and one can surmise that this tour was successful and hopes were high for the follow-up album...

But I'm not here to discuss Union or my opinion of it, save that it's one of the most ironic album titles EVER.  There is Rick Wakeman's joke of calling it Onion because it made him cry, but as clever a pun as that is, it doesn't really speak to what a fragmented disaster it was to actually record and the fact that a narrative had to be created in order to both justify its' existence and create anticipation for the tour.  A narrative which appears in the liner notes and I'm imagining caused more than a bit of derisive laughter from long-time fans as they read it.  But here's an interesting tidbit - Union's peak position on the Billboard Top 200 was exactly the same as Big Generator: number 15.

So given the touring activity of those prior years with ABWH and also Trevor's club tour, we have to assume that the real draw of the 80 Dates tour had to do with those personages audiences would be witnessing sharing a stage, playing songs from all eras, all together at once.  And in the round, no less (though that type of staging also had a precedent in Yes touring history).  And thus what we have, in fact, is eight egos on a Lazy Susan with side bets among any number of attendees (and maybe even the crew) regarding how long will this crazy idea last?

To the credit of everyone involved, it actually came off and at least at the outset was documented for further monetization, which came a few months later in the form of the documentary YesYears: A Retrospective which was included in the YesYears boxset.  Only one date in Greece was cancelled due to lack of sales (with the following date in Hungary also a victim of logistics) and a couple of US dates postponed to give Jon's voice a rest.  Even the Japanese tour, which was originally supposed to be a seven-man show, was saved because Bill Bruford decided to at least let the charade play out to the bitter end.

But despite whatever typical dysfunction was occurring in the background (to the point where there are both pleasant and unpleasant recollections of the tour from the participants) the shows themselves were incredibly entertaining for the audience.  And it is from this perspective, I believe, where the frustration from fans regarding actual official audio-visual evidence resides.  There was pro-recorded audio and footage broadcast of several shows while the tour was happening.  But the only show which was officially released was only in Japan, and it was eight years after the fact.  Another decade went by before anything was done, and only then because it was the 20th anniversary of the tour.

Arguably one of the biggest, most historically-significant tours for this band, and there was nothing officially available on the mass market for 20 years.  Why?!

What would appear to be the answer - beyond the aforementioned organizational dysfunction - is likely the participants' overall ambivalence for the situation entire: the situation they put themselves into and accepted for the sake of money and career and relevance.  It was fun, sure, but not for everyone at every moment.  Not even money can make everything palatable and the fact that the eight-man lineup barely lasted the tour is proof enough of that.

But also, one could point out, there was a then-thriving grey market of bootlegs circulating and being sold, depending on the source, and thus fans had what they craved: both pro and audience-sourced recordings of a once-in-a-lifetime beloved event.  And one that I believe Yes could have profited from had they actually worked to do so.  

Unless...and this is where I move into the conspiratorial, but keen observers will note that the press release for the 30th Anniversary release states that it was curated with "the consent of Larry Magid Management" which leads me to speculate...perhaps Yes never had the rights to any of the recorded archives at all.  Magid was responsible for spearheading the 80 Dates tour as one of the most successful and well-placed concert promoters in North America at the time, and reportedly suggested to Anderson during the ABWH tour that he could book an 84-city world tour if the two lineups would be willing to unite.

If we can believe this, then the real story of Union is somewhat different than previously recounted.  Different, certainly, than the narrative created and packaged for public consumption.

But again, stunt casting for an event-type attraction - this is a cornerstone of the modern touring philosophy.  And Yes played a role in that evolution.

However, if the band had no real stake in profiting from any chronicle of the tour ever, then why even bother to advance the idea?  Given the evidence, this would appear to make the most sense in terms of an explanation.  And perhaps also not the best of business decisions to have made, but if the rights were granted to Magid as compensation against the massive amount of money required to make the tour happen, why didn't he take advantage of this at some point?  That is an interesting question which someone should ask him, though I wonder if he'd answer it truthfully.

However, this still leaves us with a less than satisfying archival release which could have been so much more, and although those involved would be right to say that I'm not aware of the logistics in doing so, I would say that as long as there is no transparency involved in the project then I will be as critical as I believe is necessary.  Because a chronicle of this tour, with its' strange bandfellows, deserves a better fate than what we have received.

Whatever was going on in Frankfurt, it probably involved alcohol.
5/28/91

A Guide to Field Recordings: Around the World in 80 Dates (part one: Introduction)

A series examining recordings from the Around the World in 80 Dates tour of 1991-92 in relation to the Union Live 30th Anniversary reissue.

As some may be anticipating the May 3rd release of the Union Live Limited Edition, Super Deluxe Flight Case or the Shoreline Amphitheatre gig vinyl set from Gonzo Multimedia, I thought it would be a good time to undertake an in-depth examination of the recordings available from this tour which are in the new set.  After all, this reissue is comprised entirely of existing material, so fans may already have many (or all) of the shows included.

As is noted for this release, a recurring raison d'être:

These will be included with the main program, as a way for the band to combat this highly bootlegged tour, where some fans are paying in excess of $70 per show from various Japanese websites.

Combat?!  It's a little late for that, isn't it?  The original Union Tour Live release in Japan was from 1999, so there's been bootlegs of the Shoreline performance since that time (I own one myself, in point of fact - and I did not purchase it from a dealer in Japan).  Traders have been circulating recordings from the tour since 1992, at the very least.  Granted, no one officially involved is seeing money from the bootlegs - but nor is the market for the 80 Dates-related recordings particularly robust 30 years later.  So I find this a rather bullshit type of justification.  After all, it wasn't until 2011 that someone finally decided to monetize the legacy of that tour at all.  In offering bootleg recordings for sale, with the justification that the proceeds will go to the artist, it's only a small step up from gray marketeers cashing in because I can assure you that whatever money the artists do receive only represents a particular percentage of the overall profits.  So don't believe the pearl-clutching hype in this case.

In the matter of bootleggers profiting from official recordings, yes, that should be redressed.  But in terms of audience recordings?  No one is meant to profit from such efforts.

A sad byproduct of this reissue is that the original Union Live release has been pulled from digital distribution.  If the way Changes was handled is any indication, it will not return.  There is no other official live release of 80 Dates-related audio, so I suggest stocking up on boots while you can, if you haven't already.  Ironically, this might actually cause the bootleggers to profit further from the artificially-induced scarcity.

I have previously written about the live recording legacy of YesWest - of which the 80 Dates tour is a definite part - back in 2016, and unfortunately I don't believe this release is doing anything to improve upon what is already a terribly neglected part of Yes' overall history.

This new series for the blog will feature an examination of each recording included in the set, and so to begin let us review the total contents.  Spelling of the venues are SIC as I've cut-and-pasted from the Music Glue shop listing.  The source notations are my own.

CDx2+DVD: Pensacola Civic Centre 9th April 1991

(Source: the audience recording known as First Union, likely a second generation dub.)

CDx3: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA 17th April 1991

(Source: probably the audience recording known as A Union in Worcester, first generation dub.)
CDx2+DVD: Nassau Colosseum 20th April 1991

(Source: audience recording, first generation dub by TheTooleMan.)
CDx3: Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, Stuttgart, Germany 31st May 1991 (FM Broadcast)

(Source: WDR broadcast, circulated via LDB Special Series #257, first generation dub.)
CDx3: Wembley Arena, UK (2 Discs) 29th June 1991 FM Broadcast + Star Lake Amphitheatre 24th July 1991

(Source for Wembley: Superstar Concerts series broadcast, show highlights only, probably a first generation dub.  Source for Star Lake: incomplete second generation soundboard dub by Relayerman.)
CDx3: Alpine Valley Music Theatre, Wisconsin 26th June 1991

(Source: audience recording, second generation dub from 2007.)
CDx2+DVD: Madison Square Gardens, NYC 15th July 1991

(Source: audience recording, first generation dub by TheTooleMan.)
CDx3: Spectrum Theatre, Philadelphia, 12th July 1991

(Source: likely the soundboard recording currently in circulation)
CDx2+DVD: Shoreline Amphitheatre (Remastered) 8th August 1991

(Source: Union Tour Live Japan-only release from 1999.)
CDx3: Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan 4th March 1992

(Source: audience recording, first generation dub)

As I noted in previous fandom discussion, what is missing from this collection is the pro-shot audio/video from Denver - May 9th, 1991 at McNichols Sports Arena.  And that is the absolute best source of the tour overall, in my estimation, so its' absence is definitely noticeable.  However, it was included on the original Union Live boxset.  But this collection is a grab-bag of sources: audience recordings, soundboard-sourced audio, pro-recorded broadcasts and one pro-shot/recorded show.  My reviews will take into consideration the source as well as the inherent quality of the recordings.  I'm planning for the series to conclude with an examination of the contents of the boxset itself, thanks to someone actually purchasing it who will provide me with visual assistance.

But with this information, you could actually build your own boxset right now.  You wouldn't get the included swag, but unless you already have an 80 Dates tourbook, I'm pretty sure you could find one on eBay or from some memorabilia dealer.  I fully encourage anyone inclined to do so.  As for me, I'm looking forward to looking back on an amazing tour from a once-in-a-lifetime lineup, having spent only my own time and effort on it, to be rewarded as much as anyone who might be shelling out over $300 for the alleged privilege.