Author: Kevin

Categories
Episodes

Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 12 – The Steven Wilson Experts Assemble! – 642

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In Production:

Tales from Topographic Oceans
Listening guide

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TormatoBook.com

Produced by Wayne Hall, Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller

A couple of weeks ago, Mark and I assembled one of the most learned and erudite groups of experts the progressive world has ever seen to talk in incredible depth and detail about the Steven Wilson remixes of Tales from Topographic Oceans.
We welcomed Prog Report stalwart Geoff Bailie along with Yes book authors Simon Barrow and Stephen Lambe to our special YMP round table after setting them the task of listening to one side each of Tales, with Mark taking side 4. I was exempt because I needed to act as referee and moderator – or at least that’s my excuse.

Steven Wilson Remix vinyl


If you’re a fan of YMP deep dives, you’re in for a treat. If you’re not a fan of that kind of thing feel free to take this week off – not really, it’s all fascinating stuff.

  • Is remixing Yes albums ever a good idea?
  • What has Steven Wilson done to Tales?
  • Has he improved it?

Let us know if you agree with us!

There are only 100 of these packs available, so buy yours now! (Opens in a new window)

Check out the progress on my other podcast – https://anthem52.com/

Yes – The Tormato Story

Available now!

TormatoBook.com

YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Jim Morrison Jon Pickles Declan Logue
Gary Betts Aaron SteelmanMichael Handerhan
Barry Gorsky Steve Perry Doug Curran
Martin Kjellberg Todd Dudley Rachel Hadaway
Lind  Paul Hailes Craig Estenes
Mark James Lang Steve Rode David
Bob Martilotta John Holden Stephen Lambe
Dem Fred Barringer Scott Colombo
Chris Bandini David Heyden John Thomson
Mark Baggs John Cowan John Parry
Dave Owen Simon Barrow Steve Scott
Terence Sadler Steve Dill Robert Nasir 
Fergus Cubbage William Hayes Geoff Bailie
Steven Roehr Lobate Scarp Geoffrey Mason
David Watkinson Tim Stannard Robert Vandiver
Brian Sullivan David Pannell Jamie McQuinn
Miguel Falcão Paul Tomei Michael O’Connor
Brian HarrisHogne Bø PettersenGuy DeRome
Mark Slater

Become a Patron!

Our Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join. One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so it’s a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3216603008606331/

Please follow/subscribe!

If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you don’t risk missing anything:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Theme music

The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org

Categories
Episodes

Yes Album Listening Guides – Tales From Topographic Oceans Part 11 – Michael Tait’s Tales – 641

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In Production:

Tales from Topographic Oceans
Listening guide

Sign up to the e-newsletter updates for exclusive access to the PRESALE!

TormatoBook.com

Produced by Wayne Hall, Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller

Mark and I had a great conversation with the legendary Michael Tait this week. Here is what the biography on his Mickey’s Black Box website says:

“Michael “Mickey” Tait landed in London from his native Australia in 1967. It was his third stop, after Hong Kong and Tehran, in what was meant to be a 3 month “Visit the Motherland” working vacation. His first job was bartending at the Speakeasy, a private club frequented by the who’s who of the music business. Rubbing shoulders with rock stars led to his second job: Road Manager for the newly formed progressive rock band YES.

During his 12 years on the road with YES he advanced the art of stage production and was a driving force in the new field of tour lighting.

He is credited with building the first pedalboard for guitar, the double Mellotron, the flat mirror ball, the 400-watt Leslie speaker box, and one of the first pin matrix lighting consoles. Next came self-contained lighting units consisting of genie lifts in large road cases with integral 4 cell par 64 lamps. These became known as “Tait Towers,” hence the name of his soon-to-be lighting rental company.

Perhaps one of his most important innovations was the portable rotating stage used by Yes in the 1970’s. Inspiration struck Tait while delivering a can of 35mm film to Morgan studios, where YES were recording. The concept, initially met with skepticism, was soon embraced as it gave everyone in the house a better view of the band and also increased the ticket gross dramatically.”

Despite recovering from COVID, Michael was generous and open about his recollections of working with Yes, particularly around the time of Tales from Topographic Oceans.

Yes concert at the Montreal Forum on the Tales Tour, photo courtesy of Ken Jonach – lots of Mickey Tait’s work on show

https://www.taittowers.com

https://mickeysblackbox.com/

  • Was the Tales Tour a turning point for the Yes live production?
  • How did Michael get from Yes roadie/van driver to establishing the most successful live production company in the world?
  • What about Jon’s bathroom at Morgan Studios?

Let us know if you agree with us!

There are only 100 of these packs available, so buy yours now! (Opens in a new window)

Check out the progress on my other podcast – https://anthem52.com/

Yes – The Tormato Story

Available now!

TormatoBook.com

YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Jim Morrison Jon Pickles Declan Logue
Gary Betts Aaron SteelmanMichael Handerhan
Barry Gorsky Steve Perry Doug Curran
Martin Kjellberg Todd Dudley Rachel Hadaway
Lind  Paul Hailes Craig Estenes
Mark James Lang Steve Rode David
Bob Martilotta John Holden Stephen Lambe
Dem Fred Barringer Scott Colombo
Chris Bandini David Heyden John Thomson
Mark Baggs John Cowan John Parry
Dave Owen Simon Barrow Steve Scott
Terence Sadler Steve Dill Robert Nasir 
Fergus Cubbage William Hayes Geoff Bailie
Steven Roehr Lobate Scarp Geoffrey Mason
David Watkinson Tim Stannard Robert Vandiver
Brian Sullivan David Pannell Jamie McQuinn
Miguel Falcão Paul Tomei Michael O’Connor
Brian HarrisHogne Bø PettersenGuy DeRome
Become a Patron!

Our Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join. One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so it’s a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3216603008606331/

Please follow/subscribe!

If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you don’t risk missing anything:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Theme music

The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org

Categories
Episodes

Replay – Technological Musical Magician, Derek Dearden – 640

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In Production:

Tales from Topographic Oceans
Listening guide

Sign up to the e-newsletter updates for exclusive access to the PRESALE!

TormatoBook.com

Produced by Wayne Hall, Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller

Unfortunately, this is another week in which Mark and I have been unable to record a new episode. Don’t worry though, next week we are interviewing someone who created a huge amount of Yeskit when he worked with the band in the 1970s. We are also taking part in an epic session all about the Steven Wilson remixes of Tales from Topographic Oceans with several of your favourite YMP guests. Those two episodes will (hopefully) be coming up in the next two weeks so look out for those.

This week, on the theme of Yeskit, I’m going to replay the interview we did with the delightful Derek Dearden.

The Yes equipment warehouse as it is today

Here’s how I introduced the interview in June 2023:

“Unless you have already read my book, Yes The Tormato Story, you may not recognise the name Derek Dearden. However, you have certainly heard the results of his amazing technical wizardry. This is another deep dive episode but it also contains much of interest to any Yes fan. Derek was a delight to speak to when Mark and I interviewed him a few months ago and I’ve been keeping this fascinating interview under wraps so that early readers of the book had a few surprises to discover. If you don’t like spoilers, then consider coming back to this episode at a later date. I won’t be offended.

Quite a bit of this conversation was used in the chapter entitled The Other Drums in my book but even if you have read that, I’m sure you’ll love hearing Derek explaining how it all came about in his own words. To whet your appetite, Derek was employed at Advision as a technician and then went on to found a company very closely associated with Alan White.”

  • What did Derek Dearden create for Alan White?
  • How did it all come about?
  • What else did Derek invent?

Let us know if you agree with us!

There are only 100 of these packs available, so buy yours now! (Opens in a new window)

Check out the progress on my other podcast – https://anthem52.com/

Yes – The Tormato Story

Available now!

TormatoBook.com

YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Jim Morrison Jon Pickles Declan Logue
Gary Betts Aaron SteelmanMichael Handerhan
Barry Gorsky Steve Perry Doug Curran
Martin Kjellberg Todd Dudley Rachel Hadaway
Lind  Paul Hailes Craig Estenes
Mark James Lang Steve Rode David
Bob Martilotta John Holden Stephen Lambe
Dem Fred Barringer Scott Colombo
Chris Bandini David Heyden John Thomson
Mark Baggs John Cowan John Parry
Dave Owen Simon Barrow Steve Scott
Terence Sadler Steve Dill Robert Nasir 
Fergus Cubbage William Hayes Geoff Bailie
Steven Roehr Lobate Scarp Geoffrey Mason
David Watkinson Tim Stannard Robert Vandiver
Brian Sullivan David Pannell Jamie McQuinn
Miguel Falcão Paul Tomei Michael O’Connor
Brian HarrisHogne Bø PettersenGuy DeRome
Become a Patron!

Our Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join. One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so it’s a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3216603008606331/

Please follow/subscribe!

If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you don’t risk missing anything:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Theme music

The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org

Categories
Episodes

Yeskit part 1 – 639

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In Production:

Tales from Topographic Oceans
Listening guide

Sign up to the e-newsletter updates for exclusive access to the PRESALE!

TormatoBook.com

Produced by Wayne Hall, Joseph Cottrell, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller

Before we start, I’d like to thank everyone who has taken part in the Presale for my new book, the Tales from Topographic Oceans Listening Guide. It’s gone really well and I can now afford to commission book covers, pay for production costs and licences for essential photographs and so on. The Presale is still open to those who have signed up to the e-newsletter over at tormatobook.com and to all YMP Patrons. If you are yet to sign up for the e-newsletter, you’ll receive a message telling you how to access the presale as soon as you subscribe.

Remember that the presale is the only way to purchase signed copies of the forthcoming book and you’ll also receive an exclusive mini-pack of book-based memorabilia. What could be better? So make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to be the proud owner of those fine extras. Finally, almost all the Executive Producer slots have been snapped up. At time of recording this episode there are just 7 remaining so if you’d like to see your name printed towards the front of the Tales book as an official Executive Producer, you’d better get in quickly.

This week, Mark and I were going to talk about our favourite pieces of Yes-related equipment but unfortunately Mark was unavailable in the end due to an emergency situation with his dog, Shadow. So, instead, here is a chapter of the audiobook version of my book, Yes – The Tormato Story that deals with one of the pieces of Yes kit I probably would have mentioned anyway – Rick Wakeman’s Birotron. Incidentally, the audiobook is still available from Audible, Spotify and other fine purveyors of that digital format. As one kind review said about my first foray into authorship which, incidentally, he believes is, “presented as a teenage fan essay”, the audio version is delivered with what he calls a, “clipped late night Radio 2 circa 1990 style”. Hopefully that won’t put you off too much.

  • What was the world’s rarest instrument?
  • How was Rick Wakeman involved with it?
  • How does Chris Dale all this?

Let us know if you agree with us!

There are only 100 of these packs available, so buy yours now! (Opens in a new window)

Check out the progress on my other podcast – https://anthem52.com/

Yes – The Tormato Story

Available now!

TormatoBook.com

YMP Patrons:

Producers:

  • Joseph Cottrell
  • Wayne Hall
  • Ken Fuller
  • Jeffrey Crecelius

Patrons:

Jim Morrison Jon Pickles Declan Logue
Gary Betts Aaron SteelmanMichael Handerhan
Barry Gorsky Steve Perry Doug Curran
Martin Kjellberg Todd Dudley Rachel Hadaway
Lind  Paul Hailes Craig Estenes
Mark James Lang Steve Rode David
Bob Martilotta John Holden Stephen Lambe
Dem Fred Barringer Scott Colombo
Chris Bandini David Heyden John Thomson
Mark Baggs John Cowan John Parry
Dave Owen Simon Barrow Steve Scott
Terence Sadler Steve Dill Robert Nasir 
Fergus Cubbage William Hayes Geoff Bailie
Steven Roehr Lobate Scarp Geoffrey Mason
David Watkinson Tim Stannard Robert Vandiver
Brian Sullivan David Pannell Jamie McQuinn
Miguel Falcão Paul Tomei Michael O’Connor
Brian HarrisHogne Bø PettersenGuy DeRome
Become a Patron!

Our Facebook YMP Discussion Group is open to anyone to join. One of the advantages of the new format is that all members of the group have the same ability to post content, so it’s a bit more egalitarian, or somesuch. Please do search for the group and join in.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3216603008606331/

Please follow/subscribe!

If you are still listening to the podcast on the website, please consider subscribing so you don’t risk missing anything:

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Theme music

The music I use is the last movement of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. This has been used as introduction music at many Yes concerts. My theme music is not take from a live concert – I put it together from: archive.org

Categories
Announcements

Tales from Topographic Oceans Listening Guide PRESALE available now

Head over to https://tormatobook.com/publications to read the full press release for the PRESALE.