Rotten Tormatoes? The Wembley Recording, 1978 – 699

A few thoughts on this fine episode, so much has gone on in the background re this recording the BBC did all those years ago. It’s been on then off, discussions for years, money spent by some, releases of it bogged down in legal and management, plus the differnt line-ups energies focused on other things. I was at the show, then listened to the Tommy Vance radio show, I still have my cassette I did that evening. The show itself was probably The greatest sounding show, but more than that 10,000 fans were absolutely enthralled and in the moment. Visually it was amazing, but the sound seemed to be on another level of crispness and clarity. With Yes on fire in every department for every second, it was not to exaggerate to say it felt overwhelming and other worldly, maybe even spiritually uplifting, as a 19 years old it was mind-blowing.

To today then, the reason this gets publicity and is important is that we have waited for near 50 years for a professional, official release, and when much is being done to that effect, if someone else produces a version of what you have wanted for so long then big questions are asked.

Not sure this one will be produced at all tbh, things a foot, and it is not recognised by Yes or Warners, but finally it could all come together in a few years. One of the mixes I have heard of some of the tracks makes you feel you are sat in your seat at Wembley, it is astonishing, and yes it will be worth the fifty year wait. Dave W

Many YES fans, myself included, are living in the past. You’ve probably heard most of the live recordings in some form or another, right? I think we should give the new music a listen too.

Excellent programme. I was someone who was lucky enough to be at QPR aged 13 and then the Saturday night shows at Empire Pool in 77 and 78. I have had a boot of this in two cd set (“Heavenly Lightning”) since the 90s but the audio that Kevin recommended (Tooleman ?) is really extraordinary and a massive advance on my original set. Highly recommended. For me that era is Yes at their peak after a couple of awkward years of rediscovering what they were supposed to be all about as a live act. Yessongs is a very exciting listen but by 78 the band are playing really complex music far within the limit of their own abilities as musicians (like a great string quartet or one of Miles Davis’ 60s line ups).

The 78 show may not have the raw excitement of Yessongs but they have the magic combination of confidence, extraordinary technical facility and what sounds like a shared renewed commitment to the music. In those respects I am not sure they have ever recaptured what they had in 77/78.

Anyway the fact that the audio on this new release is unlikely to be the best of what is available of the same show for free is one very good reason not to buy this grey market version. Download one you like the sound of, burn it to disc and make your own artwork!

Generally speaking I would recommend that fans take a leaf out of the Grateful Dead playbook and stick to what is offered online and shared freely UNLESS the same recording is available commercially from the artist or from the artist’s legitimate licensee. In which case pay up for the official product. You wouldn’t gate crash a gig. Same thing.

When I was a lot younger back in the 70s I will confess to loving going through the bootlegs on market stalls unaware that much of what came from the US back then was at-heart the product of nothing less than criminal enterprise. And not just in terms of the various copyrights being breached.

The one caveat is that I imagine whoever is releasing the version under discussion as a commercial product are doing it under the auspices of whichever EU law it is that says that once a concert recording is broadcast it is effectively Public Domain. I believe that gives grey market entrepreneurs free rein to sell them in the EU unless the rights owners (artist, publishers, record companies) release a commercial recording of the same thing. Which is part of the reason why we get bands like Pink Floyd and artists like Dylan making unreleased music available on line towards the end of the year and then taking it down again. Preserves the term of their copyright and gives them some protection from people filling their boots (sorry!) with the proceeds from unofficial releases.

Does any of this apply to the UK post Brexit? I would doubt it unless the Tories made some daft concessions on copyright law that I am unaware of. Given their contempt for the Arts in general that actually wouldn’t surprise me. Though before we stray into matters political none of the major parties are much cop on that front.

Back in the day there were of course artists who co-operated willingly (Little Feat for one), bands that bootlegged themselves (Sex Pistols with the version of their debut that they leaked just prior to NMTB coming out) and record companies that used the existence of a bootleg as a marketing tool to suggest that an artist was maybe a bit more popular than the statistical reality (A&M with Nils Lofgren and IIRC Mercury with Graham Parker and the Rumour). That is all well and good and both the Lofgren and Parker albums are recommend, but with the benefit of considerable hindsight the rest of that market was basically ripping off the artists we claim to love. We don’t have the right to hear everything and I for one am grateful if we can, in the age of social media, preserve a little bit of mystique around the music itself.

Apart from anything else there are plenty of new and interesting legit Yes side projects available. For example the exo-X-xeno album Luminous Voyage is exceptional and should be cap nip to anyone who came in with Tormato, Drama or anything else from the post Relayer, pre Ladder / Magnification period.

Great show and interesting to hear the discussion. For my part, the Tommy Vance broadcast was my gateway to Yes. Like many, all recorded on a C120, played to death and replaced by many versions/CDs/downloads over the years. A USB sits in the car too.
It’s probably my most played Yes album and can;t imagine the spectacle of watching this unfold in the round just before the time I started going to gigs. Wouldn’t have been allowed to travel from Manchester to London anyway. My favourite period of Yes – 77-79 and this show had SO many definitive versions of Yessongs and so many remarkable ‘bits’ that still send chills. And yes, THAT Starship Trooper. “I guess we’re all a teeny weeny bit cosmic sometimes.” My dream would be to see this released in a super deluxe style package although I;d be happy for an official CD. As they say in Viz Comic, come on boffins!!

Disappointing if it’s gone but it seems very clear that some people were very unhappy about this particular release. With probably hundreds of bootleg recordings of this show which, for many of us, was the only way we got hear it, I’m not really sure why people took exception to this particular one.

But if this escalates the release of the promised remixed 24 track masters, then count me in.

Of course … they might just have sold out???