Yes Music Podcast · Kevin Mulryne and Mark Anthony K

712 - Yes albums and the memories they bring us

·27 min·1 clip

Union and a first Yes concert pushed him toward a new band and a new phase of musicianship.

1. Yes Music Podcast episode 712 uses Yes albums as personal memory markers for Mark Anthony Kaye. 2. Mark Anthony Kaye is the solo host, and Kevin is absent while recovering at home. 3. The episode asks how Fragile, Relayer, and Union became tied to specific moments in Mark’s life. 4. Mark recalls hearing Fragile at about age 15 in a friend’s living room in Canada. 5. The friend had immigrated from Czechoslovakia and owned a stereo system with a turntable, receiver, and speakers placed across a wall unit. 6. Mark sat in a chair with the Fragile cover and lyrics while Roundabout played for the first time he remembers clearly. 7. He says the sound was unlike Black Sabbath, Rush, and Metallica, and it sparked his interest in listening to records on a good stereo. 8. He connects that memory to starting guitar at 16 and to a lifelong interest in making records. 9. Mark then shifts to Relayer, which he links to moving into a house with bandmates. 10. The house had a drummer’s 5.1 stereo system in the living room and enough space to practice and record. 11. During a listen to Gates of Delirium, Sound Chaser hit after Soon, and the room’s tiled floor made the drums sound especially reflective. 12. Mark says the band members immediately started talking about how they wanted that kind of sound on their own recordings. 13. That conversation led them to turn a fourth bedroom into a studio with a TASCAM M3500 console, a new computer, Acid Pro, microphones, and Jerry’s drum set. 14. He notes that studio work in downtown Toronto had always been limited by time and money. 15. He says the house let them experiment with room placement, microphones, and even bathroom recording tests. 16. Mark then moves to Union, which he associates with a trip to Toronto for his first Yes concert. 17. Before the show, he and Jerry listened to the album in a downstairs room, and the stereo started at ear-bleeding volume because the previous listener had left it high. 18. The concert was at the SkyDome, and Mark remembers the band playing Yours Is No Disgrace, Steve Howe doing The Clap, Trevor Rabin’s section, Chris Squire’s Fish, and the Bill Bruford and Alan White drum duet. 19. Listeners who enjoy Yes history, album memories, and studio stories will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who want a tight album review with no personal detours may skip it.

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