Yes guitarist Steve Howe was recently invited by BBC Radio to talk about the 70s progressive rock scene, Jethro Tull , extended plays, Asia , Queen , and The Quest . He also picked out some of his favorite songs.
Speaking about Yes's breakup in 1981 and the formation of Asia, Steve Howe stated that he was tired of trying to keep the band together despite the constant changes in members.
“Just when everyone was happy, someone would say, ‘Oh, I want to leave.’ That got annoying, so I thought, ‘Well, I can see Yes dissolving before my eyes, so what’s the best thing to do?’ At that time, there was little experience in reforming bands, rekindling a band that used to be, so the only way to move forward was a new band,” he said in an interview.
Asia ended up forming from this idea: “ John Wetton (vocals, bass) and I were improvising, and I could see what kind of bass player he was… phenomenal. We were chasing our chance with 'Heat Of The Moment', which was different from Yes in many ways,” he said.
The song has a verse after the second chorus, some of the regular arrangements. "That's how we started the '80s," he stated. Steve Howe said he didn't know at the time if they would compete with Yes. "But basically, we were Asia, they were Yes, they were moving forward, we followed suit."
Asia released her self-titled debut album in 1982. It was the number 1 album in the United States that same year. Total worldwide sales for the album are estimated at over 10 million copies.
Check out the full interview with Steve Howe for BBC Radio here:
