Who am I? History of Yesfans.

[1yesfan]

It's been sometime since I have told you who I am and why there is Yesfans. Since we have a lot of folks here that are pretty new I thought I would tell you about me.


I am Tim. I am 37 and born and raised in Cincinnati Oh. I am married, 13 years, one son, TREVOR (Yes after Rabin, read on you will see why) and another Child coming xmass eve (prob sooner).

I am the youngest of 5 children. I love old cars, dogs (have a Keeshound currently), Yes, a good tv drama, junk food, and many other things.

I work for the Kroger Co on their Help Desk. Some of you may know the company as Dillons, Kings Sooper, City Market, Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Fred Myers, Foods Co, JC, Smiths, Loaf N jug, and a few more.

Lived in TN (Nashville) for 7 years.

Started listening to Yes in 85 in High School. I actuall could not stand them in the early HS days. I HATED 90125! ha ha ha. Then I got Yesssonngs, and was hooked. I first saw yes on the BG tour in Col. OH. I was really hooked and was blown away by the Yes sound. I really liked Rabin and his sound and the power of the band over all. So thru the years I have fallen for all things Yes. I even named my son after Trevor.

Yesfans.com started out a mailing list back in 1998 or so. yesmusic@onelist.com. That mailing list went on for many years as a small group of us. Dave (Nightliner, my co admin here) was a member of that list.
Well the mailing list was one of many that covers things Yes and I thought that we needed a active message board devoted to the band. So I started this site 4 years ago this April. We were a small site but active site for the first half of our existence until we got onboard with Yesworld. Since then we have grown like heck.
I wanted to start the site to give people a place to talk Yes in a somewhat real time fashion. As the site tok off I thought that we needed a site that could support the members full time. I thought we needed many things to talk about. That was the beginning of many of the forums that you see today. This site is about the members that are on it. You may not know but many of the forums here are a driect result of a members asking or suggesting that we have them. The site has taken on a family feeling to it. A place where you can talk about Yes, your kids, your spouse, your politcal leanings, tell a good joke, join a chapter of fans, get help on how to fix something, sell something, find a good Yes concert weed, talk about other types of music, talk about ANYTHING.
This site is about YOU. It is about you being able to come and sit down and pull up a chair and spend some time with old friends. So if your new here PLEASE jump in and start talking. We have a lot of folks here, lots of people that have been hear for sometime and they WELCOME your smiling face and your input. All you have to do is speak up.
The future of this site is bright. We have Yes to talk about, hopefully more tours, more albums. At the worst we will have a long history of Yes to look back on and talk about if they do hang it up sooner then later. This site I feel will carry on the Yes way, the Yes message, the Yes vibe, the Yes way of life.
We are now launching Yesfans Chapters in hopes to start building local groups of fans to grow and carry on the Yes friendship between us all. Who knows, maybe we can all get together at one of the annual Yesfans Gatherings and drink our favorite Adult beverage and listen to Chris or Alan tell us some stories about the road life.

Well I want to thank ALL OF YOU for making my dream come true to have a site dedicated to my favorite band where all the fans can come together and celebrate this great thing called YES MUSIC!

To our future... :cheers:

[Scooty]

I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7 years old. I will never forget the intricate, insane posters on my cousins wall..YES they said...with otherwordly landscapes and vibrant colors YES. Capes, outrageous stage designs...who in the hell were these weird people on my cousins walls?? Why am I so intrigued...I cant keep my eyes away from this...

Flash foward to 1983, I am 12 years old, and the DJ on the local Fresno California radio station announces "here's the new single from YES!" i thought...ooooh cool, this is my cousins favorite band..Im really gonna pay attention...Owner Of A Lonely Heart came through the speaker (yes, singular) of my transister radio.. and i thought..hmmmm this is ok...not fantastic but ok..maybe I should buy it and call my cousins and tell them that I own a cassette (Yes, cassette) of their favorite band...

Then JJ Jackson, the MTV VJ (God rest his soul) came on to TV and announced "here is the brand new video from YES with their first hit single in the states since 1971 from the album Fragile, Roundabout, but now we have.." yup...you guessed it Owner of A Lonely Heart... the video freaked me out, and I remeber writing down the name of the "other" album he mentioned..Fragile..ok..Ill make Mom take me to Tower Records and Ill pick up 90125 and Fragile....and then BAM! I had these two albums...and needless to say...my life has never been the same since...

Hi..Im Scoot, and Im a super duper big time..coocoo Yesfan :)

I have been a fan since I was 12 years old in 1983 and everything has come full circle...I have seen too many shows to count, and I now am in contact, via telephone with my hero Christopher Squire, life is weird, but wonderful.

Im a California boy and have met the greatest friends I will ever have EVER from this site..
We are the Liquor Locusts and we are proud..LOL..

Anyway, to all those that have just found us, welcome, you are now home. trust me, you'll make bonds here that will always be, and meet friends from all over the world..

Life is sweet, Yes is the best
and you are here...

Scoot

[Earl Grey]

I first heard YES on the radio.

I'd wash my parent's station wagon every saturday, and listen to American Top 40...

Roundabout was heading up the charts, as was the flip-side, Long Distance Runaround!

I drove my bike to the record store the day I first heard the record played on the radio, and bought the 45.

A couple of years went by... I was playing in a rock band. Our manager went to England, and brought back a copy of Yessongs. It became required listening for us.

Close To The Edge amazed me when I first heard it...
And RELAYER was MY album, as all of my friends were pissed-off that Wakey wasn't on it. I loved it, and it remained my favorite for years...

The first Yesshow I ever went to was in 1974. Tales live at The Great Western Forum. The experience changed my life, raised my musical standards through the roof...

I lost interest in YES during the 80s. Ironically I love the Trevor years now, but I didn't 'get it' while it was happening...

My apartment is jokingly referred to as 'The Yesshrine' by my friends... Roger Dean lithos and signed posters, backstage photos... There isn't a wall in the place that doesn't have SOMETHING Yessish on it! Yeah, I'm obsessed. You knew that already!

I love Yesfans. I found this place the first time I ever played with a computer...
A couple of months later I received a computer as a birthday gift, and immediately cookied-on! I remember thinking, 'Gee, maybe someday I'll be a MODERATOR!' ;)

Cool thread Tim!

Earlie-G:yesbird:

[BrianD]

My first memory of Yes was at a school party in around 1970. I spied a small group sitting on the floor in a room listening quiety to an album. They told me they were listening to Yes and I glanced at the The Yes Album cover and left.

Then Your Move featured on the radio - I liked it as an interesting pop song but not enough to buy it

Flash forward to March 1973 when I'm at University and my friends there tell me that I should come to see Yes with them. I remembered Your Move but knew nothing else but in those days peer influence was important so I went.

Instant conversion as Yes tore Australia apart with their incredible performances. I had never seen anything like it - and nor had most of the Australian music press - they were brilliant.

So ever since I've been a Yes fan. Yes didn't return to Australia for 30 years and in between times they were forgotten by all except the converted - and were they converted as they came out in their thousands last year to see them again.

By the late 70s I knew no one who liked Yes. It was my closet enjoyment. I looked out each week in the record stores in case there was a new album and every few years would be rewarded. Similarly I reads all of the music mags from OS i could lay my hands on.

In the late 90s the Internet appeared in my life - around 1997. Then I hunted out Yes sites, found NFTE around 1998, posted there in 1999 and a friend from the 70s - Bob Forbes - read my post, emailed me and we got together again.

He went to Yescapade in 2001 and came back convinced that we should do a similar thing in Australia and get Yes to tour again. So Yesfanz was formed in 2001 and through one of its members I learned of Yesfans and joined here in January 2002 and became a moderator in January 2003.

2003 was a big year. Yes returned to Australia, attended our 2 Yesfanz functions along with Roger Dean. I got to meet them all and Roger who we helped put on a show in Sydney.

2004 was just as big - I saw them in Europe and the US - going backstage twice and meeting the group and Roger again but more importantly neeting many Yesfans - Total Mass, Saxlife, Thoughtbecontact, upbgirl, Andersonic, Flo, Mr Holland, Earl Grey, Sheila Schiffman, silent_wings, Scoot, Smatt, Omar, Ridvan.......there are just so many I can't recall everyone but the message is - they are all great people and the most important part of being a fan.

[Earl Grey]

I loved that Brian... And you are spot-on. Who would have ever guessed that YES would play so heavily in our social lives? Who would have ever guessed we would have backstage and all the trimmings one day?

And Chris Squire visiting 'Squire's Pub' today...

As Silent Wings put so aptly in Las Vegas after Chris came up to us looking for a mutual friend, 'Life is weird!'

And sweet as well methinks!

I loved reading your story bro, we miss you out here ya know!

Earl:yesbird:

[BrianD]

And I have visited Earl's Yesshrine - I even have a pictures in the shrine of Earl, Ivy and Kathy and me.

Take a look!

I'll be back Earl - never fear.

[Earl Grey]

Great photos Brian!

Ironically you can't really see any of my YES stuff though.
How did THAT happen?! :D

Ah well, just imagine my Relayer litho hanging over the couch (You can just see the bottom edge of the frame!), and you can sort-of see the Dean-signed copy of TALES sitting on the top of the right speaker in the second photo...

We'll see you again Brian! Here again, unless I beat you to the punch and head-off to your side of the sky first! Miss ya mate!

[Grima]

Hi Guys, I'm new to the site. Earl, your shrine is a must to see but you must come down under and see our shrine, Bob Forb's office and YESFANZ HQ. I don't know how Bob can work in there with all the Roger Dean artwork to distract him. Brian, after reading your report of your recent trip to the States and many meetings with fellow Yesfans makes us realise how small this world is and how a common interest can bring folks worlds apart together.

My history of Yes appreciation goes back to 1973 when discussing music tasts with a friend he recommended I have a listen to Close to the Edge by a group called YES???? Anyhow the rest is history. I dont recall their tour to Aust. in 1973 for which I have now kicked myself for many years but I was cured last year when I attended their Sydney concert. Now I'm kicking myself for not knowing about YESFANZ before the concert and all they got up to with the group during their tour down here.

Fred

[mikepietrini]

I first heard Yes in 1980. I was 13 and over my cousin’s house and he had just bought drama. I was a big Led Zep & Rush fan and instantly liked what I was hearing. Over the next few month’s
I had bought most of their albums from a used record store down the street from my house. It
was a good time to be into Yes with the release of 90125 in “83". I had been playing guitar and
learning everything I could about music writing and recording through High School and College.
In 1990 I got a job at Syncro Sound in Boston. The studio was owned by “the cars”. I worked
on many projects and ate, drank & slept music. Over the next 10 years I built a studio in my
house and continued engineering. Over this time I always made time to see YES when they
were in the area. This year “04" was the biggest Yes year ever for me. A friend of mine
Greg Hawkes from “the cars” (who I’ve known for 14 years now) hooked me up with VIP
passes for the 5/15/04 Tsongas show. I got backstage and met chris, jon, damion the bands
manager alan who gave me the guided tour of the video set up for that nights show. I had
first saw YES in concert on 5/12/84 & almost to the day 5/15/04 I finally got to meet them.
So when the second leg came around things got even better. I was able to meet YES again in
Hartford 8/22/04. Then saw them at Jones Beach 8/28/04 also in VT 9/4/04 & finially in LA on
9/19/04. In LA I met all the great Yesfans from this site that were at “ Ridvans party”. Great
time. I really hope YES keep the ball rolling.

Take care

mp

[yarstruly]

OK....
I'm Yarstruly, Yars, or Scott....

I grew up in Florida, after being born on Ohio and living in PA & MN as a baby/toddler....

My mom is a big music fan, althogh she hasn't played an instrument since she was in high school. So there was always music in my house. She was especially big into Elvis & early rock so that's what I listened to as a young child...

By the time I was 9 or 10 I talked my mom into letting me take guitar lessons...

As I got older I started becoming more interested in "Hard Rock" & had 45s of songs like "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions", "Come Sail Away" & "Double Vision"...& I also aquired a taste for the Beatles...but it was 5th grade before it really hit me...I got into KISS! I started collecting every KISS album I could and started listening less to top 40 & more to AOR Radio. Before long I was hearing other bands that I came to love such as Led Zeppelin, Rush, Van Halen and who's that other one? ....OH YEAH! It's YES!.

I got my 1st Yes (Yessongs) album sometime around '82 & loved it! I made it to my 1st Yes Concert finally on the Big Generator tour & have also seen the Union , Talk Open Your Eyes Classic Yes & 35th Anniversary Tours.

I guess my favorite bands are:
1. Yes
2. The Beatles
3. Rush
4. Led Zeppelin
5. KISS
6. Queen
7. Van Halen
8. Kansas
9. Styx
10. Aerosmith

With the order changing, but Yes on top for the last few years.

I am in my 15th year as am Elementary School Music teacher in GA (11th in my current school). I also deliver pizza on the side 3 nights a week.

In addition to guitar I have also played Bass, Saxophone, percussion, a very small amount of Keyboards & sing. I have played in several local bands over the years, but only jam on ocasion these days.


I met my beautiful wife Allison about Six years ago & we have been married for 5. I didn't take long to decide she was the one & proposed after 2 months. I have a stepson named Cole who just turned 12 and a 4 year old daughter named Jennifer, who just started Pre-kindergarten & loves it!
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[Cynphony]

well, hello everybody!

My name is Cynthia, Cynphony is a nickname because of the full fat sounds I create as a keyboardist. I can't remember when I became a fan of Yes, I was born in 73', and I've been listening to Yes ever since I was a little kid. I do recall when Owner of a Lonely Heart came out, that really inspired me to indulge myself into Yes music. Yes's music so up-lifting and triumphant, I love music like that!!
I've been in many bands, widely ranging in style over the last 10 years.
I married my best friend, a composer, a bassist...been married for 8 years now! ahh..love, and deep in it! We perform together every week. LIfe is indeed sweet.
Today is my first visit to Yesfans.com, I was actually looking for musicians for a grand music project I am embarking on, but, this place is so positive, I'll be visiting here whenever I can, I've been reading through some very wonderful, insightful threads.

Beautiful! feels like home..

~Cynthia

[squiresrickenbacker]

Welcome Cynthia, this is a wonderful site... please comeback and visit often... you will not find a better group of talented wonderful people....

LOVE PEACE AND HAPPINESS TO ALL....... :sephiroth

[Sheerah]

Hi Cynthia!

Love your story!
Welcome to Yesfans!

[Cynphony]

Thank-you for the welcomes!

Peace
Cynthia

[cinderella]

Hey I'm a Cynthia too! Welcome to Yesfans! There's a lot of great people here who make this place fun, so enjoy the site!

~ Cindy ~


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[Cynphony]

Hey I'm a Cynthia too! Welcome to Yesfans! There's a lot of great people here who make this place fun, so enjoy the site!

~ Cindy ~


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/Cinderella528/Dolls/YesDollyBlue.gif

RIght on! hehe, my mom and sisters use to call me Cinderella. Nice to meet you Cindy.

[cinderella]

my mom and sisters use to call me Cinderella.

Yep me too!
So when it came time to choose a screen name....there it was.

[Flo]

Welcome Cinthya ! We hope to read through more of your posts now !

[starship_trooper]

Hi everybody! My name's Joel and I'm 13. I got into Yes about a year ago and have been hooked since. I have pretty much all of their 70s recordings on cd and vinyl (including Time and a Word). I saw Yes in Toronto, Ontario last May and was amazed by the show. I'm glad to be on Yesfans and meet other Yes fanatics! :)

[Timmo]

Welcome Joel!

I'm amazed the screen starship trooper was available. You snaked a good one!

In yes-ese, a "Trooper" is someone who loves the "classic" 70s Yes, but doesn't like anything later, particularly the "Yes-West" era of Trevor Rabin.

Glad you like the 70s Yes, you should also check out their stuff from the 90s and later, and much as it pains me to admit this (as I AM a Trooper) Drama, Talk, 90125 and Big Generator.

It's great to see some younger fans joining the site. Most of us are aging proggers in 30s-to-50s, but there is a growing number of younger fans, many of whom are second generation (parents got them into it).

It's an exciting time to be a Yesfan!

Check out the trading area for live recordings of verious shows, possibly including the one you saw last May.

[cinderella]

Hey Joel! Welcome to Yesfans! It's nice to meet you.
I'm not a Trooper - I'm more of a Rabinite. :lmao:
In Yes-ese it means I like Trevor Rabin.
I'll look forward to reading what you have to say about the band.
Anyway have fun and enjoy the site.

Cindy

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