1987 Jon and Chris interview on Japanese TV

[kilianltia]

Have never seen this before! It's nice to see Chris and Jon looking relazed with each other here, having a laugh... I find it interesting how Chris says Yes had done "heavy metal" on Big Generator.

[Enlighten]

Jon looks like he had a few mushrooms before the camera went on.

The song Big Generator is probably what he’s referring to as “heavy metal”. Rabin’s guitar solo in ROL is probably another example.

[luna65]

Yeah "Big Generator" is pretty crunchy (not crunchy granola, just crunchy). I wonder where this one was filmed, if it aired in late '87 then it had to be somewhere in America.

[Yesjim]

Jon looks like he had a few mushrooms before the camera went on.

Yes he is lit there. But I can tell you with great certainty in was not mushrooms.

While following Yes on the BG US tour I became aware that Jon had discovered MDMA during that period and was rolling almost nightly.

This continued all the way through the ABWH and Union tours...

[kilianltia]

Yes he is lit there. But I can tell you with great certainty in was not mushrooms.

While following Yes on the BG US tour I became aware that Jon had discovered MDMA during that period and was rolling almost nightly.

This continued all the way through the ABWH and Union tours...

Wait, Jon Anderson on MDMA?? That is the first I've heard of Jon being associated with anything stronger than weed or hallucinogenics. It would explain the change in his on-stage persona though.

[Yesjim]

Wait, Jon Anderson on MDMA?? That is the first I've heard of Jon being associated with anything stronger than weed or hallucinogenics. It would explain the change in his on-stage persona though.

Funny, I edited out a full sentence about that before I posted. It definitely influenced his stage self for that period. Watch 9021Live and then compare to BG/ABWH/Union clips. Totally came out of his shell during that time.

Before the BG tour his between song patter was very mellow and sometimes inaudible. From '87 forward Jon communicated more like an event announcer, loud and clear with exuberance and energy.

Oh, and that wonderful make-up and costume was quite a departure from everything before it.

[Somis Sound]

Yes he is lit there. But I can tell you with great certainty in was not mushrooms.

While following Yes on the BG US tour I became aware that Jon had discovered MDMA during that period and was rolling almost nightly.

This continued all the way through the ABWH and Union tours...

Damn, that is some heavy stuff! To use it that much ?? Wowzers...... Well that might explain the tee-pee on the ABWH tour ! I have noticed the different Jon's over the years. A soft spoken mellow one, a feisty one, a stoned one, a far out one, a serious down to earth one, a used car salesman, and a cosmic Klondike. Gotta love our mystic biscuit.

[Oldie on the Goldie]

Wait, Jon Anderson on MDMA?? That is the first I've heard of Jon being associated with anything stronger than weed or hallucinogenics. It would explain the change in his on-stage persona though.

I guess you could get away with saying MDMA is in some sense "stronger" than pot, but MDMA is a mild drug compared to full psychedelics.

[Awaken]

OMG! Chris was so handsome in his 40s!

[Awaken]

Yes he is lit there. But I can tell you with great certainty in was not mushrooms.

While following Yes on the BG US tour I became aware that Jon had discovered MDMA during that period and was rolling almost nightly.

This continued all the way through the ABWH and Union tours...

Do you think so? I don't think. In this video Jon looks very calm, he speaks with lucidity, his argumentation seams coherent. If you use ecstasy you can't be so calm and coherent, that's for sure!

[Somis Sound]

Do you think so? I don't think. In this video Jon looks very calm, he speaks with lucidity, his argumentation seams coherent. If you use ecstasy you can't be so calm and coherent, that's for sure!

The white paint on his eyes brought great calmness.

[Davy]

I tried ecstasy one time and was useless for several hours. Can't imagine doing that nightly, and sing and play a guitar.

[Oldie on the Goldie]

I tried ecstasy one time and was useless for several hours. Can't imagine doing that nightly, and sing and play a guitar.

You can't do it every night because after a few nights it would stop working entirely. Tolerance builds up very quickly with MDMA. Once a week is OK, but more than that is self-defeating. So I don't believe he was doing it every night.