Are Yes relatively unknown to most people these days?

[pianozach]

I think you may need to re-count your Yes studio albums with Davison.

There's Heaven & Earth . . . and . . .

Oh, right. The Quest. Completely forgot it exists.

Sorry. Got a little behind.

.

..

Well . . . maybe not from this angle. . . .

[bondegezou]

Banks was only on two studio albums, and Moraz and Davison on only one studio album each.

I think you may need to re-count your Yes studio albums with Davison.

[bondegezou]

Who Alex Trebek?

Someone very famous in the US, but completely unknown in the UK. I was riffing off the difficulties of explaining different levels of fame to people in different countries.

[downbyariver]

Sorry, no idea.

I found a random recent episode on YouTube in case you or anyone who hasn't seen Jeopardy would like to:

I didn't watch more than a minute or two of the episode, but was pleasantly surprised that the general look, feel, and rules of play seem to have for the most part been preserved relative to my recollections of it's 20th century heyday (Albeit not exactly).

Of course, they can't reproduce the charisma of Alex Trebek or his mustache (When he was still alive but shaved his mustache, it was like losing a secondary character from the cast of a scripted drama or sitcom), but it appears to be the same game.

I am not a big watcher of TV game shows either, but I watched that some when I was a child. As game shows go, it was probably one the "smarter" ones out there.

Some may remember it from the episode of the sitcom Cheers where character Cliff goes on the gameshow as a contestant and Alex Trebek guest stars as himself.

[pianozach]

Talking' of quiz shows. My fave is Pointless for tha banter between Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman who wrote The Thursday Murder Club.

One of their categories once was prog rock groups and the contestants had to guess the most obscure members of YES. The more obscure the more Pointless. Aim of the game.

Anyhoo sadly for Billy, Geoff and Juano. They were all pointless answers. Think someone commiserated with Geoff on twitter. Later.

LOL.

Sad, 'cause Geoff's on three albums, Billy kinda on several.

Banks was only on two studio albums, and Moraz and Davison on only one studio album each.

I'd say the absolute MOST "pointless" would have to go to Benoit David, who was only on ONE album, BUT sort of ISN'T any more.

The original Fly From Here is out of print; only the Horn vocal version is still current.

[Gilly Goodness]

Talking' of quiz shows. My fave is Pointless for tha banter between Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman who wrote The Thursday Murder Club.

One of their categories once was prog rock groups and the contestants had to guess the most obscure members of YES. The more obscure the more Pointless. Aim of the game.

Anyhoo sadly for Billy, Geoff and Juano. They were all pointless answers. Think someone commiserated with Geoff on twitter. Later.

[Ash Armstrong]

Host of Jeopardy! TV game show for 37 years, starting in 1984 until his death in 2020.

The show Jeopardy! is still running, and premiered in 1964.

"Jeopardy!" is a classic game show -- with a twist. The answers are given first, and the contestants attempt to supply the correct questions.

Sorry, no idea.
Once I went over the wire of the family compound in 1982, I was no longer compelled to sit and watch TV game shows like The Generation Game or The Golden Shot, which we had here. I've never looked back.
I'm afraid I've never heard of Jeopardy before. I like radio panel shows like I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue , the News Quiz, the Unbelievable Truth, Nature Table and Heresy, and their TV equivalents like Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie to You, Only Connect and Mock the Week. Some of those have been going for decades but I doubt you'd have heard of them.

And not forgetting the evergreen Just a Minute, the DNA of which stretches back to the 1950s...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_a_Minute?wprov=sfla1

[pianozach]

Who Alex Trebek?

Host of Jeopardy! TV game show for 37 years, starting in 1984 until his death in 2020.

The show Jeopardy! is still running, and premiered in 1964.

"Jeopardy!" is a classic game show -- with a twist. The answers are given first, and the contestants attempt to supply the correct questions.

[Ash Armstrong]

Yes, but I don't want non-UK readers to get a false impression. Grumpy Old Men was a popular BBC series that ran from 2003-6, but it only had a total of 14 half-hour episodes and it had lots of participants. (Wikipedia lists 22 regulars.) So, yes, some people would recognise Rick from that, but it's not like an Alex Trebek level of fame.

Who Alex Trebek?

[bondegezou]

Rick has scored a few films and documentaries. A couple of TV movies based on Len Deighton's Harry Palmer character in the 90s, they're not great, and several sport documentaries. White Rock of course, and Golé about the World Cup. He'd be quite well-known from the Grumpy Old Men series, and the various TV panel shows he's appeared on over the years, and still does: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You, amongst others. Certainly in the UK he'd be the most recognised of former Yes-members, but not for being a former Yes-member. He pops up on Radio 4 programmes from time to time as well.

Yes, but I don't want non-UK readers to get a false impression. Grumpy Old Men was a popular BBC series that ran from 2003-6, but it only had a total of 14 half-hour episodes and it had lots of participants. (Wikipedia lists 22 regulars.) So, yes, some people would recognise Rick from that, but it's not like an Alex Trebek level of fame.

[Bill M]

NOT Dinah Shore. *bzzzzzzt*



Meaning, most members of Yes pretty much stuck to the music industry in some fashion. Wakeman, of course, did tons of radio and TV in the UK, and not always on the topic of music. Rabin does movie soundtracks, but that's still music industry. Other than Don't Kill the Whale, Yes' library may hint at social problems but they are not known to do much broad effort to follow a thing to the end. No "spay and neuter your pet" message at every show, for example.

I totally get and agree what you are saying. I think the thing that threw me off was the term "One Trick Pony". There definitely are some musicians who could be considered a one trick pony, but I don't think the term would apply to accomplished or more well-rounded musicians.

[Ash Armstrong]

Rick has scored a few films and documentaries. A couple of TV movies based on Len Deighton's Harry Palmer character in the 90s, they're not great, and several sport documentaries. White Rock of course, and Golé about the World Cup. He'd be quite well-known from the Grumpy Old Men series, and the various TV panel shows he's appeared on over the years, and still does: Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You, amongst others. Certainly in the UK he'd be the most recognised of former Yes-members, but not for being a former Yes-member. He pops up on Radio 4 programmes from time to time as well.

[bondegezou]

The situation in the United Kingdom, based on what I've read online over the years (I've admittedly never been there), feels a little different. I feel like Rick Wakeman, among others, really did have enough solo success that people who aren't specifically into Yes or the artists in question know who some of them are.

Rick Wakeman is famous (or maybe infamous) in his own right. Trevor Horn is pretty well known as producers go. People have probably heard of The Buggles/"Video Killed the Radio Star". A few people remember Jon & Vangelis. Anything else is pretty obscure. (Asia wasn't big here.)

Of course, the proportion of people who know music by the Yes alumni is a lot larger than the proportion who know who any of them are. Lots of British people have heard Steve Howe play, between Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Queen's "Innuendo". I think anyone who listened to the radio between 1979 and 2002 heard Trevor Horn's work. Lots have heard Trevor Rabin's film scores. Rick Wakeman's "Arthur" has long been used as the theme music for the BBC's election coverage: that might be his greatest legacy! But there's also his session work with David Bowie, Cat Stevens etc. Obviously everyone has heard "Imagine" for Alan.

[downbyariver]

Approach 100 random people on the street. Ask them to name someone who was in Yes. I'd bet substantially more than 50 won't know.

In the United States, I think Yes has, by virtue of it's frequent lineup changes, begun early in its history, acquired a quality similar to Chicago (the band) in that in the eyes of some general music fans, the band identity is paramount and the individual performers, no matter how talented, start to blend together or seem more interchangeable than the members of some other groups as long as they are solid players. The relative lack of sustained radio solo success of Yes members in the states (i.e. No one like Phil Collins dominating the airwaves for a decade or more under their own name) contributes to this as well.

I actually don't think that's a bad thing overall, because ultimately it probably helps contribute to the band's longevity.

The situation in the United Kingdom, based on what I've read online over the years (I've admittedly never been there), feels a little different. I feel like Rick Wakeman, among others, really did have enough solo success that people who aren't specifically into Yes or the artists in question know who some of them are. And, of course, Yes started as a British band.

[Awakened 1977]

"Tons" of radio and TV is an exaggeration. He's done bits, continues to do a little, but he's not exactly going to go down in history as a comedian or a TV presenter. I see Toyah Willcox on telly more often than Rick these days.

I think in terms of diverse outputs I'd look to the Trevors, Rabin for his film scores, but particularly Horn for his producing (and into record labels, studio owner etc.). They're perhaps not as famous for it, but some of the Yes members' charity work has been significant, including Wakeman, White and Horn. (Horn and Wakeman have both gotten CBEs, if that's an indicator of lasting influence.)

I maintain that while Trevor Rabin did movie scores (music) and Trevor Horn moved into production (music), most of Yes are one-trick ponies... music. Hey, I'm not insulting them! I, for one, am glad they stayed in the music pool until they were wrinkled. It has been good for my ears. I am merely saying, we can't expect them to remain "known" because of their music output, regardless how excellent it is. I gave the example of a person who was not only a massive success in the music industry a mere 70 years ago (a single "lifetime," if you will), but also known for TV shows named after him, and was on the front line of the American Civil Rights movement, and film roles, etc... even a guy with THAT resume' is largely forgotten in 2022. No matter what we do in our lifetimes, our absolute only lasting contribution to society is to raise good children so they raise good children.