History Asia (band)

1 history

1.1 formation
1.2 1981–85: heat of moment , success
1.3 1985–91: astra, break-up , new lineups
1.4 1991–2006: downes/payne era
1.5 2006–13: original asia reunion
1.6 2013–17: howe s retirement, gravitas , hiatus
1.7 2017–present: wetton s death, sherwood frontman

history
formation

asia began in 1981 apparent demise of yes , emerson, lake & palmer, 2 of flagship bands of british progressive rock. after break-up of king crimson in 1974, various plans supergroup involving bassist john wetton had been mooted, including abortive british bulldog project bill bruford , rick wakeman in 1976. in 1977 bruford , wetton reunited in u.k., augmented guitarist allan holdsworth , keyboardist/violinist eddie jobson. self-titled debut released in 1978. january 1980, u.k. had folded after 1 lineup change , 3 recordings. new project suggested involving wetton, wakeman, drummer carl palmer , (then little known) guitarist/singer trevor rabin, wakeman left project shortly before due sign geffen , before had played together.

in late december 1980, wetton , former yes guitarist steve howe brought a&r man john kalodner , geffen records start writing material new album. joined in 1981 drummer carl palmer, , howe s fellow member of yes, keyboardist geoff downes. 2 other players auditioned , considered during band s formation former move , elo founder roy wood , aforementioned guitarist/singer rabin, go on part of reformed yes in 1983. rabin, in filmed 1984 interview included in dvd 9012live, said involvement asia never went anywhere because there no chemistry among participants.

the band s first recordings, under auspices of geffen record label head david geffen , kalodner, extremely popular record buyers, yet considered disappointing music critics , fans of traditional progressive rock, found music closer radio-friendly album-oriented rock (aor). however, asia clicked fans of popular arena acts such journey, boston , styx; kalodner had once introduced wetton journey s short-lived frontman robert fleischman, view fleischman becoming asia s lead-singer. worked on material together, fleischman impressed wetton s singing , felt voice best suited new material wetton s own. left asia amicably.

rolling stone gave asia indifferent review, while acknowledging band s musicianship cut above usual aor expectations.

1981–85: heat of moment , success

asia s eponymous debut album asia, released in march 1982, gained considerable commercial success, spending 9 weeks @ number 1 in united states album chart , selling on 4 million copies in states alone. album sold on 10 million worldwide , has never been out of print. singles heat of moment , time tell became top 40 hits, both boosted popular mtv music videos. both tracks went on become stadium favourites @ united states sporting events. sole survivor received heavy air play on rock stations across united states, did wildest dreams (another mtv video) , here comes feeling . band s best performing single, , perhaps recognised , popular hit song, heat of moment , spent 6 weeks @ #1 on billboard s album rock tracks chart , climbed #4 on hot 100.

in united states band sold out every date on debut tour, began @ clarkson university in potsdam, new york on 22 april 1982, continued in theatres expanded massive arenas because of high ticket demand. asia go on receive grammy award nomination best new artist of 1982. mtv played asia videos on heavy rotation—as many 5 times day. both billboard , cash box named asia s debut #1 album of year. asia s logo , cover art created illustrator roger dean of yes , uriah heep fame.

however, neither second album, alpha (released in july 1983), nor following asia album repeat chart success of first release. don t cry #1 album rock track , top 10 pop hit in summer of 1983, , video received considerable attention on mtv, while smile has left eyes top 40 hit band. video smile scored heavy mtv play. however, rolling stone panned alpha over-produced commercial album, while others lamented howe , palmer reduced session musicians. alpha received indifferent reviews various critics, while still attaining platinum status , reaching #6 on billboard album chart.

in october 1983, wetton forced out of group on heels of comparatively disappointing sales of alpha. band stated wetton quit, wetton countered fired phone , there no universally agreed upon version of happened. wetton later revealed 1 factor may have been alcohol dependency. in event, next leg of 1983 united states tour (which had begun in summer shut down on 10 september after performance @ pine knob in detroit), scheduled autumn, abruptly cancelled, reportedly because of low ticket sales.

ex-king crimson , elp front man greg lake replaced wetton highly publicised asia in asia concert @ nippon budokan hall in tokyo, japan on 6 december 1983, first concert broadcast on satellite mtv in united states , later made home video. of songs had played in lower key suit lake s voice , read of lyrics teleprompter; lake has commented in interviews asked cover wetton s parts @ short notice.

lake left in 1984 , asia reunited wetton same year start work on next album. howe left replaced krokus guitarist mandy meyer. howe enjoyed brief success gtr, supergroup, formed steve hackett of genesis , produced downes.

1985–91: astra, break-up , new lineups

the third asia album tentatively titled arcadia, during production discovered that name being used forthcoming spin-off project duran duran. retitled astra, released in november 1985, not commercially successful first 2 albums. record label cancelled projected tour because of lack of interest. howe s replacement, mandy meyer of krokus, provided more of hard-rock approach. band charted single go (no. 46), featuring meyer s guitar work primary element. music video hit mtv in 1986 asia lineup folded, bringing group end time being. wetton quoted saying [astra] did in sweden ... swedish sales aren t large.

wetton resurfaced in january 1987 album recorded guitarist phil manzanera, wetton-manzanera, based on material had been intended asia. in 1987, wetton played phenomena on dream runner album , landed number 1 hit in south america phenomena single did love , appearing in related music video. asia credited contributing giorgio moroder produced track gypsy soul sylvester stallone film soundtrack on top, although wetton band member involved.

wetton , downes attempt restart group in 1987 guitarist scott gorham (formerly of thin lizzy) , drummer michael sturgis (ex-a-ha) fizzled when unable land worldwide recording deal.

wetton , palmer more successful in reuniting band few tours of europe in summer , autumn of 1989. downes (who working on project greg lake) not available, keyboards played john young. guitars on tour handled alan darby (who replaced shortly after german guitarist holger larisch) , zoe nicholas , susie webb brought aboard provide back-up vocals. unlike wetton s later anger @ asia continuing without him in 1990s, lineup viewed favourably other asia band members.

asia returned studio in 1990 downes, toto guitarist steve lukather , other studio musicians , released & (august 1990), best-of 4 new tracks. days these disc received substantial airplay during summer of 1990 on aor radio stations , re-sparked interest in band. pat thrall joined downes, palmer , wetton on tour , performed classic material, including king crimson , u.k. songs.

the band toured soviet union in november 1990 play in front of 20,000 fans on 2 sold out nights. days these charted in united states @ no.64 in 1990 , climbed way no.2 on united states album rock tracks chart. video planned scrapped because various problems hampered single s chance @ top 40. asia received riaa gold album award , many years later, initial response modest album failed dent top 100. dvd , cd available of asia concerts in ussr (featuring bonus studio track, kari-anne recorded 1987 wetton-downes-gorham-sturgis lineup , francis dunnery contributing guitar solo). wetton left group in april 1991 after south american tour, discouraged asia s lack of success in united states.

1991–2006: downes/payne era

john payne (pictured in 2011) replaced john wetton asia s frontman between 1991 , 2006, , continues perform spin-off group, asia featuring john payne.

after wetton s departure, vocalist/bassist john payne joined band and, downes, enlisted new musicians , led asia through 2006. first album lineup aqua, released in june 1992. in addition downes , payne, album featured howe, palmer, , guitarist al pitrelli (of danger danger, megadeth , alice cooper). howe returned during sessions having left yes again, palmer leave soon, committing elp reunion, , able play on 3 songs. drummers simon phillips , nigel glockler completed sessions. downes environmentalist single stop rain? (originally written max bacon , aborted rain project, later appearing on bacon s album banks of river irwell) attracted radio attention. aqua club tour featured howe (whose presence heavily promoted), took stage after fifth song. tour successful enough warrant band s continuation. 1992–93 tour featured downes, howe, payne, guitarist vinny burns , drummer trevor thornton. before european festival tour in late 1993, howe , burns left , replaced guitarist keith more.

the group released aria in may 1994, featured lead guitarist al pitrelli once again, leave asia during short aria tour. aria album did not fare commercially , ensuing tour limited 4 concerts. ex-simply red guitarist aziz ibrahim took on during tour. aria introduced new drummer michael sturgis, had been involved during band s aborted 1987 reunion , had appeared on of sessions aqua. aria not released in united states until may 1995.

over new year s eve 1995/1996, broken pipe inundated control room in downes , payne s recording studio, electric palace, in london. amid lost equipment, vault containing unreleased material found intact. band decided release material in 2 discs, archiva vol. 1 , archiva vol. 2. archiva sets collections of unreleased tracks recorded during first 3 downes/payne albums.

next, arena, released in february 1996, featured downes, payne, sturgis, ibrahim , guest guitarist elliott randall (ex-steely dan, , randy crawford). album released on resurgence records there no tour because of lack of interest. group s lone promotional performance in conjunction album occurred on 19 april 1996, when downes , payne appeared guitarist elliott randall on virgin fm radio programme alive in london play song never .

an acoustic album, live acoustic, recorded group @ stadthalle, bruchsal, germany on 21 september 1997 (and released in december 1999) featured lineup of downes, payne, ibrahim, , drummer bob richards.

in 1999 there talk of reunion of original lineup minus howe. original proposition included dave kilminster on guitar, had toured , recorded wetton. while howe interested in participating, unable because of busy schedule yes. reunion did not take place , john payne continued carry on asia downes uninterrupted. wetton , palmer did, however, form qango, included kilminster , john young, although band short-lived. kilminster went on work keith emerson, nice , roger waters. in 2000, geffen/universal released best-of entitled best of asia: heat of moment (1982–1990), included 3 rare b-sides days. in may 2000 band put out instrumentals album called rare.

asia in 2001; left-to-right: downes, payne, chris slade , guthrie govan

2001 s aura featured 3 different session guitarists, including ian crichton (of canadian progressive rock band saga) d briefly joined asia in 1998–1999. aura took more progressive rock form, still did not recapture commercial success of first album. former members howe, thrall, sturgis , elliott randall made guest appearances. single ready go home barely distributed. asia signed recognition records. 2001 did see band stable lineup, achieved during aura sessions featuring downes, payne, guitarist guthrie govan , ex-manfred mann s earth band/the firm/uriah heep/gary numan/ac/dc drummer chris slade (who had first joined asia in 1999, briefly).

in 2001 , 2002 asia toured first time since 1994, including first united states dates since 1993. live album , dvd, both titled america: live in usa, released in 2003, recorded @ classic rock productions classic rock festival @ patriots theater @ trenton war memorial in trenton, new jersey on 5 october 2002, co-headlined uriah heep.

in summer of 2003, downes , payne undertook asia across america tour , received media attention. performing unplugged , duo reportedly play anywhere in united states fans requested, provided there venue , fans put $3,000 cover costs.

marking departure convention, first time studio release not titled single word starting , ending letter (excepting partial compilation / partial new album & now). released on asia s newly signed label spv/inside out records, 2004 s silent nation (name influenced howard stern vs. fcc incident) picked unexpected exposure on internet.

in 2004 acoustic asia toured once again featuring downes , payne. in 2005 full band toured in europe , americas playing settings ranging small clubs medium-sized theatres. in united states attendance poor @ best.

in august 2005 slade left asia replaced drummer jay schellen. new band started work on album, tentatively entitled architect of time, planned release in 2006, though subsequent developments cause project shelved. half of material ended being released on album window soul in august of 2006 under new band name of gps, acronym 3 players involved: govan, payne , schellen. after this, 3 continued on asia featuring john payne in 2007.

meanwhile, wetton , downes had released archival asia material under name wetton/downes in september 2002 , reunited record full-length album (icon, released in august 2005) , accompanying ep , dvd. 2 additional icon projects have since followed: icon ii: rubicon (november 2006) , icon 3 (march 2009).

2006–13: original asia reunion

in 2006, partnership between downes , payne dissolved when downes left reunion of original band lineup under asia name, breakup payne described painful . existing lineup (minus downes) continued short while before morphing aforementioned gps.

when downes left in 2006, payne owned significant portion of rights band name asia , until legal agreement set both bands management. original members exclusively continued perform , record asia. on 9 may 2006, john payne, geoff downes, john wetton, carl palmer , steve howe contractually agreed john payne continue 15-year period asia asia featuring john payne. asia featuring john payne debuted in 2007 payne on vocals/bass, guthrie govan on guitar, erik norlander on keyboards , jay schellen on drums.

the official websites of each band reflect split between shared history of payne s tenure band, reunited asia acknowledge pre- , post-payne albums, whereas asia featuring john payne claim payne-era (1991–2006) albums aqua (1992) through silent nation (2004) part of own discography. asia featuring john payne perform songs entire history of asia.

downes , other 3 original members (wetton, palmer , howe) convened group meeting in england in 2006 in anticipation of formally reforming work year. , after slew of rumours, announced original lineup of asia planning cd, dvd , world tour celebrate band s 25th anniversary. band appeared in october 2006 on united states cable channel vh-1 classic , began world tour largely focused on united states band secured ownership of asia name , toured under description of 4 original members of asia. set list featured of first album couple of songs second, along 1 selection each yes, elp, king crimson , buggles acknowledge history of each member of band. in 2006 interview, guitarist steve howe states, real asia. there have been other incarnations of band, 1 public embraced .

asia in 2006; left-to-right: howe, palmer , wetton (off-camera: downes)

the tour began on 29 august 2006 in rochester, new york. definitive collection released geffen/universal tie tour in september , peaked @ no.183 on united states album charts--—the first time asia had made charts since 1990. limited edition release available @ best buy stores included dvd of band s music videos.

the reunion tour continued 2007 venue size based on success of 2006 shows, band playing in clubs , theatres. many of these sold out, including 7 dates in japan. in 2007, band released fantasia: live in tokyo on cd , dvd through eagle records, commemorating 25th anniversary , documenting success of 2006–2007 tour.

in mid-2007, 4 original members (wetton, downes, howe , palmer) went studio record new album, marking first recorded material 4 original members since 1983 s alpha. band continued tour until major heart surgery wetton in second half of year saw remaining tour dates rescheduled 2008.

the new studio album, entitled phoenix, released on frontiers records on 14 april 2008 (via emi/capitol on 15 april in north america), along world tour promote. 12-track album includes extraordinary life , based on wetton s experience of ill health; rockers such never again , alibis ; , power ballads such heroine , remember . world tour featured couple of new songs. album cover featured roger dean s illustration , design. phoenix album did in both american , european/japanese markets. debuted @ no.73 on american billboard 200; band had not charted studio album since 1985.

as special finale phoenix tour, band performed, first time ever, entire first asia album beginning end @ san francisco concert @ regency center on 5 may. album comprised entire 2nd set of evening s concert.

in summer 2009, asia toured united states yes. asia opened 55-minute show, while yes closed 1-hour , 50 minute set. asia s set included extraordinary life phoenix, rest of songs coming first 2 albums plus 1 cover each buggles ( video killed radio star wetton on lead vocals , downes on vocoder), king crimson ( court of crimson king , recorded original incarnation of band greg lake on lead vocals) , emerson, lake & palmer ( fanfare common man ). yes songs omitted tour s setlist, though asia covered roundabout on earlier legs of 4 original members tour. contrary expectations, downes did not perform yes, although set list included 2 songs 1980 album drama, featured downes on keys. series of shows late in tour featured special appearance ian mcdonald (flute , vocals on court of crimson king , co-wrote, , backing vocals on heat of moment ).

in late 2009, band began working on follow-up cd phoenix. according wetton s website in late november 2009: news new album starting leap, rather creep (or sleep) in terms of progress. week have 2 completed lead vocals, complete harmony/chorus voxes on three. s me, geoff [downes], steve r[ispin], , mike paxman in studio--- carl [palmer] pretty done, steve h[owe] half done, , returns fold after yes tour. sounds absolutely wonderful . follow-up, titled omega, released in uk on 26 april 2010.

the band finished new studio album timed coincide band s thirtieth anniversary, titled xxx, , released in u.k. on 2 july 2012 , worldwide around same time. in september 2012 played 4 shows in japan , north american tour started on 11 october 2012. uk tour, however, had cancelled after number of shows due palmer contracting serious case of e. coli.

2013–17: howe s retirement, gravitas , hiatus

on 10 january 2013, steve howe announced retirement band focus on other projects, including yes, bringing end reunion of original lineup. asia in turn announced continuing new guitarist sam coulson, new album in works entitled gravitas. new lineup performed live in 2013.

on website ultimateclassicrock.com, howe explained decision leave asia:

something had give. because d done 5 years both bands , geoff had joined [yes] when did fly here, maybe lot shorter, quarter of time him. experienced tip of iceberg of being on call 2 bands. there times in first 3 years — got easier when geoff joined. easier because both in band , both wrestle schedules — before that, @ times, yes or asia extend tour day , yes or asia expand start of tour, gap start close.

and start freaking out saying yeah, hang on ... if add date here , ve added date here, m squeezed concertina. there going time @ point when unworkable , unfortunately end of last year made me realize being on call much. couldn t keep either happy. either making yes miserable or asia miserable, because of other 1 being in existence.

so think asia had terrific run , made 3 great albums. in fact, xxx, think, fantastic record.

the band finished recording sessions gravitas in december 2013 , in january 2014 started shooting music video valkyrie , released single. album s cover artwork designed asia longtime collaborator roger dean. on 30 january 2014, wetton revealed album s track listing through asia s official website , talked each song album. album released on 24 march 2014 , reached number 1 in progressive rock chart emusic on 27 march.

following gravitas , subsequent tour, band went on three-year hiatus due wetton having cancer , undergoing chemotherapy. on 5 december 2016, asia announced tour opening american rock band journey, beginning 12 dates 15 march 2017 @ yakima valley sundome in yakima, washington, , 4 days later, announced live album symfonia: live in bulgaria 2013, upon performed plovdiv philharmonic orchestra.

2017–present: wetton s death, sherwood frontman

on 11 january 2017, wetton released statement that, due receiving round of chemotherapy, unable perform on 12 dates announced journey tour, , substituted billy sherwood, 1 of downes yes bandmates, , wetton s own co-writer , producer of album raised in captivity. band had wanted cancel tour altogether, journey s management , agents refused, forcing them pick sherwood last-minute replacement.

wetton died on 31 january 2017 @ age of 67; palmer later stated so, used billy , had phenomenal time. great experience round, , i’m pleased did it. john have loved on tour, i’m pleased did him, anyway. on june 17, 2017, asia performed show in hommage of wetton, titled extraordinary life.

after wetton s death, downes stated duo had been working on asia album, , stated might completed , released. unclear if wetton had recorded parts, or if album had been in songwriting process. in august, palmer stated future of asia unclear, make decisions , band members busy on other projects in meantime.