Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week, Mark and I had a lot of fun on one of our Yes Guess Who quizzes. Also, as you'll hear, we veered a little off-topic in both the answer section of the quiz and in a two pence segment that was supposed to be about Yes and Yes-related Record Store Day releases, but we enjoyed a little bit of less serious chat a couple of times there.

In the quiz, we each had five quotations from Yes men to try and fox each other with and, this time, I think they were quite a bit more difficult than the previous two outings of this game. Like last time, there were two points for attributing the quotation correctly and one for guessing the decade in which it was said. (That's really the least reliable part of the quiz and just there to add a little extra spice, or whatever.) I also had a bonus point available for Mark on one question, so listen out for that.

• Who said what?
• When did they say it?
• Who won the competition?

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week, we had a great conversation with Glenn Williams, a rock writer based in Japan who I found via YMP Patron Paul Hailes. We picked Genn's brains about the music scene in Japan today and over the decades to try and find out what makes the country 'tick' and why they seem to receive special treatment from record companies. I have several Yes records and CDs in Japanese import versions, as you probably do and they are always impressive.

We also discussed the conditions for live music in Japan and how different genres are viewed. Glenn shared some great insights.

• How have music listening trends changed in Japan over the decades?
• Why has it always been seen as a great place to record live albums?
• How popular is progressive rock nowadays?

Let us know what you think in the comments on the show notes for this week.

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week, Mark and I continue our mini series about solo songs that could have been Yes songs and this time it's Jon Anderson's turn. As we did last week with Steve Howe, we listened to Jon's first three solo albums - Olias of Sunhillow, Song of Seven and Animation. We chose just one song from each record that we think could have worked on a Yes album and discussed our reasons. It was very interesting, once again, to note the dramatic differences in approach that Jon went through from 1976 to 1982. In some ways, I think Anderson went the opposite direction to Howe, as you'll hear.

• How does Jon Anderson's solo approach change over the years?
• How easy is it to spot songs that could have been on yes albums?
• Who collaborated with Jon on these three records?

Let us know what you think in the comments on the show notes for this week.

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week Mark and I began a mini series on songs that appear on Yes members' solo albums but could have been re-worked as effective Yes songs. It was interesting to listen to our first subject, Steve Howe's first 3 solo albums, Beginnings, The Steve Howe Album and Turbulence back-to-back. There are plenty of differences to enjoy, plus some singing from Steve.

We compared notes on several songs and also assigned what we called a 'Yesability score' to each song. All will be revealed in our conversation.

• Which Howe solo songs did we choose?
• Is it easy to tell what could have been Yes songs instead of solo numbers?
• How does Steve's music change over the years?

Let us know what you think in the comments on the show notes for this week.

Established in 2011 and produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Jeffrey Crecelius and Ken Fuller

This week Mark and I welcomed our longstanding friend, Preston Frazier, onto the show to talk about his (relatively) new book, 'Yes Indeed - Yes without Jon Anderson'. It's a fascinating and very different kind of Yes book, as you'll discover. As always, Preston was full of fun, even when we posed him some of the most difficult questions we have ever asked on the YMP. He took these in his stride, of course and I'm sure you will enjoy the conversation as much as we did.

• Why did Preston write this book?
• What was his approach?
• Is this book similar to any other books about Yes?

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

Mark and I return for the first time in the 15th year of the YMP this week to discuss some of what we believe are the most important aspects of the classic Chris Squire solo album, Fish Out Of Water. I do mention that it's 50 years since its release but, as you probably know, we are a bit late to the party. The official release date was November 1975 but that doesn't affect any of the points we make in our conversation. As we didn't celebrate the real 50th anniversary, we are making up for that today. Do let us know what your thoughts are on this amazing record by leaving a comment in the show notes for this week.

• What makes this album so good?
• Is it the best Yes member solo album?
• Who else was involved?

Let us know what you think in the comments over at YesMusicPodcast.com

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

Here is a short selection of Yuletide messages and other pieces of audio to finish off 2025.

Many thanks to Michael Handerhan for his review of the (fairly) recent Yes show he attended and to Stephen Lambe for his audio feedback on last week's quiz.

Thank you to everyone who has listened and/or been in touch in any way this year including all patrons for their support and producers. We are very much looking forward to 2026 and the fifteenth anniversary of the YMP. Whatever you celebrate at this time of year, I hope you have a great time. Here are Michael, Stephen and, finally, Mark to finish off the year.

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

This week Mark and I recorded what turned into a Christmas quiz. As you will hear, we even diverted into other aspects of the holiday season at the end, so look out for that.

As a dedicated Yes fan, you'll want to take part in the quiz yourself by keeping track of your own answers and scores and then adding them to the show notes for this week.

• Does Kevin or Mark win the quiz?
• How did you do?
• What is the Christmas diversion at the end of the show?

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

Well, here we are - 14 years and 700 episodes of the Yes Music Podcast. Thank you to Miguel Falcão who has created the new jingles for 700 episodes and thank you to everyone who has sent messages of congratulation. I've inserted the audio ones fairly randomly throughout the show but I'll start with a few written ones. Over on Twitter or X, Oliver Wakeman said, "A fantastic achievement. I've been fortunate to be a guest on a number of occasions. Congratulations!" Thank you Oliver. Julio Scissors (@captainjellico) said, "Congrats! Love your show!" and Jon Anderson pic of the day (@JonAndersonpic1) also said, "Congrats!" Thank you both.

As you'll hear, Mark and I had an enjoyable conversation about a particular Yes 700 topic and then there's some actual music from Steve Howe. Stay tuned for that!

• What Yes '700' topic have we come up with?
• Who has sent messages of congratulation?
• What Steve Howe music do we play?

Produced by Joseph Cottrell, Wayne Hall, Ken Fuller and Jeffrey Crecelius

The Yes-a-verse went into meltdown this week over a new release of the Wembley BBC concert recording. As you will hear, it's a bit of a twisted tale so I was grateful to have Mark to help me wade through the marshy world of bootlegs. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this release, the BBC concert recording from 1978 or anything else to do with Yes bootlegs. Please leave your comments on the show notes for this week's episode.

• What is this new release?
• Is it official?
• What was the original broadcast like?

Next week is our 700th episode. I can't believe it - can you? If you would like to have your voice in that celebratory episode, please send a sound file to [email protected] or use the Speakpipe button on the website. If you manage to get something to me by Thursday 4th December, I'll do my best to include it. Thank you.