Trevor Horn - Owner of a Lonely Heart

[arj]

I think one of the real innovations was Horn's push to loop, cut and paste the drums to capture a feel. The fact that the band was instinctively 'over complicating' the feel Horn wanted is telling. The fact that Alan was upset, also points to the influence of Trevor Horn. Telling a drummer of Alan White's calibre that he is overplaying and you are going loop 2 bars of his playing! Reminds me of on interview with Jon Giblin (or it may have been the drummer, Mel Gaynor) from Simple Minds, apparently they (rhythm section) were jamming in the studio playing fusiony stuff - and Steve Lillywhite asked them where you could find fusion in the record store. When they replied that they did not know he responded with "Neither does anyone else. Now stop playing that shit and get on with it.." now I am paraphrasing but these producers have some big balls!
In Paul Stump's book, "The music's all that Matters - A History of Progressive Rock", he points to the producer's/band's use of technology and the studio in the early eighties as the genuine "progressive" aspect of Yes at that point.
I was lucky enough to have a chat with Doug Wimbish a few years ago and told him how much a fan I was of his playing on the first Seal album produced by TH, particularly the song "Wild". He told me that what he played was chopped and changed so much that it quite different to the finished product.
Amazing when you think about it.
Back to the clip, the reference to the reverb on the drums also showed Trevor Horn to be a 'free thinker'. When most others would have gone for the typical drum sound of the time (see Mutt Lange and Steve Lillywhite), as wanted by Trevor Rabin (and the roadie NuNu apparently!), he chose a (imho) tastier approach.
I am glad that some of you appreciate the interview as much as I did.
Cheers,
PS For those who did not know, I am pretty sure that Chris Squire came up with the outro 'Motown' riff on Owner.
I wonder how the 'points' for this song were allocated. Maybe Rabin>Horn>Squire>Anderson? Given that Anderson contributed a few words (not melody). The next bit of the interview discusses Horn's attitude to points, but not in detail as re this song.

[ThomasKDye]

Reminds me of on interview with Jon Giblin (or it may have been the drummer, Mel Gaynor) from Simple Minds, apparently they (rhythm section) were jamming in the studio playing fusiony stuff - and Steve Lillywhite asked them where you could find fusion in the record store. When they replied that they did not know he responded with "Neither does anyone else. Now stop playing that shit and get on with it.." now I am paraphrasing but these producers have some big balls!

Lillywhite is a douche. Bailing on Rush at the last minute after committing to "Grace Under Pressure." F*** him.

[calyx]

For those who did not know, I am pretty sure that Chris Squire came up with the outro 'Motown' riff on Owner.

Indeed, Chris confirmed this to me when I interviewed him a couple of years ago. The section based on a bass riff that begins after Rabin goes "owner of a lonely heaaaaaart". That was the whole extent of his contribution.

[JIF]

Lillywhite is a douche. Bailing on Rush at the last minute after committing to "Grace Under Pressure." F*** him.

In case you don't know the whole story, Rush wanted Steve to go to Canada. The band that he choose to produce over Rush was working in England. So, working in England meant that Steve could be close to his pregnant wife. Maybe one should know the whole story before calling someone else names?

[ThomasKDye]

Maybe one should know the whole story before calling someone else names?

So he shouldn't have committed in the first place if he wasn't going to follow through. Certainly not back out at the last minute.

[ssully]

I've never considered 90125 to be in the vein of lowest common denominator corporate AOR, a la Night Ranger/Asia/Journey/38 Special.

I always have. I lived through the transition from 1973 to 1983.

[ssully]

Indeed, Chris confirmed this to me when I interviewed him a couple of years ago. The section based on a bass riff that begins after Rabin goes "owner of a lonely heaaaaaart". That was the whole extent of his contribution.

CS had patented that prog major chord arpeggio riff long before that. You can hear it on 'Ritual' too.

[JIF]

So he shouldn't have committed in the first place if he wasn't going to follow through. Certainly not back out at the last minute.

Again, you don't know the whole story. No excuse for calling someone a douche.

[Akustika]

I've never considered 90125 to be in the vein of lowest common denominator corporate AOR, a la Night Ranger/Asia/Journey/38 Special. It still sounds pretty fresh, many decades later.

I always have. I lived through the transition from 1973 to 1983.

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

[Scott Bails]

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

Yep - this was how I was introduced.

[timmy]

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

Yep - this was how I was introduced.

Same here. Add Rush-Moving Pictures to that list of influences! It was Moving Pictures, Abacab, Asia, Discipline[edit to add] and 90125 that pushed me to the prog side.

[Frumious B]

I don't even remotely apologize for cranking Journey's Escape and Frontiers on occasion, but IMHO there are two very distinct elements that set 90125 apart: 1. Beatles influence: I still hear the Beatles influence that marks most of Yes' work on 90125. I don't hear much Beatles at all in standard issue arena rock. 2. Trevor Horn was a pioneer in developing that British synth pop sound that pretty much exploded in the early 80s and is all over 90125. Listen to The Buggles' Adventures in Modern Recording. In a lot of ways that album is like the missing sonic link between Drama and 90125.

[JIF]

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

Wasn't Jon Davison introduced to Yes through 90125?

[Scott Bails]

Listen to The Buggles' Adventures in Modern Recording. In a lot of ways that album is like the missing sonic link between Drama and 90125.

Definitely agree.

[Ken Baird]

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

Me too!

[Adrian]

I think there is a whole generation of fans (including myself) who were first introduced to the world of prog through Asia, 90125 and/or early 80’s Genesis.

Yep. I still distinctly remember where I was when I heard "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for the first time. That one song got me into prog.

[N_Singh]

Me too!

Me 5!

[BravadoNJ]

i only knew about Yes on the radio, i never had any albums...... until 90125. maybe it was pop, but it opened the door to a new generation of fans.

[thos]

CS had patented that prog major chord arpeggio riff long before that. You can hear it on 'Ritual' too.

Really whereabouts in Ritual? Are you referring to the 5/4 riff?

[GuitarGeek]

Really whereabouts in Ritual? Are you referring to the 5/4 riff?

Which one is the 5/4 riff?

[ThomasKDye]

Which one is the 5/4 riff?

2:13. After two bars it switches to 6/4 and 7/4, respectively.

[thos]

In Ritual there's a 5/4 theme which underscores the wordless vocal section toward the beginning of the piece, and also leads into the bass solo...

i thought maybe that's what ssully meant when he said Squire's bass line in Owner (later section of the song) could be heard in Ritual.

I was trying to find out where he hears that line in Ritual.