Speaking of YES, any fans of WORLD TRADE feat. Billy Sherwood on this board?

[CosmoNaut]

I'm a big fan of Trevor Rabin era YES myself - the WORLD TRADE debut from '89 is almost like an extension from that period. Too bad the album never caught on and was ignored by the buying public back then and is not very well known in either prog or AOR circles (maybe the fact WT were not prog enough for the hardcore prog crowd and too prog for the AOR crowd helped seal their fate; bad timing and a record company that didn't seem to know what to do with the band did the rest).

In any case, 'World Trade' remains one of my faves from that era, an under-the-radar prog/AOR gem, just like the Toy Matinee album which came out around the same time. They did a MTV video for 'The Revolution Song' but didn't get much airplay.



Line-up:
Billy Sherwood (Lodgic, Yes, Yoso) - vocals, bass
Bruce Gowdy (Stone Fury, Unruly Child, Glenn Hughes) - guitar
Guy Allison (Lodgic, Moody Blues, Air Supply) - keyboards
Mark T Williams (son of the legendary John Williams; brother to Joseph Williams who sang for Toto, a.o.) - drums


P.S.: Chris Squire guested on their second album, 'Euphoria', which was a bit of a letdown compared to the stellar debut.

[Brian]

Check out the band Lodgic.

[arj]

I was thinking about this album the other day. I was actually a fan of it before I knew of any Squire connection. I remember listening with friends and loving the fact that this new band must love Yes! The harmonies, bass tone, White like snare and Rabin/Squire songwriting approach. Great to find out that Generator Yes was influencing muso's at this stage of their career. Unfortunate that some seventies Yes fans pushed back...Agreed that the quality dipped afterwards but I believe that the producer (Ken Scott?) pushed Billy hard on the vocals. I actually think his voice shines on this one, unlike subsequent releases. I include 2 tracks from it in my Yes best playlist.

[CosmoNaut]

Check out the band Lodgic.

I prefer World Trade to Lodgic but I've been meaning to pick up the Yesterrock CD re-issue of 'Nomadic Sands'.

[CosmoNaut]

I was thinking about this album the other day. I was actually a fan of it before I knew of any Squire connection. I remember listening with friends and loving the fact that this new band must love Yes! The harmonies, bass tone, White like snare and Rabin/Squire songwriting approach. Great to find out that Generator Yes was influencing muso's at this stage of their career. Unfortunate that some seventies Yes fans pushed back...Agreed that the quality dipped afterwards but I believe that the producer (Ken Scott?) pushed Billy hard on the vocals. I actually think his voice shines on this one, unlike subsequent releases. I include 2 tracks from it in my Yes best playlist.

I became a fan of Rabin's through his solo album, 'Wolf', so I wasn't pushing back any when I heard '90125' - although I could see why long-time Yes fans would reject the album. It sounds so unlike anything Yes had done previously. But thank the gods Rabin crossed paths with them at the time - he was a fresh breath of musical air and exactly the type of youthful infusion the band needed.

As for World Trade, I think the album sounds stellar (Keith Olson of Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner and Whitesnake fame produced) and I love Billy's vocals and bass playing. How cool that there was a young guy who sounded sort of like Jon Anderson and could play like Chris Squire! :-) He was destined to end up in the Yes circle sooner or later. I just wish the original WT line-up would've made more than one album but with alternative and grunge starting to take over and anything remotely 80's sounding and not commercially success getting dropped by the majors, it wasn't meant to be.

Too bad the album has been out-of-print for years - high time for a Rock Candy re-issue!

[Plasmatopia]

I have this album (or at least had it on cassette and then transferred it to digital and into my iTunes). It's really the only thing Billy Sherwood related that I like.

[moecurlythanu]

I didn't follow Yes closely, or the related stuff, but wasn't there also a band called Esquire around the same time, fronted by Chris' wife Nikki? I think they had a similar sound to World Trade, so it was a question of whether you preferred male or female vocals.

[CosmoNaut]

I didn't follow Yes closely, or the related stuff, but wasn't there also a band called Esquire around the same time, fronted by Chris' wife Nikki? I think they had a similar sound to World Trade, so it was a question of whether you preferred male or female vocals.

The Esquire '87 album is more pop and less hard rock oriented than World Trade, both in terms of musical style and production. Some really cool songs on that album as well though.

[JKL2000]

I see Hugh Syme did graphic design for World Trade.

[CosmoNaut]

I see Hugh Syme did graphic design for World Trade.

You are correct, Sir. A great Syme piece it is, too https://www.discogs.com/release/1016...d-Trade/images. Which he later 'revisited' for Dream Theater's 'Octavarium' https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZVMIk3xYaYo/maxresdefault.jpg. :-)

[2steves]

Didn't catch on because it's not very good. Lot's of mediocre bands sound like this. And it certainly isn't prog Sherwood never did prog. But enjoy.

[the winter tree]

Billy could really sing back then. He sounds much different now.

[Obscured]

I didn't follow Yes closely, or the related stuff, but wasn't there also a band called Esquire around the same time, fronted by Chris' wife Nikki? I think they had a similar sound to World Trade, so it was a question of whether you preferred male or female vocals.

Esquire III (?) was released recently by Nikki. The camples I heard weren't anything special.

[dpt3]

Hmm... I never would've thought of the World Trade/Toy Matinee comparison, but it's kind of apt. I don't find World Trade anywhere near as compelling as Toy Matinee, however. Now imagine the drama if Kevin Gilbert had joined Yes!

[timmy]

I remember hearing that the original lineup of World Trade were supposed to reunite for a new album. Of course this was some time ago before Billy Sherwood became full time with Yes (and now Asia). Has anyone heard updates on this?

[Guess Who]

New World Trade album is scheduled for mid Summer 2017.

[bondegezou]

Esquire III (?) was released recently by Nikki. The camples I heard weren't anything special.

I think the first Esquire album, with C Squire, White and Horn all involved, is the best, but there's a distinct melodic style that Nikki (or maybe her keyboardist) has that runs through all three Esquire albums and has a certain attraction.

As for World Trade, I enjoy both of their albums. Lodgic is clearly in a similar vein, but you can tell they're all young and haven't quite matured enough as musicians.

Guitarist Bruce Gowdy and keyboardist Guy Allison from World Trade (and Allison was also in Lodgic) continued working together in Unruly Child, who have a more mainstream hard rock sound, but have their moments. Unruly Child also acted as the backing band for a so-so album with Bobby Kimball in 1995, years before Sherwood formed Yoso with him. Allison also had some OK moments in later Air Supply.

Henry

[Wil]

I really liked the first Esquire album although it only really shone on the first track (which, I assume, was the one with the most input from Squire and Horn) and the final 'What You've Been Saying' which has some classic Squire backup vocals at the end.

[zorknapp]

I think the first Esquire album, with C Squire, White and Horn all involved, is the best, but there's a distinct melodic style that Nikki (or maybe her keyboardist) has that runs through all three Esquire albums and has a certain attraction.

As for World Trade, I enjoy both of their albums. Lodgic is clearly in a similar vein, but you can tell they're all young and haven't quite matured enough as musicians.

Guitarist Bruce Gowdy and keyboardist Guy Allison from World Trade (and Allison was also in Lodgic) continued working together in Unruly Child, who have a more mainstream hard rock sound, but have their moments. Unruly Child also acted as the backing band for a so-so album with Bobby Kimball in 1995, years before Sherwood formed Yoso with him. Allison also had some OK moments in later Air Supply.

Henry

This one post has literally answered all questions I may have had about the non-Billy Sherwood members of World Trade, both before and after their stint in the band...

Mike

[arturs]

I had World Trade on cassette back in the day. I liked it but lost interest after a while. We had a thread on WT a year ago or so, and I tried to find my old tape but could not. I would have to re-listen but from my recollections I don't think their riffs and melodies were quite good enough for the big time. YMMV of course.

[ProgArtist]

I'm really not a big fan of Billy Sherwood, so I'm a bit shocked at how strong his vocals are in the video above. What happened? All the vocals I've heard of him with Yes and elsewhere have been thin and nasal-y. In the video his voice is really strong with a lot of support (even if I find the music dated in a not-so-good way).

[bondegezou]

I'm really not a big fan of Billy Sherwood, so I'm a bit shocked at how strong his vocals are in the video above. What happened? All the vocals I've heard of him with Yes and elsewhere have been thin and nasal-y. In the video his voice is really strong with a lot of support (even if I find the music dated in a not-so-good way).

What he's said, more or less, is that World Trade management pushed him to overuse his voice and it never really recovered.

Henry

[CosmoNaut]

New World Trade album is scheduled for mid Summer 2017.

I'll be more than a little excited if it involves the original line-up. Thanks for the heads up.

[bondegezou]

I'll be more than a little excited if it involves the original line-up. Thanks for the heads up.

It is the original line-up: Sherwood, Bruce Gowdy, Mark T Williams, Guy Allison.

Henry

[CosmoNaut]

Guitarist Bruce Gowdy and keyboardist Guy Allison from World Trade (and Allison was also in Lodgic) continued working together in Unruly Child, who have a more mainstream hard rock sound, but have their moments. Unruly Child also acted as the backing band for a so-so album with Bobby Kimball in 1995, years before Sherwood formed Yoso with him. Allison also had some OK moments in later Air Supply.

I think the s/t Unruly Child album from '92 is awesome but then again I'm a pretty big fan of AOR, particularly stuff that flew under the radar, which UC did. Mark (now Marcie) Free is one of the best vocalists in the biz and had great chemistry with Gowdy and Allison (the drummer, of course, was Jay Schellen, now also part of the extended Yes and Asia family. And here is more trivia: Schellen is in Asia feat. John Payne w/ guitarist Jeff Kollman; Kollman in turn is working with Allison in Japan, both members of singer Eikichi Yazawa's backing band). Unruly Child were another band that became a victim of the alt/grunge juggernaut and never had a chance to break bigger.