Editorial

 
Yes, Yes was a rock group whose music differed from all the other rock groups of the 1970's. They had a hit with a piece called 'Roundabout'. The message got through and many roundabouts have been built, especially in the last two decades. It has obviously improved intersection safety but for all the world's bluesmen the all-important crossroads are diminishing.

Listen to some of the longer Yes numbers and the strange need to concentrate associated with listening to classical music creeps in. The shambolic rock and roll syntax is replaced by a composition of themes and variations alternating the cantata parts with the sonata ones. The sonic fundament that sets them apart is the cross rhythms created by the rubbery high end bass lines over the taut snare drumming. A guitar virtuoso fans out the melodies into the moog backgrounds like watercolours over which a male soprano hits all the right notes on the deliberate profundity of the verses. The listening pleasure is almost intellectual.

Is remembering Yes the way forward for Rock and Roll which seems to be on the verge of retirement? Will the classical intuitions lead us via a proven path to where originality tempered by knowledge may perchance revive popular music? Could 'tradition' be the preferred approach for attaining longevity in music as well as in architecture?