Long time, waiting to feel the sound
April 30, 2020 7:43 AM Subscribe
Long Distance Runaround is a single from Yes's 1971 album Fragile. Originally written as a B-side to Roundabout, the song became a radio hit on its own. Though extremely short by Yes standards, the song still manages to cram in plenty of delightful prog-rock flourishes, including a key change and some rhythmic shenanigans. Also true to the band's nature, the songwriting credit is a source of acrimony and passive aggression.
Notable covers by:
The Bad Plus
Red House Painters
Billy Joel (partial audio from a soundcheck)
The Joggers
A live version by Yes that they still somehow managed to stretch to 7 minutes.
Guitarist Steve Howe demonstrates the main riff.
Notable covers by:
The Bad Plus
Red House Painters
Billy Joel (partial audio from a soundcheck)
The Joggers
A live version by Yes that they still somehow managed to stretch to 7 minutes.
Guitarist Steve Howe demonstrates the main riff.
I think they really did count to 100. They must've done by now.
posted by scruss at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2020
posted by scruss at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2020
Long Distance Runaround is one of those tracks that actually qualifies as unique. So much so that I can definitively place the first two times I heard it, both in the early 1970s when it was brand new and I was still a pre-teen.
1. the opening bars were used as a backing track on a radio ad -- the cool local FM station. I can't remember what the ad was for, but I do remember the music.
2. a "hot dog" skier used the whole song as the backing music for a ballet routine. I can't remember if the routine was any good, but I do remember the music.
posted by philip-random at 8:20 AM on April 30, 2020
1. the opening bars were used as a backing track on a radio ad -- the cool local FM station. I can't remember what the ad was for, but I do remember the music.
2. a "hot dog" skier used the whole song as the backing music for a ballet routine. I can't remember if the routine was any good, but I do remember the music.
posted by philip-random at 8:20 AM on April 30, 2020
shocked this is NOT a hippybear post! I look forward to digging into this :)
posted by supermedusa at 8:52 AM on April 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 8:52 AM on April 30, 2020 [5 favorites]
As long as I've been playing the guitar, I've always wanted to be able to play Mood for a Day. This post is a good inspiration to getting around to learning to play that as best as I can with my sloppy fingering. Also, that link to the Bad Plus has introduced me to a new fantastic band! Double good!!
posted by jabo at 9:01 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by jabo at 9:01 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
All of them completely made of music, indubitably; but Chris Squire was a beast.
Long Distance Runaround / The Fish (11:56)
Starship Trooper (13:16)
Live in Lugano, 2004
posted by flabdablet at 9:43 AM on April 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Long Distance Runaround / The Fish (11:56)
Starship Trooper (13:16)
Live in Lugano, 2004
posted by flabdablet at 9:43 AM on April 30, 2020 [6 favorites]
Lifelong Yes fan here and fortunate to have seen the (almost all) original line up several times live. Cut my teeth on both Fragile and Close to the Edge. Burned those songs deeply into my then more plastic brain.
I recently had the occasion to exchange some email with a close friend with whom I shared my passion for 1970s Prog Rock bands. He actually followed Yes far longer than I did. As he unfolded the array of line ups the band has gone through over the years, I noted that it seemed pretty singular that one initial project spawned such a long lineage of related re-configurations (sometimes even two at the same time), with recognition, finally, by the RnR Hall of Fame while most of the original principals were not only alive but still performing---even if not necessarily together. (Though it would have been nice for Squire to have lived long enough so see that.)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 9:54 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
I recently had the occasion to exchange some email with a close friend with whom I shared my passion for 1970s Prog Rock bands. He actually followed Yes far longer than I did. As he unfolded the array of line ups the band has gone through over the years, I noted that it seemed pretty singular that one initial project spawned such a long lineage of related re-configurations (sometimes even two at the same time), with recognition, finally, by the RnR Hall of Fame while most of the original principals were not only alive but still performing---even if not necessarily together. (Though it would have been nice for Squire to have lived long enough so see that.)
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 9:54 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
yeah Squire was a true original
it was awful how all the British prog bass giants died of cancer in the space of like two years
In other Steve Howe news:
- new solo album announced
- did it ever occur to you how much they modeled Nigel Tufnel after him?
posted by thelonius at 9:55 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
it was awful how all the British prog bass giants died of cancer in the space of like two years
In other Steve Howe news:
- new solo album announced
- did it ever occur to you how much they modeled Nigel Tufnel after him?
posted by thelonius at 9:55 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
I was in a band in the 90s, and we covered this one and Roundabout. Still two of my favorites.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:10 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:10 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I didn't realize the song was that old. I remember hearing it a lot on an album rock FM station in the early 80s. I was a big fan of Yes at the time and have a couple of their albums.
posted by fuse theorem at 10:11 AM on April 30, 2020
posted by fuse theorem at 10:11 AM on April 30, 2020
Too bad Rick Beato (previously, previously) already did a Yes deep dive with Roundabout.
Here's a hip-hop track sampling LDR ("Emergency", by Evidence)
posted by kurumi at 10:19 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Here's a hip-hop track sampling LDR ("Emergency", by Evidence)
posted by kurumi at 10:19 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
More importantly it features a cover by the greatest artist of our generation, Roger Dean.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:37 AM on April 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:37 AM on April 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
- did it ever occur to you how much they modeled Nigel Tufnel after him?
Apropos: from a 2008 interview with Rick Wakeman:
Take the hilarious scene in [Spinal Tap] in which the bass player is trapped in a giant pod - that actually happened to Alan [White, the drummer] one night.
It also occurred during the Tales From Topographic Oceans album tour. That was not my favourite Yes album and I said so at the time. Maturely, I renamed it Tales From Toby's Graphic Go-Kart.
The grandiose elements of Yes were spiralling out of all control and the stage set was unbelievable. It had been designed by Roger Dean, who had done the album cover, and reflected the record's artwork.
The drum kit was inside a giant seashell, which would open after the show started, revealing Alan doing his stuff. However, one night when the curtain went up the gearing jammed and he was trapped inside.
The problem was, it was a sealed unit, so Alan quickly began running out of air.
As this was live on stage in front of thousands of people, Alan, the consummate professional, continued playing. Meanwhile the roadies began trying to smash the pod open, staying out of the line of sight of the crowd so no one noticed.
Before long, they had to start pumping oxygen in until eventually, somehow, they prised the wretched thing open with pickaxes.
By now the audience must have noticed the rescue effort because as the pod sprang open a huge cheer went up, and Alan stumbled out gasping for breath.
Of course, back in the Seventies, audiences assumed that whatever happened on the stage was intentional.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:08 AM on April 30, 2020 [11 favorites]
Apropos: from a 2008 interview with Rick Wakeman:
Take the hilarious scene in [Spinal Tap] in which the bass player is trapped in a giant pod - that actually happened to Alan [White, the drummer] one night.
It also occurred during the Tales From Topographic Oceans album tour. That was not my favourite Yes album and I said so at the time. Maturely, I renamed it Tales From Toby's Graphic Go-Kart.
The grandiose elements of Yes were spiralling out of all control and the stage set was unbelievable. It had been designed by Roger Dean, who had done the album cover, and reflected the record's artwork.
The drum kit was inside a giant seashell, which would open after the show started, revealing Alan doing his stuff. However, one night when the curtain went up the gearing jammed and he was trapped inside.
The problem was, it was a sealed unit, so Alan quickly began running out of air.
As this was live on stage in front of thousands of people, Alan, the consummate professional, continued playing. Meanwhile the roadies began trying to smash the pod open, staying out of the line of sight of the crowd so no one noticed.
Before long, they had to start pumping oxygen in until eventually, somehow, they prised the wretched thing open with pickaxes.
By now the audience must have noticed the rescue effort because as the pod sprang open a huge cheer went up, and Alan stumbled out gasping for breath.
Of course, back in the Seventies, audiences assumed that whatever happened on the stage was intentional.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:08 AM on April 30, 2020 [11 favorites]
From the "rhythmic shenanigans" link:
>Until I finally realized that Bruford's playing his snare in 5/4 while the rest of the band (and song) is in 4/4. So cool!
Oh! THAT explains it.
Thanks! That particular itch has been waiting nearly a half-century for me to scratch.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
>Until I finally realized that Bruford's playing his snare in 5/4 while the rest of the band (and song) is in 4/4. So cool!
Oh! THAT explains it.
Thanks! That particular itch has been waiting nearly a half-century for me to scratch.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:25 AM on April 30, 2020 [3 favorites]
Aw. This has been my ringtone for as long as iPhones have allowed custom ringtones!
posted by thejoshu at 11:49 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by thejoshu at 11:49 AM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
That Billy Joel soundcheck is remarkable!
posted by wittgenstein at 11:53 AM on April 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by wittgenstein at 11:53 AM on April 30, 2020 [4 favorites]
One of my favourite songs and I love this era of Yes. I happened to be watching some live footage of them from 1977 last night, terrible quality but still amazing, and thinking how utterly absurd but totally brilliant they were, like no one else.
posted by zingzangzung at 12:26 PM on April 30, 2020
posted by zingzangzung at 12:26 PM on April 30, 2020
Too bad Rick Beato (previously, previously) already did a Yes deep dive with Roundabout yt .
previously: What makes Yes's Roundabout so f***ing great?
posted by philip-random at 12:31 PM on April 30, 2020
previously: What makes Yes's Roundabout so f***ing great?
posted by philip-random at 12:31 PM on April 30, 2020
and then I realize kurumi already linked it.
thanks, kurumi.
posted by philip-random at 3:58 PM on April 30, 2020
thanks, kurumi.
posted by philip-random at 3:58 PM on April 30, 2020
It also occurred during the Tales From Topographic Oceans album tour. That was not my favourite Yes album and I said so at the time. Maturely, I renamed it Tales From Toby's Graphic Go-Kart.
Now I don't feel so bad about calling Siberian Khatru "Siberian Cat Food" ;)
posted by luckynerd at 10:59 AM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
Now I don't feel so bad about calling Siberian Khatru "Siberian Cat Food" ;)
posted by luckynerd at 10:59 AM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
The live version by Yes in the OP is technically Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe (AKA ABWH, which was the classic Yes line up minus Chris Squire who had the rights to the name Yes) based on the VERY late 80's early 90's sartorial choices and hairstyles the band is rockin' in that clip (except Bill Buford who looks unchanged both follicly and fashionwise from the way he looked in the mid-70's).
Sorry, I had to get that Prog pedantry out of me.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:49 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
Sorry, I had to get that Prog pedantry out of me.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:49 PM on May 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
rhythmic shenanigans
That's not a shenanigan.
This is a shenanigan.
(the collective noun for a group of shenanigans is, of course, a King Crimson; that particular performance is running at three drummers per Bruford)
posted by flabdablet at 9:47 AM on May 2, 2020
That's not a shenanigan.
This is a shenanigan.
(the collective noun for a group of shenanigans is, of course, a King Crimson; that particular performance is running at three drummers per Bruford)
posted by flabdablet at 9:47 AM on May 2, 2020
Fragile is hands down their best album. Every song is great.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:39 PM on May 2, 2020
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:39 PM on May 2, 2020
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