#480 - Asia - THIS MIGHT BLOW YOUR MIND - Strange Details

Robert John Hadfield digs into Asia’s massive 1982 debut album, the strange magic of prog-rock veterans suddenly making perfect radio-friendly pop, and the tangled web connecting Asia, Yes, The Buggles, GTR, Journey, ELP, Roger Dean, Trevor Horn, Trevor Rabin, Cozy Powell, and MTV history. This episode looks at why Asia’s debut became one of the biggest albums of the early ’80s, how Roger Dean’s iconic artwork carried over from Yes into Asia, and why John Wetton saw the band’s success as a kind of musical revenge. Robert also shares his personal memories of seeing Asia at Red Rocks as a teenager — complete with the original concert shirt — and reads from a fascinating 1983 Chicago Tribune article about the band’s rise, criticism, home-taping controversy, and supergroup tensions. Timestamps 0:00 – Asia, GTR, and the trivia challenge 1:21 – Asia’s debut album explodes in 1982 2:16 – The unusual supergroup formula 3:52 – Roger Dean, Yes, and the Asia artwork 6:13 – The Drama connection 6:40 – The Buggles, MTV, and Trevor Horn 7:40 – Yes returns with 90125 9:46 – A 1983 article on Asia’s success 12:49 – Was Asia a formula rock band? 15:09 – The Mike Stone/Journey connection 17:06 – Robert’s Red Rocks concert memory 19:21 – Why this music preserves memories 21:48 – John Wetton’s low point before Asia 24:27 – How the band came together 26:42 – The home-taping controversy 28:35 – Alpha and the rushed follow-up 29:37 – Supergroup ego problems 30:10 – Trivia answers revealed 31:43 – Final thoughts and Digitech thanks #Asia #Yes #JohnWetton #SteveHowe #CarlPalmer #GeoffDownes #RogerDean #ClassicRock #ProgRock #AudioMover #RobertJohnHadfield