Whatever Happened to Asia? The “Heat of the Moment” Super Group Carry On
Whatever happened to the band Asia? Maybe you remember watching the video for “Heat of the Moment” in the early ’80s, with its 16-panel screen-flipping narrative and got to thinking, “Hey, they were cool — whatever became of them?”
Well, recall that epic, vaguely Raiders of the Lost Ark-ish clip for their song “Don’t Cry,” which featured the band members meeting their respective, grisly ends? The real story is maybe only a little less gory, with a constantly changing roster of band members. (Note: All of you prog-rock nerds are excused at this point. Chances are, you know what’s coming, and you might wish to spend your time instead listening to Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway for the 16,718th time rather than sitting through this.)
Seat belts fastened? Good. Let’s away …
A Prog Rock Supergroup Forms
To more fully understand what happened to Asia, it’s important to know how things started. Asia was conceived as a sort of prog “supergroup.” After a few abortive attempts at similar projects involving some of the bigger names in prog rock, an A&R guy from Geffen Records brought together King Crimson bassist John Wetton and Yes guitarist Steve Howe to start working on new material. Wetton had been part of King Crimson’s lineup for what often is regarded as the group’s peak era, when they released Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974) and Red (1974). Guitarist Steve Howe likewise had been a prolific member of Yes for its most creatively fertile period, making invaluable contributions to The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Tales From Topographic Oceans and others.
Keyboardist Geoff Downes also had been a member of Yes, and had worked with famed producer Trevor Horn as part of the Buggles — of “Video Killed the Radio Star” fame. Drummer Carl Palmer was a founding member of fellow prog-rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer, itself forged from the remains of King Crimson, The Nice, and Palmer’s earlier band, Atomic Rooster.
The First Album
Asia’s self-titled debut LP, replete with Roger Dean cover artwork, hit in 1982. Prog fans were nonplussed to listen and discover that their prog heroes — famous for writing incredibly complex compositions that could extend to 10 or even 20 minutes — had instead pivoted to album-oriented rock (AOR).
But “Heat of the Moment” made a splash, peaking at no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and no. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. It was soon followed by another hit, “Only Time Will Tell,” and Asia was, at least commercially, an unqualified success. A follow-up album, Alpha, led by the single “Don’t Cry,” was released in 1983. This would be the last album to feature the classic lineup remembered by the MTV generation.
Whether Wetton quit or was fired is a matter of conjecture, but for a time after Alpha’s release, he was out of the group. In December 1983, Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer replaced Wetton on bass and vocals for a tour of Japan. A 1983 concert broadcast for MTV eventually would be released on CD in 2002 as Live at Budokan.
In another hazy turn of events, Wetton would return to the group, allegedly on the proviso that Howe be replaced. At the urging of Geffen executives, Krokus guitarist Mandy Meyer instead played on Asia’s third LP, 1985’s Astra. Howe would occasionally reappear with the band in the coming years, but from here on out, the lineup gets a lot more complicated. And eventually, all of the members of Asia would find themselves replaced, if only temporarily.
A Revolving Door of Band Members
Sales of Astra were disappointing, and in 1986, the band folded, with Wetton pursuing solo projects. After an abortive attempt to start over with Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham and A-ha drummer Michael Sturgis, Wetton and Palmer got the band back together to tour in 1989, replacing keyboardist Downes — who was busy at the time working on a separate project with Greg Lake — with John Young. Guitar duties for the tour fell to Alan Darby, who later was replaced by German guitarist Holger Larisch.
Wetton and Downes returned to the studio in 1990 with Toto guitarist Steve Lukather to record four new tracks for the best-of collection Then & Now. The follow-up tour took the band to Russia for the first time, in the wake of the newly fallen Soviet Union; the concert is documented on a live album, Live in Moscow. But with a distinct lack of success in the U.S., plans for a tour there were nixed. At the conclusion of their South American tour in April 1991, Wetton would leave the group again.
Wetton’s departure could have spelled the end. But bassist and vocalist John Payne stepped in, and with Downes assembled a new version of the band featuring returning members Howe and Palmer, and new guitarist Al Pitrelli. During the recording of Aqua, this lineup’s first effort together, Palmer took leave for an Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion, leaving drum duties on all but three songs to be filled in turn by Simon Phillips and Nigel Glockler.
Asia would return with a new album, Aria, in 1994, but it didn’t score well with fans. Another changeover occurred, with former Simply Red guitarist Aziz Ibrahim taking over for Pitrelli.
In another turn of the “you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up” variety, a pipe froze in the band’s London studio, flooding the space — and revealing an archive of unreleased recordings in the process. Two albums’ worth of recordings that would find their way to being released in 1996 as Archiva 1 and Archiva 2.
Eventually, Asia returned to the studio to work on new material in a lineup that included Payne, Downes, Ibrahim, Sturgis and guest guitarist Randall. The resulting album, Arena, failed to gain a toehold in the market.
In 1997, while many bands were hawking “unplugged” versions of their catalog, Asia made their own attempt, recording Live Acoustic in Germany with a lineup that included Downes, Payne, Ibrahim and newcomer Bob Richards on drums. The album would see release in December 1999.
That same year, there was talk of a reunion of the original lineup — minus Howe, who was still too preoccupied with Yes work to consider it — but no such event took place. Payne and Downes continued to forge ahead with Asia, while Wetton and Palmer briefly reunited to form the band Qango, with session guitarist Dave Kilminster and onetime touring Asia keyboardist John Young.
Asia in the New Millennium
2001’s Aura would feature possibly the most cobbled-together lineup of Asia yet, with Downes and Payne being joined by Tony Levin on bass, drums by Michael Sturgis, Chris Slade and Vinnie Colaiuta, and guitars, in addition to work from returning guests Howe, Thrall and Randall, from Guthrie Govan, and from Ian Crichton of Canadian prog band Saga. Luis Jardim also returned on percussion.
In the years that followed, Asia toured America with a lineup that included Downes, Payne, Slade on drums and Govan on guitar — their first U.S. tour since 1993. Downes and Payne also marketed their live shows in a new and novel way. They took to the road again in a stripped-down, acoustic form, appearing wherever fan demand — i.e., an available venue and $3,000 — directed them.
By now it’s worth observing that, incredibly, Asia’s most recent full touring lineup held for its next studio release, Silent Nation, with Downes and Payne supported by Slade on drums and Govan on guitar.
The Group Breaks Up Again … And Reforms Their Classic Lineup
Work began on a new Asia album, tentatively titled Architect of Time, that would never see completion. Some of the material would see release on the 2006 album Window to the Soul by a new band, GPS — an acronym for the names of its players, Govan, Payne and Schellen.
In the early 2000s, Wetton and Downes began working together on some older Asia material, releasing it under the name Wetton/Downes. This album helped set the stage for something that, by that time, must have seemed all but inevitable.
In 2006, Downes departed Asia … to re-form the original lineup of Asia with John Wetton, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe. It was a painful blow to Payne, who had invested 15 years of his life in the group. But the original members willingly signed contracts that would allow Payne to continue fronting his own version of the group under the name Asia Featuring John Payne.
Complicating the issue, the original lineup would only perform material from the time that Wetton was with the group, while Payne’s version would tour material from both before and during his time fronting the group.
Asia would continue with its original lineup for its next several albums, including Phoenix, Omega and its 30th-anniversary effort, XXX. This era saw the band playing some of its best-received tours in years, including a tour with Yes. Unfortunately, in 2012, touring had to be suspended due to a bout of illness suffered by drummer Palmer.
Wetton Falls Ill
Early in 2013, Howe announced his retirement from Asia; his workload with Yes made playing with two bands too difficult. Wetton, Downes and Palmer continued on with a new guitarist, Sam Coulson, recording a 2014 album, Gravitas. Fans couldn’t know that tour was the last time they would see Wetton lead the group in concert; Asia would go on hiatus for the next three years as Wetton battled cancer.
A tour opening for Journey was planned for 2017, but Wetton, facing another bout of chemotherapy, had to bow out. To their credit, Wetton’s bandmates initially refused to do the tour without him. But under pressure from Journey’s management, they eventually went forward, with vocals handled by Downes’ Yes bandmate Billy Sherwood. Wetton died Jan. 31, 2017, and the tour served as a great tribute and catharsis for the members he left behind. A special tribute concert was given later in the year called An Extraordinary Life, with tributes to Wetton from fans projected onstage as part of the event.
After a few years, when the band’s fate seemed up in the air, the group announced it would be part of the 2019 Royal Affair Tour that also included Yes, John Lodge, and Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy project. At the time, the band also announced that guitarist Sam Coulson had left Asia to pursue other projects; he would be replaced on the tour by Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, who also took over lead vocals from Sherwood, who remained on bass and backing vocals.
In 2019, a New York Times investigation reported that Asia’s master reels were among the hundreds destroyed in a 2008 fire at Universal Music. While Downes has gone on record saying that the masters likely survived, definitive word on the matter remains a mystery.
A 2022 tour with Alan Parsons was canceled due to Parsons’ needing surgery, but just this summer, in 2024, Asia toured in yet another new lineup, including Downes, Virgil Donati on drums, John Mitchell on guitar, and Harry Whitley on bass and lead vocals.
And that’s what happened to Asia. Aren’t you glad you asked?
’80s Where Are They Now
March 2023
Who can forget all the great TV shows, movies and music of the ‘80s? See what your favs are up to now!
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