Our greatest continent is Asia and there was once a brief time when our greatest band may have been Asia, too! It all happened in the early 1980s, when a supergroup emerged from the wreckage of earlier progressive rock acts, resulting in this week's arena rocking gods. Asia!
Who were they? Well, John Wetton of King Crimson. The brilliant Steve Howe of Yes. The almost-as-brilliant Geoff Downes of Yes. Drummer Carl Palmer of ELP. The band would go on to add and subtract an astonishing array of musicians from the likes of Krokus, Toto, Simply Red and other heavyweights we'd mention were you not already transfixed. Their first LP, Asia, was #1 for nine weeks in a row and sold over 10 million copies.
This week's video is "Don't Cry," off their second album, Alpha. (Pretty much all of their albums started with the letter "A" because that was a cool idea.) The song hit #10 on the charts and the album went platinum, but Asia's decline had already begun. Subsequent records were greeted with yawns and critical derision and the season of Asia ended almost as swiftly as it arrived.
We hope you enjoy the video for "Don't Cry," which is surprisingly incoherent, and cordially invite you to be back here next week, when Framed will be quite zesty!
1 -- "Best of all, I know that--with Fabreze candles--the refreshing scent will linger."
2 -- "Whoa. The White Castle isn't that far!"
3 -- And on his 41st day in the desert, Jesus agreed with Satan that prog rock ruled!
4 -- "Why, this looks suspiciously like our bitter rival, South America."
5 -- "Damn. Why don't they just airbrush in a mutant genius flying shark while they're at it?"
6 -- Revlon Lash Fantasy mascara, ladies. When the jihad is for his heart.
7 -- "Now why, exactly, did I fill this with sand?"
8 -- "Perhaps the funny captions are hidden in here somewhere."
9 -- "Hold on there! You don't get to say 'Flame On.' I get to say 'Flame On.'"
10 -- "Wait, aliens! Imprisoning me in your 'Journey Zoo,' although correct in spirit, is factually wrong!"
11 -- In the controversial election of 2208, Sarah Palin--still a lightning rod!--insisted she spoke for all real dead Americans.
12-- The Musicians With Pointless Careers Magnet is powerful, indeed!