XYZ were a short-lived English rock supergroup. The name XYZ is taken from "eX-Yes-Zeppelin" as the group consisted of ex-

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

guitarist

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

, along with ex-

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

members

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

(bass guitar, vocals, keyboards) and Alan White (drums).

History

The band came together after Squire met Page by chance at a party shortly before Christmas 1980. The group also featured former

Greenslade Greenslade were an English progressive rock band, formed in the autumn of 1972 by keyboard player Dave Greenslade and bassist Tony Reeves, with keyboardist Dave Lawson and drummer Andrew McCulloch. History The band made their live de ...

keyboard player and vocalist

Dave Lawson David Alexander Webster Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian actor and TV personality. Early life Lawson grew up in the Bayside area of Melbourne and completed his secondary education at Haileybury College. He performed in the ...

. Squire was the main writer for the group. Page believed the band needed a strong vocalist and sought out former Led Zeppelin frontman

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

. Plant attended a rehearsal on 28 February 1981, but decided not to join the group, citing his dislike for the complexity of the music, and because he was still deeply hurt by the recent death of Led Zeppelin's drummer and his long-time friend,

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, John Bonh ...

. Without a firm commitment from Plant and contractual issues on who should manage the group ( Peter Grant or Brian Lane), the band's future was in limbo. Squire and White recorded a Christmas single, "

Run with the Fox "Run with the Fox" is a 1981 Christmas song written, composed, produced, and performed by Chris Squire and Alan White, with Peter Sinfield co-writing lyrics. Both former Yes members, Squire and White recorded the song after a new band ( XYZ with ...

", in October 1981 before forming

Cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

with guitarist

Trevor Rabin Trevor Charles Rabin (; born ) is a South African musician, songwriter, and film composer. Born into a musical family and raised in Johannesburg, Rabin took up the piano and guitar at an early age and became a session musician, playing and produc ...

and keyboardist Tony Kaye. Rabin initially attempted to rework the XYZ material along with his solo songs for the new group. Cinema went on to become a reformation of Yes with the addition of singer

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

, and the album ''

90125 ''90125'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 7 November 1983 by Atco Records. After Yes disbanded in 1981, following the ''Drama'' (1980) tour, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and Tre ...

'' was recorded in 1983. It is unclear what of the XYZ material made it to ''90125'', but White said in a 2008 interview that "those were the beginning of some songs that ended up on the next Yes album anyway." White also confirmed the XYZ material was used on ''90125'' album in a 2012 interview. In 1984, Jimmy Page joined Yes, including Squire and White, on stage, playing "

I'm Down "I'm Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single as the B-side to "Help!" in July 1965. The song originated in McCartney's attempt ...

" during a concert in their ''9012Live'' tour at

Westfalenhalle Westfalenhallen is a conference venue (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition center (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle) in Dortmund, Germany. It is surrounded by the Eissportzentrum Westfalenhallen, Stadion Rote Erde, West ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, Germany. Page has not dismissed the possibility of releasing the XYZ material. Squire supported the idea, but said Page had not discussed the matter with him. Squire died in 2015 and very little has been heard about releasing material, except some speculation in 2020. White also died in 2022, leaving only Page and Lawson as surviving members.

Demoed material

A four-song demo tape of XYZ consisting of two instrumentals and two songs, "Can You See" and "Telephone Secrets" (featuring vocals from Squire), exists and can be found on

ROIO Roio is a frazione of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo, region of Italy The regions of Italy () are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italy, Italian Republic, constituting its second Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, NU ...

trading sites. *Instrumental: part of one instrumental was reworked and became part of "Mind Drive" on the 1997 Yes album ''

Keys to Ascension 2 ''Keys to Ascension 2'' is the fifth live and sixteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes. It was released as a double album in November 1997 by Essential Records as the successor to the previous live/studio album '' Keys to ...

'' (credited as a band composition). *Instrumental: part of the other instrumental was used as the intro to

The Firm The FIRM is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. First released in 1986, the video series is best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Benson founded th ...

's "Fortune Hunter". About "Fortune Hunter", Squire explained, "One of the tracks ended up being called "Fortune Hunter" ..that was a riff that Jimmy brought into the mix anyway. Part of our song "Mind Drive" was also from those sessions as well. ..Most of the songs were mine. I'm the only vocalist on it." *"Can You See" would resurface as "Can You Imagine" on Yes' 2001 album ''

Magnification Magnification is the process of enlarging the apparent size, not physical size, of something. This enlargement is quantified by a size ratio called optical magnification. When this number is less than one, it refers to a reduction in size, so ...

''. *"Telephone Secrets" had been rehearsed by Yes in 1980, when they were a trio before working on the ''

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

'' album. The 2004 CD reissue of ''Drama'' features among its bonus tracks an instrumental take entitled "Song No. 4 (Satellite)".

Personnel

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

– keyboards * Alan White –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

References

External links

Davelawson.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:XYZ English progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 1981 establishments in England 1981 disestablishments in England British rock music supergroups Jimmy Page Yes (band)