Yes' Jon Anderson "Disappointed" That Band Recruited Replacement

spoken out about his band's decision to recruit a singer off a YouTube rather than wait until Anderson fully recovers from an illness that will shelve him until 2009. On his website, Anderson says he's "disappointed that, with the exception of one phone call from Alan, none of the guys have been in touch since my illness, just to find out how I am doing, and how we will foresee the future for Yes. And disappointed that they were not willing to wait till 2009 when I'm fully recovered." The band had scheduled a 40th anniversary tour for this year, but rather than wait for Anderson, they hired Benoit David, the singer in a Yes cover band, to take over the microphone. "Of course I wish the guys all the best in their 'solo' work, but I just wish this could have been done in a more gentlemanly fashion. After all Yes is a precious musical band." Anderson says in conclusion, "This is not Yes on tour."

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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