ASIA - John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes, Sam Coulson
09/12/2014
Asia’s debut album exploded onto the music scene in March 1982 with several Top 10 singles and sales exceeding 7 million copies. This “supergroup”, brought together songwriter, lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton [King Crimson, UK], keyboardist Geoff Downes [Yes, The Buggles], drummer extraordinaire Carl Palmer [ELP] and Steve Howe [Yes].
Labelled a “supergroup” by critics and the media from the onset, it was a tag they had never asked for. The band spent five months writing, arranging, and recording nine songs for its debut that included such classics as ”Heat Of The Moment”, “Only Time Will Tell”, and “Sole Survivor.” As soon as the album was completed, Geffen knew it had a winner on its hands. They began a 30 city US tour and by the time they reached the 12th stop on the tour the debut album had already hit #1 on the Billboard charts. The album is still in the top 3 Geffen sales of all time, with Guns ’n’ Roses and Whitesnake! Asia became one of the most played acts on the then-new media outlet, MTV, in 1982.
By the time the band released its second album, which contained the hits “Don’t Cry” and “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes," the debut album had sold over 6 million copies worldwide and was the best seller of 1982. It had stayed at the #1 spot for an incredible 9 weeks! And ASIA won almost every BEST NEW ACT award the industry had to offer in 1982.
2014 is set to be year to remember for ASIA. John Wetton, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer are delighted to announce that not only do they have an incredible talent in place to step into Steve Howe’s shoes, but also that their first international show with newcomer Sam Coulson was a high profile performance at Sweden Rock 2013. Sam is a wonderful player, world-renowned amongst guitar virtuosos. Additionally, a new studio album, "Gravitas," on Frontiers Records was released in March 2014, and is the first album to feature Sam Coulson on guitar. The album's lead single "Valkyrie," is steadily making it's way up the charts. Watch Valkyrie Video HERE
The heat goes on...!
VIDEO