“I was invited to do the opening guitar on Pink Floyd’s One Slip on A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It was one of those signature David Gilmour parts. He couldn’t have been sweeter - we spent more time hanging out than playing.
“However, I was a massive Yes fan when I was 14. I had a band with some of the neighbourhood kids, the drummer’s father worked for a record label and was always bringing home promo copies of albums by bands like Yes, which gave us great exposure to this amazing music.
“We heard Close To The Edge, which blew us away, because, whereas The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix were playing the blues, Steve Howe was playing jazz. Nobody had ever heard anyone play the bass like Chris Squire and that tone, while Jon Anderson’s voice gave it that spiritual dimension.
“I did see Yes at the LA Forum back in the day, and they were incredible. We heard Fragile afterwards, which we also loved, but by the time Tales Of Topographic Oceans came out, I was gravitating towards the jazz fusion of Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius and John McLaughlin.
Positive noise: Michael Landau was introduced to prog via Yes.
YES: BOB RIHA, JR/GETTY IMAGES MICHAEL LANDAU: AUSTIN HARGRAVE