Robbed Hit of the Week 8/25/14 - Asia's "Go"...

Asia - "Go"
from the album Astra (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: 46

This week's "robbed hit" is from the British progressive rock "supergroup" Asia, who after having the biggest-selling album of 1982 with their self-titled debut, followed up with sophomore effort Alpha, which spawned their second top-10 pop hit with "Don't Cry", but sold considerably less compared to their first record. After lead singer John Wetton left/was booted from the band only to return before the recording of their third album, Asia found themselves one member down again as guitarist Steve Howe quit the band to join GTR (who will soon score a top-40 hit of their own with "When The Heart Rules The Mind". The remaining three recruited Mandy Meyer of the metal band Krokus to replace Howe, and his style made their music a little bit more rough around the edges. The first single from the project, "Go", lured rock radio in with its church-organ beginning, to a track that kind of remind me if Yes attempted to make a Scorpions record....

While "Go" was another success for Asia on rock radio, peaking at #7 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in Billboard magazine, the single stalled under the pop top-40 in January of 1986. After this and the album relatively tanking (it climbed to #67 on the albums chart), the group splintered for a bit, with Wetton, keyboardist Carl Palmer, and drummer Geoffrey Downes joined by guitarist Pat Thrall for a part greatest hits part new material set Then & Now, which had a decent single included with "Days Like These", which climbed to #2 on the Rock chart and was a minor pop hit at #64 in 1990.  The quartet would break apart again, with Wetton leaving and singer John Payne pairing with Downes and a musical chairs of lineups for almost fifteen years, having big success in Japan but nothing more than cult status elsewhere in the world. In 2006 the four original members of Asia reunited (with Payne confusingly still touring legally under the "Asia With John Payne" moniker"), and began releasing records again that were actually really good and worthy of getting back together. Three of the records have even made the American album chart, the most recent being Gravitas in 2014.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's the 1989 version of Asia live with "Go"...