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" I was in and out of Yes six times. Someone once likened it to Liz Taylor and Richard Burton's marriage where we couldn't live with or without each other. There's an element of truth, and I last left in 2005. "

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" I joined Yes in July 1971. I had heard Yes live, as Strawbs had supported them at a gig in Hull. I thought they were amazing - incredibly different. "

Rick Wakeman

Live

Thought

Different

" 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' is like a woman's padded bra. The cover looks good, but when you peel off the padding, there's not a lot there. "

" I cut out bread, I don't eat after 6 P.M., and I go on walks, and it's had a great effect. "

" I like Toronto a lot, it's a good city. The only thing that really annoys me about Toronto is that you're turning Maple Leaf Gardens into a grocery store, which is absolutely nothing short of disgusting. "

" There must be something wrong with the mirrors in our house because every single one I gaze into makes me appear somewhat overweight. "

Rick Wakeman

Wrong

Gaze

" My eyes are green, and in one of them there is a splash of brown - apparently it is not a colour, but a freckle! Sometimes I notice that one eyelid droops more than the other. "

" I'm always writing or playing because that is my life. "

" My life revolves around music and always will. I need to be a part of music and not an observer. "

" I would have loved to record with Paul McCartney on some of his early solo recordings, wonderful music. Playing some lovely organ, perhaps. I would have loved to record with John Lennon. He was a dear friend. I had lunch with him just two days before he died. "

" But I listen to live recordings of things that I did back in the '70s and then how I've done things since. And there's no doubt about it: if I compare the two, it's like chalk and cheese. "

" Sparks is a sporting charity that puts on golf tournaments for sick children, and my animal charities include Oldham Cats and Feline Care, a big cat charity close to me in Norfolk. I'm also a Freemason and the money they raise for charity is phenomenal. "

Rick Wakeman

Children

Money

" I'm a Freemason, and we love to celebrate Burns' night: piping in the haggis, the whole lot. "

" My mother had never had a day's illness in her life and never thought to have checks. Then, at 78, she discovered she had breast cancer and passed away the next year. But if she'd had a check two years before, they could have done something about it, they could have saved her. "

" I am a very extreme sort of character, as I don't do things by halves. "

Rick Wakeman

Things

I Am

" I was 65 in May, and when I have just shaved, I see my father. I realise that I now have the same facial idiosyncrasies he had: little twitches here and there, mouth and nose movements, even the way he would tilt his head. "

" I avoid preset sounds wherever possible, and all the sounds I use I have edited. "

" Actually, I only left twice. I left then, and then rejoined literally two years later for Going For The One. "

" Apparently I'm well-known for my stories, my raconteur tales, that sort of thing. "

" My faith is very private to me. It plays an important part in my life, but I do not try and throw my beliefs at others. I have tremendous respect for all faiths and beliefs, but have a deep concern that religion and faith are currently a long way apart from each other. "

" I bought a racehorse, Tropical Saint, that belonged to the Queen Mother. I used to go down to Banbury and watch him train, but during a televised race, his jockey pulled up and said there was something wrong. They put him in the grass to try and settle him but found him dead in the field. "

" I've got an overactive brain. I enjoy work, I enjoy life, and I'm not good at relaxing. I've also never slept very much due to this overactive imagination and my brain constantly thinking. "

" I was born in 1949 - which seems like a long time ago... Actually, it is a long time ago, when I think about it. "

Rick Wakeman

Long Time

Born

" There's a fine line between angry and grumpy. Angry isn't nice, but grumpy is funny. "

" The studio is not the place to write. You need to be 75% ready when you go into the studio, and then the music can develop to the next stage. "

" Since the 1980s, I've been known more for my TV work, I used to host 'Live at Jongleurs' and of course 'Grumpy Old Men,' and so it's really all come from there. It's been a funny career really, there are people that know me now as a TV person, a comedian, an interviewer - I've had people genuinely gobsmacked to find out I am a musician. "

" But I'd play on everything from pop records to a lot of the glam stuff to rock stuff to classical stuff. I used to get called to do all those things, it was great. "

" Coming back to Yes is like never having left. Even when I have not been in the band, I have always felt part of it. "

Rick Wakeman

Back

Always

" Touring with Yes was generally great fun, and I got on well with the rest of the guys, but we were like chalk and cheese in many respects. I was unique in the band as a card-carrying Conservative. "

" I had just left Yes and had done a concert at Crystal Palace, South London, with a choir and orchestra playing my solo album 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' when I had my heart attack. That day, I hadn't been to bed for four days. I don't remember much. I felt very numb during the day and airy, which is the best way to describe it. "

" When I die, I'll probably climb out of the coffin and play the organ at my own funeral! "