It Can Happen

Yes and the Creation of "It Can Happen"

By the time "It Can Happen" was recorded, Yes had already undergone one of the most dramatic transformations in the history of progressive rock. The British band, formed in London in 1968 by vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire, had spent the early and mid-1970s producing some of the most technically ambitious and commercially successful progressive rock of the era, including landmark albums such as Fragile (1971), Close to the Edge (1972), and Tales from Topographic Oceans (1973). The group had established a devoted international audience and a critical reputation for musical complexity that set them apart from most of their contemporaries in the rock mainstream. By the late 1970s, however, Yes had dissolved and reassembled in different configurations, eventually leading to the formation of Asia by several former members including guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Geoff Downes.

The reconstituted Yes that emerged in the early 1980s included a radically different approach to sound and commercial strategy. The lineup that recorded the album 90125 (1983) included Anderson, Squire, guitarist Trevor Rabin, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Alan White. Rabin's arrival was decisive; his background in hard rock and pop-oriented songwriting gave the band a new sonic identity that was considerably more radio-friendly than the expansive arrangements of the classic Yes era. The shift was not merely stylistic but structural, replacing the suite-length compositions that had defined albums like Close to the Edge with tightly constructed songs capable of competing on mainstream radio.

90125 was produced by Trevor Horn, one of the most commercially successful producers of the decade, whose work with ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Propaganda had established him as a master of polished, sonically ambitious pop production. His involvement gave the album a sheen and precision that translated directly to radio effectiveness, and the album's lead single "Owner of a Lonely Heart" became the band's first and only US number-one hit. The album's enormous commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200, positioned Yes as a mainstream pop-rock act rather than a niche progressive concern.

"It Can Happen" was released as a single from 90125 in 1984, following the success of "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and the album's continued strong sales. Written by Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Chris Squire, the track featured the polished, synthesizer-driven production that characterized the entire album. Horn's studio approach emphasized clarity, layered textures, and the kind of sonic precision that translated well to the commercial radio formats of the mid-1980s. The track showcased Rabin's melodic guitar work alongside Anderson's distinctive high tenor, creating a sound that was recognizably Yes while being stylistically distinct from anything the band had previously released.

The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 23, 1984, at position 85, reaching its peak of number 51 on July 14, 1984. It spent seven weeks on the chart, a modest run compared to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" but entirely consistent with the trajectory of a secondary single from an album that had already produced a dominant hit. The track performed better on the Album Rock Tracks chart, where Yes still retained significant audience loyalty from listeners who had followed the band across its various stylistic phases and who remained attentive to album-oriented rock radio.

The music video for "It Can Happen" was produced during an era when MTV was reshaping the commercial logic of the music industry. Yes had embraced the visual medium as part of their promotion for 90125, and the video for this track fit comfortably within the aesthetic conventions of mid-1980s pop-rock video production, combining performance footage with visual imagery suited to the song's thematic content.

90125 remains one of the most commercially successful albums in the band's catalog, and "It Can Happen" is a representative example of how Yes adapted to the decade without entirely abandoning the melodic ambition and harmonic sophistication that had defined their earlier work. The song's production and chart performance reflect the band's ability to operate effectively within the commercial constraints of 1980s mainstream radio while retaining an identity recognizably their own. The album was later certified platinum multiple times and its commercial impact far exceeded the expectations of observers who had watched the band struggle through the transitional late-1970s period.

The album's producer Trevor Horn would go on to produce many of the decade's most celebrated pop records, but his work on 90125 is frequently cited as one of his most complete productions, capturing a legacy band at a commercial peak that few observers had predicted when the lineup first assembled in the early 1980s. The partnership between Horn's production sensibility and the musical chemistry of the reconstituted Yes lineup proved unexpectedly powerful, resulting in an album whose commercial success and artistic coherence have sustained its reputation across four decades.