Esquire

The band Esquire revolved around lead vocalist Nikki Squire, who at the time was married to Yes bassist Chris Squire. Raised in London, Nikki Squire trained in drama while also performing music. She first encountered Chris Squire in 1970, after which she spent the following ten years focused on raising their children. During 1983 she attended a performance by a group that featured two of her cousins, prompting Esquire to spend several weeks recording with those musicians and bassist Nigel McLaren, though the sessions yielded no results. Nikki Squire kept writing with McLaren, and later that year Trevor Horn signed the duo to ZTT. Keyboardist Charles Olins then joined the lineup, and the three continued composing while they waited for Horn to clear space in his schedule to produce the emerging trio. Multiple unsuccessful attempts followed until John Kalodner heard their material; after legal disputes, he placed the act on Geffen. Esquire finally issued its self-titled debut in 1987. Inevitable comparisons to Yes arose because Chris Squire, by then divorced from Nikki, performed on the album and produced several tracks. Yes drummer Alan White also contributed, as did guitarist Pat Thrall, who would later join Asia, another group with close Yes connections. Despite these prominent links, the record found few listeners beyond Yes devotees. Another decade passed before Esquire returned with 1997’s Coming Home.