title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy is a major surgical procedure that has risks and benefits. It affects the hormonal balance and overall health of patients. Because of this, hysterectomy is normally recommended as a last resort after pharmaceutical or other surgical options have been exhausted to remedy certain intractable and severe uterine/reproductive system conditions. There may be other reasons for a hysterectomy to be requested. Such conditions and/or indications include, but are not limited to:


title: Hysterectomy

text: In 1995, the short-term mortality (within 40 days of surgery) was reported at 0.38 cases per 1000 when performed for benign causes. Risks for surgical complications were presence of fibroids, younger age (vascular pelvis with higher bleeding risk and larger uterus), dysfunctional uterine bleeding and parity.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The mortality rate is several times higher when performed in patients who are pregnant, have cancer or other complications.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Long-term effect on all case mortality is relatively small. People under the age of 45 years have a significantly increased long-term mortality that is believed to be caused by the hormonal side effects of hysterectomy and prophylactic oophorectomy. This effect is not limited to pre-menopausal people; even people who have already entered menopause were shown to have experienced a decrease in long-term survivability post-oophorectomy.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Ureteral injury is not uncommon and occurs in 0.2 per 1,000 cases of vaginal hysterectomy and 1.3 per 1,000 cases of abdominal hysterectomy. The injury usually occurs in the distal ureter close to the infundibulopelvic ligament or as a ureter crosses below the uterine artery, often from blind clamping and ligature placement to control hemorrhage.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hospital stay is 3 to 5 days or more for the abdominal procedure and between 1 and 2 days (but possibly longer) for vaginal or laparoscopically assisted vaginal procedures. After the procedure, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends not inserting anything into the vagina for the first 6 weeks (including inserting tampons or having sex).


title: Hysterectomy

text: Removal of one or both ovaries is performed in a substantial number of hysterectomies that were intended to be ovary sparing.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The average onset age of menopause after hysterectomy with ovarian conservation is 3.7 years earlier than average. This has been suggested to be due to the disruption of blood supply to the ovaries after a hysterectomy or due to missing endocrine feedback of the uterus. The function of the remaining ovaries is significantly affected in about 40% of people, some of them even require hormone replacement therapy. Surprisingly, a similar and only slightly weaker effect has been observed for endometrial ablation which is often considered as an alternative to hysterectomy.


title: Hysterectomy

text: After hysterectomy for benign indications the majority of patients report improvement in sexual life and pelvic pain. A smaller share of patients report worsening of sexual life and other problems. The picture is significantly different for hysterectomy performed for malignant reasons; the procedure is often more radical with substantial side effects. A proportion of patients who undergo a hysterectomy for chronic pelvic pain continue to have pelvic pain after a hysterectomy and develop dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse).


title: Hysterectomy

text: Estrogen levels fall sharply when the ovaries are removed, removing the protective effects of estrogen on the cardiovascular and skeletal systems. This condition is often referred to as "surgical menopause", although it is substantially different from a naturally occurring menopausal state; the former is a sudden hormonal shock to the body that causes rapid onset of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, while the latter is a gradually occurring decrease of hormonal levels over a period of years with uterus intact and ovaries able to produce hormones even after the cessation of menstrual periods.


title: Hysterectomy

text: One study showed that risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease is substantially increased for people who had hysterectomy at age 50 or younger. No association was found for women undergoing the procedure after age 50. The risk is higher when ovaries are removed but still noticeable even when ovaries are preserved.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Several other studies have found that osteoporosis (decrease in bone density) and increased risk of bone fractures are associated with hysterectomies. This has been attributed to the modulatory effect of estrogen on calcium metabolism and the drop in serum estrogen levels after menopause can cause excessive loss of calcium leading to bone wasting.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomies have also been linked with higher rates of heart disease and weakened bones. Those who have undergone a hysterectomy with both ovaries removed typically have reduced testosterone levels as compared to those left intact. Reduced levels of testosterone in women are predictive of height loss, which may occur as a result of reduced bone density, while increased testosterone levels in women are associated with a greater sense of sexual desire.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Oophorectomy before the age of 45 is associated with a fivefold mortality from neurologic and mental disorders.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse are well known adverse effects that develop with high frequency a very long time after the surgery. Typically, those complications develop 10–20 years after the surgery. For this reason exact numbers are not known, and risk factors are poorly understood. It is also unknown if the choice of surgical technique has any effect. It has been assessed that the risk for urinary incontinence is approximately doubled within 20 years after hysterectomy. One long-term study found a 2.4 fold increased risk for surgery to correct urinary stress incontinence following hysterectomy.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The risk for vaginal prolapse depends on factors such as number of vaginal deliveries, the difficulty of those deliveries, and the type of labor. Overall incidence is approximately doubled after hysterectomy.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The formation of postoperative adhesions is a particular risk after hysterectomy because of the extent of dissection involved as well as the fact the hysterectomy wound is in the most gravity-dependent part of the pelvis into which a loop of bowel may easily fall. In one review, incidence of small bowel obstruction due to intestinal adhesion was found to be 15.6% in non-laparoscopic total abdominal hysterectomies vs. 0.0% in laparoscopic hysterectomies.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Wound infection occurs in approximately 3% of cases of abdominal hysterectomy. The risk is increased by obesity, diabetes, immunodeficiency disorder, use of systemic corticosteroids, smoking, wound hematoma, and preexisting infection such as chorioamnionitis and pelvic inflammatory disease. Such wound infections mainly take the form of either incisional abscess or wound cellulitis. Typically, both confer erythema, but only an incisional abscess confers purulent drainage. The recommended treatment of an incisional abscess after hysterectomy is by incision and drainage, and then coverage by a thin layer of gauze followed by sterile dressing. The dressing should be changed and the wound irrigated with normal saline at least twice each day. In addition, it is recommended to administer an antibiotic active against staphylococci and streptococci, preferably vancomycin when there is a risk of MRSA. The wound can be allowed to close by secondary intention. Alternatively, if the infection is cleared and healthy granulation tissue is evident at the base of the wound, the edges of the incision may be reapproximated, such as by using butterfly stitches, staples or sutures. Sexual intercourse remains possible after hysterectomy. Reconstructive surgery remains an option for people who have experienced benign and malignant conditions.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy may cause an increased risk of the relatively rare renal cell carcinoma. The increased risk is particularly pronounced for young people; the risk was lower after vaginally performed hysterectomies. Hormonal effects or injury of the ureter were considered as possible explanations. In some cases the renal cell carcinoma may be a manifestation of an undiagnosed hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Removal of the uterus without removing the ovaries can produce a situation that on rare occasions can result in ectopic pregnancy due to an undetected fertilization that had yet to descend into the uterus before surgery. Two cases have been identified and profiled in an issue of the "Blackwell Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology"; over 20 other cases have been discussed in additional medical literature. There is possibly another case of ectopic pregnancy after hysterectomy that took place in 2016, although no additional information has been brought forward. On very rare occasions, sexual intercourse after hysterectomy may cause a transvaginal evisceration of the small bowel. The vaginal cuff is the uppermost region of the vagina that has been sutured closed. A rare complication, it can dehisce and allow the evisceration of the small bowel into the vagina.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Levonorgestrel intrauterine devices are highly effective at controlling dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB) or menorrhagia and should be considered before any surgery.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Menorrhagia (heavy or abnormal menstrual bleeding) may also be treated with the less invasive endometrial ablation which is an outpatient procedure in which the lining of the uterus is destroyed with heat, mechanically or by radio frequency ablation. Endometrial ablation greatly reduces or eliminates monthly bleeding in ninety percent of patients with DUB. It is not effective for patients with very thick uterine lining or uterine fibroids.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Levonorgestrel intrauterine devices are highly effective in limiting menstrual blood flow and improving other symptoms. Side effects are typically very moderate because the levonorgestrel (a progestin) is released in low concentration locally. There is now substantial evidence that Levongestrel-IUDs provide good symptomatic relief for women with fibroids.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Uterine fibroids may be removed and the uterus reconstructed in a procedure called "myomectomy". A myomectomy may be performed through an open incision, laparoscopically, or through the vagina (hysteroscopy).


title: Hysterectomy

text: "Uterine artery embolization" (UAE) is a minimally invasive procedure for treatment of uterine fibroids. Under local anesthesia a catheter is introduced into the femoral artery at the groin and advanced under radiographic control into the uterine artery. A mass of microspheres or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) material (an embolus) is injected into the uterine arteries in order to block the flow of blood through those vessels. The restriction in blood supply usually results in significant reduction of fibroids and improvement of heavy bleeding tendency. The 2012 Cochrane review comparing hysterectomy and UAE did not find any major advantage for either procedure. While UAE is associated with shorter hospital stay and a more rapid return to normal daily activities, it was also associated with a higher risk for minor complications later on. There were no differences between UAE and hysterectomy with regards to major complications.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Uterine fibroids can be removed with a non-invasive procedure called Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS).


title: Hysterectomy

text: Prolapse may also be corrected surgically without removal of the uterus. There are several strategies that can be utilized to help strengthen pelvic floor muscles and prevent the worsening of prolapse. These include, but are not limited to, use of "kegel exercises", vaginal pessary, constipation relief, weight management, and care when lifting heavy objects.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy, in the literal sense of the word, means merely removal of the uterus. However other organs such as ovaries, fallopian tubes, and the cervix are very frequently removed as part of the surgery.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Subtotal (supracervical) hysterectomy was originally proposed with the expectation that it may improve sexual functioning after hysterectomy, it has been postulated that removing the cervix causes excessive neurologic and anatomic disruption, thus leading to vaginal shortening, vaginal vault prolapse, and vaginal cuff granulations. These theoretical advantages were not confirmed in practice, but other advantages over total hysterectomy emerged. The principal disadvantage is that risk of cervical cancer is not eliminated and women may continue cyclical bleeding (although substantially less than before the surgery).


title: Hysterectomy

text: These issues were addressed in a systematic review of total versus supracervical hysterectomy for benign gynecological conditions, which reported the following findings:


title: Hysterectomy

text: In the short-term, randomized trials have shown that cervical preservation or removal does not affect the rate of subsequent pelvic organ prolapse.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Supracervical hysterectomy does not eliminate the possibility of having cervical cancer since the cervix itself is left intact and may be contraindicated in women with increased risk of this cancer; regular pap smears to check for cervical dysplasia or cancer are still needed.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy can be performed in different ways. The oldest known technique is vaginal hysterectomy. The first planned hysterectomy was performed by Konrad Langenbeck - Surgeon General of the Hannovarian army, although there are records of vaginal hysterectomy for prolapse going back as far as 50BC.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The first abdominal hysterectomy recorded was by Ephraim McDowell. He performed the procedure in 1809 for a mother of five for a large ovarian mass on her kitchen table.


title: Hysterectomy

text: In modern medicine today, laparoscopic vaginal (with additional instruments passing through ports in small abdominal incisions, close or in the navel) and total laparoscopic techniques have been developed.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Most hysterectomies in the United States are done via laparotomy (abdominal incision, not to be confused with laparoscopy). A transverse (Pfannenstiel) incision is made through the abdominal wall, usually above the pubic bone, as close to the upper hair line of the individual's lower pelvis as possible, similar to the incision made for a caesarean section. This technique allows physicians the greatest access to the reproductive structures and is normally done for removal of the entire reproductive complex. The recovery time for an open hysterectomy is 4–6 weeks and sometimes longer due to the need to cut through the abdominal wall. Historically, the biggest problem with this technique was infections, but infection rates are well-controlled and not a major concern in modern medical practice. An open hysterectomy provides the most effective way to explore the abdominal cavity and perform complicated surgeries. Before the refinement of the vaginal and laparoscopic vaginal techniques, it was also the only possibility to achieve subtotal hysterectomy; meanwhile, the vaginal route is the preferable technique in most circumstances.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Vaginal hysterectomy is performed entirely through the vaginal canal and has clear advantages over abdominal surgery such as fewer complications, shorter hospital stays and shorter healing time. Abdominal hysterectomy, the most common method, is used in cases such as after caesarean delivery, when the indication is cancer, when complications are expected, or surgical exploration is required.


title: Hysterectomy

text: With the development of laparoscopic techniques in the 1970s and 1980s, the "laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy" (LAVH) has gained great popularity among gynecologists because compared with the abdominal procedure it is less invasive and the post-operative recovery is much faster. It also allows better exploration and slightly more complicated surgeries than the vaginal procedure. LAVH begins with laparoscopy and is completed such that the final removal of the uterus (with or without removing the ovaries) is via the vaginal canal. Thus, LAVH is also a total hysterectomy; the cervix is removed with the uterus. If the cervix is removed along with the uterus, the upper portion of the vagina is sutured together and called the vaginal cuff.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The "laparoscopic-assisted supracervical hysterectomy" (LASH) was later developed to remove the uterus without removing the cervix using a morcellator which cuts the uterus into small pieces that can be removed from the abdominal cavity via the laparoscopic ports.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) was developed in the early 90s by Prabhat K. Ahluwalia in Upstate New York. TLH is performed solely through the laparoscopes in the abdomen, starting at the top of the uterus, typically with a uterine manipulator. The entire uterus is disconnected from its attachments using long thin instruments through the "ports". Then all tissue to be removed is passed through the small abdominal incisions.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Supracervical (subtotal) laparoscopic hysterectomy (LSH) is performed similar to the total laparoscopic surgery but the uterus is amputated between the cervix and fundus.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Dual-port laparoscopy is a form of laparoscopic surgery using two 5 mm midline incisions: the uterus is detached through the two ports and removed through the vagina.


title: Hysterectomy

text: "Robotic hysterectomy" is a variant of laparoscopic surgery using special remotely controlled instruments that allow the surgeon finer control as well as three-dimensional magnified vision.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Patient characteristics such as the reason for needing a hysterectomy, uterine size, descent of the uterus, presence of diseased tissues surrounding the uterus, previous surgery in the pelvic region, obesity, history of pregnancy, the possibility of endometriosis, or the need for an oophorectomy, will influence a surgeon's surgical approach when performing a hysterectomy.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Vaginal hysterectomy is recommended over other variants where possible for women with benign diseases. Vaginal hysterectomy was shown to be superior to LAVH and some types of laparoscopic surgery causing fewer short- and long-term complications, more favorable effect on sexual experience with shorter recovery times and fewer costs.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Laparoscopic surgery offers certain advantages when vaginal surgery is not possible but also has the disadvantage of significantly longer time required for the surgery.


title: Hysterectomy

text: In one 2004 study conducted in the UK comparing abdominal (laparotomic) and laparoscopic techniques, laparoscopic surgery was found to cause longer operation time and a higher rate of major complications while offering much quicker healing. In another study conducted in 2014, laparoscopy was found to be "a safe alternative to laparotomy" in patients receiving total hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. Researchers concluded the procedure "offers markedly improved perioperative outcomes with a lower reoperation rate and fewer postoperative complications when the standard of care shifts from open surgery to laparoscopy in a university hospital".


title: Hysterectomy

text: The abdominal technique is very often applied in difficult circumstances or when complications are expected. Given these circumstances the complication rate and time required for surgery compares very favorably with other techniques, however time required for healing is much longer.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy by abdominal laparotomy is correlated with much higher incidence of intestinal adhesions than other techniques.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Morcellation has been widely used especially in laparoscopic techniques and sometimes for the vaginal technique, but now appears to be associated with a considerable risk of spreading benign or malignant tumors. In April 2014, the FDA issued a memo alerting medical practitioners to the risks of power morcellation.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Robotic assisted surgery is presently used in several countries for hysterectomies. Additional research is required to determine the benefits and risks involved, compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery.


title: Hysterectomy

text: A 2014 Cochrane review found that robotic assisted surgery may have a similar complication rate when compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that although the surgery make take longer, robotic assisted surgery may result in shorter hospital stays. More research is necessary to determine if robotic assisted hysterectomies are beneficial for people with cancer.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Previously reported marginal advantages of robotic assisted surgery could not be confirmed; only differences in hospital stay and cost remain statistically significant.


title: Hysterectomy

text: In Canada, the "number" of hysterectomies between 2008 and 2009 was almost 47,000. The national rate for the same timeline was 338 per 100,000 population, down from 484 per 100,000 in 1997. The reasons for hysterectomies differed depending on whether the woman was living in an urban or rural location. Urban women opted for hysterectomies due to uterine fibroids and rural women had hysterectomies mostly for menstrual disorders.


title: Hysterectomy

text: Hysterectomy is the second most common major surgery among women in the United States (the first is cesarean section). In the 1980s and 1990s, this statistic was the source of concern among some consumer rights groups and puzzlement among the medical community, and brought about informed choice advocacy groups like Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services (HERS) Foundation, founded by Nora W. Coffey in 1982.


title: Hysterectomy

text: According to the National Center for Health Statistics, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed in 2004, 73% also involved the surgical removal of the ovaries. There are currently an estimated 22 million women in the United States who have undergone this procedure. Nearly 68 percent were performed for benign conditions such as endometriosis, irregular bleeding and uterine fibroids. Such rates being highest in the industrialized world has led to the controversy that hysterectomies are being largely performed for unwarranted reasons. More recent data suggests that the number of hysterectomies performed has declined in every state in the United States. From 2010 to 2013, there were 12 percent fewer hysterectomies performed, and the types of hysterectomies were more minimally invasive in nature, reflected by a 17 percent increase in laparoscopic procedures.


title: Hysterectomy

text: In the UK, 1 in 5 women is likely to have a hysterectomy by the age of 60, and ovaries are removed in about 20% of hysterectomies.


title: Hysterectomy

text: The number of hysterectomies in Germany has been constant for many years. In 2006, 149,456 hysterectomies were performed. Additionally, Of these, 126,743 (84.8%) successfully benefitted the patient without incident. Women between the ages of 40 and 49 accounted for 50 percent of hysterectomies, and those between the ages of 50 and 59 accounted for 20 percent. In 2007, the number of hysterectomies decreased to 138,164. In recent years, the technique of laparoscopic or laparoscopically assisted hysterectomies has been raised into the foreground.


title: Hysterectomy

text: In Denmark, the number of hysterectomies from the 1980s to the 1990s decreased by 38 percent. In 1988, there were 173 such surgeries per 100,000 women, and by 1998 this number had been reduced to 107. The proportion of abdominal supracervical hysterectomies in the same time period grew from 7.5 to 41 percent. A total of 67,096 women underwent hysterectomy during these years.


title: Triple Entente

text: The Triple Entente (from French "entente" meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well as Romania, which joined later. It was built upon the Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894, the Entente Cordiale of 1904 between Paris and London, and the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907. It formed a powerful counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple Entente, unlike the Triple Alliance or the Franco-Russian Alliance itself, was not an alliance of mutual defence.


title: Triple Entente

text: The Franco-Japanese Treaty of 1907 was a key part of building a coalition as France took the lead in creating alliances with Japan, Russia, and (informally) with Britain. Japan wanted to raise a loan in Paris, so France made the loan contingent on a Russo-Japanese agreement and a Japanese guarantee for France's strategically vulnerable possessions in Indochina. Britain encouraged the Russo-Japanese rapprochement. Thus was built the Triple Entente coalition that fought World War I.


title: Triple Entente

text: At the start of World War I in 1914, all three Triple Entente members entered it as Allied Powers against the Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary. On September 4, 1914, the Triple Entente issued a declaration undertaking not to conclude a separate peace and only to demand terms of peace agreed between the three parties. Historians continue to debate the importance of the alliance system as one of the causes of World War I.


title: Triple Entente

text: During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, Prussia and its allies defeated the Second French Empire, resulting in the establishment of the Third Republic. In the Treaty of Frankfurt, Prussia forced France to cede Alsace-Lorraine to the new German Empire, souring subsequent relations. France, worried about the escalating military development of Germany, began building up its own war industries and army to deter German aggression.


title: Triple Entente

text: Russia had previously been a member of the League of the Three Emperors, an alliance in 1873 with Austria-Hungary and Germany. The alliance was part of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck′s plan to isolate France diplomatically; he feared that France's revanchist aspirations might lead it to attempt to regain its 1871 losses stemming from the Franco-Prussian War. The alliance also served to oppose such socialist movements as the First International, which the conservative rulers found unsettling.


title: Triple Entente

text: However, the League faced great difficulty with the growing tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary, mainly over the Balkans, where the rise of nationalism and the continued decline of the Ottoman Empire made many former Ottoman provinces struggle for independence.


title: Triple Entente

text: To counter Russian and French interests in Europe, the Dual alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary was concluded in October 1879 and with Italy in May 1882.


title: Triple Entente

text: The situation in the Balkans, especially in the wake of the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War and the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, which made Russia feel cheated of its gains made in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877/8, prevented the League from being renewed in 1887. In an attempt to stop Russia from allying with France, Bismarck signed the secret Reinsurance Treaty with Russia in 1887. This treaty assured that both parties would remain neutral if war broke out. The growing rapprochement between Russia and France and Bismarck's exclusion of Russia from the German financial market in 1887 prevented the treaty from being renewed in 1890, ending the alliance between Germany and Russia.


title: Triple Entente

text: After the forced resignation of Bismarck in 1890, the young Kaiser Wilhelm set out on his imperialist course of Weltpolitik ("world politics") to increase the empire's influence in and control over the world.


title: Triple Entente

text: Russia had by far the largest manpower reserves of all the six European powers, but it was also the most backward economically. Russia shared France's worries about Germany. After the Germans, the Ottomans asked for assistance, and together with the British, under admiral Limpus, started to reorganize the Ottoman army, Russia feared that they would come to control the Dardanelles, a vital trade artery that carried two-fifths of Russia's exports.


title: Triple Entente

text: There was also Russia's recent rivalry with Austria-Hungary over the spheres of influence in the Balkans and after the Reinsurance Treaty was not renewed in 1890, Russian leaders grew alarmed at the country's diplomatic isolation and joined the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894.


title: Triple Entente

text: France developed a strong bond with Russia by ratifying the Franco-Russian Alliance, which was designed to create a strong counter to the Triple Alliance. France's main concerns were to protect against an attack from Germany and to regain Alsace-Lorraine.


title: Triple Entente

text: In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Britain continued its policy of "splendid isolation", with its primary focus on defending its massive overseas empire. However, by the early 1900s, the German threat had increased dramatically, and Britain thought it was in need of allies. London made overtures to Berlin which were not reciprocated, so London turned to Paris and St. Petersburg instead.


title: Triple Entente

text: In 1904, Britain and France signed a series of agreements, the Entente cordiale, mostly aimed toward resolving colonial disputes. That heralded the end of British splendid isolation. France and Britain had signed five separate agreements regarding spheres of influence in North Africa in 1904, the "Entente cordiale". The Tangier Crisis later encouraged co-operation between the two countries from their mutual fear of apparent German expansionism.


title: Triple Entente

text: Britain, traditionally having control of the seas, by 1909 saw the German navy as a serious threat to its Royal Navy. Britain was well ahead in terms of Dreadnought technology and responded with a major building program. They built a Royal Navy that Germany could never rival. The British sent war minister Lord Haldane to Berlin in February 1912 to reduce friction stemming from the Anglo-German naval arms race. The mission was a failure because the Germans attempted to link a "naval holiday" with a British promise to remain neutral if Germany should become engaged in a war where "Germany could not be said to be the aggressor." Zara Steiner says, "It would have meant abandoning the whole system of ententes which had been so carefully nurtured during the past six years. There was no German concession to counter the fear of German aggression." Essentially, the British reserved the right to join whatever country was attacking Germany even if Germany did not start the conflict, dooming the talks to failure. According to German historian Dirk Bönker, "To be sure, the [naval] race was decided early on; political leaders and diplomats learned to bracket it as an issue, and it did not cause the decision for war in 1914. But the naval competition nonetheless created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and distrust, which circumscribed the space for peaceful diplomacy and public recognition of shared interests, and helped to pave the twisted road to war in Europe."


title: Triple Entente

text: The Entente, unlike the Triple Alliance and the Franco-Russian Alliance, was not an alliance of mutual defense and so Britain was free to make its own foreign policy decisions in 1914. As British Foreign Office Official Eyre Crowe minuted, "The fundamental fact, of course, is that the Entente is not an alliance. For purposes of ultimate emergencies, it may be found to have no substance at all. For the Entente is nothing more than a frame of mind, a view of general policy which is shared by the governments of two countries, but which may be, or become, so vague as to lose all content".


title: Triple Entente

text: Russia had also recently lost the humiliating Russo-Japanese War, a cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905, and the apparent transformation into a constitutional monarchy. Although it was perceived as useless during the war with Japan, the alliance was valuable in the European theatre to counteract the threat of the Triple Alliance. Tomaszewski describes the evolution of the triple entente relationship from the Russian standpoint during the period 1908 to 1914 as a progression from a shaky set of understandings that withstood various crises and emerged as a fully-fledged alliance after the outbreak of World War I.


title: Triple Entente

text: In 1907, the Anglo-Russian Entente was agreed, which attempted to resolve a series of long-running disputes over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet and end their rivalry in Central Asia, nicknamed The Great Game. and helped to address British fears about the Baghdad Railway, which would help German expansion in the Near East.


title: Triple Entente

text: The coming into being of the entente did not necessarily fix a permanent division into two opposing power blocs, the situation remained flexible.


title: Triple Entente

text: The alignment of the Russian Empire with Europe's two largest power centres was controversial on both sides. Many Russian conservatives mistrusted the secular French and recalled British past diplomatic manoeuvres to block Russian influence in the Near East. In turn, prominent French and British journalists, academics, and parliamentarians found the reactionary tsarist regime distasteful. Mistrust persisted even during wartime, with British and French politicians expressing relief when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and was replaced by the Russian Provisional Government after the February Revolution in 1917. An offer of political asylum for the Romanovs was even withdrawn by the British king for fear of popular reaction. Also, France never brought up the subject of asylum with the deposed tsar.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KMnO. It is a purplish-black crystalline salt, that dissolves in water as K and , an intensely pink to purple solution.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is widely used in the chemical industry and laboratories as a strong oxidizing agent, and also as a medication for dermatitis, for cleaning wounds, and general disinfection. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. In 2000, worldwide production was estimated at 30,000 tonnes.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is the potassium salt of the tetrahedral transition metal oxo complex permanganate, in which four O ligands are bound to a manganese(VII) center.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: KMnO forms orthorhombic crystals with constants: "a" = 910.5 pm, "b" = 572.0 pm, "c" = 742.5 pm. The overall motif is similar to that for barium sulfate, with which it forms solid solutions. In the solid (as in solution), each MnO centre is tetrahedral. The Mn–O distances are 1.62 Å.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: The purplish-black color of solid potassium permanganate, and the intensely pink to purple color of its solutions, is caused by its permanganate anion, which gets its color from a strong charge-transfer absorption band caused by excitation of electrons from oxo ligand orbitals to empty orbitals of the manganese(VII) center.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Almost all applications of potassium permanganate exploit its oxidizing properties. As a strong oxidant that does not generate toxic byproducts, KMnO has many niche uses.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is used for a number of skin conditions. This includes fungal infections of the foot, impetigo, pemphigus, superficial wounds, dermatitis, and tropical ulcers. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is used extensively in the water treatment industry. It is used as a regeneration chemical to remove iron and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) from well water via a "manganese greensand" filter. "Pot-Perm" is also obtainable at pool supply stores and is used additionally to treat wastewater. Historically it was used to disinfect drinking water and can turn the water pink. It currently finds application in the control of nuisance organisms such as zebra mussels in fresh water collection and treatment systems.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: A major application of KMnO is as a reagent for the synthesis of organic compounds. Significant amounts are required for the synthesis of ascorbic acid, chloramphenicol, saccharin, isonicotinic acid, and pyrazinoic acid.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: KMnO is used in qualitative organic analysis to test for the presence of unsaturation. It is sometimes referred to as Baeyer's reagent after the German organic chemist Adolf von Baeyer . The reagent is an alkaline solution of potassium permanganate. Reaction with double or triple bonds (-C=C- or -C≡C-) causes the color to fade from purplish-pink to brown. Aldehydes and formic acid (and formates) also give a positive test. The test is antiquated.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: KMnO solution is a common thin layer chromatography stain for the detection of oxidizable functional groups, such as alcohols, aldehydes, alkenes, and ketones. Such compounds result in a white to orange spot on TLC plates.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate can be used to quantitatively determine the total oxidizable organic material in an aqueous sample. The value determined is known as the "permanganate value." In analytical chemistry, a standardized aqueous solution of KMnO is sometimes used as an oxidizing titrant for redox titrations (permanganometry). As potassium permanganate is titrated, the solution becomes a light shade of purple, which darkens as excess of the titrant is added to the solution. In a related way, it is used as a reagent to determine the Kappa number of wood pulp. For the standardization of KMnO solutions, reduction by oxalic acid is often used. In agricultural chemistry, it is used for estimation of active carbon in soil.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Aqueous, acidic solutions of KMnO are used to collect gaseous mercury in flue gas during stationary source emissions testing.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Ethylene absorbents extend storage time of bananas even at high temperatures. This effect can be exploited by packing bananas in polyethylene together with potassium permanganate. By removing ethylene by oxidation, the permanganate delays the ripening, increasing the fruit's shelf life up to 4 weeks without the need for refrigeration.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is sometimes included in survival kits: as a hypergolic fire starter (when mixed with glycerol antifreeze from a car radiator; as a water sterilizer; and for creating distress signals on snow).


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is added to "plastic sphere dispensers" to create backfires, burnouts, and controlled burns. Polymer spheres resembling ping-pong balls containing small amounts of permanganate are injected with ethylene glycol and projected towards the area where ignition is desired, where they spontaneously ignite seconds later. Both handheld and helicopter- or boat-mounted plastic sphere dispensers are used.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is one of the principal chemicals used in the film and television industries to "age" props and set dressings. Its ready conversion to brown MnO creates "hundred-year-old" or "ancient" looks on hessian cloth (burlap), ropes, timber, and glass.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate can be used to oxidize cocaine paste to purify it and increase its stability. This led to the Drug Enforcement Administration launching Operation Purple in 2000, with the goal of monitoring the world supply of potassium permanganate; however, potassium permanganate derivatives and substitutes were soon used thereafter to avoid the operation.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: In 1659, Johann Rudolf Glauber fused a mixture of the mineral pyrolusite (manganese dioxide, MnO) and potassium carbonate to obtain a material that, when dissolved in water, gave a green solution (potassium manganate) which slowly shifted to violet and then finally red. The reaction that produced the color changes that Glauber observed in his solution of potassium permanganate and potassium manganate (KMnO) is now known as the "chemical chameleon". This report represents the first description of the production of potassium permanganate. Just under 200 years later, London chemist Henry Bollmann Condy had an interest in disinfectants; he found that fusing pyrolusite with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and dissolving it in water produced a solution with disinfectant properties. He patented this solution, and marketed it as 'Condy's Fluid'. Although effective, the solution was not very stable. This was overcome by using potassium hydroxide (KOH) rather than NaOH. This was more stable, and had the advantage of easy conversion to the equally effective potassium permanganate crystals. This crystalline material was known as 'Condy's crystals' or 'Condy's powder'. Potassium permanganate was comparatively easy to manufacture, so Condy was subsequently forced to spend considerable time in litigation to stop competitors from marketing similar products.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Early photographers used it as a component of flash powder. It is now replaced with other oxidizers, due to the instability of permanganate mixtures.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate is produced industrially from manganese dioxide, which also occurs as the mineral pyrolusite. In 2000, worldwide production was estimated at 30,000 tonnes. The MnO is fused with potassium hydroxide and heated in air or with another source of oxygen, like potassium nitrate or potassium chlorate. This process gives potassium manganate:


title: Potassium permanganate

text: The potassium manganate is then converted into permanganate by electrolytic oxidation in alkaline media:


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Although of no commercial importance, potassium manganate can be oxidized by chlorine or by disproportionation under acidic conditions. The chlorine oxidation reaction is


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Permanganate salts may also be generated by treating a solution of Mn ions with strong oxidants such as lead dioxide (PbO), sodium bismuthate (NaBiO), or peroxydisulfate. Tests for the presence of manganese exploit the vivid violet color of permanganate produced by these reagents.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Dilute solutions of KMnO convert alkenes into diols (glycols). This behaviour is also used as a qualitative test for the presence of double or triple bonds in a molecule, since the reaction decolorizes the initially purple permanganate solution and generates a brown precipitate (MnO). In this context, it is sometimes called "Baeyer's reagent". However, bromine serves better in measuring unsaturation (double or triple bonds) quantitatively, since KMnO, being a very strong oxidizing agent, can react with a variety of groups.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate oxidizes aldehydes to carboxylic acids, illustrated by the conversion of "n"-heptanal to heptanoic acid:


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Even an alkyl group (with a benzylic hydrogen) on an aromatic ring is oxidized, e.g. toluene to benzoic acid.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Glycols and polyols are highly reactive toward KMnO. For example, addition of potassium permanganate to an aqueous solution of sugar and sodium hydroxide produces the chemical chameleon reaction, which involves dramatic color changes associated with the various oxidation states of manganese. A related vigorous reaction is exploited as a fire starter in survival kits. For example, a mixture of potassium permanganate and glycerol or pulverized glucose ignites readily. Its sterilizing properties are another reason for inclusion of KMnO in a survival kit.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Treating a mixture of aqueous potassium permanganate with a quaternary ammonium salt results in ion exchange, precipitating the quat salt of permanganate. Solutions of these salts are sometimes soluble in organic solvents:


title: Potassium permanganate

text: In neutral solution, permanganate slowly reduces to manganese dioxide (MnO). This is the material that stains one's skin when handling KMnO.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Addition of concentrated sulfuric acid to potassium permanganate gives MnO. Although no reaction may be apparent, the vapor over the mixture will ignite paper impregnated with alcohol. Potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid react to produce some ozone, which has a high oxidizing power and rapidly oxidizes the alcohol, causing it to combust. As the reaction also produces explosive MnO, this should only be attempted with great caution.


title: Potassium permanganate

text: Potassium permanganate poses risks as an oxidizer. Contact with skin will result in a long lasting brown stain.


title: NoFap

text: NoFap is a website and community forum that serves as a support group for those who wish to give up pornography and masturbation. Its name comes from the slang term "fap", referring to male masturbation. While reasons for this abstinance vary by individual, the main motivation cited is attempting to overcome addiction to pornography, or other compulsive sexual behaviours. Other reasons for abstinance include religious and moral reasons, self-improvement, and physical beliefs that are not supported by medicine.


title: NoFap

text: The group's views and efforts to combat pornography addiction have been criticized as simplistic, outdated, and incorrect by neuroscientists, psychologists, and other medical professionals. The purported science behind the group's activities said to come from anti-porn activist Gary Wilson, "an Oregon man with no scientific training or background, who has made a career peddling pseudoscience."


title: NoFap

text: NoFap was founded in June 2011 by Pittsburgh web developer Alexander Rhodes after reading a thread on Reddit about a 2003 Chinese study, which claimed that men who refrain from masturbation for seven days experience a 145.7% spike in testosterone levels on the seventh day. This hit the front page of a popular forum on Reddit. The website states that some NoFap participants aim to "improve their interpersonal relationships", do a "challenge of willpower – to seize control of your sexuality and turn it into superpowers", but always with the goal of being able to "abstain from PMO (porn/masturbation/orgasm)." The expression "fap" is an onomatopoeic Internet slang term for male masturbation that first appeared in the 1999 web comic "Sexy Losers" to indicate the sound of a male character masturbating.


title: NoFap

text: While the website is most commonly associated with men seeking to quit porn and reduce masturbation, there are a minority of females who are users of the website as well, who are nicknamed "Femstronauts"; Alexander Rhodes has estimated that five percent of participants are women. Rhodes appears in the documentary written and directed by Nicholas Tana called "", in which he discusses his findings and his opinions about masturbation. After this, Rhodes created NoFap as a subreddit forum community on Reddit. The endeavour is sometimes referred to as "fapstinence".


title: NoFap

text: Users on NoFap's subreddit more than tripled in number in two years, leading Rhodes to build an off-Reddit forum at NoFap.com and begin other plans to better serve the website's fast-growing factions in Brazil, Germany, and China. NoFap.com is a forum-style website where individuals who have committed to abstain from pornography and/or masturbation for a period of time can talk about their experiences and engage in challenges to help them recover. NoFap.com is the sister website of the Reddit-hosted NoFap community.


title: NoFap

text: A 2014 internet survey found that 99% of NoFap followers are male, although women are also a part of NoFap. The membership of NoFap ranges from atheists, like founder Rhodes, to fundamentalist Christians. However, Rhodes has publicly solicited and received funding from religious groups. The users of the website call themselves "Fapstronauts." Some correspondents have nicknamed NoFap's community members as "NoFappers", "fapstinent", or "no-fappers". Some self-described porn addicts seek out NoFap for help, while others join the website for the challenge or to improve their lives and interpersonal relationships.


title: NoFap

text: The overwhelming goal of members of the NoFap forums is to stop masturbation entirely, and that this goal is due to their "perception of masturbation as unhealthy". After abstaining from porn and masturbation for a period of time, some of NoFap's users claim to experience various improvements in physical and mental health. Some NoFap users say their brains were warped by porn, at the expense of real relationships.


title: NoFap

text: NoFap hosts a wide variety of different opinions on sexual health, and supports users with various goals as long as they are trying to improve their sexual health.


title: NoFap

text: Some of the group's beliefs cite the work of Gary Wilson, an anti-pornography activist who has no medical or scientific training. Wilson's work is pseudoscientific.


title: NoFap

text: According to various sources, the overwhelming majority of all websites and YouTube channels devoted to anti-masturbation and anti-porn addiction propaganda, channels, and websites supporting NoFap are owned by far-right, religious fundamentalists, and conservative who are biblical inerrantists, and also are entirely political in nature. The NoFap community is sometimes viewed to be a part of the manosphereonline groups credited with propagating misogyny.


title: NoFap

text: Psychologists, MDs, and social scientists noticed that the traditional Christian obsession with combating sexual activities, including masturbation, is unhealthy and unwholesome, and this also applies to secular advocacy of anti-pornography and anti-masturbation, including 16 US states' legislatures which have declared that pornography is a "public health crisis".


title: NoFap

text: The American Psychiatric Association had by then already dismissed such moral panic ("political stunt") in DSM-5 (published in 2013), and DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022, does not recognize a diagnosis of sexual addiction (which would include internet pornography viewing).


title: NoFap

text: Therapist Paula Hall for "The Huffington Post" was asked about NoFap claims of "physical health benefits mentioned including renewed energy, greater focus, concentration, and better sleep" and responded "there is little medical evidence for any of these changes". Therapist Robert Weiss for "The Huffington Post" sees NoFap as part of a tech backlash. The endeavor has also been criticized as generating embarrassing side effects such as prolonged or unwanted erections in men or an excessive libido. Psychologist David J. Ley wrote: "I'm not in opposition to them, but I do think their ideas are simplistic, naive and promote a sad, reductionistic and distorted view of male sexuality and masculinity". Ley criticizes NoFap supporters as amateurs who are using "bad data" and "extrapolations on weak science to argue that porn has a disproportionate effect on the brain" and claim that porn use causes erectile dysfunction. Ley has stated that the website is a continuation of the anti-masturbation movements from the past, such as Swiss doctor Samuel Tissot's 18th-century claims that masturbation was an illness that "weakened the male spirit" and led to immorality; American doctor Benjamin Rush, who claimed that masturbation caused blindness; and W.K. Kellogg, who developed corn flakes as part of his anti-masturbation efforts.


title: NoFap

text: NoFap appears to oppose science. Their website includes legal warnings that scientists are prohibited from conducting research on them, and they have threatened to sue scientists who do.


title: NoFap

text: A 2021 qualitative study found that NoFap's approach to pornography appears to be harmful. Specifically, the scientists studied "members of the online NoFap/PornFree self-help communities" and concluded "commitment to abstinence, framed by the notions of recovery and relapse, was found to be a major factor for maintaining distress" Another 2021 study concluded with a warning "...the mythical articulations that emerge from contestations over concepts like NoFap have the potential to galvanize young men into horrific, real-world violence." This later study viewed NoFap as creating self-pitying, self-constructed victims that "galvanizes misogyny and racism".


title: NoFap

text: A 2020 study found that while NoFap claimed to be science-based, the more that NoFap followers believed that they should abstain from masturbation, the more they also reported "lower trust in science". Social psychologists Taylor and Jackson, who analyzed the content of NoFap forums, concluded in their study that some NoFap participants not only rejected pornography, but also radical feminist critiques of pornography. They also stated that members of NoFap frequently utilized and redeployed familiar hegemonic masculine views (e.g. men as dominant seekers of pleasure and women as the 'natural' suppliers of this pleasure), in turn reproducing societal expectations of gendered sexual dominance and submission. Another 2020 study stated that the forum represents itself as a source of medical information, which seems to discourage members from seeking actual medical advice and instead self-diagnosing.


title: NoFap

text: A 2020 study analysing discourse on pornography, published in the journal "Social Forces", stated regarding NoFap: "These claims do not necessarily come from scientific experts. Instead, we find that newspaper articles draw from a variety of professionals who are not scientists" and that "Rhodes is quoted repeatedly reflecting that he was 'addicted to internet porn' and shares the personal consequences." They conclude "journalists and political actors are overextending scientific findings to advance their media markets and political agendas" in support of gender and sexual norms.


title: NoFap

text: A 2020 paper stated that NoFap appears to have been specifically targeted by far-right groups, writing, "the struggle for the 'remasculinization' of white men by overcoming porn (addiction) had to be an antisemitic one: a fight against 'Jewish pornography' and 'Jewish filth,' in which other current anti-porn actors such as NoFap should join". Cultural studies scholar Simon Strick stated regarding NoFap that a "racist culture war...was already implied in the call to join the ‘movement’ by becoming abstinent". The chapter continues, "NoFap present themselves as a search for non-toxic and progressive gender roles, even as they partake in gendered and racialized narratives that are no less violent".


title: NoFap

text: NoFap supporters are "known for vitriolically attacking female scholars not sharing their view". Sociologist Kelsy Burke stated that "Rhodes and a small staff manage NoFap.com and its brand full time". She states, "There is no scientific evidence that supports the idea of these superpowers. Yet hundreds of thousands of NoFap users insist they experience them." She critiques similar gender problems in groups including NoFap, stating, "The scientific and spiritual gets muddled together as participants reinforce damaging gender stereotypes—those of hypersexual, biologically ravenous men who are simply "wired differently" than women. Women whose sexuality exists only in relation to male desire...porn addiction recovery reproduces the worst lessons of porn itself." NoFap forums are described by a 2020 paper as a place where "men's sexual entitlement to women was left unquestioned".


title: NoFap

text: Claims of the semen retention community as well as those of the NoFap community are among the least accurate in respect to men's health.


title: NoFap

text: Several journalists have criticized NoFap. Some of them report that the forums were filled with misogyny, stating that "there is a darker side to NoFap. Among the reams of Reddit discussions and YouTube videos, a fundamentally misogynistic rhetoric regularly emerges", and that "the NoFap community has become linked to wider sexism and misogyny, reducing women to sexual objects to be attained or abstained from and shaming sexually active women." NoFap followers have posted videos on YouTube that regularly feature anti-homosexual and anti-woman values, such as 'stop being a little bitch' demands. A "New York Times" story by Rob Kuznia expressed concern about white supremacists promoting the belief that pornography is a conspiracy of Judaism. Scientist Shane Kraus, PhD, speaking to CNET describes there is "no scholarship" supporting the Reboot claims of NoFap.


title: NoFap

text: According to a 2021 opinion article in The Daily Dot, "The NoFap model is nothing more than a breeding ground for racism, misogyny, and whorephobic violence. It’s time we take it seriously and close up its pipeline into violent behavior once and for all." The article linked NoFap's ideology to recent murders.


title: NoFap

text: "Der Spiegel" reported that some NoFap adherents also belong to groups with members who have been connected to hate crimes and terrorist murders, arguing that there is a general potential for radicalization within the manosphere.


title: NoFap

text: NoFap has been involved in legal actions filed or threatened by its founder, Alexander Rhodes. After threatening two scientists with litigation, the scientists published a letter defending the need to be allowed to criticize NoFap: "As [NoFap] operate in the public sphere, however, we deem it not only as legitimate but necessary to acknowledge and cite them as one prominent voice in the debate around masturbation abstinence—everything else would be an unjustifiable muting of their stand." For publishing a critique of NoFap's fundraising efforts, Rhodes sued ScramNews in the UK. ScramNews apologized to Alexander Rhodes and agreed to pay substantial damages and legal fees after false allegations and defamation. NoFap threatened to sue "The Spectator" for writing about their association with right-wing, antisemitic groups. They threatened to sue a blogger for using 'NoFap' as a trademark.


title: NoFap

text: Rhodes' aggressive litigation has had a chilling effect on free speech, as "Sex educators, adult industry groups and therapists told Motherboard that they are scared of legal action from NoFap, and some of them weren't willing to speak openly about masturbation and the stigma of watching porn."


title: NoFap

text: In 2017, an "Independent" article called "Inside the Community of Men Who Have Given Up Porn" noted that an alternative subreddit, /r/pornfree, is different from 'NoFap' as members abstain from pornography but not necessarily masturbation. Another "Independent" article, from 2018, described /r/pornfree as less 'extreme' compared to /r/nofap.


title: NoFap

text: A study of NoFap reddit users found that NoFap members were most likely to also be members of TheRedPill, seduction, and similar men's rights and pick up artist Reddit groups. Another study reported a similar pattern that NoFap Reddit members also were likely to be supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.


title: Carly Aquilino

text: Carly Aquilino (born November 18, 1990) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, television host and television personality. Aquilino was a regular cast member of the "Girl Code" comedy series on MTV and was a host of "Girl Code Live".


title: Carly Aquilino

text: Aquilino was born on Long Island, New York and worked as a hairdresser. She needed spinal surgery and recuperated for a year during which time she realized she couldn't work on her feet as a hairdresser. She started doing standup and was discovered at the Carolines comedy club by Ryan Ling. She got a job with Girl Code from this encounter. As of 2019, she was hosting a podcast with Emma Willman called Secret Keepers Club. She has made appearances on Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne, the Jim Gaffigan Show, The Playboy Morning Show and Hot Ones.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Born and raised in West London, Wakeman intended to be a concert pianist but quit his studies at the Royal College of Music in 1969 to become a full-time session musician. His early sessions included playing on "Space Oddity", among others, for David Bowie, and songs by Junior's Eyes, T. Rex, Elton John, and Cat Stevens. Wakeman became a member of The Strawbs in 1970 before joining Yes a year later, playing on some of their most successful albums across two stints until 1980. Wakeman began his solo career in 1973; his highest-selling solo albums are his first three, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (1973), "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (1974), and "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" (1975), all concept albums. He formed his band, The English Rock Ensemble, in 1974, with which he continues to perform, and scored his first film, "Lisztomania" (1975).


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman pursued solo projects in the 1980s with varied levels of success; his most popular album was "1984", released in 1981, which was followed by his minor pop hit single, "Glory Boys", from "Silent Nights" (1985). He hosted the television show "Gastank", and recorded his first of several New-age, ambient, and Christian music albums with "Country Airs" (1986) and "The Gospels" (1987), respectively. From 1988 to 1990 he was a member of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe which led to his third Yes stint until 1992. He returned twice more between 1995 and 2004, during which he completed several more solo projects and tours, including his most significant of the decade, "Return to the Centre of the Earth" (1999). From 2016 to 2020, Wakeman was a member of Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman. He continues to record albums and perform concerts worldwide in various capacities; his most recent album is "The Red Planet" (2020).


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's discography includes over 90 solo albums spanning a range of musical styles. He has made many television and radio appearances; in recent years he became known for his contributions to the BBC comedy series "Grumpy Old Men", "Watchdog" and his radio show on Planet Rock that aired from 2005 to 2010. Wakeman has written three books; an autobiography and two memoirs. In 2017, Wakeman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman was born on 18 May 1949 in Perivale, Middlesex. The only child of Cyril Frank Wakeman and Mildred Helen Wakeman (née Eastment), the three lived in Wood End Gardens in nearby Northolt. Cyril was a pianist in Ted Heath's big band while he was in the army, and worked at a building suppliers, joining as an office boy at fourteen to become one of its directors. Mildred worked at a removals firm. Wakeman attended Drayton Manor Grammar School in Hanwell, in 1959. The family spent their summer holidays in Exmouth.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: When Wakeman turned seven, his father paid for weekly piano lessons with Dorothy Symes which lasted for eleven years. She recalled that Wakeman "passed everything with a distinction" and was an "enjoyable pupil to teach, full of fun and with a good sense of humour", but noted his lack of self-discipline when it came to practising. In 1960, Symes entered Wakeman in his first music competition and he went on to win many awards, certificates, and cups in contests held around London. Wakeman then took up the clarinet at age twelve and in his teenage years, attended church and learned the church organ, became a Sunday school teacher, and chose to be baptised at eighteen.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman described himself at school as "a horror ... I worked hard in the first year, then eased up". In 1961, during his time at Drayton Manor school, Wakeman played in his first band, the trad jazz outfit Brother Wakeman and the Clergymen, with a uniform of the school shirt put on the wrong way round. In 1963, at fourteen, Wakeman joined the Atlantic Blues, a local blues group that secured a year's residency at a mental health rehabilitation club in Neasden. Two years later, Wakeman passed his O Levels in English, maths, art and music, and went on to study music, art, and British constitution at A-level. In 1966, he joined the Concordes, later known as the Concorde Quartet, playing dance and pop songs at local events with his cousin Alan Wakeman on saxophone and clarinet. Wakeman used the money earned from their gigs to buy a Pianet, his first electronic instrument.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: That year he also formed a dance band called the Green Dolphin Trio, spending a year's residency at a social club in Alperton, and Curdled Milk, a joke on "Strange Brew" by Cream, to play at the annual school dance. The band were unpaid after Wakeman lost control of his car and drove across the headmaster's rose garden at the front of the school, thereby forfeiting their performance fee to pay for the damage. In 1967, Wakeman began a tenure with the Ronnie Smith Band, a dance group based at the Top Rank ballroom in Watford. He was sacked in the following year after not taking the dance music seriously enough, but was reinstated and performed in Reading. It was there where he met their singer Ashley Holt, who later sang on many of Wakeman's future albums and tours.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In 1968, Wakeman secured a place at the Royal College of Music in London, studying the piano, clarinet, orchestration, and modern music, with the intention of becoming a concert pianist. To enter he needed to pass eight music exams to earn his A-level in the subject, which required him, as his mother remembered, "to do two years' work in ten months". Wakeman put in the effort following a ten shilling bet with his music teacher who believed he would not succeed, and refusing his father's offer to work with him. Wakeman joined the Royal College on a performers course before a change to the teachers course, but quickly found out that "everyone else there was at least as good as me; and a lot of them much better." He adopted a more relaxed attitude to his studies, spending much of his time drinking in pubs and with the staff at the Musical Bargain Centre, a music shop in Ealing.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's first booking as a session musician, and his first time in a recording studio, occurred when guitarist Chas Cronk entered the shop one morning in need of an organist and brass arranger for members of the Ike & Tina Turner band. During the session Wakeman met producers Tony Visconti, Gus Dudgeon, and Denny Cordell Cordell was impressed with his performance and offered him more session work for artists at Regal Zonophone Records, which Wakeman accepted and he began skipping college in favour of sessions.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman became a full-time session musician, playing keyboards and arranging music for various artists between fifteen and eighteen times a week. His ability to produce what was needed in a short amount of time led to his nickname, One Take Wakeman. Among his first sessions were playing on "Battersea Power Station" by Junior's Eyes and, in June 1969, the Mellotron on "Space Oddity" by David Bowie for a £9 fee after Dudgeon needed a player, as neither knew much about the instrument. Wakeman went on to play on several tracks on Bowie's second album, "David Bowie", and organ and piano on American singer Tucker Zimmerman's only single, "Red Wind". Wakeman left the Ronnie Smith group and, for several months, played in a band named Spinning Wheel in a pub in Ilford for seven nights a week. He got the gig from an advert in "Melody Maker". In one session, Visconti had Wakeman play a single bass note on the piano at the end of "Walk on Guilded Splinters" by Marsha Hunt, so he could be paid the session fee. In 1970, Wakeman performed on "Seasons" by Magna Carta, and records by Brotherhood of Man, Paper Bubble, Shawn Phillips, and White Plains. He soon became disillusioned with session work, despite being paid well, because he was not involved in the songwriting.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's prominence rose during his tenure with the folk rock group The Strawbs. He had played the piano as a session musician on "Dragonfly" (1970), which was the first album released with Wakeman's name on its credits, and joined the band as a full-time member in March 1970. The group then performed a series of dates in Paris for a rock and roll circus with various bands backing the circus acts. During one performance, Wakeman pushed Salvador Dalí off the stage as he made a special guest appearance during his piano solo. He wrote, "I didn't know who he was. I thought, 'Silly old sod, coming on the stage waving his stick'." Wakeman's first major show with The Strawbs followed on 11 July 1970 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, which was recorded and released as "Just a Collection of Antiques and Curios". It features Wakeman playing an extended organ solo and his solo piano piece "Temperament of Mind", which received a standing ovation. The piece originated from improvisations when the band would lose power during a show, leaving Wakeman to fill time by playing the piano. The concert and album led to Wakeman being named "pop find of 1970" and was featured on the front page of "Melody Maker" for the first time, where he was named "tomorrow's superstar". Also in July 1970, Wakeman launched a folk music night at the White Hart in Acton called the Booze Droop. It failed to make an impact, so Bowie agreed to perform an acoustic set for £5 to help raise funds. The gig was attended by around 12 people.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: While in the Strawbs, Wakeman continued to fit in session work to help pay for his new home in West Harrow. He bought a Minimoog synthesiser at half price from actor Jack Wild, who thought that it was defective because it only played one note at a time. Wakeman played the piano on "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens for his 1971 album, "Teaser and the Firecat". He was omitted from the credits, and for many years, was not paid; Stevens later apologised and compensated Wakeman for the error. Other sessions that involved Wakeman during this time were "Get It On" by T. Rex, three tracks on "Madman Across the Water" by Elton John, and "Changes", "Oh! You Pretty Things", and "Life on Mars?" for Bowie's album "Hunky Dory". Bowie invited Wakeman to his home and played the outline of the tracks for him to learn; Wakeman later called them "the finest selection of songs I have ever heard in one sitting in my entire life". He also developed music for the 1972 film, "Zee and Co." In late 1971, an album compiled of pop tunes played by Wakeman on the piano was released as "Piano Vibrations" by Polydor Records. Wakeman did not receive any royalties from it; he was paid £36 for the four sessions it took to make.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: "From the Witchwood" marked the growing differences between Wakeman and The Strawbs; he made the better paid studio sessions a priority and contributed little to the band's new music. With his income from the group failing to cover his mortgage and bills, in July 1971 Wakeman became faced with "one of the most difficult decisions" of his career after Bowie invited him to join his new backing band, The Spiders from Mars. Later the same day, he received a call from bassist Chris Squire of the progressive rock group Yes, who explained that Yes needed a keyboardist as Tony Kaye had been asked to leave, following his resistance to learn instruments other than the piano and organ. Wakeman agreed to meet Yes as they rehearsed for their fourth album, "Fragile" (1971), and during his first tryout with the band, the basis of "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Roundabout" were put together. Thinking that Yes presented more favourable opportunities for his career, Wakeman declined Bowie's offer and played his final gig with The Strawbs. Wakeman reappeared on the front cover of "Melody Maker", his second in a year, regarding his arrival in Yes. His earnings increased from £18 to £50 per week. Towards the end of 1971, Wakeman signed a five album solo recording contract with A&M Records.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Yes made "Fragile" in five weeks, partly to resume touring quickly so they could finance a new set of keyboards for Wakeman. The album features a solo track written by each member; Wakeman's track, "Cans and Brahms", is an adaptation of the third movement of Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms played on electronic keyboards. He called it "dreadful" as contractual disputes between Atlantic Records, who had signed Yes, and A&M prevented him from writing his own composition. Wakeman claimed he was never credited for his contributions on "Fragile", including piano sections on "Heart of the Sunrise" and "South Side of the Sky", despite being told that management would sort the issue. He enjoyed the music too much to cause further rifts. "Fragile" reached the top ten in the UK and the US, and the Fragile Tour marked Wakeman's first visit to North America. Its commercial success allowed Wakeman to buy a new home in Gerrards Cross and start a car collection, which he rented out through his new business, the Fragile Carriage Company. In late 1971, Wakeman played two notable piano sessions, on "It Ain't Easy" on Bowie's album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" and on "Orange" by Al Stewart.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In the 1972 "Melody Maker" readers' poll, Wakeman ranked second in the Top Keyboardist category behind Keith Emerson. That year, Yes followed "Fragile" with "Close to the Edge" which is considered a landmark progressive rock album and features Wakeman playing a church organ and harpsichord. He is credited on the final track, "Siberian Khatru". Wakeman picked the album as "one of the finest moments of Yes's career." The Close to the Edge Tour marked the first time Wakeman wore a cape on stage after a fan offered his own for one of the band members to wear. He then had his own made; the first was made of sequins and cost US$300. Wakeman is featured on the concert film "Yessongs", filmed in 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre which features his solo spot in the show. Also that month at the venue, Wakeman was a guest musician at The Who's orchestral performances of "Tommy".


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In January 1973, Wakeman released his debut solo album, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII". It was recorded in 1972 during gaps in touring and recording with Yes, and features members of the band, the Strawbs, and other guest musicians. The album is instrumental with its concept based on Wakeman's musical interpretations of the characteristics of the six wives of Henry VIII. The album was previewed with Wakeman performing excerpts on the BBC television show, "The Old Grey Whistle Test". Much of the television audience that night planned to watch "Blue Movie", a controversial film by Andy Warhol, but it was temporarily banned from being broadcast. Wakeman explained: "It seems most of them, rather than watch repeats, switched over to "Whistle Test" and saw my preview of "Henry" ... and suddenly it seemed as if the whole country had discovered my music ... it was a tremendous break." The album reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 30 in the US, and "Time" named the record one of the best albums of the year. At the "Melody Maker" readers poll awards in September 1973, Wakeman came out first in the top keyboardist category.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Yes's double concept album "Tales from Topographic Oceans" was released in November 1973, containing four side long pieces based on ideas from Hindu scriptures in "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda. Wakeman had doubts about its esoteric concept, and felt a lot of its music was too experimental which required further rehearsal. He distanced himself from the group, and spent time in the bar at Morgan Studios and played on "Sabbra Caddabra" on "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Black Sabbath in the adjacent studio. Yes toured the album for six months, playing the album in its entirety which Wakeman also disagreed with. He openly criticised the album to the press, and his growing frustrations culminated in an incident whereby he ate a curry on stage during a show in Manchester. In 2006, Wakeman clarified that his total dislike of the album is "not entirely true" and recognises some "very, very nice musical moments", but "we had too much for a single album but not enough for a double, so we padded it out and the padding is awful".


title: Rick Wakeman

text: During the "Topographic Oceans" tour Wakeman recorded his new 40-minute work "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", based on Jules Verne's same-titled science-fiction novel. He came up with the idea in 1971, but shelved the project until "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" was complete. After working on the music with Lou Reizner, David Measham, Wil Malone, and Danny Beckerman, which features an orchestra, choir, and a rock band, Wakeman chose to record the piece in concert due to the high costs of a studio. To help finance the project, he sold some of his cars and "mortgage[d himself] up to the hilt", all of which cost around £40,000. Two concerts were held at London's Royal Festival Hall on 18 January 1974 with the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir, actor David Hemmings as narrator, and a five-piece band formed of musicians that Wakeman played with in a west London pub: vocalists Ashley Holt and Gary Pickford-Hopkins, drummer Barney James, bassist Roger Newell, and guitarist Mike Egan. A&M wanted to use better known musicians, but Wakeman wanted the album to be known for its music rather than the performers. After cutting the album A&M refused to sell it, but as Wakeman was under contract with its US division, a cassette was sent to co-founder Jerry Moss who liked it and ordered its worldwide release.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: After touring "Topographic Oceans", Wakeman retreated to his Devonshire home. He heard early ideas for Yes's next album, felt he could no longer contribute to the style of music they were making, and confirmed his departure from the band on his twenty-fifth birthday. Later that day, A&M informed him that "Journey" had entered the UK charts at No. 1, a first for the label. "Journey" also reached No. 3 in the US, and earned Wakeman a Grammy and Ivor Novello Award nomination. The album has sold an estimated 14 million copies worldwide. On 27 July 1974, Wakeman headlined the Crystal Palace Garden Party concert, performing selections from "Six Wives" and "Journey" in its entirety. By this time, his excessive smoking and alcohol consumption, a lack of sleep five days prior to the show, and a wrist injury from a fall, took a toll on his health, and he needed morphine injections to get through the performance. Soon after the show, he suffered a minor heart attack.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: During his recovery at Wexham Park Hospital, Wakeman started to write new music for his next album, "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". Despite being advised to reduce his workload and improve his excessive lifestyle, Wakeman made plans to record and tour and continued to smoke and drink. In September and October 1974, he completed his debut North American tour, performing "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" plus selections from "Six Wives" with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Choir of America, and his rock band named The English Rock Ensemble. Under doctors' orders, Wakeman was required to pass a heart monitor test before each performance. The tour continued to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, finishing in March 1975.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Recording for "King Arthur" finished in January 1975, and features the New World Orchestra, English Chamber Choir, and the Nottingham Festival Vocal Group. Its a concept album based on King Arthur and its related characters and stories. Following its release in March 1975, the album went to No. 2 in the UK and No. 21 in the US, and earned gold certifications in Brazil, Japan, and Australia. The album was promoted with three sold-out shows at Wembley Arena with Wakeman performing with an orchestra, choir, and his rock band to a total of 27,000 people. As the arena floor was already set up as an ice rink for a different attraction, Wakeman chose to present the show as an ice pageant with fourteen ice skaters and the musicians' stage placed in the round and decorated as a castle. The shows, though well received and a contributory factor to the album's commercial success, were expensive to produce. In 2009, the concerts were listed in ranked 79th on VH1's "100 Greatest Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll" program. By 2008, the album had sold an estimated 12 million copies worldwide.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman toured "King Arthur" with an augmented formation of the English Rock Ensemble for three months from October 1975, across North and South America. The stage production was scaled back in comparison to his previous tours, featuring only his rock band with a two-piece wind section. The line-up was Wakeman's first with new drummer Tony Fernandez, who would perform on many of his future albums and tours. In 1975, Wakeman composed the soundtrack for "Lisztomania", a biography film about composer Franz Liszt written and directed by Ken Russell. Wakeman appears in the film as Thor, the god of thunder. A few years later, he recalled the album in a more negative light as "there was hardly anything of mine on it in the end", and criticised its mixing and production. "No Earthly Connection" (1976) was recorded in France and features Wakeman and his English Rock Ensemble. Initially it was to be about mythological gods, but its lyrical subject matter changed after he witnessed a flying object one night which inspired him to read up on the origins of man and mysterious phenomena such as the Bermuda Triangle, Stonehenge, and the pyramids. Wakeman wrote the album without playing any of its music beforehand, and summarised it in the liner notes: "A futuristic, autobiographical look at music, the part it plays in our pre-earth, human and after life". Upon its release in April 1976, the album went to No. 9 in the UK and No. 67 in the US. Wakeman toured the album worldwide for seven weeks, which featured a scaled down stage production compared to his previous tours.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: By the summer of 1976, Wakeman fell into financial trouble after touring had met its minimal expectations and its expenses had exceeded its profits, and had to come up with £350,000 "in a matter of weeks". He sold his Rolls-Royces, ended his Fragile car service company, and disbanded the English Rock Ensemble, and saw further relief when A&M agreed to pay royalties in advance. At the suggestion of Wakeman's his manager, Brian Lane, Wakeman rehearsed with Bill Bruford and John Wetton for six weeks with the plan to form a new band, but the story broke in "Melody Maker" which effectively caused the group to split. Wakeman took up work recording the soundtrack to "White Rock", a documentary film about the 1976 Winter Olympics directed by Tony Maylam. The film premiered in February 1977 as a double bill with "". The track "After the Ball" was one that Wakeman forgot to write; he proceeded to play it as a completely improvised single take, rather than confessing to the producers.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's fortunes changed when he was invited to join Yes in Montreux, Switzerland as they were working on new songs for "Going for the One" (1977), in November 1976. Keyboardist Patrick Moraz had left during the early stages in part due to the "enormous psychological pressures within the group". Upon hearing the band's new material of more accessible and concise songs, Wakeman agreed to play on the album as a session musician and joined the band in Montreux, where he lived for four years as a tax exile. Wakeman subsequently agreed to rejoin the band full-time, but noticed the new edition of "Melody Maker" had printed the headline "Wakeman rejoins Yes" hours after he agreed. He then learned that Lane had informed the press of his return without consulting him. Wakeman described "Going for the One" as "the album Yes should have made instead of "Topographic Oceans"", and considered the 15-minute track "Awaken" as one of the group's best. "Tormato" (1978) features Wakeman playing a Birotron, a tape replay keyboard that used 8-track tape cartridges and contributed funds to its development. He is reported to have given the album its name by throwing a tomato at a showing of the art used for the album's cover.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's final albums for A&M were released in the late 1970s. "Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record" (1977) is an instrumental rock album (apart from humorous vocals from Bill Oddie) similar to "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" but loosely based on criminality, and features Yes bandmates Chris Squire on bass and Alan White on drums, with Frank Ricotti on percussion. The album went to No. 25 in the UK and No. 128 in the US. "Rhapsodies" (1979) was recorded in Montreux and released as a double album, with Wakeman playing shorter tracks of varied musical styles. It features Bruce Lynch, Frank Gibson Jr., and Tony Visconti as guest musicians. It also peaked at No. 25 in the UK. After touring with Yes in 1979, and failed attempts at making a new album with the band in Paris and London, Wakeman and Anderson left the group in early 1980.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In 1980, after a four-year hiatus, Wakeman reformed the English Rock Ensemble for a European tour. Later that year he came close to forming a band with drummer Carl Palmer, bassist John Wetton, and guitarist Trevor Rabin, but opted out "on a matter of principle" as the record company was prepared to sign them without hearing any of the group's music. He looked back at this moment: "I basically sealed my financial fate, and things went downhill fast." His father's death in November 1980 prompted him to leave Switzerland and return to the UK, which led to a record deal with Charisma Records to avoid bankruptcy. For several months of 1980 Wakeman was homeless due to his financial difficulties and secord divorce, and resorted to sleeping on benches in Kensington Gardens until a former roadie let him sleep at his house.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's first album for Charisma was "1984", a concept rock album based on George Orwell's same-titled dystopian novel, with a band including Steve Barnacle on bass, Gary Barnacle on saxophone, and Frank Ricotti on drums. The album features tracks with Chaka Khan, Jon Anderson, Kenny Lynch, and Tim Rice on lead vocals, who also wrote the lyrics. "1984" was released in June 1981 and reached number 24 in the UK. Plans to have the album adapted into a musical were cancelled after lawyers from Orwell's estate blocked its development. In July 1981, Wakeman performed "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" for two shows in Durban, South Africa. This was followed by a world tour until the end of 1981, with a line-up of Holt, Fernandez, Tim Stone on guitar, Steve Barnacle on bass, and Cori Josiah on vocals. The tour became problematic due to growing friction within the band. In the same year, Wakeman recorded the soundtrack to the slasher horror film "The Burning" in New York City.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman's next album was "Rock 'n' Roll Prophet", a humorous spoof on the pop duo The Buggles released in 1982 on his own label, Moon Records. Initially titled "Maybe '80", it was recorded in Switzerland in 1979 but remained unreleased until he secured the rights for it following an appearance at the MIDEM music festival. A single from the album, "I'm So Straight I'm a Weirdo", featuring Wakeman on lead vocals, was released in 1980. Wakeman hosted the Channel 4 music show "Gastank" with Tony Ashton that aired in January and February 1983. He then released a second album for Charisma, "Cost of Living", a mixture of instrumental and rock tracks with Rice on vocals, which failed to impact the chart and "did nothing" to improve his finances. By this time, Wakeman was "managerless, penniless and homeless". In February 1983, he and Carter moved to Camberley, Surrey after the birth of their daughter Jemma. Wakeman took up work by recording the soundtrack to the official 1982 FIFA World Cup documentary film "G'olé!", which was released around the same time as "Cost of Living" which hampered potential sales. He wrote the soundtrack for the film "She" with assistance from Justin Hayward and Maggie Bell, and his second Russell feature, "Crimes of Passion", with Bell on vocals, Fernandez on drums, and past Strawbs bandmate Chas Cronk on bass. Wakeman based the music around the themes of Symphony No. 9 by Antonín Dvořák. Wakeman also spent early 1983 writing the score to the ballet "Killing Games", but problems during its development led to the project being shelved, along with a potential double album of its music. In early 1984, Wakeman contributed three songs to the soundtrack of "B.C. Rock".


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In 1984, Wakeman signed with the independent label President Records in an association that would last until 2007, for which he would produce almost 40 albums. The first was "Silent Nights", Wakeman's first solo album in over two years, featuring Fernandez, Cronk, and Rick Fenn on guitar and released in 1985. The single "Glory Boys" became a minor pop hit in the UK. In March 1985, Wakeman finished work on his part of the soundtrack to the comedy film "Playing for Keeps", which was followed by a tour of the UK, North America, and Australia to promote "Silent Nights". It was his first full-scale tour in four years, and his first shows in the US in over five. A live album from the UK leg was released as "Live at Hammersmith". The tour left Wakeman "seriously in debt", and he was forced to remortgage his Camberley home. In September 1985, during the tour's Australian leg, Wakeman fell ill from his alcoholism and has been teetotal since. Also in 1985, a single of Wakeman's theme tunes for the television shows "Lytton's Diary" and "Database" was released, and Wakeman reunited with David Bowie to play the piano on his 1986 single "Absolute Beginners".


title: Rick Wakeman

text: The latter half of the 1980s saw Wakeman venture into new musical genres. In 1986, he released his first album of new age music titled "Country Airs", formed of solo piano tracks inspired by the countryside. It reached number one on the UK new age chart. Wakeman followed this with a tour of the Far East, and soundtrack work for "Hero", the film to the 1986 World Cup, and the BBC film "The Day After the Fair". In 1987, Wakeman joined the rock band Sky as a guest musician for an Australian tour, and released "The Family Album" consisting of new age tracks dedicated to each of his family members and pets. Also in 1987, Wakeman put out his first of several Christian music albums titled "The Gospels", a double album based on the four Gospels that features tenor vocalist Ramon Remedios, actor Robert Powell as narrator, and the Eton College Chapel Choir. The music was originally written for a 1985 concert as part of a fund raising event for a church before it was expanded into a full album. Wakeman played the album with Remedios and his band in at the Royal Albert Hall in London and in the following year, in Caesarea, Israel. He returned to rock with "Time Machine", loosely based on the science fiction novel by H. G. Wells and featuring Roy Wood and Tracy Ackerman as guest vocalists. Released in 1988, Wakeman intended to record it with an orchestra and choir and put on a star-studded ice show, but the idea was cancelled due to lack of funds.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In March 1988, in a move to improve their finances, Wakeman and Carter sold their Camberley home and moved to Peel on the Isle of Man. A coach house on the site of their home was converted into a recording studio that Wakeman named Bajonor Studios, named after the first letters of his family. The 24-track studio was built as Wakeman had lost several opportunities to score films due to the high cost of renting large, professional studios, so he built his own as a compromise. Wakeman recorded there from 1990 until 2001. The new age-themed "Aspirant Sunset", released in 1990, was the first, and marks the first album with his longtime recording engineer Stuart Sawney.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In late 1988, Wakeman got together with former Yes bandmates Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, and Steve Howe to form a new group, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. The band originated when Anderson had become increasingly frustrated with Yes's commercial direction, and left the band to make music that reflected the band's 1970s sound. Their self-titled album was released in 1989, and the tour marked Wakeman's first major US tour in ten years. Tracks originally put down for a second album were added to an in-progress Yes album and released as "Union" in 1991, which transformed Yes into an eight-piece formation with Wakeman sharing keyboards with original Yes member Tony Kaye. Wakeman has openly stated his dislike for "Union", partly due to the fact that session musicians were brought in to re-write and perform parts that he and Howe had already put down. However, he later chose the Union Tour tour of 1991–1992 as his favourite with Yes, where he formed a strong friendship with their 1980s guitarist and singer-songwriter Trevor Rabin. Wakeman confirmed his exit from the group in 1993 following managerial disputes with the band's and his own.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: Wakeman continued with his solo career in parallel; he recorded a new rock score for a colourised re-release of "The Phantom of the Opera", featuring Chrissie Hammond on vocals, put out as "Phantom Power" in 1990. In the first half of the 1990s, Wakeman performed and released music in aid of ASSIST, a California-based Christian organisation founded by journalist Dan Wooding, author of Wakeman's biography. The pair reconnected in 1989, and their first venture was "In the Beginning", an album of atmospheric music with Biblical readings ready by Wakeman's then-wife Nina. Wakeman donated the album's entire proceedings to ASSIST. In 1994, Wakeman completed the Simply Acoustic Tour, a series of solo piano concerts in the US in aid of ASSIST. Recordings from shows in Virginia and the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California was released on "The Piano Album" in 1995. The latter show was attended by 8,000 people.


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In October 1992, Wakeman embarked on a world tour with a four-piece group of Fernandez, guitarist and bassist Alan Thomson, and his son Adam Wakeman on additional keyboards. The tour lasted until 1994, and was organised as Wakeman wished to tour with a second keyboardist to "free [him] up to do more things" on stage. The tour marked the release of "Wakeman with Wakeman", an album of keyboard compositions written and performed by the pair. They released "No Expense Spared" in 1993, "Romance of the Victorian Age" in 1994, and "Vignettes" in 1996. In 1993, Wakeman's financial situation took an unexpected turn when he was demanded to pay almost £70,000 to the Inland Revenue for interest charges and unpaid penalties related to tax he had paid for the preceding six years. He later wrote: "With help from Brian Lane's office and Yes's accountants, in my signing away all publishing income from everything I had ever written ... Twenty-two years' work had vanished in the three seconds it had taken to sign my name."


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In mid-1995, Wakeman became involved with Phillip Gandey's family circus entertainment project Cirque Surreal, writing and recording "timeless" pieces to enhance the show's various characters. The show was initially held at the Brighton Festival, and Wakeman went out to perform it live with his band at other venues, including the Cheltenham Festival. Around the same time, Wakeman scored the soundtrack to "Bullet to Beijing", a made-for-television film starring Michael Caine and Jason Connery. He also scoreed its sequel, "Midnight in Saint Petersburg". Also in 1995, Wakeman played keyboards on Ozzy Osbourne's album "Ozzmosis".


title: Rick Wakeman

text: In the summer of 1995, Wakeman agreed to return to Yes, marking his fourth time in the group. They worked on new studio material Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California from 3–6 March 1996. He then recorded the "Keys to Ascension" (1996) and "Keys to Ascension 2" (1997) albums with Yes. In March 1997, Wakeman staged the North American premiere of "The New Gospels" for five dates after it was reworked and extended into a two-hour oratorio with a 30-piece choir, in 1994. The concerts were free with donations to ASSIST. Wakeman left Yes in May 1997 before he could tour with them, due to scheduling conflicts and lack of coordination between the artists' management. In June 1997, Wakeman became the host of the stand-up comedy television show "Live at Jongleurs".