Does Humour Belong in Prog?

to Maani:

You lucky BASTARD!

Peter:

Re my concert-going (and celebrity-meeting), please don't hurt me. 

I was fortunate to have three things occur in my life.

First, when I was 16, I got a job as Asst. Stage Mgr. at The Beacon Theater.  By coincidence, that year (9/75-6/76) Madison Square Garden was closed for renovations, so lots of acts that would have played MSG played at Radio City, Academy of Music (later The Palladium), and The Beacon.  That year, I got to work with Genesis (Trick of the Tail tour, with Bruford), Queen (Night at the Opera tour), Supertramp (Crime of the Century tour), Nektar, 10CC (Original Soundtrack tour), Return to Forever, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Santana, Joe Cocker, and many others.

Around the same time, I came into some money (not lots, but some), so I was able to afford to go to lots of concerts; that's how I got to see every Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Floyd and other tours from 1975 to the late 80s.

Finally, from 1985 to 1995, I worked as an assistant to guitarist-inventor Les Paul.  Through Les I not only met almost every major rock guitarist in the world at the time - including Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Slash, James Hetfield, Brian May, Steve Miller, Al DiMeola, et al - but also attended many concerts either with or on behalf of Les (including Paul McCartney's private concert for CBS at the Ed Sullivan Theater during his "Off The Ground" tour, and Pink Floyd at Giant Stadium in the mid-90s).

All of this was a matter of "being in the right place at the right time" - which has happened to me far more than I anyone has any right to expect.  In any case, these situations allowed me to attend dozens, possibly hundreds, of concerts for an almost 20-year period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s.

I could literally write a book about the people I met (and other anecdotes) at The Beacon and through Les.  Perhaps I will one day - if I can ever find the time!

Peace.

Peter:

Oops!  Missing Piece is 77; Giant for a Day is 78; Civilian is 80.  Thus, MB could not have "redeemed" GFAD!  I forgive you, though...

Peter/Joren:

It really is a thrill (no facetiousness here) to have two more 10CC fans!  I was a fan way back when they were "Hotlegs," prior to their first eponymous album.   Even on that first album, humor was rife: "Rubber Bullets," "The Dean, His Daughter and Me," "Sand in my Face"...  Then "Sheet Music" had "Wall Street Shuffle," "Somewhere in Hollywood," "Oh Effendi"... Then "Original Soundtrack" had "One Night in Paris" (!), "Blackmail," "Film of My Love"...  Then "How Dare You" had (as Joren points out ) "Iceberg," "I Wanna Rule The World, ""Head Room"...  And the list goes on...

As an aside, I attended a Peter Hamill concert at The Beacon (I was a guest of the theater as a result of my tenure there), and had a long talk with Scott Muni (then program director of WNEW-FM, the AOR station NY) about popular music.  I asked him why bands like GG and 10CC never got the audience they deserved.  He felt that they were too "cerebral" - that the "average" person didn't "get" the cleverness, either musical or lyrical.  But he did love both bands.  I can't say I disagree with his assessment.  Still, GG, XTC and 10CC have always had a special place in my heart, at least partially because of their levity...

Peace.

 Yes Maani, definitely a lot of humour in Ian Anderson's JT lyrics! (And don't forget "The Hare Who Lost his Spectacles" fable on A Passion Play.)

And you're right on again, "m'maan" : 10cc had mucho musical monkeyshines! Too many examples to list, but they could be moving and profound too, even within a single song, as on the awesome Feel the Benefit. 10cc and your other faves XTC were/are absolute genius pop master-craftsmen! I love both!

"Spooky Boogie" (a corny, faux-"scary" instrumental) appeared on the disappointing, not worth replacing on CD, Giant for a Day, which I'd give 1-2 stars at most. Thank goodness for The Missing Piece, which redeemed the band in this fan's eyes (ears, anyway)!

TMP and the later Civilian may have been more "commercial" and accessible than the classic Giant albums, but only in comparison to what they had done before. Compared to other music being released in the late 70s - early eighties by some other prog "bands (ELP - Looove Beach, anyone? Gag me with a spoon! Barf me out!), it was still highly original music!

The Love Beach album cover was hilarious, but tragically, not intentionally so..... What the heck were ELP thinking? "Hey, it worked for the Bee Gees. (Uh-oh, Uh-oh, barely alive, barely alive....) Pass me that coke spoon, and let's dance, Greg....." Ha!

"Rock on, ooh my soul!"

Holy croley!  Has everyone forgotten Gentle Giant?!?!?  Talk about humor!  These guys practically invented it in prog!  Not only in their lyrics, but in their approach to songwriting as well, both instrumental and vocal.  There is nary a GG album that doesn't have at least two or three songs with levity - smile-cracking levity.  I dare you to listen to the opening of "Playing the Game" and not smile!!  Or how about "A Dog's Life?"  Or the instrumental break in "Interview?"

If humor doesn't belong in prog, better throw out your GG albums now!

Peace.

There's always been humour in progressive music thankfully, although many critics of the genre have labeled us with such oh so hurtful comments such as pretentious, up their own arses etc.

For example, cruddy examples, but hey, Frank Zappa's lyrics always dripped with sardonic wit whilst wowing music fans with his constantly inventive guitar playing.

I always found some of King Crimson's material to have much more wry humour then it has been recognized.

More so in the Adrian Belew era, although I'll admit the random images on "great deciever" and "catfood" brought a grin to me. Examples in the Belew era have to be Elephant Talk, Discipline (just what the hell is he getting at), Thela Hun Ginjeet, and  ProsaKc blues on Construction of Light.

If anyone here is a fan of bands such as Mr. Bungle or Secret Chiefs 3, then they'll recognize the weird humour throughout, not only the slightly bizarre lyrics but the way some of the songs flit from genre to genre. For example, Merry go bye bye on Disco Volante goes from Beach Boys esque surf-rock to brutal thrash/death metal quite quickly and back to an almost gospel style finally. Ma meeshka mow squawz is like a Chuck Jones cartoon soundtrack being played by a technical thrash metal band, and Desert Search for Techno Allah is just epic Arabic influenced electronic jazzy rock. Weird as but it works in the grand scale of things.

And when prog hits its most pompous then the laughter also ensues. (not in a bad sense). I find the notion of 30 minute songs rather droll in a way yet in a awelike fashion.

Sorry, it's my second post here and I've sort of ranted a tad.

 I think our friend Corbet's tongue is planted very firmly in cheek, Vibe!

 Good one, Corbie!

Some great thoughts here. Humour is a serious business!

Umm...gee...

The Canterbury Scene was full of humor in their lyrics & music.

Heck Yeah!!!!

Great examples: Zappa, Hatfield & The North, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Gabriel era Genesis and more