to the old folks

I got into this crazy music just by being adventurous. I would go into record stores and just buy anything that looked wierd. After a while I noticed that I couldn`t go wrong if it was German. Roger Dean covers were also a good indicator and this is how I got into Greenslade, Midnight Sun, Babe Ruth and Budgie to name a few. I feel sorry for all the young guys who have been spoiled by the internet. Back then it was a challenge to discover the next "new" band.

Pixel Pirate wrote: My best friend's older sister.

We're talking about introduction to sweet music here Pixie,oh..so are you!

It's an interesting question Aaron, because of course the internet, e-mail, PCs, MP3s, etc, didn't exist, and in the UK at least, there were very few radio sations playing "current" music.

On the plus side, prog was actaully quite popular in the early 70's, so you'd hear some tracks on the radio, or TV shows like the Old Grey whistle test. Other sources were borrowing friends albums, or listening posts at record shops.

My personal favourite was second hand record shops. I used to buy loads of cheap second hand LPs in the hope that I'd find a few gems. If I found a good one in poor condition, I could always "upgrade" it.

Some of the more popular bands I heard back in the 70's because my friends got me into them--Yes, ELP, Todd Rundgren, but later I got turned on to lesser known great bands via these:

Two excellent books by Richie Unterberger--"Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers: Overlooked Innovators and Eccentric Visionaries of '60s Rock", and "Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll" got me into a lot of older psychedelic stuff and from there early prog is not that far off.

 

Another helpful book was:  "Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychelic Rock" by Jim DeRogatis;

 

Two excellent prog rock collections:

 

The Rhino box set "Supernatural Fairy Tales" and "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever"

 

These collections turned me on to a lot of good older bands, including Roxy Music (and Phil Manzanera solo stuff), Pretty Things, Hawkwind, Atomic  Rooster, Camel, Steve Hillage, Can, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Faust, Van der Graaf Generator, and on and on. Then it was a snow ball effect. I'm set for years now!

 

NME, Melody Maker and Sounds.