New Scottish prog label launching soon

...and twittered by Ian Rankin, he of Rebus.

giselle wrote: The Birth of Scottish Progressive Rock (and indeed arguably any kind of progressive Rock!) begins with Clouds. Only today in 'Scotland on Sunday' they are described as "the greatest Scottish band and the most influential we've produced, ever".

Now I am a rather big fan of (or at least very appreciative of) Clouds (123), and Im one of the first to say that their influence in progressive rock is almost unequalled. But still I balk at saying that the band is responsible for the birth of prog. Lets be clear on this - even if 123 had not appeared at the Marquee in 67, progressive rock would have happened anyway. 123 was just ahead of the game by a few years, and gave Yes, Crimson, ELP a head start. Ritchie is just one of those explorers who are first to have the thought, but not first to the publishers,  like the story of Darwin and Wallace.

i see hew hassent been back on but i can tell you that there is a gig on the ferry and i think its may 12th

Snow Dog wrote: I'm waiting for McTarkus with keen anticipation.

or at the very least a 20 minute Magnus McOpus

Hello Potemkin, Sarabande was our first single and our producers Bill Martin and Phil Coulter of European Song Contest fame were convinced it would be a hit! Sadly it wasn't to be but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Martin.

Thanks for that ....interesting read. I remember well how difficult it was to break into the Edinburgh scene being a Glasgow band but we did eventually and even headlined with Bay City Rollers! Fond memories also of travelling back in the early morning mist ... the Stoics passing us on the way back home with the traditional greeting of bare arses out the window!

Martin.

Hi Hew .... Glad you remember the early 70's when were active and playing live at all those wonderful clubs and halls throughout Scotland. Yes I think Get your Dog off me is a good album even though I sang only on the first three Act One, Waters of Change and Pathfinder. There's "new" live album just released called Beggars Opera live at the Nautilus.
Recorded on a small tape machine its amazing that they managed to capture our live sound. You can check out this on YouTube Beggars Opera live.
At present I'm working with my son on his projects poorgeneticalmaterial.de and aliaseye.com and a musical about a Scots lassie  .. Elizabeth Stuart.
I liked your web site .... best of luck with the project.

Martin.

Hello Toroddfuglestag ....  Thanks for your interest. I'm still singing and also reciting Shakespeare (a new one for me) on a new album from my sons prog group Poor Genetic Material called Island Noises.
A musical about the love between Elizabeth Stuart and Frederick Palatine in Heidelberg 1613 is also nearly finished so I'm being kept out of mischief!

All the best to you and any Beggars fans reading this.

Martin.

Hello ....  Do you know which albums are being released?

All the best from Martin Griffiths ... singer Beggars Opera.

Huw. 

Feel free to set up a day (and some chairs and a kettle) sometimes in December where you and one or two bands from your label simply invites ProgArchives for a presentation of your label. I can bring my digi camera and a lot of questions. I need to get a recorder too for interviews. 

Then we make a feature for ProgArchive.