A brief history of prog

"Oh no!", you are thinking, "not another history of prog, and by a newbie who should know better..."

Actually, this newbie intends to write his own history of prog (one day), and much of it is already alive and living inside his head. Sites like this one (which looks great to my eyes) will help in my research, as it is not possible to know about EVERY band and EVERY trend and EVERY pioneering musician, and I'm sure I will find some answers here.

I just wanted to give a short history of "prog". Yes, I mean the word itself, not the music which I've always loved. A few facts:

>>> "Prog" was a sneering contemptuous term coined by punk-era journalists who were looking for enemies wherever they could find them. The word never existed before 1976. "Ah, he's wrong", I hear some of you older people muttering, "I remember progressive in 1969". Yes, quite right. Progressive was a word used (briefly - 1969 to 1970) to describe... what? Actually, mostly heavy blues bands like Led Zeppelin, Free, Deep Purple, though also Pink Floyd and King Crimson too of course.

>>> What we call 'prog' now was effectively finished by 1973, long before punk rock came along (another myth - that punk killed off prog). In the intervening 3 years we were turning to disco, reggae, and wondering where Bowie was going next. Of course, prog didn't die forever, and we have the wonders of Radiohead, Mercury Rev, Goldfrapp, and the Flaming Lips to enjoy nowadays, not to mention the frontiers of hip hop / Celtic fusions. So what finished the 'classic era' of "prog" up to 1973?
Ah, well that is a radical new theory I have. I'm very sorry, but you will have to wait for the book to read it! (The said book, by the way, will cover what I call the Golden Decade, from 1963 with the emergence of The Beatles, to 1973 with the release of Dark Side Of The Moon.)

>>> There are some startling omissions from the prog pantheon. There were few musicians more progressive or revolutionary than Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart - yet they are never classified as prog. Nor are the Grateful Dead, nor Brian Wilson, nor Stevie Wonder in Margouleff/Cecil-mode, nor Sly Stone, nor The Temptations from 1969, nor - except occasionally - The Beatles themselves. Yet curiously, a group like ELP, about whom there was nothing even remotely progressive, are always included. I've never worked that one out. It seems the sneering journalists who first invented the genre of 'prog', also decreed who would be included and who would not (which is fair enough, I suppose, as the whole thing was their invention in the first place).

Well that's my toe into these prog waters. I guess I will soon learn if I have inadvertently trodden on any toes when I read the replies (if indeed there are any.)

Its still just an advert for a book.....wrapped up in a few arrogant paragraphs.
Check out our database,our descriptions of Prog and our included artists before rambling on.

"There are some startling omissions from the prog pantheon....Frank Zappa.....never classified as prog"

Do not insult our intelligence!
http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAND.asp?band_id=1023
Do your homework first please.
    

Edited by Tony R - August 06 2006 at 12:37

Yukorin wrote: ??you can tread on my toes anytime Tid when is the book out ?                                         ?

I wish it was written! As soon as it is I will let people know, but apart from marshalling the thoughts inside my head I haven't even begun to research it yet. If I give myself a deadline - say, 2008? - maybe I can stick to it.

Most of it is (so far) based on my own experience as a rock fan and record buyer in the early 70s.
    

Edited by Yukorin - September 14 2006 at 06:03

Tony R wrote: Sorry YouthfulTid you are quite right.I jumped to conclusions. I have restored your thread to its rightful place.

  Good man Tony... your reading on micky's respect-o-meter jumped from max.. to off the charts ahhaha

Tony R wrote: Sorry YouthfulTid you are quite right.I jumped to conclusions. I have restored your thread to its rightful place.

Ok. Thank you. No problem.
    

YouthfulTheTid wrote: "Oh no!", you are thinking, "not another history of prog, and by a newbie who should know better..." Actually, this newbie intends to write his own history of prog (one day), and much of it is already alive and living inside his head. Sites like this one (which looks great to my eyes) will help in my research, as it is not possible to know about EVERY band and EVERY trend and EVERY pioneering musician, and I'm sure I will find some answers here. I just wanted to give a short history of "prog". Yes, I mean the word itself, not the music which I've always loved. A few facts: welcome aboard ... it is a great site.. for learning prog because you are right.. my knowledge has increased 20 fold in the short time I've been here ... and just having some good old fashioned fun... the site even doubles as a dating service for young admins with 'progressive' tastes in partners... >>> "Prog" was a sneering contemptuous term coined by punk-era journalists who were looking for enemies wherever they could find them. The word never existed before 1976. "Ah, he's wrong", I hear some of you older people muttering, "I remember progressive in 1969". Yes, quite right. Progressive was a word used (briefly - 1969 to 1970) to describe... what? Actually, mostly heavy blues bands like Led Zeppelin, Free, Deep Purple, though also Pink Floyd and King Crimson too of course. where does 'art rock' fall into your visions of the past by chance.. it is a bit of a hot topic here these days.... >>> What we call 'prog' now was effectively finished by 1973, long before punk rock came along (another myth - that punk killed off prog). In the intervening 3 years we were turning to disco, reggae, and wondering where Bowie was going next. Of course, prog didn't die forever, and we have the wonders of Radiohead, Mercury Rev, Goldfrapp, and the Flaming Lips to enjoy nowadays, not to mention the frontiers of hip hop / Celtic fusions. So what finished the 'classic era' of "prog" up to 1973? I can dig that.... some think and I would tend to agree that Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973) was the culmination of everything that prog had been working up to since '69 and everything after was just living on the scraps that that those 4 years of highly innovative musical leaps left.  True or not is open to debate.. Ah, well that is a radical new theory I have. I'm very sorry, but you will have to wait for the book to read it! (The said book, by the way, will cover what I call the Golden Decade, from 1963 with the emergence of The Beatles, to 1973 with the release of Dark Side Of The Moon.) go ahead and alter that ending statement to include Tales .... DSotM highly successful commericially but no landmark of the prog scene musically. >>> There are some startling omissions from the prog pantheon. There were few musicians more progressive or revolutionary than Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart - yet they are never classified as prog. Nor are the Grateful Dead, nor Brian Wilson, nor Stevie Wonder in Margouleff/Cecil-mode, nor Sly Stone, nor The Temptations from 1969, nor - except occasionally - The Beatles themselves. Yet curiously, a group like ELP, about whom there was nothing even remotely progressive, are always included. I've never worked that one out. It seems the sneering journalists who first invented the genre of 'prog', also decreed who would be included and who would not (which is fair enough, I suppose, as the whole thing was their invention in the first place). Well that's my toe into these prog waters. I guess I will soon learn if I have inadvertently trodden on any toes when I read the replies (if indeed there are any.)

don't worry about stepping on my toes... I spend so much time on others toes... I wouldn't recognize when someone was on mine hhahah

Schizoid Man wrote: YouthfulTheTid wrote: Yet curiously, a group like ELP, about whom there was nothing even remotely progressive, are always included. I've never worked that one out.   If that is how you really view ELP you probably never will.   With an uninformed statement such as that please forgive me for passing on your book. You have no idea what Prog is all about.

damn I missed that.....


what the hell are you talking about.... ELP nothing remotely progressive?


Edited by micky - August 06 2006 at 13:41

Yukorin wrote:      There was a big question over who used the 1st drum machine Sly or Kraftwerk. Probably neither of 'em but both are/were huge influences for future generations         As for psychedelic soul, was it '1984' by The Temptations (mind is a bit fuzzy) ? Delicious. Off for a bit of Funkadelic. On here somewhere !

Edited by Yukorin - September 14 2006 at 06:05