Van der Graaf Generator vs Pink Floyd

VdGG were a 'cult' band in Britain, but they were certainly not "extremely minor" as you say. They definitely weren't "major" but they played to audiences of about 1,200 - 1,500 in the UK. That's at least moderately successful. And they were on the cover of Melody Maker in May '71 as "Britain's Most Fashionable Band." Just being on the cover of MM alone would imply some sort of success level, but being called Britain's Most Fashionable Band was definitely a feather in their cap. But it's true that they could just never get over the hump, and they never had anything close to a 'hit' although many Brits knew "Theme One" because John Peel used it to open and close his show. You and your friends might have hated VdGG and so they were avoided by you and not on your radar, but they still were on the radar of many 'heads'. And as you correctly state, VdGG were very popular on the continent in countries like Belgium, France, Italy, Holland, etc, and even French Canada.

 

I think your intense dislike of them (which you've expressed before on this forum) gets your nose out of joint whenever they do well in a poll. I've seen other VdGG-detractors/haters express this same thing, and even do an almost mocking sort of thing where it's said that this is the only place that VdGG can do well because they have no other fans other than on ProgArchives, which is a joke. Many VdGG admirers aren't into any other prog bands and certainly wouldn't be hanging out on a prog internet forum! I've seen VdGG several times in the UK, since they reformed, in auditoriums/theaters with crowds ranging from 1,200 - 3,000 and of all the VdGG heads I've met, only a minor fraction even knew what ProgArchives or Progressiveears was. Hammill and VdGG are considered the 'hipper' end of prog and get glowing articles in Mojo, Uncut, The Wire, etc... that just ain't going to happen for Gentle Giant, Camel, etc. A lot of their 'hipness' comes from the fact that they were an inspiration to many punk rockers (another fact that drives fans of more conventional prog bonkers), but the fact is that VdGG is far more respected by the hipper-than-thou British music critics than almost any other prog band. Like it or not, that's a major feather in the cap and has helped them to sell a lot of albums (or CD's, I should say!).