70's Obscure Prog Bands

So I am looking to find some obscure prog rock groups from the typical golden era.

-I will be including links to these groups' pages on Prog Archives (if available) and wiki if I can't find them anywhere else on here-

Bands like Babylon, Smoke Rise, GoodThunder, or Elizabeth, who quickly vanished right after their only album, or never achieved any wide recognition.

I'm into collecting and attempting to preserve the music of these groups, to keep them from being forgotten and lost into the void.

Any suggestions?

I will be creating a list up here for other people as new ones come along.

List:

Babylon (1 album from 78) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=35
Elizabeth (1 album from 68) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_(band)
GoodThunder (1 album from 72) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4266
Smoke Rise (1 album, 72) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Rise_(band)
Museo Rosenbach (3 album, 73, 2000, 2013) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=254
Mandrake Memorial (3 albums, 68-69) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5382
Savage Grace (3 albums, 69, 71, 90's) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Grace_(progressive_rock_band)
SRC (3 albums from 68-70, and a demo release in 93) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRC_(band)
Glass (no releases till 2000's, recordings done in 70's) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2058

Updated with other groups:

Fireballet (2 albums, 75-76) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=552
Netherworld (1 album, 81) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=725
LIFT (1 album, 77) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2257
Island (1 album, 77) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=170
Quill (1 album, 70) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quill_(band)
Quill -different band- (1 album, 77) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1379
Bangor Flying Circus (1 album, 69) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangor_Flying_Circus
Pentwater (3 albums, 77, 92, 07) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=578
Pentacle (1 album, 75) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=991
Banzai (1 album, 74) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1143
Esperanto (3 albums, 73-75) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1185
Spektakel (1 album, 74) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=969
The Spirit of Christmas (3 albums, no info on first two, last in 75) https://www.allmusic.com/album/lies-to-live-by-mw0000308662
Et Cetera (1 album, 76) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=463
Mirthrandir (1 album, 76) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=576
Shadowfax (9 albums, 76-94) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4792
Atmosphera (1 album, 77) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1531
Nightwinds (1 album, 79) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=940
Oniris (1 album, 79) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=6756
Pulsar (6 albums, 75-77, 81, 89, 07) http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=291


Edited by philipemery - July 28 2018 at 08:23

That's great! Glad to know they are back in business. I only thought they had released the older recordings.

I'm sure you'll find a lot of these kinds of bands on the vintage prog website (vintageprog.com). Just click on lp reviews.

So, when I logged on, the main page had a new review by a reviewer goin under the moniker "VianaProghead" of an album called Pictures from a group called Island.

Mascodagama wrote: Fischman wrote: So, when I logged on, the main page had a new review by a reviewer goin under the moniker "VianaProghead" of an album called Pictures from a group called Island. All new to me, so probably fairly obscure.  Album was from 1977.  Maybe a little after your desired time frame but probably still worth checking out.  I YouTubed the album and really enjoyed it.   That's an album that has a cult following around here. I think it's a bit of a masterpiece - quite singular, a dark and unsettling vision exprssed via a unique sound world. It's had at least a couple of CD releases so not sure whether it qualifies as genuinely obscure.

I love hunting down obscure 70's "one album wonders" prog.  Here's some of my favorites that haven't yet been mentioned (BTW, Fireballet mentioned earlier released an awful 2nd album called Two, Too in '76 but their 1st '75 album is a masterpiece).

Edited by The.Crimson.King - July 27 2018 at 15:36

philipemery wrote: Wow thanks for all those! I have updated the OP to include those, and all the bands now have links to their profiles on this site, or other sites if they aren't listed here.

philipemery wrote: I really dig dark and atmospheric prog music (hence why Babylon is one of my favorite bands, despite only having the one album).

Edited by The.Crimson.King - July 27 2018 at 22:01

Seeing as you found Islands' Pictures to be obscure then the list is long - very long indeed. I started making one but decided to throw in the towel after these (I can literally list half of my record collection):

Semiramis - Dedicato a Frazz
Bachdenkel - Lemmings
Archimedes Badkar - Tre
Cervello - Melos
Björn J:Son Lindh - Från Storstad til Grodspad
Bobby Beausoleil - Lucifer Rising
Carol of Harvest - s/t
Rocky's Filj - Storie die Uomini e Non
Invisible - s/t
Duncan Mackay - Chimera
Arachnoïd - s/t
Kebnekaise - ll
Carmen - Fandangos in Space
Here & Now - Give and Take
Secret Oyster - Sea Son
Arbete & Fritid - s/t


Safe to say you should probably play around with the filters: http://www.progarchives.com/top-prog-albums.asp?salbumtypes=1
Set it to only artists from x country or maybe make a search with albums that have been ranked less than 20 times or something to that effect. You will most likely stumble onto thousands upon thousands of "new" prog acts from the 70s. The trick is NOT to be deterred by foreign lingos

No worries then. Btw I see you've updated your OP and that you are lloking more specifically for prog bands that are not listed on PA. I think we are close to having them all here actually maybe with the exception of a few here and there, but I just wanted to point out that threads concerning themselves with acts that aren't featured on PA are moved to General Music Discussions. Just an fyi;)
Better just stick with bands that are already here. General music discussions are filled to the brim with threads that go by swiftly with maybe a response or two. Threads in the designated prog part of the forum have a better chance of getting exposure.

Once we get into the fringe bands that flirted around with prog or indeed just an artsy expression, we open up to a plethora of 70s bands that most likely all have been suggested for inclusion and rejected. Trust me we've been around - so much so that folks even start suggesting acts like Elton John, The Tubes and The Velvet Underground for PA.

We've all got our own ideas about these things and as a consequence of this also a couple of bands we personally feel belong on PA somewhere but ultimately were rejected. Most collabs have been through this as well.