How did you get into Prog?

I'd say I finally consciously embraced what was natural for me about 2008 when I finally picked up Yes "Fragile" CD at Newbury Comics in Boston. Then came "Close to The Edge" and "Tales From Topographic Oceans", and the rest was history. I was already a jazz nerd so add rock to that mix and I'm SOLD!

Much of this resembles my experience(which I already posted about) although I was never as vehemently opposed to radio music as you seem to be(I still think there's good music played on the radio but the problem is much of it is overplayed). I also bought 90125 first then classic yes then got into other stuff including KC like you did at probably around the same general time period. For the most part though I was never that much into what was being played on the radio back then(the current stuff I mean). Some of it was good, some of it was ok and some of it was just pretty unbearable. However, I typically don't have anything against mainstream music per se. 

The thing is most people just haven't been exposed to prog. There are a lot of people who like non mainstream music but they just don't know(or haven't been exposed to prog). I think at this point most people who are going to be into it are already into it(well at least those who are over 25 or so; younger fans might still be exploring new music). It's something that you kind of have to find out about by accident since you typically won't hear about it through friends, family, the mainstream media(tv, radio, etc)or the internet(unless you go searching for it).

My parents had a big influence, which is weird, because they weren't really very interested in music. My mother was keen on exposing me to all kinds of influences, and once she decided that we should watch Yellow Submarine. I was 7 or 8. I think. I totally loved it and was an absolute Beatles fan for two years or so. Already liked their later work more than the earlier less psychedelic/progressive stuff. However I didn't get into much else at that age except Abba and Boney M. When I was 12 in 1979, my father played Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Watch in the car, and that totally blew me away, all these instrumental parts and what the guitar and the keyboards did, plus there are some cool melodies on that album. It impressed me even more than the Beatles and I decided, this kind of music it is for me. Funnily my father didn't even know what that tape was, it was just flying around in his car, and he told me it is Elton John, which actually was on the other side of the tape. He must have had some interest when he was younger, he had some good albums like Aqualung, ELP Trilogy and Welcome Back my Friends, Deep Purple's Fireball and some Novalis, but he wouldn't listen to this stuff anymore, so I basically took them over. At about the same time a very good friend of mine got into Pink Floyd through his older brother and we discovered them together. Another friend was into the more melodic side, like Supertramp, Barclay James Harvest, Alan Parsons Project,  end 70s Genesis. I started to do research on my own and discovered the Germans and the French, Tangerine Dream, Eloy, Can, Amon Düül II, Gong, Magma...  We had some good exchange, I wasn't alone.

An anecdote is that when I discovered Pink Floyd and more progressive stuff at 12 or so, I decided that I should grow up and ditch the Beatles. I sold all their albums to buy Manfred Mann's Earth Band  and the like. Biggest mistake ever, I'm back to the Fab Four.

Link: http://prognotfrog.blogspot.com/

Which is awesome, because it has SO much rare material, and very diverse genres - just the thing for a real Prog nerd as myself! 

Eventually i got my lil´bro into prog, and he very oftens thanks me for doing so - and i usually tell him that i am just grateful and happy that i can share this wonderful music with my close family!

Cheers! - Songtoad (Saint Lawrence)

In terms of rock, all I knew before 74, was Beatles, Stones & Tull (Stand Up & Aqualung).

That year, Harmonium's debut album took French-speaking Canada by storm.

Then in September 74, the record shop next to the school had the Crime Of The Century  album in the vitrine and I just had to listen to it. Next day, I brought it home and never looked back.

Up next in the next few months were DSOTM, ITCOTCK, 5è Saison SEBTP, ITLOG&P, TAAB, etc...