Describe your descent into prog...

[The Dark Elf]

Born in 1960, saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964 (learned to sing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" all the way through as a 4 year old), and The Beatles followed me all through the 60s (what with The Beatles cartoon and their omnipresence on the AM radiowaves throughout the decade). I'm not quite sure if Ed Sullivan ever really got his due for recognizing and supporting rock talent, but he was unique in the States, and it was because of him that I got to see some amazing bands without any flak from my parents, who wouldn't have allowed me to buy records from Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Sly and The Family Stone or The Stones, but they were acceptable on the Sullivan Show.

1971 and 1972 were the real transformative years for me, musically. Detroit FM radio was at its height, with WABX, WWWW, CJOM and WRIF all playing whole or half-sides of albums of any number of great bands (Yes, Tull, Floyd, Alice Cooper, King Crimson, Procol Harum, CSN&Y, Allman Brothers, Cat Stevens, Bowie, The Stones, The Beatles (together and solo), Zeppelin, Zappa, etc.), and even AM radio was playing Deep Purple, Focus and Edgar Winter with regularity. It was a splendid time to be young and into music.

[Skullhead]

Born in 1960, saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan in 1964 (learned to sing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" all the way through as a 4 year old), and The Beatles followed me all through the 60s (what with The Beatles cartoon and their omnipresence on the AM radiowaves throughout the decade). I'm not quite sure if Ed Sullivan ever really got his due for recognizing and supporting rock talent, but he was unique in the States, and it was because of him that I got to see some amazing bands without any flak from my parents, who wouldn't have allowed me to buy records from Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Sly and The Family Stone or The Stones, but they were acceptable on the Sullivan Show.

1971 and 1972 were the real transformative years for me, musically. Detroit FM radio was at its height, with WABX, WWWW, CJOM and WRIF all playing whole or half-sides of albums of any number of great bands (Yes, Tull, Floyd, Alice Cooper, King Crimson, Procol Harum, CSN&Y, Allman Brothers, Cat Stevens, Bowie, The Stones, The Beatles (together and solo), Zeppelin, Zappa, etc.), and even AM radio was playing Deep Purple, Focus and Edgar Winter with regularity. It was a splendid time to be young and into music.

And this should be happening today in music. There is no reason for it not too, only ignorance and closed minded thinking.

[NogbadTheBad]

Born in '64, during my teens I was heavily into AC/DC, Rainbow, Purple, Saxon, Maiden, Motorhead and the like. That broadened out into Pink Floyd, Jean Michel Jarre, Oldfield & Supertramp through exploration with friends. Got given a mix tape at 6th Form that included Yes & Genesis that kicked me into exploring those types of bands. When I got to college someone introduced me to King Crimson, LTiA was a revelation. That was pretty much what I was locked into for many years. In around 2006 a friend introduce me to PE & PA and I suddenly discovered a whole bunch of bands I never knew existed. I rapidly dived into Avant, Zeuhl, Canterbury, Fusion, Electronic, Krautrock, Italian none of which I knew anything about.

[mozo-pg]

Born in '64, during my teens I was heavily into AC/DC, Rainbow, Purple, Saxon, Maiden, Motorhead and the like. That broadened out into Pink Floyd, Jean Michel Jarre, Oldfield & Supertramp through exploration with friends. Got given a mix tape at 6th Form that included Yes & Genesis that kicked me into exploring those types of bands. When I got to college someone introduced me to King Crimson, LTiA was a revelation. That was pretty much what I was locked into for many years. In around 2006 a friend introduce me to PE & PA and I suddenly discovered a whole bunch of bands I never knew existed. I rapidly dived into Avant, Zeuhl, Canterbury, Fusion, Electronic, Krautrock, Italian none of which I knew anything about.

I bought the Young Person's Guide to King Crimson in high school. Had it on a double cassette tape and played it incessantly in my Dodge Dart (with mag wheels!! lol). I admired the diversity of sounds, from the muscular Red to the delicate beauty of that special version of I Talk To The Wind. I have very fond memories of that time, very little responsibilities, and was mainly living to have a good time. I bought LTiA in grade 13 and it soon became my all time favourite Crimson album. Very unique music with amazing percussion and stunning muscianship. I loved Wetton's vocals too.

[SteveSly]

1971 and 1972 were the real transformative years for me, musically. Detroit FM radio was at its height, with WABX, WWWW, CJOM and WRIF all playing whole or half-sides of albums of any number of great bands (Yes, Tull, Floyd, Alice Cooper, King Crimson, Procol Harum, CSN&Y, Allman Brothers, Cat Stevens, Bowie, The Stones, The Beatles (together and solo), Zeppelin, Zappa, etc.), and even AM radio was playing Deep Purple, Focus and Edgar Winter with regularity. It was a splendid time to be young and into music.

When ever I was over on the east side of the state I always listened to WRIF. They were another great Michigan radio station for many years. WWWW was cool for a while to until they went country. I remember when Howard Stern was a jock on that station.

[Mythos]

Born in the last year of the wheat-back penny, growing up in Southern California there was a lot of radio stations playing prog starting in the early 70's and I just loved the musicianship!

My first concert was at 15, when I won tickets from KNAC and a bus-ride from the station to see Hawkwind during their Space Ritual tour. I was already into prog and krautrock before that, buying records at a store called Platterpuss, I was into Can, Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Temple, Tangerine Dream, etc. from around 13 years old,

I don't know why, I just liked it...

I recall riding my stingray to the Wherehouse and buying Edgar Froese - Aqua when it first came out, because I thought the cover looked cool.. I had a paper route, so my $40 bucks a month mostly went into buying records...

[SteveSly]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Lots of cool stories, and, to you older folks, it must’ve been nice to hear prog on the radio.

As for me, I got into prog in a somewhat odd way at the beginning of 2014. I was planning on studying abroad the following semester, and one of the main places I wanted to go was Sweden. I wanted to familiarize myself with Swedish culture, and, as a part of that, I wanted to listen to some Swedish bands. I quickly learned that metal is incredibly popular there. I had never listened to more than the occasional metal song before, and I initially disliked most of the Swedish metal bands I listened to due to my aversion to harsh vocals. Luckily, however, I discovered Opeth, a band that uses both harsh and clean vocals. At first I still hated the harsh vocals, but I gradually came to love the depth, complexity, and darkness of their albums Heritage and Damnation. I listened to those over and over, and I also began listening to the clean parts of their metal albums. I gradually came to tolerate, then enjoy the CMV’s. Through them I discovered Steven Wilson’s music as well as other older prog bands, and the rest is history.

Sweden has an amazing number of great prog bands considering it's size. There must be something in the water there.....

[mogrooves]

Prog was top 40 when I was an impressionable kid (late 60's early 70's ).

WHMC (Barry Richards)......

[TCC]

Describe your descent into prog...

Great anecdotes, stories and without doubt, many of you have a good memory. ;-)

The year: 1967 ... born and raised in Costa Rica.

There was always music in my house: my father liked to play guitar and sing, he is Cuban so I always listened and enjoyed the music from the Island, for example: punto guajiro, rumba, yambú, guaguancó, danzón, bolero, mambo, salsa and more.

As many of you wrote previously, I was fortunate to have relatives or older friends who inherited or delivered their music and musical "knowledge" as well as friends whose parents traveled regularly and from time to time bought us records.

- Around midnight: I remember listening to music with a small radio (Sanyo) and getting up to dance "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Halley & His Comets ... also, I became a fan of Elvis Presley ... I was between 5 and 6 years old and with that age, Santana was my first ever gig here in Costa Rica.

An important turning point for me was to learn and play classical guitar which opened my perspective and increased my musical curiosity ... I was 9 years old.

- First records:
.Trini López: it was a live record but I don´t remember the name !.

.Enrique Guzmán y Los Teen Tops -- good Mexican R&R!
https://youtu.be/3SKSk-r-V_o

- Some records that made the difference:

I was 9 or 10 years old and a cousin from Venezuela came to spend the holidays: I think she was a kind of hippie and I remember her bringing a transverse flute as some Tull records and Supertramp´s "Crime of the Century" and "Oxygene" by Jarre: WoW!; she also introduced me to the "universe" of Spinetta (Almendra y Pescado Rabioso) and the music of the cuban maestro Silvio Rodríguez.

Then came "At Night At The Opera" and I gave away my Kiss´records to my brother ... !.

Special mention for Zep III & IV, VH I & II, Tyranny and Mutation and Bandolier! and I was into Sabbath, Maiden and some Rush too!.

I remember the first time that I listened to Chuck Mangione`s "Feels So Good", Sky first 2 and Billy Joel`s "Piano Man" and "52nd Street" as some Chicago ... life was good! (No Beatles or The Who yet!)

- Special gift: 2 recorded cassettes with "The Snow Goose" and "The Grand Illusion".

Already in high school I started listening to King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Floyd, G.G., VDGG, Brand X, Soft Machine, Ponty, Gong and Zappa for example ... but no Beatles yet ;-)

I still remember as if it was yesterday when I heard my first Metheny/Pedro Aznar ... a door was opened: I have been exploring jazz for almost 2 decades and keep doing it!.

Finally, thanks to the web and thanks to that I started attending festivals outside C.R., I began to know more groups and music and many good Friends ...you know, the non stop journey!. (I started to develop a very marked taste for all things RIO, avant prog/rock/jazz, Zeuhl, Krautrock, Ozric Tentacles ;-) ... ETC..


Eso era!.
Regards!.

ps.: by the time I got married (‘92) I had a new age music phase too: it lasted a couple of years until I discovered Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains or the Seattle’s scene ... a reborn!

[Trane]

Was into Sabbath, Cactus, Ten Years After etc... and one night, I was 14, rather stoned, someone cranked Meddle. I was completely blown by 'One of These Days'. I remember over and over saying 'I can't believe music can sound like this'. Shortly after, at the same friends house 'Court of the Crimson King' blew me away completely, and KC and PF immediately became my favorite bands. Didn't know it was called 'progressive', but Tarkus and Close To The Edge were next and I no longer cared about my former favorite bands. I was spoiled. Selling England trumped everything once I heard it. The subtle detail continued to unfold over the course of a year or two. This was the music of my heart.

Meddle was also an amazing barrier broken...

I'd first listened to it in the dark of the night with my headphones on and it bloody spooked when the nightmarish sounds of Echoes happened... I stayed away from that album (I mean, I WTF'd heavily) until I started toking at the age of 13, and it suddenly made sense, both Days and Echoes blew my mind to shreds... I was so fucked up after that that it's any wonder I managed to land back on the grounds more or less safely , but I can't say that my "normality" was ever the same, since.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Lots of cool stories, and, to you older folks, it must’ve been nice to hear prog on the radio.

Glad you came back to post on your thread... I was starting to wonder, if you would

As for real/Hertzian radio, I still hear prog every day I'm in Belgium (that's when I tune in, of course, usually in the car), since on of the state-owned radio is Classic 21, and it acts as a classic rock radio, with a slightly proggier side than what's common in the US.

Last week, I hear Floyd's Digs over lunchtime, for ex.
Of course we never hear GG and VdGG or even Mahavisdhnu Orchestra during day time.... Or even at night time, FTM

I don't know why, I just liked it...

That's what my musical buddies always wondered: how I almost started right away with prog, as for most, they had more mainstream paths and first WTF at their first prog exposure... I just loved it ... and no bigger sibling around to guide me, but an amazing and infallible shop owner. He kind of looked very-much like Foghat's Roger Earle and I guess that's why I trusted him. Most other record shop owners or workers just looked normal.

I guess I didn't descend or slide into prog: Like Obelix (of Asterix fame), I fell into the prog marmite right from the start. I've tried to adcend from that well ever since, alas to no avail.

I was also lucky enough to have an import shop (Record Peddler on Queen St East for the Hogtowners - expensive as hell, though) where I could find French (Magma, Gong, etc..) & German prog (ADII, Eloy, etc..) and a bunch of cool second hand shops (Vortex records >> Bert was also quite cool, though prog was not his thing, he also had great advice)

[AndiSexgang]

In 1973, in the 1st year at secondary school in Chelsea, in one of the first lessons of the school year our very hippy chick music teacher played "Money" for us. Then in 78 the airwaves were hit by "Forever Autumn" and "Wuthering Heights" I loved them both from day 1.

Then in autumn/winter 1981 at a girl's house, during a party, she said "I want to play my favourite song" and she played "Ripples" and that was the first Genesis song I ever heard, while knowing that I was listneing to Genesis, and probably also the first time I heard about this band Genesis.

[starless and bible black]

I first started listening to Prog in the mid '70s thanks to a friend who had the live albums Yessongs & Welcome Back My Friends. Followed that by getting into the great studio albums by Yes, ELP, KC, GG, UK, Kansas & Genesis. Even with the rise of Punk, New Wave, Disco, AOR & Heartland Rock in the late '70s, my love of great Progressive Rock never changed.

[cazz]

Went to see ELP's first tour with some older guys, didn't know who they were. Never looked back after that.

[Rarebird]

I suppose it started more or less with Ekseption. Before that I liked some classical and opera and some Dutch singer called Heintje



I also liked Udo Jürgens and I still do.



Then a schoolmate of mine asked me if I joined him for a concert by Kayak, which just had their first album out. This was probably a first step.
I liked a lot of other stuff at that time, like Slade, Gary Glitter (he wasn't known then for his love for the young parts of the audience), Edgar Winter Group and probably Deep Purple. Didn't buy records at that time.
A couple of years later our English teacher played Emerson Lake and Palmer Jerusalem and Karn Evil no. 9. Bought Welcome back my friends....
A classmate played A tab in the ocean by Nektar and I started collecting them. Looking for their albums I found Novalis - s/t This was my starting point for finding more German groups, like Hoelderlin, Streetmark, Straight Shooter and Eloy.

[Camelogue]

In the 70's it was cool to go to Flo's Records or Head's Together and look at album covers to see "imports" and to see what instruments were played. I discovered Finch, Camel, Passport, Hydrvian, Spheroe, Secret Oyster etc. this way. Also American artists such as David Sanscious, Stanley Clarke, and Brits such as UK and Lancaster and Lumley

[Rarebird]

If a group had keyboards, I was interested.

[DoubleDrummer]

Prog was top 40 when I was an impressionable kid ( late 60's early 70's ).
I also discovered college radio ( WGTB & WAMU ) about the same time and ran with an audiophile crowd later.
It infected me with a love of complicated music that has kept up for 50 years now and shows no sign of diminishing.

^^^This !
I was only 13 when I remember The Electric Prunes creating I HAD TOO MUCH TO DREAM LAST NIGHT (1966) and Count Five's PSYCHOTIC REACTION..............and they were being played on commercial AM radio (I'm sure there were others I can't recall right now).
The following Summer (of Love) we received a truckload of "acid rock" or "psychedelic rock".................Blue Cheer -- Country Joe -- Hendrix -- Cream -- DoOrs -- Quicksilver -- Jefferson Airplane -- Moby Grape -- Beautiful Day -- ZAPPA -- even the Beatles gave us Sgt. Peppers that Summer.
I was completely hooked................then in 1969 I bought IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING...............this continued in 1971 and I purchased THE YES ALBUM and FRAGILE.

Still hooked to this day..................on the way to work this morning I was blasting A TRICK OF THE TAIL.

[dgtlman]

If a group had keyboards, I was interested.

Me too! Especially synthesizers

[dlm]

At the young age of 5, I was exposed to Vanilla Fudge and Dark Side of the Moon by my older brother nightly. I still remember the posters and stickers that came with DSOTM. My brother moved out a couple years later and my prog listening stopped. Fast forward to 1981. MTV led to more prog for a few years. Seeing videos from Genesis, Saga, Yes, Saga, Rush, Asia, and Marillion moved me to seek out more prog.

MTV was pretty big on Yes around the time of 90215. You never knew which one of the 18 Leave It videos they would show. The also aired the Asia in Asia concert.

[Gladiator1634]

Born in 1958 by freshman year of high school (1973/74) thanks to my older brothers and WNEW radio in New York I was listening to Pink Floyd, Zappa, Led Zepplin, Yes, The Doors, Allman Brothers, Gentle Giant....etc... at that time to me it was all just rock n roll music. One day at school another guy from the neighborhood had an 8 track boom box with Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Birds of Fire" playing whom I had never heard of before. I was fascinated by it as it introduced me to the world of fusion jazz which led me to the likes of ..Return To Forever, Tom Scott, and much later Brand X. Although the real turning point in my musical taste came after going to my first concert which was Frank Zappa. Shortly thereafter one of my closest friends who had a few albums by the band Genesis was telling me about their upcoming tour. I must admit at that time they sounded ok and they definitely weren't among my favorite albums. He buys me a ticket to the show in NYC and the new album TLLDOB comes out just days before the concert. We give it a couple of listens and go to the show. I was totally blown away they immediately became my favorite band and to this day its still my favorite concert ever. I even went to see it again a week later at the Capital Theater in NJ. After that I got heavily into Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Yes, ELP, Gong, Tangerine Dream..etc. That show definitely molded my future taste in listening and seeing live music.

[señormoment]

After school at a friend’s house, he’d often play a mix-tape that included selections from ITCOTCK. Initially, the music didn’t grab me.
On rotation at home were the likes of CSN&Y, Simon & Garfunkle, and Harrison. The songs ‘Carry On,’ ‘Country Girl’ and ‘America’ appealed to me with their eclecticism. I then gravitated toward KC, ELP, Weather Report and Yes. I was late getting on board with Genesis, purchasing Seconds Out when I read that Chester Thompson was contributing, but I never connected with Floyd or Mahavishnu.
Occasionally, Zappa’s music would eclipse all else. The Ex called these fixations Zap-a-ramas.
I became aware of The Residents in the early eighties, a time when musical creativity was really flourishing, IMHO. The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll was a revelation.
I’d describe myself as out of touch nowadays. The most recent prog I’ve delved in is Vespero’s Fitful Slumber, which I like alot.

[Vic2012]

Describe your descent into prog...

Great anecdotes, stories and without doubt, many of you have a good memory. ;-)

The year: 1967 ... born and raised in Costa Rica.

There was always music in my house: my father liked to play guitar and sing, he is Cuban so I always listened and enjoyed the music from the Island, for example: punto guajiro, rumba, yambú, guaguancó, danzón, bolero, mambo, salsa and more.

As many of you wrote previously, I was fortunate to have relatives or older friends who inherited or delivered their music and musical "knowledge", as well as friends whose parents traveled regularly and from time to time bought us records.

- Around midnight: I remember listening to music with a small radio (Sanyo) and getting up to dance "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Halley & His Comets ... also, I became a fan of Elvis Presley ... I was between 5 and 6 years old and with that age, Santana was my first ever gig here in Costa Rica.

An important turning point for me was to learn and play classical guitar which opened my perspective and increased my musical curiosity ... I was 9 years old.

- First records:
.Trini López: it was a live record but I don´t remember the name !.

.Enrique Guzmán y Los Teen Tops -- good Mexican R&R!
https://youtu.be/3SKSk-r-V_o

- Some records that made the difference:

I was 9 or 10 years old and a cousin from Venezuela came to spend the holidays: I think she was a kind of hippie and I remember her bringing a transverse flute as some Tull records and Supertramp´s "Crime of the Century" and "Oxygene" by Jarre: WoW!; she also introduced me to the "universe" of Spinetta (Almendra y Pescado Rabioso) and the music of the cuban maestro Silvio Rodríguez.

Then came "At Night At The Opera" and I gave away my Kiss´records to my brother ... I think he stills has them !.

Special mention for Zep III & IV, VH I & II, Tyranny and Mutation and Bandolier! and I was into Sabbath, Maiden and some Rush too!.

I remember the first time that I listen to Chuck Mangione`s "Feels So Good", Sky first 2 and Billy Joel`s "Piano Man" and "52nd Street" as some Chicago ... life was good! (No Beatles or The Who yet!)

- Special gift: 2 recorded cassettes with "The Snow Goose" and "The Grand Illusion".

Already in high school I started listening to King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Floyd, G.G., VDGG, Brand X, Soft Machine, Ponty, Gong and Zappa for example ... but no Beatles yet ;-)

I still remember as if it was yesterday when I heard my first Metheny/Pedro Aznar ... a door was opened: I have been exploring jazz for almost 2 decades and keep doing it!.

Finally, thanks to the web and thanks to that I started attending festivals outside C.R., I began to know more groups and music and many good Friends ...you know, the non stop journey!. (I started to develop a very marked taste for all things RIO, avant prog/rock/jazz, Zeuhl, Krautrock, Ozric Tentacles ;-) ... ETC..


Eso era!.
Regards!.

ps.: by the time I got married (‘92) I had a new age music phase too: it lasted a couple of years until I discovered Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains or the Seattle scene ... a reborn!

Similar experience, having Cuban parents and all. But The Beatles had me by the throat in 1964. Beatles forever. In the early 70s I was listening to Chicago, the first 3 albums. I was also listening to Santana, Led, and fusion when I was around 13. I was well aware of prog in the early 70s but was chickenshit about buying Yes or ELP albums. Anyway, I blame Kansas. Kansas was my gateway.

[arabicadabra]

Born in 1955, blown away by The Beatles, progressed with guitar driven rock bands, my tastes evolving as the bands evolved. Whenever the heck prog showed up, too me, it was just great rock music. I still feel that way. Songwriting and playing that make me feel great things. I hear it everywhere, from Mountain, The James Gang, Mott The Hoople and Steppenwolf to the so-called Big Six to Marillion, IQ, It Bites to Echolyn and Spock's Beard and beyond. I KNOW it's only rock and roll, but I like it.

[TCC]

Born in 1955, blown away by The Beatles, progressed with guitar driven rock bands, my tastes evolving as the bands evolved. Whenever the heck prog showed up, too me, it was just great rock music. I still feel that way. Songwriting and playing that make me feel great things. I hear it everywhere, from Mountain, The James Gang, Mott The Hoople and Steppenwolf to the so-called Big Six to Marillion, IQ, It Bites to Echolyn and Spock's Beard and beyond. I KNOW it's only rock and roll, but I like it.

Cheers!
Excellent!.
That’s the attitude good Sir!

[spacefreak]

Bought "Dark Side of the Moon", "Hot Rats" and "Power And The Passion" in 1976. There was no turning back...