it's been mentioned already but I do remember Roundabout being a huge hit in 1972, here in the US. It was a huge, Top 40, AM radio hit. It created a big buzz. Yes became a household name because of that song, in the early 70s.
it's been mentioned already but I do remember Roundabout being a huge hit in 1972, here in the US. It was a huge, Top 40, AM radio hit. It created a big buzz. Yes became a household name because of that song, in the early 70s.
Kayak - Ruthless queen
UK - Rendezvous 6.02
did quite well in The Netherlands.
^Your screen name reminds me, wasn't Rare Bird's 'Sympathy' a hit in Europe?
Australia does not exactly have a long proud tradition of progreessive rock. However the group generally considered Australia's first symphonic prog band, Sebastian Hardie, scored a hit with their debut album Four Moments (No. 13 on the album charts), and the track Rosanna peaked at no. 31 on the singles charts..
My girl listened to nothing but pop radio all her life. When we started living together and I brought up the word "prog," she never heard it and wondered what it was. To show her that she wasn't uninitiated, I played her:
Roundabout
Lucky Man
From the Beginning
Point of Know Return
Long Distance Runaround
20th Century Schizoid Man
Dust in the Wind
Bungle in the Jungle
... and I can't remember what else. She was familiar with all of them and even knew a good percentage of the lyrics. Prog was at least a part of the mainstream in the '70s.
Could be. In The Netherlands the version by Steve Rowland and the Family Dogg was a hit.Originally Posted by JJ88
21st Century.............
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
It was a hit in the UK, but not a large one (#29).
Kayak had an “almost hit” in the US (#55), albeit with the disco-flavoured “Want You to Be Mine.”
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
In the definition of Prog as "progressive," both purple and zep were Prog in the day, I'd say...heck, even sabbath's first two records (especially its first) were progressive. That this progression innovated something that came to be known as something else is unimportant; what is important is that when they emerged, nobody, but nobody sounded remotely like them, and in that they moved music forward significantly it fits my personal definition of what is at the heart of progressive music.
Purple brought classical and rock together right through to machine head (the highway star solo, say), while zep crossed genres with traditional folk and more up to "Achilles' last stand," a Prog track if ever there was one.
In the day, many groups were considered progressive because it meant something different....something broader...than it does now, with its many subdivisions. Like most music, Prog has fragmented and cemented, and has in some ways lost the spirit of what made music progressive when it first emerged.
Just my two cents.
That one too.
I know it got A LOT of airplay in the NYC area back in the day so I'd guess that "Mother Russia" by Renaissance might have charted.
No singles by Renaissance charted in the States, but their albums did. They were definitely a popular live act/FM (i.e.: album tracks) radio staple long before UK audiences paid any attention to them, at least in the New England area. Hell, they were playing Carnegie Hall at a time that nobody in their own country would give them the time of day!
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
For a while there I thought King Crimson was going to have a hit with "Sleepless". Got a lot of airplay in the L.A. area when I lived there. Not sure if it charted or not.
Still alive and well...
I would also make a case for Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity", which hit Number 9 in the USA
Klaatu's "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" hit the US Top 100 but The Carpenters version went higher into the Top 40 and was released as a single worldwide, including making it to #1 in Ireland and the Top Ten in many other countries....Surprised it wasnt mentioned earlier in the thread, unless I missed it
Didn't Vangelis hit Number 1 in the US with "Chariots Of Fire"? Cant find it to fact check
I'm quite certain he did, on at least one of Cashbox and Billboard.
Jon and Vangelis also had singles success. I'll Find My Way Home went very near the top of the charts in Australia, and I think I Hear You Now did very nicely for itself too.
Yep, "Chariots of Fire" was number one for one week. Not many instrumental tracks made it to number one after that. It's probably one of the few tracks I can play on the keyboards.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
I think "Heaven and Hell" ( a.k.a The Theme from Cosmos) was also a single but I cant remember ever hearing it on the radio....Yep, "Chariots of Fire" was number one for one week. Not many instrumental tracks made it to number one after that. It's probably one of the few tracks I can play on the keyboards.
For the record, the singles Renaissance released:
- Island (1970)
- Prologue (1972)
- Carpet of the Sun (1973)
- Mother Russia (edit) (1974)
- Midas Man (1977)
- Back Home Once Again (1977)
- Northern Lights (1978)
- The Winter Tree (1979)
- Jekyll and Hyde (1979)
- Bonjour Swansong (1981)
- Faeries (Living at the Bottom of the Garden) (1981)
- Richard the IX (1983)
Of these, only “Northern Lights” charted (#10 on the UK singles chart). “Back Home Once Again” came out before the A Song for All Seasons album because it was originally recorded (in a different version) as a theme to the TV series The Paper Lads:
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
You could also throw "wonderous stories" or "I know what I like" into that bag of tricks. Anyway, not to play devil's advocate or anything but some purists might say that these are all song oriented tracks from prog albums and that these songs by themselves aren't really prog because most of them don't really follow the "prog formula." They might say if the song is in 4/4(yes I know lucky man isn't)and follows the verse chorus structure then it's not prog. In my view however, you could say they are part of the larger prog experience(prog bands like to throw in something more accessible sometimes to mix things up so where is the harm in that).
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
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