Best Prog Band that never made it

[Scrotum Scissor]

So many! I agree with Henry Cow - one of the most brilliant groups ever and still unknown outside a narrow cognoscenti of hipsters proggers and jazz fusion enthusiasts as far as I can tell.

Have to say that I've never actually met any "traditionalist" jazz fusion buffs into HC, but yeah - there are certainly enough hipster proggers, "out-rock" crazies and even New Music afficcionados who dig them. Indeed, considering the nature of HC's music and their overall artistic approach to things, I'm sometimes a bit baffled at the prominent status they have achieved. They were by far the most "difficult" of all UK progressive bands.

Of course, "War" should have been a (uhm...) big hit.

[Oreb]

With their pretty overt critique of capitalism I seriously doubt that Henry Cow would have considered "making it" a meaningful concept on any level but the carnal!

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ Of utter truth. I can only see the joint meeting with wives, management and Virgin executives after "Nine Funerals of the Citizen King" has entered the top-40 and members are tearing each others' hair in argument over whether this success somehow serves the imminent revolution (Cutler/Hodgkinson) or whether to get pissed drunk on the newfound dough (Greaves/Leigh) while Frith is being dragged off by men in white coats to the nearest mental institution.

[at least 100 dead]

Of course, "War" should have been a (uhm...) big hit.

That IS one ridiculously catchy fucker, though. Ross Perot used to do a passable version of it at a karaoke bar in Fort Pierce, FL.

[at least 100 dead]

It's an interesting question, and I suppose can be debated either way. Here's a question for those of you who live in Europe: are most of the people you work with familiar with Marillion? I mean, know of the band, not familiar with their albums.

Those who were teens during the mid-80s are most definitely aware. It was hard to escape "Kayleigh" and even "Lavender" in 1985 (in Germany at least). Strangely enough, the former had considerable crossover appeal. I’ve seen that single in the most unlikely homes.

[Scrotum Scissor]

It was hard to escape "Kayleigh" and even "Lavender" in 1985 (in Germany at least). Strangely enough, the former had considerable crossover appeal. I’ve seen that single in the most unlikely homes.

But once again it was most definitely a question of the "Floyd/Rush/Kansas effect", in that most owners of those singles or indeed the Misplaced album would be completely bewildered when told that the band was actually part of a formerly established and even dominant rock genre called 'progressive'. Each and every Marillion fan I knew myself during the mid-to-late-80s appeared sacredly convinced at the alleged uniqum of their idols - and several were even outright provoked at the very idea that, say, early Genesis ("Huh? Phil Collins' shitty band?") had basically laid the main tracks a decade and a half before them. By doing this you somehow robbed them of their nobilities as individual listening identities or something.

[at least 100 dead]

^^

Odd that you should mention that. The Marillion fans I knew at school (a lot of girls) where indeed blissfully unaware of the bands that had influenced Marillion. The few that had actually heard of, say, PG-era Genesis, Yes and VdGG regarded those bands as extremely uncool hippie shite, unworthy of further investigation. I always found that baffling. Why didn’t they want to go to the source?

[Rarebird]

^^

Odd that you should mention that. The Marillion fans I knew at school (a lot of girls) where indeed blissfully unaware of the bands that had influenced Marillion. The few that had actually heard of, say, PG-era Genesis, Yes and VdGG regarded those bands as extremely uncool hippie shite, unworthy of further investigation. I always found that baffling. Why didn’t they want to go to the source?

Why should they? I like the Beatles, but I don't care for rock 'n' roll, Elvis and that stuff, that had influenced them.

[at least 100 dead]

Why should they? I like the Beatles, but I don't care for rock 'n' roll, Elvis and that stuff, that had influenced them.

You’re right, nobody is under any obligation whatsoever to be a musical archeologist. Also, lack of curiosity is perfectly understandable (to a point), but I actually encountered outright hostility when I played early 70s prog to some Marillionaires from school. They were actually proud of their ignorance, which I thought puzzling.

[Scrotum Scissor]

The Marillion fans I knew at school (a lot of girls) where indeed blissfully unaware of the bands that had influenced Marillion. The few that had actually heard of, say, PG-era Genesis, Yes and VdGG regarded those bands as extremely uncool hippie shite, unworthy of further investigation. I always found that baffling. Why didn’t they want to go to the source?

You just answered your own question. My experience when going to high school 1987-90 was that harbingers of bands like Marillion or Rush or even It Bites (anno Around the World In a Day) were of a certain type as far as social identity went, prompting a pseudo-elitist habitus stance as sense of distinction. For instance, they were either vehemently right-wing or completely ignorant as concerned political position, implying a shun about anything remotely related to 70s "alternative" youth culture.

[Digital_Man]

In a way this is kind of a silly thread. Wouldn't most of us agree that about 98 percent of prog bands never made it? You could come up with a pretty long list here.

[viukkis]

Uriah Heep where one of the most successful bands of the 70's globally and not just for a brief period!

There was that legendary review of Heep's first album in Rolling Stone which started with the immortal words "if this band makes it, I'll have to commit suicide". So I guess we need to find out what happened to that critic in order to determine whether Uriah Heep made it or not.

[Scrotum Scissor]

we need to find out what happened to that critic in order to determine whether Uriah Heep made it or not.

She survived, to put it like that.

This being said, although certainly quite prosperous as such, Heep were hardly "one of the most successful bands of the 70s globally". And some folks seem instinctively more taken with degrees of "success" than with grasping the actual music of the artist at hand. Quality or critical acclamation rarely stemmed from commercial or popular viability.

[JJ88]

Later on, Rolling Stone did give Demons And Wizards a good review- look in the inner sleeve of their 1973 Live album. But it's always that one which gets dragged out, like it somehow 'proves' anything. There are equally awful reviews of things like Black Sabbath's Paranoid from the same publication.

A lot of rock critics in that time seemed to have tastes that solidified somewhere in the mid 60s. There are reviews of important albums from Rolling Stone which make baffling reading now, look here:

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/schmid..._in_progress_/

[viukkis]

I recently read a book that compiled pretty much everything written about Neil Young in Rolling Stone over the years, and it was quite amusing to read a review after review of classic Neil Young albums, each one of them saying that Neil has lost it and his new album is no match for whatever he released two years earlier (and which was judged to be complete crap at the time, especially compared to what Neil did four years ago)... Until the 80s, when every Neil Young album was suddenly awarded four stars.

[Rarebird]

In a way this is kind of a silly thread. Wouldn't most of us agree that about 98 percent of prog bands never made it? You could come up with a pretty long list here.

I suppose that has something to do with the interpretation of 'making it'.

I consider progbands, that reached the audience they aimed at, as having made it, if they have succeded to play for a longer period. I think that would limit the amount of prog bands that never made it. We all know prog is a pretty small niche, so I would use the same defenition of making it that I would use for other rock groups. Groups that have become a household name in the prog niche, I consider having made it.

[markinottawa]

I suppose that has something to do with the interpretation of 'making it'.

Indeed there are a few takes here on what "making it" really is.

(Selective cutting and pasting from band website) Not making it was the Arkansas band Rayburn. Formed in 1970 and recorded for Mega Records. Their success was cut short when one the band member's father's, who was co-owner of one of the biggest investment banks, bought Rayburn's recording contract out from under them in order to derail his son's music career. Undeterred the band forged on however the band's second chance ended in 1974 when guitarist Jimmy Roberts developed cancer and died at the age of 21. Probably not the best, but never even had the chance of making it.

[Flightwave]

Nightwinds
Mirthrandir
Cairo

[JKL2000]

Those who were teens during the mid-80s are most definitely aware. It was hard to escape "Kayleigh" and even "Lavender" in 1985 (in Germany at least). Strangely enough, the former had considerable crossover appeal. I’ve seen that single in the most unlikely homes.

"Oh, Burl Ives still sounds quite youthful, doesn't he, dear?"

In the U.S. it was hard to avoid Kayleigh, but people seem to have had no problem forgetting it.

[JKL2000]

Nightwinds
Mirthrandir
Cairo

LOL. Yeah, I can't believe The Pirates of Rebecca's Choice wasn't a big hit!

And how come Castanarc never caught on?

[infandous]

"Oh, Burl Ives still sounds quite youthful, doesn't he, dear?"

In the U.S. it was hard to avoid Kayleigh, but people seem to have had no problem forgetting it.

Yeah, when I first listened to Misplaced Childhood, I recognized Kayleigh. When I played it for a friend who was just discovering prog for the first time, her face lighted up and she recounted how her and her sister used to adore that song and would sing along when it came on the radio (and our small town radio stations didn't play obscure stuff ever).

Yeah, Marillion are without question a band that "made it".

[Digital_Man]

LOL. Yeah, I can't believe The Pirates of Rebecca's Choice wasn't a big hit!

And how come Castanarc never caught on?

Great song. Musically(as opposed to vocally)a lot of the songs on that album sound like they wouldn't have been out of place on the first two post PG Genesis albums.

[Galactic Bulldozer]

Spanish Castle Magic
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