Prog TV Shows or Documentaries

[rcarlberg]

Cool, I thought they were working on another one, but could not remember for sure.

Estimated Release Date is May 2018.

..

[GuitarGeek]

OK, I thikn I figured out what the deal was when I said I had the impression the Classic Rock Legends DVD's were a rip off. It was actually the Under Review series, which I think was put out by the same record company, who were also notorious for using cover artwork without permission (as I recall, they used artwork from both Roger Dean and Rodney Matthews under such circumstances).

[tribalfusion]

Thanks very much for the suggestions everyone.

I noticed that no one has mentioned any actual shows (as opposed to multi part docs) other than the one interview show I mentioned in the first post which was hosted by Rick Wakeman.

Does anyone know of other things like that or general interest prog shows (over a season let's say) that have been tried on whatever level in any language?

[Kavus Torabi]

Just skimmed this and noticed that Step Across The Border has yet to be mentioned.
Beautifully shot and edited, it's loosely a doc about Fred Frith as it follows him about his work in places like Japan, New York and London.
It works as a film even if you have no knowledge or interest in Frith's work but it has served as a good way in when turning friends on to what he does.

Interspersed with interviews, performances and shots of him going about his business are wonderful scenes of the areas he is in set to his music.
The whole film has a beautiful, deamlike pace.
It's quite unlike any other music documentary I've seen. I must have watched it in excess of thirty times.

[chalkpie]

^ spot on. Wonderful doc, thoroughly entertaining and enlightening.

[JJ88]

In the UK there was the decent 90 minute Prog Britannia, as mentioned, and the rather less decent documentary in a series called Time Shift. I remember Paul Stump was in the latter...it wasn't too good.

There was also a Rock Family Trees show covering Yes and ELP but that's obviously a narrow focus.

Similarly, a DVD series called Classic Artists, feature length documentaries which had interviews with most key members. Three of the four released were about progressive bands- Yes, Jethro Tull and The Moody Blues. There were one disc versions of these containing just the documentaries which should be available dirt-cheap as that's how I got them. (In fact the 'Tull one actually has both discs' content but on a double-sided disc, as opposed to two separate discs.)

Does anyone know of other things like that or general interest prog shows (over a season let's say) that have been tried on whatever level in any language?

I suspect it's just considered to be part of the catch-all 'rock'. You'd be hard-pressed to find a TV series like that concerning a specific sub-genre.

[Rarebird]

German television broadcasted a series on German rockmusic named Kraut und Rüben, which had several krautrock bands.

https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/rockpa...ueben-100.html
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r%C3%BCben+wdr

[mnprogger]

There's of course Beyond the Lighted Stage the RUSH documentary from Sam Dunn.

He also did the below Progressive Metal work



On YouTube (fwiw)

[rcarlberg]

Just skimmed this and noticed that Step Across The Border has yet to be mentioned.
Beautifully shot and edited, it's loosely a doc about Fred Frith as it follows him about his work in places like Japan, New York and London.

Oooh, good call!

Also, Evelyn Glennie's "Touch The Sound" which is about her (a deaf percussionist) but also includes lots of footage of her improvising with Fred Frith in this huge empty warehouse.

[tribalfusion]

In the UK there was the decent 90 minute Prog Britannia, as mentioned, and the rather less decent documentary in a series called Time Shift. I remember Paul Stump was in the latter...it wasn't too good.

There was also a Rock Family Trees show covering Yes and ELP but that's obviously a narrow focus.

Similarly, a DVD series called Classic Artists, feature length documentaries which had interviews with most key members. Three of the four released were about progressive bands- Yes, Jethro Tull and The Moody Blues. There were one disc versions of these containing just the documentaries which should be available dirt-cheap as that's how I got them. (In fact the 'Tull one actually has both discs' content but on a double-sided disc, as opposed to two separate discs.)



I suspect it's just considered to be part of the catch-all 'rock'. You'd be hard-pressed to find a TV series like that concerning a specific sub-genre.

Oh, I know I'd be hard pressed to find it or I would already know about it and would not have asked However there are and have been metal shows (I assume most people know That Metal Show) and there is even a jazz-rock/fusion show done fairly professionally available on youtube so I don't know why there couldn't be a prog show.

While we are on the topic, if such a thing doesn't actually exist, are there any podcasts for prog which are widely followed in the meantime?

[tribalfusion]

German television broadcasted a series on German rockmusic named Kraut und Rüben, which had several krautrock bands.

https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/rockpa...ueben-100.html
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...r%C3%BCben+wdr

Thanks that looks interesting and I just started watching

[SteveSly]

There's of course Beyond the Lighted Stage the RUSH documentary from Sam Dunn.

He also did the below Progressive Metal work
/video]

Good call. I have enjoyed all of Dunn's documentaries. His primary focus is metal, but the Rush doc is fantastic.

[interbellum]

Oooh, good call!

Also, Evelyn Glennie's "Touch The Sound" which is about her (a deaf percussionist) but also includes lots of footage of her improvising with Fred Frith in this huge empty warehouse.

I had the same documentary in mind, also because I believe I remember Steve Hackett is in one of the extra's.

[GuitarGeek]

Oh, I know I'd be hard pressed to find it or I would already know about it and would not have asked However there are and have been metal shows (I assume most people know That Metal Show) and there is even a jazz-rock/fusion show done fairly professionally available on youtube so I don't know why there couldn't be a prog show.

Yeah, well "metal" has more pop culture credibility, or whatever you want to call it, hence all the air time VH-1 Classic gave to those metal documentaries and That Metal Show. BTW, I always felt insulted watching That Metal Show, it was almost like they were deliberately making fun of heavy metal and it's fanbase (VH-1/MTV actually has a history of this sort of thing, going all the way back to the mid 90's).

Never seen the fusion program you're talking about, but I think "prog rock" just doesn't have the...I don't know what to call it, but whatever it is that makes an executive at VH-1 or whomever say "We should do a TV show about that", whatever that is, prog rock doesn't have it.

I remember someone telling me once about how he got the chance to talk to Derek Shulman, this was back in the early 90's, and he said it "ruined my day". Apparently, Shulman was of the opinion that "prog rock had it's day, but now it's no longer socially relevant" or whatever. I imagine there's a lot of executives feel the same way.

[JKL2000]

I think "prog rock" just doesn't have the...I don't know what to call it, but whatever it is that makes an executive at VH-1 or whomever say "We should do a TV show about that", whatever that is, prog rock doesn't have it.

And yet there was that MTV Prog Rock episode of Rock Influences. Unless you mean VH-1 now, but I don't even know if VH-1 still exists. I think it might, but I can't imagine what it's about.

[GuitarGeek]

And yet there was that MTV Prog Rock episode of Rock Influences.

That was more than 30 years ago. Back then, MTV was a lot riskier, as it were. They played Adrian Belew's Big Electric Cat and I'm Down videos. They showed the Sleepless video, as well as the Beat Club clip of Lark's Tongues In Aspic, and they showed both Yes' 9012Live and a highly edited version of King Crimson's Live In Japan video (though it was missing several songs, it did include the bit of Fripp playing Fracture on an unamplified electric guitar). Come to think of it, they showed Three Sides Live and I think also The Mama Tour, too.

They also had a show called IRS Presents The Cutting Edge, which did a segment on Fripp (though the contents of which, I've never seen, because I wasn't allowed to stay up late on Sundays), and I also remember an MTV News report a few years later about The League Of Crafty Guitarists.

And yes, there still is a VH-1, and an MTV, but both are practically worthless, for all intents and purposes. You've got MTV Classic (formerly VH-1 Classic), which is ok, if you know when tune in. Earlier this evening I caught the end of Mr. Mister's Kyrie video ( Mr. Mister being perhaps the only band in the world with both a future King Crimson member, and a guy who ghosted a guitar solo on a Kiss record in it's membership). That was kinda cool.

[tribalfusion]

Yeah, well "metal" has more pop culture credibility, or whatever you want to call it, hence all the air time VH-1 Classic gave to those metal documentaries and That Metal Show. BTW, I always felt insulted watching That Metal Show, it was almost like they were deliberately making fun of heavy metal and it's fanbase (VH-1/MTV actually has a history of this sort of thing, going all the way back to the mid 90's).

Never seen the fusion program you're talking about, but I think "prog rock" just doesn't have the...I don't know what to call it, but whatever it is that makes an executive at VH-1 or whomever say "We should do a TV show about that", whatever that is, prog rock doesn't have it.

I remember someone telling me once about how he got the chance to talk to Derek Shulman, this was back in the early 90's, and he said it "ruined my day". Apparently, Shulman was of the opinion that "prog rock had it's day, but now it's no longer socially relevant" or whatever. I imagine there's a lot of executives feel the same way.

Oh sure metal definitely is more popular and I see why it would have more programs but there still might be space for one prog program out of all the languages and countries of the world, even if it has to be youtube only but still at a decent level. The interview program conducted by Rick Wakeman did exist for a time as well by the way.

Here's the jazz-rock TV show for anyone who is interested:

http://www.jazzrocktv.de/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W20UHpMWnlY

Actually on the topic of differences between coverage of metal and prog, what would you all say is the equivalent of Blabbermouth for up to date news on prog?

[JJ88]

That Wakeman Face To Face was an interview series and not a 'prog' one. I can remember watching one in that series he did with Bruce Welch of The Shadows.

Never saw it but I did hear about this, a 'prog' episode in a larger series:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5801038/

White Light, White Heat from the Beeb. Extremely cursory.

Edit: iirc, it credits The Velvet Underground as a prime mover in the birth of Prog-Rock.

From memory this was part of a series called Seven Ages Of Rock- Bowie and Roxy Music were also in it. Again, it wasn't very good. Genesis and Pink Floyd were the only 'prog' representatives but it was very shallow all round. It started in the mid 60s, for some reason, so didn't bother with Elvis, Chuck Berry etc. but also pretty much missed The Beatles' initial impact.

[tribalfusion]

That Wakeman Face To Face was an interview series and not a 'prog' one. I can remember watching one in that series he did with Bruce Welch of The Shadows.

Never saw it but I did hear about this, a 'prog' episode in a larger series:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5801038/



From memory this was part of a series called Seven Ages Of Rock- Bowie and Roxy Music were also in it. Again, it wasn't very good. Genesis and Pink Floyd were the only 'prog' representatives but it was very shallow all round. It started in the mid 60s, for some reason, so didn't bother with Elvis, Chuck Berry etc. but also pretty much missed The Beatles' initial impact.

Sure Face to Face is not exclusively prog but you get the general idea. It's as close as any major show came to my knowledge and why I used it as an example of what I meant vs a straight up documentary or overview of prog.

I believe this is the show you mentioned you heard about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2VzKRtqiAk

[GuitarGeek]

Here's the jazz-rock TV show for anyone who is interested:

http://www.jazzrocktv.de/

It would figure the Germans would do a fusion program. They've always had more respect music that was decidedly not the middle of the road. The German equivalent of the Grammys gave a Lifetime Achievement Award to Can about 15 years ago, and Beat Club aired stuff like King Crimson (performing Larks Tongues In Aspic I, before they'd even recorded it in the studio), Kraftwerk (the short lived Dinger/Rother/Schneider lineup, playing a 10 minute improvised piece), Popol Vuh (when Herr Florian was still using the Moog), and Can (Damo era!).

[mnprogger]

curious, for those on or on in the past, the Colorado Art Rock Society email list, do they remember Phil Satterly and his series of "Prog Rock TV"?

I actually never got to see any of the stuff he made, but read about it on the email list.

I wonder if any of them have been put up online, unlikely YouTube per the Copyright issues they enforce, but maybe on Vimeo or Dailymotion?

I just googled him and found a site that linked a "Demo Reel" for District 97 I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tduq...ature=youtu.be

[rcarlberg]

Cool, I thought they were working on another one, but could not remember for sure.

"Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock" is now slated for "summer 2018." I've asked Adele for an update. Perhaps she'll post it here.

[Buddhabreath]

^^Great News!

BTW - it says May on the web site.

[rcarlberg]

Dear Robert,

Thank for checking in.

Here is an update:

We will have two feature documentaries, RW 4 Part 1 and RW 4 Part 2.

We have shot all for RW4 Part 1 and and have shot 80% of RW 4 Part 2.

We have started the editing for RW4 Part 1 and hope to release it in the summer 2018.

We will release RW4 Part 2 after that but not sure when.

That is the info I can give at this point.

Best wishes,
Adele

..

[tribalfusion]

Hi all..I figured I would check back in and see if anyone else has any suggestions or has seen or heard of anything new in the time since this was first discussed here

Thanks!