Many of us remember snooker great Steve Davis' article praising Magma, Soft Machine, Caravan and Gentle Giant
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004...ooker.features
And I know from talking to him that Billy Connolly is a fan of early VDGG - we had a long discussion about TLWCDIWTEO and H to He after one of his gigs in New York.
Any other high profile famous prog fans out there?
Johnny Rotten was also a fan of Magma. Sherman Hensley (George Jefferson on TV) was a big prog fan. Vaclav Havel was big on Plastic People overseas. Joss Whedon, of Buffy and Avengers, in addition to loving Stephen Sondheim, is a fan of some prog.
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Vaclav Havel was also friends with Frank Zappa as far as I know.
vaclav_zappa.jpgOriginally Posted by Zeuhlmate
Just a little bit...
... and of Peter Hammill - especially Nadir's Big Chance:
"In a 1977 radio interview, John Lydon of the Sex Pistols played two tracks from the album and expressed his admiration for Hammill in glowing terms: "Peter Hammill's great. A true original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to him, his solo albums, I'm damn sure Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit he deserves, just has not been given to him. I love all his stuff"."
Howard Stern loves Yes and King Crimson. Jello Biafra is a big Magma and VDGG fan.
Jason Segal described himself as the "only out-of-the-closet Rush fan in Hollywood" so now let's argue about whether or not Rush is prog.
I have no confirmation, but from a couple things he's said and because he was wearing a Yes shirt in one episode, I suspect that Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear might be one, too. So now let's argue about whether or not Jeremy Clarkson is a celebrity.
Paul Rudd's in that Rush fan-vid with Jason Segal, so it's fair to assume he's a fan, also?
Progtopia is a podcast devoted to interviewing progressive rock, metal, and electronic artists from the past and present, featuring their songs and exclusive interviews. Artists interviewed on the show have included Steve Hackett, Sound of Contact, Larry Fast, Circus Maximus, Anubis Gate, Spock's Beard, and many more. http://progtopia.podomatic.com See you in a land called Progtopia!
Not really. He's an actor playing a role.
John Lydon is also a huge fan of Hawkwind. Re: Lydon/Hammill... a couple years back, being host of the radio show got me an invite to go onstage to introduce Hugh Cornwell and his band. So we were backstage chatting a bit before the show and he was looking around at all the people that played the venue, and I mentioned Peter Hammill/VDGG (both brought to town by the same promoter). I forget the bass player's name but he looked like he was firmly in the punk camp, he pipes in and says "Peter Hammill played here??" I thought, wow, pretty cool that this punk knows Hammill. he says "Oh, I don't really know his music, I just know that John Lydon loves him."
He just played here recently. The promoter is a friend of mine and I told him that Jello was in to those bands and had even been to Nearfest. He said "we'll be hanging out all day, he's staying at my place, I'll ask him" He emails me back the day after the show (which was btw, my fave of the year so far) and says "dude, that guy is a music nerd man, he's in to all kinds of great music. And ya, he loves Magma!"Jello Biafra is a big Magma and VDGG fan.
Jello Biafra went to NEARfest?!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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Clarkson actually penned some of the liner notes for the Genesis 70-75 box, so safe to assume he's a fan
I believe the filmmaker Vincent Giallo is a fan, at least based on some of his soundtrack choices.
Novelist Michael Chabon is a progger
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
yep, the last year Magma played. He was seen hanging out and chatting up with Vander. There were a couple pics of him iirc, being a fan boy in and around the hotel.
That guy Lino is a pretty big prog fan. His birthday is a big deal, too.
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Wow, I never knew that. I still spin The Power Of Lard every now and then to bring back memories of high school.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Robin Williams and Bruce Willis are both mega Genesis fans. Princess Diana was a big Queen, Genesis and Pink Floyd.
Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care... Frank Zappa
hahaha I was actually going to post that I'd always read that the guys in Rush were big prog fans. But that was reaching back in to my pre-internet memory banks when I had no idea Rush was actually known to be a prog band lol.
This made me chuckle. Sorry.
Novelist, Jonathan Coe; & Ian Rankin, probably. Another Scottish novelist, Alan Warner is a big fan of Can - two of his novels were dedicated to members of the band.
I meant to put aafter posting that.
Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care... Frank Zappa
Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order is a big Hawkwind, Van Der Graaf Generator and Magma fan. I read that he took his father to a Hawkwind concert.
Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn't care... Frank Zappa
Curt Smith (Tears For Fears) was a King Crimson fan, apparently -- pictured on the right:
http://homepage2.nifty.com/cannonho/tff/
Jack Black.
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