New Radio 2 4 parter starting next Monday at 10:00pm. He’s been good value on previous shows over the years so this is promising. Bizarrely the write up on the R2 website says :
Expect to hear tracks by the likes of Pink Floyd; Emerson, Lake And Palmer; Jethro Tull, The Toys, B Bumble And The Stingers; and Perry Como…… so that’s a direction I never realised he went down.
in the meantime here’s the magnificent Caravan to set the ball rolling
Perry Como!? Nothing is more Prog than his “Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)”/”Mandolins In The Moonlight”/”Oowee Oowee” trilogy.
Are Pink Floyd really prog rock? They seem to share so few characteristics. Floyd is druggy and psychedelic and spacey; prog is all about virtuosity and changing tune every few minutes.
Or to put it another way, I love Pink Floyd to the power of one hundred and yet have loathed everything I’ve ever heard claiming to be prog rock. That’s like loving Jeff Mills but hating all other techno, isn’t it? It’s just not possible.
You need to listen to the Progcast. Your definition of prog reveals your lack of understanding, becoming mired in tiresome cliches. Floyd are sans doubte prog, and loads of prog bears no relation to your description (though it is fair to say plenty of it does…).
That’s a fair point, and I’m sorry if sounded as thugh I was being rude about beloved genre, which I suppose I was. A bit. Just that I’ve given a fair hearing to Yes, Genesis and King Crimson — the giants of prog — and none of them sound remotely like Floyd.
Hawkwind, on the other hand. Very Floydy. Are Hawkwind prog, too? Aren’t they both space rock?
There you go – the perils of genre pigeonholing! Labels like “prog” and “space rock” are useful for describing the music of bands, but there’s no reason why a band should produce music which only fits one label. I’d say Hawkwind had dollops of both, plus a fair slice of straightforward boogie. Let’s face it, bands that can be neatly pigeonholed as belonging entirely to one single genre tend not to be very interesting anyway!
I agree Floyd have the space thing good, probably with their psych background. Amon Duul? Caravan? Prog is a very broad church I think. I guess my point (which we made in the ‘cast) is that, yes, there’s bombast and widdle, but also quirky perfect little folk rock songs (with 14 minute keyboard solos occasionally) and tremendous atmosphere. Then there’s my beloved Tull who can do everything.
In the ‘Self-evident truths of the Afterword’ thread a few months back, I suggested that all threads about prog rock will, at some point, include an assertion along the lines of ‘I never really thought of Pink Floyd as prog rock.’ This maxim remains true.
Thankee FF
Heard the trail for it and sounds like it could be worth a listen.
I’m just disappointed that it’s not a 24 parter on the Radio, but a 4 parter on Radio 2.
Interesting interview with Ian Anderson on Monday’s final show for those of a Tull disposition.
still available on listen again or whatever.