Was prog actually popular in the 70s??

Vibrationbaby wrote: What a waste. I had an air force buddy who committed suicide.  How much did you pay for the album? Cd or vinyl? Just listened to a few tracks on youtube.

I paid $15.00 US, i believe, for an lp copy. It has not appeared anywhere on CD, yet. It almost was remastered to CD along with the Triumvirat catalog in 2002, but EMI Koln were downsizing, and they let go the guy who was pushing for Helmut's solo to be put on CD, and that seems to have been that.
        I am so sorry to hear about your friend.

Edited by presdoug - August 07 2013 at 18:15

The.Crimson.King wrote: When Tower began selling/renting videos they carried some great music stuff no one else had.  I bought an ELP video called "Pictures At an Exhibition" which had photos of the band from the '74 Cal Jam performance on the cover but was really a video release of the '71 ELP concert film "Rock and Roll Your Eyes."  Also bought King Crimson's '84 concert film "Live in Japan" there. Ya, in SF the big Tower Records was on "Columbus and Bay" which I think is near Fisherman's Wharf.  Took a drive up there once and it was really great.

Oh..How can I forget! Columbus & Bay! Like I said, during the mid-70's I was living in SF attending San Francisco State but even living there was a trek to get there. Yeah, you're right it was way down by the F-Wharf.  There was Grammophone on Polk, but it  was no threat to Tower Records, and it had a boring & stuffy feel to it. Funny years later the Virgin Records Mega-Store opened on Market/Stockton. I never made it there, but that even closed down I think in 2010.

Yeah Tower had great videos, the best. Too bad your ELP video was another concert instead of the Cal Jam. Was it a bootleg? Cause Tower did sneak in a few bootleg videos, here and there, the kind where they just paste some psychedelic pic on the box. I bought one Genesis bootleg '73 concert and it was terrible, no video quality, audio was worse! The box was better to look at! No more bootlegs for me. Did you ever find a '74 Cal Jam video of it? In the final week of Tower Records with everything slashed 1/2 price, I bought "Inside Genesis (1970-1980)" a two DVD set with booklet. It was a critical review of their music album by album, the first disk on the Gabriel years, the second disk the Collins years.

Going back to the title of this thread, if Prog was popular in the 70's; a definite yes. Especially for those of us (lucky) who were there living and experiencing it when it was happening. And here we are in 2013 and its still happening. To all the younger Proggers here, all I can say is yes, we were there when it started, and it was popular and it still is.

Vibrationbaby wrote:  I think it was on EMI Harvest same label as Triumvirat. Never heard it or even saw a copy anywhere. It is rumoured that he committed suicide in his car.  Wonder what it's going for on eBay?

I'm not sure. I got my copy (yes, on EMI Harvest) from Craig Moerir's Records on the net.
    And yes, sadly, Koellen committed suicide while in his enclosed garage listening to a cassette of his solo album in his car with the engine turned on on the evening of May 3rd, 1977. A great artist whose life was cut way too short.

Edited by presdoug - August 07 2013 at 08:34

Dean wrote: Cool my arse. It is extremely uncool.

Everyone is so sensitive lol. Harden up

Dean wrote: dr prog wrote: Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: bucka001 wrote: I just looked and Dr Prog is from Melbourne. No idea what the climate was like there. Probably the hot-bed of endless prog bands that it is now...... Good old melbourne I'm in the dirty old west part of St. Albans lol. What part u live at? There was an idiot troll from Melbourne you might know who had multiple accounts here so he could manipulate the charts and make ill-informed posts - Progmonster2008 his name was, though he was also known as Progman2010, Progologue and Yesthro - we banned him of course, like you do with idiot trolls from Melbourne.

Cool story bro

Rando wrote:

Remember Tower Records across the street from The Pruneyard?  It was the place to go for vinyl in the 70's and CD's in the mid 80's to mid 90's.  In fact, Tower was always so insanely busy the residential neighborhood behind them had the Campbell police setup and enforce no parking zones.  Tower always had an outstanding import section with plenty of hard to find prog and shirts and eventually video...they also had a Ticketmaster booth too.  Same with their Mt View store.  Then Rasputin Records opened up a massive storefront just a half block away and did something Tower hadn't tried yet, used CD's.  Tower eventually tried to compete in the used CD biz, but the locals knew you got the best trade in prices from Rasputin, and they eventually crushed Tower out of business.  To add insult to injury, Rasputin then took over the Tower Store in Mt View too [/QUOTE]

Yes, I loved the place. The routine was Pruneyard coffee first...then off to Tower Records w/coffee in hand. I always kept forgetting the 'no food or drinks allowed!' which they always reminded me! lol! Yes, you're right, it was always packed every time I went there. I remember more than a few times Campbell police were inside the store trying to escort some 'crazy person' out of there screaming he was son of 'Jimi Hendrix!. So there was drama inside the store as well!

Absolutely, Tower had a fantastic import section. It was the best Tower Records I'd ever been to. I never made it to the Mt. View store, but anything prog-related, electronic, or obscure, and I would find it there on CD. I even discovered new stuff by what they were playing over the store speakers as well, like '808 State,' 'Single Gun Theory,' to name a few. Great video selection. It sort of became my one-stop shopping place for gifts like shirts. So when i first heard about "Tower Records going of business," really took me by surprise. To me Tower had always been king since the 70's! It was the end of an era. And the beginning of the used CD phenomena
Yes, Rasputin Records, named after Russia's 'evil monk!' carried out it's evil by crushing Tower Records! And in a big way! I wonder who'll be next!

[/QUOTE]

verslibre wrote: Rando wrote: Absolutely, Tower had a fantastic import section. It was the best Tower Records I'd ever been to. I never made it to the Mt. View store, but anything prog-related, electronic, or obscure, and I would find it there on CD. I even discovered new stuff by what they were playing over the store speakers as well, like '808 State,' 'Single Gun Theory,' to name a few. Great video selection. It sort of became my one-stop shopping place for gifts like shirts. So when i first heard about "Tower Records going of business," really took me by surprise. To me Tower had always been king since the 70's! It was the end of an era. And the beginning of the used CD phenomena Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. was legendary. They actually had a (gasp) electronic music section (not "Depeche Mode" electronic). Really sad to see that chain go. I made it to one store and the blowout prices they had were pretty mindblowing. The lines at the registers were looong!

Ya, in SF the big Tower Records was on "Columbus and Bay" which I think is near Fisherman's Wharf.  Took a drive up there once and it was really great.

Rando wrote: Absolutely, Tower had a fantastic import section. It was the best Tower Records I'd ever been to. I never made it to the Mt. View store, but anything prog-related, electronic, or obscure, and I would find it there on CD. I even discovered new stuff by what they were playing over the store speakers as well, like '808 State,' 'Single Gun Theory,' to name a few. Great video selection. It sort of became my one-stop shopping place for gifts like shirts. So when i first heard about "Tower Records going of business," really took me by surprise. To me Tower had always been king since the 70's! It was the end of an era. And the beginning of the used CD phenomena

Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. was legendary. They actually had a (gasp) electronic music section (not "Depeche Mode" electronic). Really sad to see that chain go. I made it to one store and the blowout prices they had were pretty mindblowing. The lines at the registers were looong!

[/QUOTE]Remember Tower Records across the street from The Pruneyard?  It was the place to go for vinyl in the 70's and CD's in the mid 80's to mid 90's.  In fact, Tower was always so insanely busy the residential neighborhood behind them had the Campbell police setup and enforce no parking zones.  Tower always had an outstanding import section with plenty of hard to find prog and shirts and eventually video...they also had a Ticketmaster booth too.  Same with their Mt View store.  Then Rasputin Records opened up a massive storefront just a half block away and did something Tower hadn't tried yet, used CD's.  Tower eventually tried to compete in the used CD biz, but the locals knew you got the best trade in prices from Rasputin, and they eventually crushed Tower out of business.  To add insult to injury, Rasputin then took over the Tower Store in Mt View too [/QUOTE]

Yes, I loved the place. The routine was Pruneyard coffee first...then off to Tower Records w/coffee in hand. I always kept forgetting the 'no food or drinks allowed!' which they always reminded me! lol! Yes, you're right, it was always packed every time I went there. I remember more than a few times Campbell police were inside the store trying to escort some 'crazy person' out of there screaming he was son of 'Jimi Hendrix!. So there was drama inside the store as well!

Absolutely, Tower had a fantastic import section. It was the best Tower Records I'd ever been to. I never made it to the Mt. View store, but anything prog-related, electronic, or obscure, and I would find it there on CD. I even discovered new stuff by what they were playing over the store speakers as well, like '808 State,' 'Single Gun Theory,' to name a few. Great video selection. It sort of became my one-stop shopping place for gifts like shirts. So when i first heard about "Tower Records going of business," really took me by surprise. To me Tower had always been king since the 70's! It was the end of an era. And the beginning of the used CD phenomena
Yes, Rasputin Records, named after Russia's 'evil monk!' carried out it's evil by crushing Tower Records! And in a big way! I wonder who'll be next!

Do you guys that collected prog in the seventies ever remember seeing in a store or hearing on the radio Helmut Koellen's solo album You Won't See Me?