Does the average person know what prog is?

Most people I've attempted to talk to about prog weren't familiar with the term, but knew Pink Floyd, which is the first band I bring up to describe the genre, since they are very well known.  Once I've established that they know the Floyd I typically bring up the next two popular bands: Yes and Genesis.  Most people I've talked to weren't familiar with even Roundabout by Yes, so that leads me to believe that, in general, people are very ignorant of the genre as a whole.  Granted, I am 18 and many of my peers aren't familiar with this kind of music, though I have tried to expose them to it through my first recorded album.  But even adults I have spoken to about prog are not aware of it.  For example I once asked one of my teachers if he knew the song Roundabout, and he did not (he's in his late 30's).  I was quite disappointed.  I was discussing music with another of my high school teachers.  Eventually the subject of Yes came up.  To which he responded "Yes? Oh yeah, I love their album tomato or toemato or something."  This teacher is well into his 40's.

Originally posted by Prog_Traveller I suppose this question could be separated into two(or even three) separate categories. A. Does the average person know what prog is? Yes, it's the thingy that precedes .exe B. Does the average music fan(not average prog fan-duh)know what prog is? Yes, but they are encouraged to believe it is a swirling sparkly cape covered in dandruff emancipated from the classically trained craniums of musicians who were bullied by their mothers into attending public school C. Actually a third one can be added. Does the average classic rock fan know what prog is? Yes, it's a song that requires a lighter refuelling half way through Also, does the average music store worker know what prog is. I say most do. Depends... Average store NO, average store worker... maybe How much is age a factor? How about where they live, ethnicity, gender etc. I guess it's the sociologist in me(I have a BA in sociology)that is curious about these things. :) Location - some countries have a very tenuous Prog tradition e.g Scotland and Australia (not sure why even though I'm from there/ currently live there) Age - if you were an adolescent in the early 70's and liked mainly glam, soul or pop, it is very unlikely that you would know what Prog was (even the giants of the genre barely made a flicker on the mainstream radar) Ethnicity - I grew up in an era where white racist skinheads listened to reggae exclusively (go figure) Gender - chicks regard Prog with an enmity that we males reserve for shopping for wallpaper/curtains..t'was ever thus If there are any other similar threads to this one please point them in my direction.

Edited by ExittheLemming - May 18 2012 at 05:23

Originally posted by thehallway The 'us and them' trend we might sometimes witness only exists because prog listeners seem to go into music discussions with an 'us and them' mentality in the first place, ready to argue and defend rather than just discuss, ready to criticise others and "justify" prog, even though there is never any need to justify what you listen to, beyond just liking it.

That is a valid point but it is partly also the soft coercion - oxymoron, I know - in the social environment that leads to music or art elitism.  Not entirely, and there are some who are exceedingly proud of being the elitists that they are, but it is a factor.  If tastes and opinions really are equally respected regardless of differences, I should be allowed to listen to what I like, right?  Now how is that really possible when availability of so-called elitist music is always hampered and so-called elitist bands struggle to get recording contracts or gigs?  Isn't it the mainstream scene, including the TV channels like VH1/MTV and professional critics, who label certain music pretentious or elitist and presume to decide on your behalf what you should listen to?  In an ideal world, I would get to listen to an artist that makes the music I like and be free to say I do and play it on my speakers without problems.  But of course, the world is not ideal and elitism is a product of this less than ideal world.  It cuts both ways...

Originally posted by moshkito Originally posted by thehallway This forum really represents prog listeners well doesn't it? ...   Actually, I think it goes both ways ... on the jazz board you get pretty much the same thing. They always know what is right and everyone else is wrong.   I don't think it's meant to sound bad at all ... all in all, everyone of those people are simply detailing that they are a more discriminate listener, than a kid walking around with their iPod (or otherwise!) and listening to their favorite song du jour!  The assumption is that one is filling an emotional/daily thing that the kid goes through, and for the more discriminate listener, this is about actually listening with a more detailed ear than a preference for a song that you ride through school with.   Sometimes I think there is no difference, with the exception that today, as older folks, we can explain that ... whereas when we were kids, we didn't care what it was at all ... I liked the song and that was that! One could say that it spoke for me, and how I felt about my school or teachers or parents and such, and as more seasoned listeners, those battles tend to not be an issue any more!   I'm always worried, despite my often being a bit rougher with the notes and comments, than what is "expected", but in the end, when one reads the comments, they are not about "me" ... they are about asking that person to define the music for themselves, and what I say is no longer important, or anyone else's comments for that matter.   ... The 'us and them' trend we might sometimes witness only exists because prog listeners seem to go into music discussions with an 'us and them' mentality in the first place, ready to argue and defend rather than just discuss, ready to criticise others and "justify" prog, even though there is never any need to justify what you listen to, beyond just liking it. ...   There is a difference, a very large difference, between watching a kid listening to his/her iPod and then comparing it to the proto-typical professor that has 1000 albums of classical music and shows up for the local Yo Yo Ma concert all dressed up and such.   I agree , from my point of view and yours, that in essence we should not be justifying our listening ... but we are! I came to music appreciation the day I was born, and out house still has over 100 operas and 2k albums of classical music from the earliest to the latest (stops in the 1960's or so!) ... so by the time I heard Edith Piaf's Hymn de l'amour or Gilbert Becaud's Et Maintenant, or Beniamino Gigli do Tosca, I knew that a lot of the "pop music" was not as good as other things ... why? ... pop muisc had no story! Tosca did. And that was a value from the family and the classical music.   The hard part -- TODAY -- is that we have all become a nation of the Cliff Notes ... every thing is small, and does not say a whole lot, and this is creating a very difficult definition for everyone, progressive or pop music as well. The idea I had was that length was more important .... and today ... this is not so. In the late 60's the "length" was a measurement of how much you were into it ... which got lost in the top ten world as it were. Most folks could only appreciate the two or three hits in Tommy ... I thought the whole thing was way better than the two or three songs in it. Everyone loved the 3 hits off Hair ... the musical was much more important than the 3 hits! But no one gave a darn, and even called it, just a nudie musical in many walks of life!   This was hard to take ... because many of us, fought the establishment hard to stand up ... but in the end, we became all garbage, as exemplified by Jimi Hendrix playing an anthem ... that meant absolutely nothing to anyone ... and I think, in some ways ... at least we're trying hard to make the music as important to our lives ... as it was meant to be?   I don't think it means the other folks don't know, or care ... I just think that they are less interested in a historical and any other frameworks to define/understand music that we take more seriously. But I can not say that every kid is like that, because they obviously aren't!

I'm not sure what to make of this Pedro, it seems that you are exemplifying what you are describing by making generalised assumptions. Based upon my experience "young kids" are into music in exactly the same way we were when we were their age - the genre of the music is actually immaterial, the depth of knowledge, understanding, interest and (passive) participation does not change with the style of music - it is the nature of the mind between the iPod ear-buds to be obsessive. I've stood in record stores that specialise in all kinds of music and seen music-buyers behave and react in just the same way on finding that rare find - like Golem's little precious they wants it, they needs it and moreover and they knows all about it - not just Cliff Notes, but the whole Encyclopedia Britannica entry, the study-guide and the teacher-notes ... be that a long lost Psychedelic pressing from the mid 60s, a limited run 12" Ibiza trance-rave mix, an obscure blue note jazz album, a special edition hip-hop sampler or the Charisma Records English language version of Felona and Sorona. If record stores are rare where you are, just walk into a comic book store and you'll see the same obsessive, highly knowledgeable behaviour exhibited, because that is what young adults do - their brains are made that way so they can develop skills and learn stuff quickly (so much easier than we can at our age - that's biological I'm affraid) - they need knowledge input and music can provide that because there is such a rich background of "stuff" supporting it - hence the proliferation of magazines, t-shirts, biographies, and other non-audible merchandise that goes with it. The kid walking around with their iPod is getting exactly the same out of listening to Emimem or The Killers (or whatever the plat du jour is today) as any self-important "discriminating" listener... and I think they think they are just as elitist about it too.

Does the average listener know what pop is?

While playing some Ange in the car the other day (for the record, it was the album 'Au Dela du Delire'), my teenage daughter commented on my strange taste in music. I told her (somewhat defensively) it wasn't strange; it was classic Prog Rock...you know, Progressive Rock?

If we are talking about an average pop (or prog) music listener as an intersection (not as a union, of course ) of all pop (or prog) music listeners, then an average pop (or prog) music listener doesn't know s$%t !

Edited by Dayvenkirq - May 18 2012 at 16:23

Most people, I'd venture, have heard at least some of the bands.  Do they grok it in fullness?  Likely not.

Originally posted by trackstoni Nope...................  Sure Not !   it's Bullsh*ts for Average people ...

Its not particularly Joe-Soaps fault.