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Snow Dog View Drop Down
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 26 2013 at 06:05
AS I rember it  too. Mostly  crap.
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 26 2013 at 06:01
Yup, that's exactly as I remember it - 90% of the chart was stuff I'd never buy and what was left was a mix of AOR, glam and Prog. Charts are like ice bergs, you only see the tip, and the sales figures tend to be exponential with the #1 album selling considerably more than the #2 which in turn sells appreciably more than the #3 ... until you get to the lower regions where the difference between #39 and #40 is a only a few albums and what sits below that are all teh other albums released that week, that month that are selling between nothing and not very much by comparison.
 
So when you see one or two "prog" albums in the chart it is indicative of a whole ice berg of prog albums sitting below the waterline, just as the popularity of Florence + The Machine or The Fleet Foxes in the charts of recent years is indicative of a greater populartity of indie rock / baroque pop than the charts alone would suggest.
 
People moan that the charts today are full of crap, and I have regularily replied that they've always been full of crap - the charts reflect what everyone is buying, not just what educated middle class teenage white boys are buying.
 
 
 
 
I remember Peters and Lee - he was blind and she was blond, they sang stuff your mum would have liked, I believe they were TV talent show winners (Opportunity Knocks), which is another example of nothing changes.
What?
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Points: 26199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 26 2013 at 01:54
Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Two Demis Roussos albums in the charts in 1976 , must have been the height of popularity for the 'Singing tent' . I doubt most his fans at the time were aware he was in a prog band and played bass! Also Nana Mouskouri in the charts. Vangelis albums were also decent sellers from 1975 to about 1983. 'Greek music' was on a highSmile
I must admit it was a big surprise to me when I discovered a few years ago that the man who sang "Forever and ever" (or whatever it was called) was previously in a prog band who recorded one of the most bizarre albums of all time.

I think you are right on Forever and ever although amusingly a breakfast TV presenter thought it was Julio Iglesias that recorded this. 
666 is one of my favourite albums. A double concept album recorded in 1971 , its remarkable 'out there' stuff. All The Seats Were Occupied is an absolute monster of a prog track. Pity the album only became well known (perhaps even notorious) for the 'orgasm song' which genuinely meant to display an exorcism. Irene Papas (featured) also recorded a couple of very nice albums with Vangelis btw.
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chopper View Drop Down
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Points: 19952 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 25 2013 at 07:01
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Two Demis Roussos albums in the charts in 1976 , must have been the height of popularity for the 'Singing tent' . I doubt most his fans at the time were aware he was in a prog band and played bass! Also Nana Mouskouri in the charts. Vangelis albums were also decent sellers from 1975 to about 1983. 'Greek music' was on a highSmile
I must admit it was a big surprise to me when I discovered a few years ago that the man who sang "Forever and ever" (or whatever it was called) was previously in a prog band who recorded one of the most bizarre albums of all time.
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Points: 26199 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 25 2013 at 01:42
Two Demis Roussos albums in the charts in 1976 , must have been the height of popularity for the 'Singing tent' . I doubt most his fans at the time were aware he was in a prog band and played bass! Also Nana Mouskouri in the charts. Vangelis albums were also decent sellers from 1975 to about 1983. 'Greek music' was on a highSmile
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Points: 1781 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 22:03
Interesting to see that "Foreigner" by Cat Stevens actually made it to number 9. I thought it had been totally over looked at the time. It's actually my favourite Cat album and gets as close to Prog as he ever got.
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chopper View Drop Down
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Points: 19952 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 09:02
Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

Most surprising to me is Wakeman that high selling, not the least bit easy to get into.
His first few solo albums were massive, probably on the back of Yes' popularity at the time, but he tailed off after the ice debacle.
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Points: 4287 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 08:58
Most surprising to me is Wakeman that high selling, not the least bit easy to get into.
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Points: 19952 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 08:45
there is a smattering of prog there but ELP, Yes and Tull were massive bands at the time. It also shows a healthy(?) fan base for MOR (anyone remember Peters and Lee?) and glam rock.
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Points: 4287 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 08:18
74-76
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Points: 4287 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 24 2013 at 08:05
http://www.officialcharts.com/archive/
From time to time, we have the question, was the top selling albums back then, actualy prog ?
So i thought i would try to find out.
So this is the top 10 sellng albums in the UK this week, back in 71 - 72 -73
Judge for yourself, is it what you would expect.
 
 
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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