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rushfan4 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 13:27
I did get The Muse Awakens when it came out in 2004.  I also bought the Beginnings CD when it became available.  I've not heard anything else from them, but do have the two Oblivion Sun albums.  I imagine that they are probably better known in the Baltimore/East Coast area than they are in other parts of the country.  

Edited by rushfan4 - September 15 2014 at 13:30
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 14:04
I have Crafty Hands. 3 stars. Some very good tunes. Open Book and Service with a smile spring to mind.
Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 14:11
[I imagine that they are probably better known in the Baltimore/East Coast area than they are in other parts of the country. ]

Well, yes I do agree with that. I would say the same thing about Crack the Sky and the Muffins as far as being more well known in the Baltimore and DC area though. I think if we aren't initially exposed to a band on our own we tend to think of them as being "obscure" when in reality it's not always that cut and dry. But ultimately it's all about the music. About 98 percent of prog could be considered "obscure" or not that well known. It doesn't make the music any less appealing(at least to usWink).  I suppose because they were mentioned a lot in catalogs and in the earlier days of the internet(PE and RMP specifically)and headlined three times at festivals I have been to personally(Nearfest once and Progday twice)I tend to think of them as one of the better known US bands. Heck even Anglagard, the Flower Kings and Echolyn didn't headline Nearfest. But again the most important thing is the music and whether or not you like it. Wink


Edited by Prog_Traveller - September 15 2014 at 14:19
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 15:37
As a longtime Los Angeles professional guitarist,working,touring,recording with Switzerland's progressive rock band Flame Dream https://www.facebook.com/groups/50092213229/ ,I would truly like to inform "Prog_Traveller" that Happy the Man,even though their keyboardist is American;Happy the Man's best works isn't by "a US prog band".
Happy the Man best works were by
enlisting the amazing French drummer;and dear old friend Coco Roussel (Heldon and Clearlight Symphony Orchestra).

I've gig,performed with talented Coco Roussel a few times in Los Angeles.Coco is a serious gent;and hell of a drummer.Coco also still lives in my sunshine state of Southern California in

Simi Valley. http://www.everythinghappytheman.com/coco.html

 







Wönsch everyone euch es super Wochestart! Hebed euch Sorg aus soo rüüüdig record breaking heist temps im sunshiny Southern California vo de Kalifornischer gitarristen Dale .


Edited by DaleHauskins - September 18 2014 at 16:53
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 15:54
Well, you aren't informing me or anyone else you are just simply sharing your opinion. ;)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 15:59
Well,at least you know now Happy the Man wasn't a US prog band.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 15:59
This is old news on Stanley Whitaker, but seeing this thread brought back my memory of these old threads helping to raise money for his medical care as he was fighting cancer.  http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=52928&KW=whitaker&PID=3016792#3016792 

Sounds like he is a survivor and for that I am glad to hear.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 16:12
Originally posted by DaleHauskins DaleHauskins wrote:

Well,at least you know now Happy the Man wasn't a US prog band.


Of course they were(and are). Most of the members are from the US and they were formed in the US. One foreign member(who wasn't an original member and only on one album) doesn't change that. Here look at this if you don't believe they are a US band. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_the_Man


Edited by Prog_Traveller - September 15 2014 at 16:19
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 16:20
Their drummer Coco is French;and mostly known playing in French bands.
http://www.everythinghappytheman.com/coco.html
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 16:39
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bergamini

Edited by Prog_Traveller - September 15 2014 at 16:40
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 15 2014 at 22:25
Great band....have all of their releases including Deaths Crown .
 
I thought that Gabriel wanted them for his backing band at one time after he left Genesis..?
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 06:18
Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:

Great band....have all of their releases including Deaths Crown .
 
I thought that Gabriel wanted them for his backing band at one time after he left Genesis..?

Me too. Big smile

Oh and by the way, if an American band has one French member play drums with them for a while, they automatically become a French band.  That's just the way it works.  Sorry.  Tongue
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 07:02
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

Oh and by the way, if an American band has one French member play drums with them for a while, they automatically become a French band.  That's just the way it works.  Sorry.  Tongue
Yeah, so I heard - Phil Collins looks a bit Italiano to me. He is such a little Joe Pesci at times. Shall we consider Genesis as Progressivo Italiano from now on? LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 16 2014 at 09:40
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:

Great band....have all of their releases including Deaths Crown .
 
I thought that Gabriel wanted them for his backing band at one time after he left Genesis..?

Me too. Big smile

Oh and by the way, if an American band has one French member play drums with them for a while, they automatically become a French band.  That's just the way it works.  Sorry.  Tongue
LOL
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 18 2014 at 19:52
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

Originally posted by dr wu23 dr wu23 wrote:

Great band....have all of their releases including Deaths Crown .
 
I thought that Gabriel wanted them for his backing band at one time after he left Genesis..?

Me too. Big smile

Oh and by the way, if an American band has one French member play drums with them for a while, they automatically become a French band.  That's just the way it works.  Sorry.  Tongue


Yeah apparently it only works with French musicians. Tongue
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 08:30
I would have liked to have heard a couple of albums with Gabriel and Happy the Man in a collaborative effort.
I think they would have done some really interesting music. His first 4 albums are good but after that I think his work became somewhat boring compared to his older material. Happy The Man might have been what he needed to keep his songs proggier but with a new edge using some of their musical ideas.
One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 08:49
I have always been a devoted fan. I first discovered Happy The Man in 1979 when I traveled the road with a Progressive Rock band that was doing 50% originals and 50% prog covers. As we traveled...a DJ gave the first 2 Happy the Man albums to my drummer. After our gig, we sat and listened to the albums at our headquarters in Media P.A. At that time we were using western P.A. as a springboard. We were amazed by their music, although I had seen their name posted in various towns/cities that I performed in during the 70's. I had never heard the band prior to that evening. Finally on one particular night we played this huge club in P.A. and a DJ handed me a copy of Crafty Hands. He was brutal as he remarked to me that no one was interested in this type of music. Finally I put 2 and 2 together realizing that because Prog was getting pushed further and further away from media promotion, that new bands like Happy the Man really didn't have a chance at anything short of clubs and theatres.

Eventually the drummer and I attempted to race across town to see the band on our breaks and didn't get any further than the parking lot at our venue...as we were stopped by roadies who told us we wouldn't make it back in time for the next set. We were disgusted. When we played in Fort Dix , NJ...Happy the Man were performing at Alexanders. Nektar were also performing there. I played Kit Watkins keyboard parts on guitar and during soundchecks, we ran through several Happy the Man pieces. They were a major influence on my writing. I also recall playing in Maryland and Delaware and seeing their name posted here and there. It was a fantastic time traveling the east coast and playing the same circuits as these bands. Happy The Man were so incredibly outstanding that fine musicians in the important cities were shocked by their tightness. Everyone on the circuit in 79' knew about the band and praised them endlessly. I miss those times and I greatly miss Happy The Man. I long for some record label to officially release their performance at Nearfest in 2000. The piece "Service With A Smile" was released on a compilation cd from Wayside Music years ago. It was a performance from Nearfest 2000 and it was beautiful. Someone must have that performance on tape and I hope that someone will go the distance one day and release it in it's entirety.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 11:03
My introduction to them is as follows:

We decided to drive to NYC from Toronto for a weekend.  Being a musician, we hit all the music stores there.  I was a big fan of UK at the time and I was sitting at a Fender Rhodes piano playing - probably - In The Dead Of Night, and the salesrep comes up to me and says "If you like that stuff, you'll like Happy The Man".  So, on a whim, right after, my friend and I went to the nearest record store and purchased "Crafty Hands".  We couldn't listen to it while we were away and anxiously waited to get back to T.O. and put the LP on.  We got back, put it on the stereo and that was that!  We were hooked on HTM.  Been so ever since.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 19 2014 at 12:22
Masters of syncopation and way way undervalued.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 26 2014 at 12:59
I just learned of this missing link album between Happy The Man and Oblivion Sun.


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