No we weren't.  In the 70s, ELP was the biggest thing going.  I worked in a record store in Richmond Va. the summer of 74 and ELP, Yes, FLoyd and King Crimson were right up there with Led Zeppelin.  ELP and Floyd were selling out huge stadiums... ELP headlined one of the largest outdoor festivals ever televised.. and Floyd had on of the most successful tours ever.

In the early 70s, there didn't seem to be a stigma attached to prog rock.  Not by anyone I knew anyway.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: What's an emo-kid? I'm thirty years old ... guess I'm too young to be a 70s prog kid and too old to be an emo-kid ...

I think they listen to Coldplay and the like...

Blacksword wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: What's an emo-kid? I'm thirty years old ... guess I'm too young to be a 70s prog kid and too old to be an emo-kid ... I think they listen to Coldplay and the like...

I see ... Coldplay, Travis, Muse, Radiohead. I like some of their songs, but I think that such music is only 5% of what I listen to.

Yeah , man!!!! Progheads ruled the world back then!

No , nothing special!!! In  those days, prog groups were all over the radio and a lot of people listened to them, even if they were no dedicated fans.

Then came 77 (well 78 in the North America) and from that day on , because mainly of the SMBWMP (stupid, mindless British (brutish?) weekly musical press) all those liking Yes , Elp and consorts were deemed uncool, outcast , not trendy etc.... and advocated or championed Punk band that managed to capture the (so-called) rebellious nature of rock.

Weekly rags such as NME or MM , started burning what they loved just to stay ahead of fashion. Even (and very sadly , because they were the best of the 3 weeklies)  Sounds followed suits. Then came in new wave , where you did not even have to know how to strum guitar strings.......

Virtuoso musicianship had to find refuge amongst metal bands, obscure jazz fusion and later in Funk-fusion bands such R H C Peppers.

Emo I believe is Emotional Punk, so its not Coldplay.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Blacksword wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: What's an emo-kid? I'm thirty years old ... guess I'm too young to be a 70s prog kid and too old to be an emo-kid ... I think they listen to Coldplay and the like... I see ... Coldplay, Travis, Muse, Radiohead. I like some of their songs, but I think that such music is only 5% of what I listen to.

Whoa, there.... Coldplay, muse and radiohead are not in the least  bit emo.  If you want to know what an emo kid is, go to wikipedia and look up "emo".  you will understand.  They listen to bad, whiny punk-ish things like AFI, My Chemical Romance, Finch, etc.  Radiohead is mainly listened to by kids who appreciate music for music's sake, and not for the sake of being part of a "scene", as is generally the case with emo (but thats just my take on it).

From Wikipedia:

"Cheer Up Emo Kid"

"Emo kids" or "emos" are stereotypically seen as being suicidal, angst-ridden teenagers. When attacking "emo", its detractors often refer to wrist slitting. This is largely due to the lyrical themes of music that is contemporarily labelled "emo"; one of the most common issues addressed by bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, The Used and others are broken hearts. Other bands, such as Thursday, address other topics considered depressing. The criticisms levelled at "emo" because of reasons such as these are virtually identical to those levelled at other genres which have at one time or another been staple listening for angst-ridden teenagers, such as grunge, nu metal and goth. This viewpoint is also based on the widely accepted notion that the majority of "emo kids" are middle-class white kids.

I guess that the common stereotypical image of prog fans isn't "emo kid", but simply "nerd".

Borealis wrote: Seriously, no one really answered the question. How were considered prog fans in the 70's; nerd, cool, weird?...

I think 3fates and I gave a few clues to that!

Most 70's progheads were accepted because they were not progheads. It did not exist. This musical segregation came around punk time when Disco Fiends and Punk Twits became adament to what they listened to and the rest sucked! Musical Sectarianism came about that era.

Progheads were simply normal persons who were relatively open and did not criticize too much other musics. Cool? I would not say...... Nerd? the term did not exist back then (I believe this came about the early 80's) but no we were certainly not nerds........... Weird? Not anymore than the rest of music fans.

No , I have no rememberance being riled at for my music tastes before Disco fiends (who judge anybody not accepting the lastest trends as uncool)  and Punkers (who wanted to be rock heroes without having to know how to play) appeared around the end of the 70's.

Then prog music lovers became associated to hippies and a thing of the past.

Retroventuremod & Borealis,

Progressive Rock was, until Disco and Punk took off, very much in the mainstream -- aside from pop, of course -- and fans were not considered nerds, outcasts or anything else. When the well-known Prog bands were packing stadiums with 50,000 fans (600,000 fans were at the Isle of Wight Festival, that's how mainstream it was), it could hardly have been nerdy. Mind you, in the early 1970s, bands like Deep Purple were considered Prog Rock, so there was a much 'healthier' mix and feel to the whole rock scene.

In the early to mid 1970s the relatively small record department of my local department store (note: not a record shop) always had Prog Rock albums on prominent display: ELP, Genesis, Greenslade, Pink Floyd, Triumvirat, Yes etc. alongside 'non-Prog' Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Led Zep, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Nazareth, Status Quo, Steely Dan, The Who, Traffic etc. It was more just 'rock music' in those days, and not so obviously compartmentalised as it is today, and Prog was considered side-by-side with any other rock music. If you picked up a copy of Melody Maker you were just as likely to see an article on Yes as on Budgie or Nazareth. Some of the Prog bands appeared on mainstream pop TV programmes (e.g. Yes on the UK's 'Top Of The Pops').

So, no, it was not nerdy - it was mainstream. Things started to change noticeably from about 1977 if I remember correctly.

GoldenSpiral wrote: From Wikipedia: "Cheer Up Emo Kid" "Emo kids" or "emos" are stereotypically seen as being suicidal, angst-ridden teenagers. When attacking "emo", its detractors often refer to wrist slitting. This is largely due to the lyrical themes of music that is contemporarily labelled "emo"; one of the most common issues addressed by bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, The Used and others are broken hearts. Other bands, such as Thursday, address other topics considered depressing. The criticisms levelled at "emo" because of reasons such as these are virtually identical to those levelled at other genres which have at one time or another been staple listening for angst-ridden teenagers, such as grunge, nu metal and goth. This viewpoint is also based on the widely accepted notion that the majority of "emo kids" are middle-class white kids. T-shirts, pin badges and other accessories are often worn by those who have a strong dislike for emo (and have also been known to be worn ironically by some who are considered by others or themselves to be "emo"). [end quote] I don't think this is how proggers were treated in the 70's, but I wasn't there.  all I know is that if they were as annoying as emo kids are, they deserved to be made fun of.

That was a pretty accurate description of an emo-kid.

Ugh. One more year of high school and emo is still as big as ever there.

Arsillus wrote: That was a pretty accurate description of an emo-kid. Ugh. One more year of high school and emo is still as big as ever there.

Which bands would you associate with emo? I guess Pearl Jam is very emo, at least Eddie Vedder might be an emo idol.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Which bands would you associate with emo? I guess Pearl Yam is very emo, at least Eddie Vedder might be an emo idol.

Pearl Yam?  Is that a Jamaican Reggae band?

fandango wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: Which bands would you associate with emo? I guess Pearl Yam is very emo, at least Eddie Vedder might be an emo idol. Pearl Yam?  Is that a Jamaican Reggae band?

Silly me ... I even own one of their records (Yield).

Someone had posted a topic about an emo video not too long ago.  Here's the link to it:

http://www.somethingdirectory.com/main_emo.htm - http://www.somethingdirectory.com/main_emo.htm

It's freakin' hilarious!

Snow Dog wrote: Emo I believe is Emotional Punk, so its not Coldplay.

Emotional Punk ? Never heard of that one - thought Emu was the more talented half of a double act with Rod Hull !!

As for the original question I don't think progs were outcasts back in the 70's , if you were  we probably took the heat off you a bit when punk came out as no one seemed to like us !! Double that up with being a Leeds United fan and I suppose I really do count as a mega outcast

I was at school in the seventies and nearly everyone was into either prog or other more rock bands such as Purple, Rainbow etc.

Some people went punk in the mid-70s and started sl*gging off prog, but that was about it.

Syzygy wrote: By the time I reached University in 1980 hardly anybody would openly admit to liking prog, despite the fact that probably 75% of them had been ardent progheads a couple of years before.

haha. perhaps much the same way that I won't admit to listening to Weezer and KoRn in the 90s.