How Popular was Prog in its Heyday?

we have over 20,000 members at PA. Many prog fests. Many many many new bands, and fan sites emerging all the time. SO I would say prog is pretty popular in its' heyday these days. 

debrewguy wrote: we have over 20,000 members at PA. Many prog fests. Many many many new bands, and fan sites emerging all the time. SO I would say prog is pretty popular in its' heyday these days.

Hercules wrote: Prog was the dominant form of music from about 71 to 77, when punk blew it away.

Well I'm rather surprised to hear the news that punk blew prog away in '77 as that's about the time I really got into prog.  That's a tired old bit of crap I hear posted a little bit too much.  Kind of like arguing disco blew prog away.  If anything blew it away it was commercialitis.  And actually it didn't blow it away but just marginalized it somewhat.  The big names were diminished and some quit but if you knew where to look, it carried on just fine, thank you very much.

How popular was prog in it's heyday?  I'd give it a 75 or so on a scale of whatever.


Edited by Slartibartfast - May 27 2009 at 11:33

Slartibartfast wrote: Hercules wrote: Prog was the dominant form of music from about 71 to 77, when punk blew it away. Well I'm rather surprised to hear the news that punk blew prog away in '77 as that's about the time I really got into prog.  That's a tired old bit of crap I hear posted a little bit too much.  Kind of like arguing disco blew prog away.  If anything blew it away it was commercialitis.  And actually it didn't blow it away but just marginalized it somewhat.  The big names were diminished and some quit but if you knew where to look, it carried on just fine, thank you very much. How popular was prog in it's heyday?  I'd give it a 75 or so on a scale of whatever.

Not crap at all. I was alive then and can remember the effect all too well. Prog nights and discos in pubs just disappeared within a few months to be replaced by spiky haired, gobbing morons who bounced up and down (pogoing, they called it) to tuneless thrashes from beginners who couldn't play their instruments. And yes, it was the overcommercialism of prog (Wakeman's Myths and Legends on ice being one of the worst cases) that led directly to the punk backlash. Punk was a direct reaction to prog's excesses; overcommercialism and the excessive emphasis on musical virtuosity led to punk, which had an "anyone can play it even if you're totally crap" philosophy. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't have a clue what they're talking about.

A passion play # 1 on charts =pretty popular

psarros wrote: debrewguy wrote: we have over 20,000 members at PA. Many prog fests. Many many many new bands, and fan sites emerging all the time. SO I would say prog is pretty popular in its' heyday these days.    ????...The thread is talking about how popular was prog during the 70's...or didn't I get that well?

Hahahaha no, you're right, I think he's just intentionally misinterpreting me to make a point, which is one that I don't altogether disagree with, but it's not what the thread's getting at

It's truly amazing how much the music industry has changed. Almost makes me wish I was around during the "Golden Years" when major record labels were encouraging, or at least tolerant, of bands really stepping away from the norm.

The change seems to be amazing, though. Back then you could find forty minute songs on the top 40, now you're lucky if you hear a four minute song. I suppose that there's hope for prog, though: If side-longs and envelope pushing music were accepted by the mainstream once, it could happen again, however unlikely that is (although that might not be ideal for those who merely view prog as a chance for them to be snobby).

Our radio station sometimes (rarely) plays prog, they'll usually play Roundabout or something by Genesis (I've heard Ripples a few times, One For The Vine and, oddly enough, Here Comes The Supernatural Anesthetist, which seemed a bizarre choice...) and it'll always give me a bit of a thrill. I can't imagine what it must've been like back then.



Edited by KingCrimson250 - May 27 2009 at 12:28

The jury is in that Prog was huge in the 70s, especially the first half of the decade when it was the new big thing.  If I remember correctly, Thick as a Brick entered the charts at #1.  I heard Yes all the time on the radio from '71 to '81, and a good amount of Tull, Pink Floyd, and ELP, and not the two or three too-frequently edited songs commercial radio started playing in the 80s, but lesser known album tracks.  In the late 70s I listened to a radio station that would ocassionally play entire albums, and many of these were Prog.  As late as the 90s, a local radio station would play "custom album sides" from CDs, and again many of these were Prog. 

Dean makes a good point.  The charts themselves can be deceiving.  I don't know how high Dark Side of the Moon got, but it stayed on the chart for something like 25 years.  Three Dog Night (I know, not Prog, but this exemplifies the more recent situation) was huge, but only had one #1 hit: Mama Told Me Not to Come.  When radio really went commercial in the 80s, programmers who only understood numbers and chart positions but not music, played this song almost exclusively.  Out of all the hits that band had, Mama . . . is the one I heard the least on the radio.  I think it hit big at first, but faded fast.

Prog was never dominant, I been in the 70's and hardly the average Joe listened Prog.

Garion81 wrote:   ELP at Cal Jam played in front of half a million.  They co headlined that show with Deep Purple.  Black Sabbath and The Eagles were on that bill as well.