Re: (idm) prog vs punk [last word - honest!]

From iso-8859-1
Sent Tue, Sep 14th 1999, 14:36


--- Dave Segal <xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx> wrote:
> So you didn't like Yes; does that mean all prog
> sucks?

Well, Yes (pun!), except for In the Court of the Crimson King by King
Crimson. Robert Fripp defined the genre and then moved onto other
fields. I have to say here that none of the German bands (apart from
some of Tangerine Dream) should ever be included in the prog rock
category - and weren't at the time. You can see the influence of Can
and other Kraut Rock on punk eg. on Public Image - Metal Box.

> Dig deeper and you'll discover dozens, if not
> hundreds,
> of great bands. I've never heard Barclay James
> Harvest;
> I'm defending the cream of the prog crop, most of
> whom
> existed so far underground that most people have
> never
> heard it (sort of like IDM now).

Interesting argument - but I'm sure some of us would have heard of some
of the names. Of those bands receiving critical re-assessment, the only
prog one seems to be Gentle Giant.
 
> I meant _punk_, not post-punk, which is how the
> bands above
> have traditionally been classified.

If you had been there, you would know that all the bands mentioned came
out of the punk movement (see Jon Savage's book Englands Burning - not
sure if correct title). There was no middle ground - if you were into
prog, you hated punk and the bands that came out of it; if you were
into the punk movement then you despised prog. Of course there was shit
(Damned, UK Subs, Sham 69), but then there always is.

Incidentally, someone tried to exclude Young Marble Giants from the
Punk/Post Punk/whatever list. They came through the Punk scene like
everyone else.

> ." And Associates had more in
> common with prog
> than punk.

I must admit that of all your statements, this is the one that really
sticks in my craw. Mackenzie/Rankine despised prog rock as the rest of
us did. The music they produced came out of a love of Bowie, film
soundtracks (Barry, Morricone), Roxy Music. See Tom Doyle's excellent
biography of Billy Mackenzie - The Glamour Chase.
 
> You've seemingly heard only the most commercially
> successful
> prog bands.

Look mate, I was there as well. I saw a lot of these dinosaurs before
my damascus conversion in 1977.

Mat.
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