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Should I stay or should I go?
Anti-Brexit demonstration (Photo: Wix) I remember the UK joining the EEC in 1973 better than I remember the last time the UK took part in...

garethsprogblog
Jun 11, 20167 min read


What does it say on the label?
Getting into music in 1972 meant that I may have missed out on records released on some of the early, innovative imprints like Decca’s...

garethsprogblog
Jun 4, 20167 min read


Get 'em out by Friday
Paul Whitehead's cover illustration for Foxtrot (1972) Though Get ‘em out by Friday (from Foxtrot by Genesis, 1972) was a piece of social...

garethsprogblog
Apr 30, 20166 min read


The Fender Rhodes
The desire for the authentic sounds of the 70s harboured by some modern prog bands has led to a quiet revolution in digital samples. The...

garethsprogblog
Apr 25, 20165 min read


Keith Emerson
Already 2016 seems to have been blighted by more high-profile musician deaths than previous years. I was still reading articles about Sir...

garethsprogblog
Mar 12, 20166 min read


Automobiles
If musical genres were modes of transportation, prog would be some form of public transport and Italian prog would be a tram!

garethsprogblog
Feb 13, 20169 min read


Single
I’ve now set up my new Rega RP3 and have started to put on vinyl in preference to my somewhat larger collection of CDs. My first record...

garethsprogblog
Dec 5, 20156 min read


Come on the Amazing Journey, and Learn All You Should Know
(A guest blog by Mike Chavez) The scene: a dimly lit village hall around 7pm in a small town in rural Wiltshire. A group of middle-aged...

garethsprogblog
Nov 28, 20155 min read


Liberté, égalité, fraternité
My thoughts go out to the families of the victims of Friday’s terrorist attacks in France (13/11/15). Such a cowardly and brutal attack...

garethsprogblog
Nov 15, 20154 min read


Building utopia with prog
I was offered, and accepted, a new job this week. My rolling post-retirement contract with the private organisation that was drafted in...

garethsprogblog
Sep 12, 20155 min read


Chris Squire
Chris Squire died on 27th June 2015. He was being treated for Acute Erythroid Leukaemia in Phoenix, Arizona. A true giant of the bass,...

garethsprogblog
Jul 4, 20155 min read


Cover up
The presentation of an album used to be one of the factors I took into account when I was attempting to discover new music at a time when...

garethsprogblog
May 18, 20156 min read


War and peace
It’s indisputable that progressive rock was a genre of grand concepts from the straightforward interpretation of classic novels (Camel’s...

garethsprogblog
Apr 20, 20156 min read


Broad church
Early in the new millennium, when progressive rock was emerging from underneath rocks and dragging itself out of slimy ponds, I...

garethsprogblog
Mar 28, 20157 min read


The magic flute
Back in 2015, the lack of availability of albums by progressivo Italiano band Jumbo forced me to buy a download of DNA, the first of...

garethsprogblog
Jan 31, 20156 min read


Time to dream
Edgar Froese, the founder member of Tangerine Dream died unexpectedly last week from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 70. Edgar Froese...

garethsprogblog
Jan 25, 20156 min read


Burmese Blue
The headline for a review of a Procol Harum gig in The Independent from early December 2014 suggested that Procol Harum should be...

garethsprogblog
Dec 6, 20145 min read


Genesis revelations
I don’t watch very much television. Broadcasting corporations don’t really cater for my tastes and commercial stations are nauseating...

garethsprogblog
Oct 4, 20145 min read


Referendum
Edinburgh (photo: Wix media) September’s referendum for independence for Scotland energised political debate north of the border and late...

garethsprogblog
Oct 1, 20145 min read


The instruments of Prog: the Mellotron and the mini-Moog
I’ve been lucky enough to play around on a Mellotron but I didn’t have the foresight to buy the Beast. The instrument was in a music shop...

garethsprogblog
Jul 12, 20147 min read
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