Term Time

There has been much talk of Prog rock recently – which in and of itself is a remarkable thing as the term became a source of ridicule and shame for the detractors and fans respectively during the late 1970s and has only just now become usable again – despite the attempts of the BBC to continue the ridicule with its Prog Britannia show.

The facts are – as are the facts with much of music when it becomes a subject of conversation rather than the organisation of sound in space and time – that some people like some things and others like others and it is not for me or anyone to rail against the taste of another. It’s as pointless as hitting yourself in the face with a hammer.

In this opening blog, I would like to address the terminology. ‘Prog’ is a label and like any label in the world of art or creation, it immediately achieves ignominy when it is applied.

Prog Rock, or anything claiming to be Prog Rock, is probably something that is trying to be Prog Rock and adhering to formulas and styles – or even stereotypes, God forbid – in order to be classed alongside anything else that has been labelled Prog Rock.

An unfortunate stance to take with one’s creations, it seems to me.

The problem comes from the fact that progressive rock (note the absence of capital letters) is precisely what it says on the tin: rock music that progresses from a particular point or environment.

In this way, I think, avoiding the danger of post-rationalising and applying criteria to work that existed before the phrase, we can start with the work of The Beatles (Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s) and Pink Floyd (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) as sort of ‘proto-prog’ inspirations and then the late 60s early 70s era when that which the wider world labels ‘Prog’ was actually also progressive (King Crimson, Yes, Gentle Giant, Genesis, Caravan, Egg and so on and so forth).

For some reason, the label ‘Prog’ stuck with that music, although rock music’s progression moved across the road into the subsequent worlds of punk, new romantic, hip hop, grunge, Brit pop, acid house, techno and so on – again. (I am certain everybody will have a different list of ‘progressions' through the fads, but I think it is well worth pointing out that once these things became fads, the progression in musical terms had most likely moved on to the next development – the mass market is always the bell tolling for any new music or art and the real artists are looking elsewhere by the time the businessmen move in.)

That which was progressive and became Prog is set in that age and while there might be something of a renewed interest in that music, albums that retain a listenability, that remain fresh, that do not date necessarily back to their era, but continue to live and breathe in the modern world, are those that have achieved an artistic value above and beyond the era and the label they have been pinned to. Larks Tongues in Aspic and Red (King Crimson), Close to the Edge (Yes), Camembert Electric (Gong) are a few that spring immediately to my mind, but there are others.

Interestingly, for me at least, is that of those old proggers, only King Crimson progressed, never looked back, never became a tribute act of itself, continued, up to the last gathering, to move forward from where it had been.

I miss nothing of the old Prog world – I still have the albums I like – but I do miss King Crimson and that pushing of the envelope while remaining a glorious evolution from that basement on the Fulham Palace Road in 1969.

Got to admire that achievement…