Way back in the good old last century (early '70s) WMMS would play the complete song.
Unfortunately, when I saw Yes at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in the summer of 1975 there were only about 100,000 people there.
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Why did prog rock never have mass popularity?
- Thread starter MidnightRunner
- Start date
No one thinks when listening to music.
They like it based on what they hear, not what they deduced after a couple days of analysis.
It didnt have a beat that the woman could dance to. The nightclubs are not going to play music that did not attract woman.
(Last one, I promise.)
Because they couldn't decide which 28 minutes of "Köhntarkösz" to delete for the radio version.
Some of Mastodon's albums are proggy as well.
The fact is, if you make a list of every band ever that can be considered "prog" you really just have a bunch of music that, while sharing a few attributes, still sounds different enough to be considered completely different genres!
That's the same with all other genres/subgenres.
I put Hawkwind in with other space rock bands of the early 70's: Pink Fairies, early UFO, Stray, and the like.
Sort of like Classical and Jazz, isn't it?
Most people don't really listen to the music and if it gets complicated, they opt out.
It doesn't fit into "It's easy to dance to, Dick, I'd give it a 7." mold.
Leave that to Steve.
I forget just how fast and versatile he is. Right up there with Satch and Vai, imho. With his own twist.
Have you listened to prog music...? (I love prog btw, just not palatable to mass consumption)
It depends on what you mean by "thinks". Math equations or political speeches, yea no. But if you are conscientiously deciphering which instruments are doing what, paying attention to tonal movements, identifying rhythm changes, reflecting on how the music makes you feel, etc, then you are thinking. Similar to when you are eating something and deciding which ingredients it contains and whether you like it or not. If you aren't thinking, well I think even Jeff Berlin would approve of just turning the music off and listening to a metronome.
Jeez, everybody, relax.
Nobody is saying prog is an unpopular genre. I wouldn't even call it niche. I, too, went to lots of sold-out prog band arena concerts. I have tons of prog music. I played in a prog band. I love most prog. I used to regularly view the prog website that used to let you listen to all these really cool bands until they stopped doing that.
But is it as popular as Michael Jackson? One Direction? NKOTB? K-pop? Megan Thee Stallion? John Legend? Weeknd? etc, etc, etc...
You know, Mass Popularity. Like in the thread title.
Nobody is saying prog is an unpopular genre. I wouldn't even call it niche. I, too, went to lots of sold-out prog band arena concerts. I have tons of prog music. I played in a prog band. I love most prog. I used to regularly view the prog website that used to let you listen to all these really cool bands until they stopped doing that.
But is it as popular as Michael Jackson? One Direction? NKOTB? K-pop? Megan Thee Stallion? John Legend? Weeknd? etc, etc, etc...
You know, Mass Popularity. Like in the thread title.
Compared to what? Motown? British Invasion? As many have noted, Prog had its moment, and I can't dispute the notion that one of my favorite groups, Radiohead, is proggy in its creative aspirations.
But Pop (short for "popular") Music, by definition, appeals to the masses. It's reductive to say "Prog is challenging and most people can't handle that" or "people want stupid, sappy stuff." Everybody comes to music for something personal to them, but by and large, the superpower of music is its ability to bypass the mind and engage emotions directly. Prog seems intent on subverting that connection, challenging expectations, embracing the oblique as a virtue. ("Feel like dancing? HAHA try to find the beat, suckas!") Some people like that. Most would rather have "Ain't Too Proud To Beg." And there's nothing wrong with that.
Prog is like disco. It had a moment—and its influence lives on—but then more immediate and (dare I say) authentic genres like punk and grunge came down the pipe and smashed all the glitter and artifice and pretense. (Hey, that "Stonehenge " bit in Spinal Tap—that's for you, proggies.) Most people want music to relate to, to connect us all, not to educate us about 7/8 time and wizards telling riddles on a dusty British moor.
Talking out of my butt here, but hey, it's the internet, so when in Rome...
But Pop (short for "popular") Music, by definition, appeals to the masses. It's reductive to say "Prog is challenging and most people can't handle that" or "people want stupid, sappy stuff." Everybody comes to music for something personal to them, but by and large, the superpower of music is its ability to bypass the mind and engage emotions directly. Prog seems intent on subverting that connection, challenging expectations, embracing the oblique as a virtue. ("Feel like dancing? HAHA try to find the beat, suckas!") Some people like that. Most would rather have "Ain't Too Proud To Beg." And there's nothing wrong with that.
Prog is like disco. It had a moment—and its influence lives on—but then more immediate and (dare I say) authentic genres like punk and grunge came down the pipe and smashed all the glitter and artifice and pretense. (Hey, that "Stonehenge " bit in Spinal Tap—that's for you, proggies.) Most people want music to relate to, to connect us all, not to educate us about 7/8 time and wizards telling riddles on a dusty British moor.
Talking out of my butt here, but hey, it's the internet, so when in Rome...
This, as much as I love prog rock, jazz fusion, thrash metal ect... They all have the quality of not being music women typically want to dance to...hence the lack in popularity.
It seems to me that from the 60's through to early 2000's (or so) it was the conglomerate record labels in league with conglomerate radio stations who decided what would have mass appeal. For example, in the 90's they decided that Hip-Hop would be the thing, so they marketed the hell out of it. Hip Hop is still huge as a result (but is slowly declining in popularity). Prior to that it was (briefly) Grunge. In the late 70's and early 80's it was New Wave. And prior to that, Disco. Etc., etc. And parallel to those popular trends there has long been the more niche genres (Jazz, Blues, Country, Classical, Folk, Polka, etc.) and always some form of short-shelf-life saccharine pop (consider the current massive popularity of K-Pop). So, I think, there was a time when record labels were willing to invest in Prog Rock, and to influence radio stations to play Prog Rock, and so people got to hear and enjoy Prog Rock. But then the big labels moved on to the next big thing that they could market to the masses. They decided, for business reasons, what would be the "flavor of the month" (or decade). And as things became more corporate, music generally become more predictable and homogeneous. It is the radical decentralization and disintermediation caused by the Internet that has allowed genres like Prog to blossom again.
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buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Sort of like Classical and Jazz, isn't it?
Most people don't really listen to the music and if it gets complicated, they opt out.
It doesn't fit into "It's easy to dance to, Dick, I'd give it a 7." mold.
I hate when people try this - neither is one thing, any more than "rock" is.
Jazz can be big band (more modern, like Maynard Ferguson, or traditional, like Duke/Mercer Ellington), an instrumental quartet playing standards, a vocalist doing a number of different things, fusion, bebop, etc.
Classical includes a Wagner opera, string quartet, orchestra, pops, chorale, etc.
How is that? I know of countless blues clubs/jams across the country, and no specific prog joints. I would even venture to say that there are far more blues than prog festivals.
Same here. The first time I heard Rush I was completely mesmerised by their sound. A buddy of mine was into Rush and let me listen to a few of their songs from the Moving Pictures album. The thing that immediately came to mind was that their music had a futuristic vibe to it.
I remember going to a huge outdoor stadium show in the mid-70's with a mixed-bag line-up: Yes, Peter Frampton, Gary Wright, and someone else (I don't recall). Frampton was at the height of his massive popularity with "Frampton Comes Alive". Yes was the headliner.
