The Progressive Rock Revival 1984-1989; Andrew Wild picks up the tale from where we left off in ’83… We take a walk around the playground of the broken hearts with Andew Wild and Kingmaker Publishing 

We simply couldn’t leave the story back in ’83 with the cliffhanging thought of what happened next? Perhaps on a roll, Andrew Wild gets a second wind and continues to plot the rolllercoaster ride that follows the often shaky course of our new progressive heroes.

His first volume, A Mirror Of Dreams, was an uplifting story of a group (or groups) of mavericks who took on the world armed with keyboards, long tracks and an affinity for classic Progressive Rock, and built what they hoped, were the foundations of a brave new world. The benefit of hindsight casts A Mirror… with a glint of romance as being part of the underground movement takes hold .

the reality

Vol 2 hits a little more reality as some of the walls, despite the ambition and desire, begin to crumble. Lead singers in particular seem to depart with an alarming regularity, some more amicably than others. Even the spiritual home – The Marquee – departs its Wardour Street base and of course the new home isn’t quite the same. Despite the blows that seem to pepper what Blackadder would call a road strewn with cowpats from the Devil’s own satanic herd, the foundations are strong and we know – with the benefit of 2025 hindsight again – there’s a happy ending.

Young Mr Wild provides a detailed chronology of who’s playing where and who’s releasing what and when with liberal quotes from the protagonists and the press of the time. If you’ve bought into Vol 1, you’ll know the format.

The personal memories and mementos from fans add to the nostalgia dripping from the playground, that even caused a personal little reflection of the era. Twelfth Night at Bangor Uni with Andy Sears’ stiletto boots dangerously close to the fingers on the lip of the stage and then the same band upping their game at Manchester Apollo on the same tour. Yes, I also recall Geoff Mann sprinting down the aisles for a marvelously emotional Love Song. Pallas on the same stage with the huge production (and buying a ticket at Barry’s lower floor box office in Piccadilly Records – the tickets were printed ‘Tallas’ and he had to correct with a biro…).

elementary

Despite the author’s failing memory I certainly do remember the support slot from Moriarty and their Elementary demo tape. Alongside many other bands, they get their moment in the Wild spotlight. A lengthy section of some of the many other players pays tribute to bands who burned brightly but briefly; some of whom may be familiar, some less so. The like of Galahad, Liason, Haze and The Host have all played their part in supporting or picking up the Prog baton and adding their own little chapter to the story. There’s also the likes of Multi-Story, one of many bands who may have dipped under the radar, but coming full circle contains Rob Wilsher, current keyboard man in Karnataka if I’m not mistaken.

Again, the book of full of little nuggets and snippets of trivia from his research – who’s could name the IQ song that started life as Slippery Sam Goes Chartered Accounting and which band is quoted as being a most un-Prog Rock-like “truly disreputable most of the time“

coming up to date

A lengthy section that brings things right up to date – and that happy ending that comes full circle. The ‘big six’ – Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Solstice, Pendragon, and Twelfth Night are more or less still with us. Many would argue with some conviction that several (let’s say the Marillos, IQ and Solstice for certain) are producing some of the best music of their career. Consider the evidence for yourself as to why did Twelfth Night fall along the way – maybe their Frankie/Welcome To The Pleasuredome inspired XII album a step too far? Maybe the commercial bent taking its toll, as it did temporarily for IQ although Kayleigh didn’t seem to do Marillion any harm as they struck the Prog/mainstream jackpot.

A final round up chapter offers more opinions trathe than anything conclusive. No more closure than the sort of thoughts that stimulate all sorts of ‘blokes bantering in the pub’ prompts rather than ‘blokes arguing venomously on fan forums’ – did Punk kill Prog? did ‘the suits’ spoil the scene’? did the internet save Prog? (here we could quote Marillion’s Interior Lulu…”thank god for the internet“). The bottom line is that these sort of questions and this sort of book are proof that the Prog scene is as vibrant as ever.

Grand stuff though and bravo to a writer and publishing company who’ve brought another work of quality and depth; doing proper justice to a musical era, that in the same way that Punk did a few years earlier, bucked the trends, but managed to hang around a bit longer.

Here’s IQ on Promises from ’87 – Prog or pop??:

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