The Prog Home Nations

 

I'm assuming that anyone who has ever read this Blog will immediately recognize that this is a Guest Post and that a good few of you will correctly suspect that it is from George.

Take it away George:

I used to play some  prog.  to classes in my last year of teaching (I don’t think it was my last year of teaching because of this, although two students did raise a formal complaint that I was playing music during teaching time). The band in question was Gong, whose music will not be featured here today. (Thank Christ - CC)

So, English prog. First, and tempted as I am to have a Jethro Tull track or King Crimson, I have decided on an act rarely praised in these pages.  Or any others. And it’s Gnidrolog, named after reversing the surname of two founding members, partially undoing that reverse then inserting an extra vowel because Gnirdlog would have been an idiotic name for a band. There’s only one Gnidrolog album in the collection, Lady Lake, and here’s a track from it. Not track 1, my favourite of the 6, but at nearly 12 minutes it’s not for the faint-hearted, so you can have track 4, a mere 8 minutes of sax-heavy prog (“Jesus Christ this gets on your nerves” I’ve just been told):

Gnidrolog - Lady Lake

I think it’s Northern Ireland who come next, and I suppose the young men of that country had more pressing matters to deal with in the late 60s early- 70s than prat and prance about in prog bands, but somehow 4 young men found the time to do so, and they gave the world Fruupp. They are not titled from reversing founder member Declan Ppuurf’s last name. But they did have an oboe playing member (Stephen Houston) and the obligatory key-board playing member (Stephen Houston). 

Fruup - Lord of the Incubus

(could I sneak this into my Bus series? CC)

Next up, Scotland, and I am personally acquainted with the founding members of a Scottish prog. band, but they have yet to release any recordings, which is probably because they are a Genesis tribute band.(Jesus Christ - CC) Overall, there’s a dearth of prog. bands from the country of my birth, and thus a dearther dearth of decent prog bands. But there is Beggars Opera, who were a bloke from Edinburgh, some Weegies, and a couple of other probably very hairy men., Their first album is an aural pleasure, especially this belter:

Beggars Opera - Memory

I am saving the best until last, with the band from Wales. It’s the best band to come from Merthyr Tydfil, and that is of course Man, and this eleven minute classic has Dave Edmunds on pedal steel guitar.

Man - C'mon

Maybe Mr CC should have a series about bands named after musical instruments. (And, as always, many thanks to him for posting this piece)

CC writes

Jesus Christ! Had I met George during his Prog phase we may well not have become friends

Gnidrolog -Jesus Christ! That takes me back to school in the late 70's when the "Punks" occupied a small bridge near the gym hall while the Greatcoat wearing "Hippies" polluted the common room with music such as this.

Thanks George - I think!