The First Editorial - Spitting And Hissing At Modern Radio

[April 2011: Back in April 1997, what would become ProgressiveWorld.net got its beginnnings. One of the first things I wrote was this "editorial"... In thinking about our 14th Anniversary this month, I was looking back at this first scribble... only to discover it hadn't been published here on the "new" version of the site. So here it is; I tried to preserve the original look, although we had a white background at the time, so yeh...some ugly colour choices -ed.]

[{2000} I have preserved the text of this editorial as it was originally published. Not because it's necessarily a work of art, but to give you some idea of my first focus for what was then Progressive Music Review -ed.]

The life of one who loves progressive rock can be a lonely one, at least where radio is concerned. Yes, all the "classic" rock stations will play Yes, ELP and Jethro Tull.

Of course, to them classic Genesis is anything before "Invisible Touch," but after Peter Gabriel left the band.

Hear a Marillion song on the radio lately?

I sure haven't (don't get Exposure Radio Network here in So. Cal.) [*]

Yeh, this is a you've heard before if you're into Prog rock .

But, the fact that you've heard it so many times must mean it's true, right?

Well, it sure seems so, that's for sure. In fact,-------- I've just about given up on radio. I doubt we'll ever hear some of the new bands (a few reviewed here).

So why won't radio play progressive music - never mind progressive rock? We could toss around a million reasons, but here is what I (and probably a lot of others) think:

if a band's style is believed to be like any of the above bands, they already know they don't want to play them.

Any of the big and so called hip stations are not likely to play Yes - they're "dinosaurs"

So it doesn't really matter if the band doesn't sound like Yes, just the merest hint of the word prog says it does (or sounds like ELP, Genesis, etc.)

What radio objects to is not the music itself, but its label.

This issue consists of five releases, all on the Magna Carta label. And while none will make it safe for progressive music again, they all can be enjoyable to listen to.

[The reviews that were in that very first issue are: Altura - Mercy, Cairo - Cairo, Enchant - Blueprint Of The World, Shadow Gallery - Carved In Stone and Tempest - Turn Of The Wheel. If you read them in that order, you'll get my intended "narrative thread," although they stand up on their own -ed.]

[Not mentioned at the time, and not until now, the whole disjointed layout was inspired by some print publication I was reading at the time; I can't recall which, but it might have been something Tower Records put out, called Pulse... but I'd say also a bit of Wired... -ed. 2015]

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[Originally this was a separate page, but for convenience, here it is below...]

Okay, okay. So the Progressive Rock world isn't so dire as all that. Sure, little that isn't [more than] 20 years old is being played on the radio, but in preparing this site, I discovered that the prog rock world is alive and kicking on the internet; more so than I thought.

When choosing what sites to include on the Artists Websites page[**], I had a plethora of sites to choose from, as most of these artists don't have official websites. Many, many, worthy fan sites, of course.

But I can recall that wonderful time as long ago as 1985 when I first heard a Marillion song - it was, of course, "Kayleigh," their biggest hit to date on these shores. Why, in '87/88 I think I heard "Incommunicado" twice on KLOS. When Seasons End was released, I heard a single cut on a show called the "Vinyl Frontier" on KGB FM in San Diego. That was the last time I heard Marillion on the radio. Except for the late, lamented Stone Trek. Maybe it still plays up in Northern Cal., but not here in So. Cal.

To be perfectly honest, I've pretty much given up on radio. Here in So. Cal., one thing is very clear - if a radio station were to break out of the Format Cage and play an eclectic mix of rock, they soon will be bought up and turned into a Spanish Language station. In fact, it happened to me in 1978, when KTNQ, a station that played rock became, overnight, Spanish Language. The same guy that bought them, just bought KSCA and turned it into a Spanish Language station. Excuse me? If you've already got KTNQ, why do you need --

Oh well. Of course, it's nothing racist or anything, but there sure seem to be more Spanish language stations than eclectic rock stations.

So, what do I listen to when I do listen to the radio? Arrow 93 for that classic rock fix and KTWV-The Wave for the smooth jazz fix. And while I've not given the station a listen, let me give a name check to Groove Radio, 103.1 FM, and especially the "My Show" program.

[Interestingly, 14 years later (it's April 2011 now), Arrow 93 was changed into a Jack station (circa 2007), and I bolted for a time, but... given I didn't want to listen to Mark and Brian on KLOS in the mornings, I didn't have much choice. And Tami Heidi is kinda funny with her news... Now, I do listen to Sirius/XM a bit, since I got a new car (after 14 years, as it happens) and it came free - switching between various stations including The Bridge (mellow rock/folk rock), Liquid Metal (too much extreme stuff, though) and Classic Vinyl. And other than Tull, Yes, ELP... nary a prog artist on there... well, maybe LM does play Symphony X, Nevermore, Dream Theater... just never when I'm listening. ed.]

* and now no one does, as it doesn't (appear to) exist anymore; although if memory serves, it was run by the folks behind Exposé magazine, which is, I believe, current; their last issue came out in July 2010 (according to their website). {2015 - online is still active, but I don't think it's a print pub anymore}


** pretty much, those links are still in our collection of links...

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Published on: 1997-04-05 (2686 reads)