Like many of my generation, I was overwhelmed by the music of the seventies. I was fourteen when I first heard Selling England By The Pound. “Can you tell me where my country lies”. Genesis changed everything; music went from a hobby to some sort of an obsession. Other bands followed: Yes, Camel, Greenslade, Refugee, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Gryphon, Druid, England, Caravan, Hatfield and the North, Renaisance, Van der Graaf Generator, Klaatu, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Supersister, Finch, Alquin, Solution, Focus, Kayak – the list became endless! I subscribed to the Dutch magazine Muziekkrant Oor, and read all the reviews in search of new bands. Visited Supersister in De Doelen, Rotterdam (1974) at the ’tienertoer’ concerts, Alquin in de Lawei in Drachten
(1975), Camel during the Rain Dances tour (1977), Genesis during the Wind and Wuthering tour, Rotterdam Ahoy (1977), Yes for the Going For The One tour also in Rotterdam Ahoy (1977) and Dutch progrockers Finch in Heerenveen (1977).
Muziekkrant Oor became less and less prog-minded after which I switched to Sym-Info (later renamed into SI Magazin followed by IO-Pages), a magazine specifically aimed at progressive rock. In a period without internet you were dependent on these kinds of small, independent ‘fanzines’. Sym-Info guided me through the neoprog revival of the eighties. Neo bands like Marillion, Pendragon, IQ, Comedy Of Errors (Paradiso Amsterdam!), Jadis, Echolyn, Big Big Train and Kaprekar’s Constant (a.o.) were listened to and their concerts attended although it’s fair to say these bands never made the same impact as the first wave 70’s bands. Through Flamborough Head’s own performances we came across many other neo-prog bands at festivals and fortunately we were able to watch and enjoy them.
In addition to prog rock, a love for classical music arose. Not directly relevant on this website, but I doubt whether in my life a prog rock piece of music can beat Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Fortunately, music is not a competition and everything can exist side by side.
