Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Pink Floyd is the premier space rock band. Since the mid-'60s, their music relentlessly tinkered with electronics and all manner of special effects to push pop formats to their outer limits. At the same time they wrestled with lyrical themes and concepts of such massive scale that their music has taken on almost classical, operatic quality, in... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s
Built on the flamboyant keyboard work of Paddy Coulter and the soaring vocals of Dave Skillin, the guitarless Aardvark had a short run in the U.K., with only a single self-titled album to its name. The record is an interesting experiment, though some of the cuts tends to drag on longer than they should, and it seems that no one quite knew how to... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
Caravan was one of the more formidable progressive rock acts to come out of England in the 1960s, though they were never much more than a very successful cult band at home, and, apart from a brief moment in 1975, barely a cult band anywhere else in the world. They only ever charted one album in their first six years of activity, but they made a... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
The cliché about David Bowie says he's a musical chameleon, adapting himself according to fashion and trends. While such a criticism is too glib, there's no denying that Bowie demonstrated remarkable skill for perceiving musical trends at his peak in the '70s. After spending several years in the late '60s as a mod and as an all-around music-hall... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
One of the most successful rock acts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Genesis enjoyed a longevity exceeded only by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, in the process providing a launching pad for the superstardom of members Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. The group had its roots in the Garden Wall, a band founded by 15 year olds Peter... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
One of the most successful rock acts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Genesis enjoyed a longevity exceeded only by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, in the process providing a launching pad for the superstardom of members Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. The group had its roots in the Garden Wall, a band founded by 15 year olds Peter... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Gong slowly came together in the late '60s when Australian guitarist Daevid Allen (ex-Soft Machine) began making music with his wife, singer Gilli Smyth, along with a shifting lineup of supporting musicians. Albums from this period include Magick Brother, Mystic Sister (1969) and the impromptu jam session Bananamoon (1971) featuring Robert Wyatt... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 90s, 00s
Emerging from the Canterbury, England musical community which also launched Gong and Kevin Ayers' the Whole World, the whimsical progressive rock unit Hatfield and the North formed in 1972. Named in honor of a motorway sign outside of London, the group's founding membership brought together a who's-who of the Canterbury art-rock scene --... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s
The progressive-rock genre spawned many groups who became top-grossing arena acts -- Pink Floyd and Genesis are two -- as well as many who progressed right into obscurity. Henry Cow was one of the best-known and most widely traveled English bands of the progressive era (though only a cult-favorite in the U.S.), and their music has aged amazingly... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
If there is one group that embodies progressive rock, it is King Crimson. Led by guitar/Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, during its first five years of existence the band stretched both the language and structure of rock into realms of jazz and classical music, all the while avoiding pop and psychedelic sensibilities; the absence of mainstream... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s
Between his departure from the Soft Machine and the proper beginning of his solo career, Robert Wyatt steered Matching Mole, an outfit which bore much similarity to his later work with Soft Machine. Indeed, the name Matching Mole was chosen as a subtle pun on Soft Machine (the sound of the English words "matching mole" are very similar to the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
National Health is one of those rare English progressive bands whose classic mid-'70s output still sounds fresh today. Their sound prospered on imaginative linear musicality, often in a jazzy format that emphasized extended instrumental solos. In keeping with the collaborative spirit of the times, National Health had an ever-changing lineup,... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
An enduring figure who came to prominence in the early days of the English art rock scene, Robert Wyatt has produced a significant body of work, both as the original drummer for art rockers Soft Machine and as a radical political singer/songwriter. Born in Bristol, England, Wyatt came to Soft Machine during the exciting, slightly... [+] Read More
Genre: Jazz
STAMMER grew out of the fascination with sound. Instead of subordinating sound to harmony and melody, pure sound is treated as an extraordinary way of expression. Using synthesizers and computer programs to explore and catch 'found' sounds, serendipity plays an important role in the creation proces.
STAMMER took off...
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