Perigeo, Il |
1971 |
Hailing from Rome, Perigeo was one of Italy's finest fusion bands. |
Italy |
Phillips, Anthony |
1951 |
Founding member and early guitarist of Genesis, Anthony Phillips began a solo career in the mid-70s. Latter work concentrated on library music and soundtracks. |
United Kingdom |
Pierre Moerlen's Gong |
1976 |
Gong gone fusion |
France |
Pinhas, Richard |
1951 |
Pinhas' contribution to the Parisian progressive music scene cannot be underrated. Also, a professor of philosophy at Sorbonne. |
France |
Pink Fairies, The |
|
Combining the talents of former Deviants Paul Rudolph, Duncan Sanderson and Russell Hunter, with John "Twink" Alder (ex Pretty Things, Tomorrow), the Pink Fairies were an underground band from London's Ladbroke Grove... |
United Kingdom |
Pink Floyd |
1965 |
Perhaps Britian's finest psychedelic son, Pink Floyd became one of the world's premier rock bands by the end of the Seventies. Originally founded by acid casualty Syd Barrett, the Floyd rose to the top of the British... |
United Kingdom |
PM |
1980 |
Carl Palmer's post-ELP group released one eponymous album to little acclaim. |
United Kingdom |
Pohjola, Pekka |
1952 |
Bassist for Wigwam, his solo albums showcase his compositional skills. Worked with Mike Oldfield. |
Finland |
Popol Vuh |
1970 |
Founded by Florian Fricke, Popol Vuh represents one of the earliest examples of spirituality in music that would later define "new age" music in the 80s. This however, is the real thing. Fricke also composed soundtracks... |
Germany |
Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) |
1970 |
Prematia Forneria Marconi, or roughly "Marconi's Award-Winning Bakery", the most successful of the Italian Prog bands. |
Italy |
Pretty Things, The |
1963 |
One of the 60s most underrated bands. From their badder than bad, raucous R&B early in their career, the band shifted gears in the underground, first with freakbeat then psychedelia. Their tenure at Abby Road,... |
United Kingdom |
Procol Harum |
1967 |
Procol Harum's formative years were in an R&B based band called the Paramounts. Named after producer Gary Steven's cat, Harum released their first single and to instant world-wide success. Immediately afterward,... |
United Kingdom |
Pulsar |
1972 |
Hailing from Lyon, Pulsar were one of the first French bands to receive a recording contract from an English record label (Terry King's Kingdom Records). Dark, atmospheric, their first three albums are somewhat of minor... |
France |
Quatermass |
1969 |
|
United Kingdom |
Quella Vecchia Locanda |
1972 |
QVL's first album may be the finest example of "Italian Prog". Their name translates to "that old inn", a reference to where the group had their rehearsals. |
Italy |
Quiet Sun |
1970 |
|
United Kingdom |
Randy Pie |
1972 |
Formed by ex-Rattles members, Randy Pie skirted the progressive with easy going jazz-funk, typical of the mid-70s. |
Germany |
Rare Bird |
1969 |
Charisma label band that scored a hit with "Sympathy". In 1972, Mark Ashton and Graham Field left, and the band ditched the dual-keyboard format, recording three infinitely listenable albums for Polydor. Dave Kaffinetti... |
United Kingdom |
Refugee |
1973 |
Prog trio featuring ex-Nice members and Patrick Moraz |
United Kingdom |
Reichel, Achim |
1944 |
One of Germany's most legendary musicians, Achim Reichel's career started in 1960 with The Rattles, one of the countries first beat-era bands. The 70s saw him delve into the progressive music scene, first as A.R. &... |
Germany |
Renaissance |
1969 |
Mark II, this version of Renaissance starts with Michael Dunford, and features the vocals of Annie Haslam. |
United Kingdom |
Renaissance (Yardbirds) |
1969 |
Jim McCarty and Keith Relf's post-Yardbirds project was one of the early experiments fusing classical and rock music. |
United Kingdom |
Residents, The |
1972 |
Though the members of The Residents were perpetually draped in obscurity, their music rose steadily to the forefront of avant-rock in their native America. Found-sounds, tape cut-ups, occasional musical passages (!),... |
United States |
Reverberi, Gian Piero |
1937 |
One of Italy's top record producers, Reverberi worked with The New Trolls, Le Orme and countless other Italian musicians. |
Italy |
Riverside |
2001 |
From Poland, Riverside has made an international name for themselves with their progressive music. |
Poland |
Roedelius, Hans Joachim |
1934 |
Born in 1934, Hans-Joachim Roedelius is a founding father of modern German music. |
Germany |
Rother, Michael |
1950 |
Guitarist, sound architecht and composer, Michael Rother is one of Germany's original artists of the progressive era. In the mid 1960s, he was a member of Spirits of Sound with Wolfgangs' Flür and Reichemann, then a... |
Germany |
Rovescio Della Madaglia, Il |
1971 |
RDM were pioneers in combining classical music with rock music. Their album "Contaminzione" also saw an English-language release in the US. |
Italy |
Roxy Music |
1970 |
Though definitely a glam band at heart, Roxy Music served as a training ground and employer of many "progressive" musicians. |
United Kingdom |
Rush |
1969 |
Canada's finest sons. From their early days copping Led Zep riffs, through the kimono "prog" era, and onto mainstream acceptance and platinum success in the 80s, Rush has defied all odds, remaining true to their spirit... |
Canada |
Rustic Hinge |
1969 |
After Brown left to form Kingdom Come, the rest of the Crazy World continued on as Rustic Hinge, before morphing into High Tide. Their lone recording was released some twenty years later. |
United Kingdom |
Rustici, Corrado |
1957 |
Italian guitarist was just 17 when he became a member of Cervello. By the mid 70s, with brother Danilo of Ossana fame, he started fusion band Nova. The 80s saw Rustici move to the USA for a prolific career as a session... |
Italy |
Rutherford, Mike |
1950 |
Founding member of Genesis released two solo albums in the early 80s, before venturing off the progressive map with the hugely successful Mike + The Mechanics side project. |
United Kingdom |
Rutles, The |
1959 |
The Pre-fab Four. |
United Kingdom |
Sam Gopal's Dream |
1967 |
Named after the tabla player, Sam Gopal's Dream were regulars on London's underground, playing at the UFO, Middle Earth, etc. They later released one eponymous album which featured Ian "Lemmy" Willis on guitar and... |
United Kingdom |
Samla Mammas Manna |
1969 |
Zappa-influenced band from Sweden were leading component of the Rock In Opposition movement. Samla's albums were a mix of fusion, musicianship and humor. |
Sweden |
Samurai |
1971 |
Led by Dave Lawson, the reminants of Web were rechristened for one eponymous album, a classic of the era. |
United Kingdom |
SBB |
1971 |
Led by Józef Skrzek, SBB were first known as Silesian Blues Band, and later as Szukaj, Burz, Buduj (Polish for "Search, Break up, Build"). SBB were Poland's progressive rock band. |
Poland |
Schicke Führs & Fröhling |
1974 |
|
Germany |
Schickert, Günter |
1949 |
Along with Manuel Gottsching and Achim Reichel, Günter Schickert is a pioneer of "echo" guitar. Though a prolific musician, he has released just a few albums, thus lending to his relative obscurity. |
Germany |
Schmid, Wolfgang |
1948 |
Bassist best known for his work with Klaus Doldinger's Passport, and Head, Heart & Hands. |
Germany |
Schnitzler, Conrad |
1937 |
Along with Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Conrad Schnitzler was a founder of the Zodiak Free Arts Club, the birthplace of the so-called "Berlin School" of electronic music, and perhaps krautrock in general. In 1969, with Edgar... |
Germany |
Schulze, Klaus |
1947 |
A once member of Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Cosmic Couriers, and Richard Wahnfried, Klaus Schulze is one of the world's premiere and prolific electronic musicians. |
Germany |
Sea Level |
1976 |
Ex-members of the Allman Brothers' fusion outfit, named after keyboardist Chuck Leavell. |
United States |
Sebastian Hardie |
1973 |
Australian progressive rock band that had some international notoriety. |
Australia |
Secret Oyster |
1972 |
Burnin Red Ivanhoe, led by Karsten Vogel, was one of Denmark's finest rock groups. Secret Oyster enlisted guitarist Klaus Bohling and took a jazz-fusion direction. |
Denmark |
Semiramis |
1970 |
Hailing from Rome, Semiramis included the Zarrillo brothers Maurizio and Michele (just teenagers), and got their start at the Villa Pamphili pop festival in 1972. They released one album before breaking up. |
Italy |
Sensations' Fix |
1974 |
Led by Franco Falsini, Sensations' Fix music had more in common with the krautrock of Germany than anything Italian! |
Italy |
Shylock |
1974 |
One of France's premier (yet obscure) symphonic bands. |
France |
Sinfield, Peter |
1943 |
Founding member of King Crimson, lyricist and hippie. |
United Kingdom |