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Someone asked me a great question the other day. They asked which obscure proggy albums from my collection would I heartily recommend? Straight away I countered that one person’s obscurity is another's mainstream and it was hard to know what was obscure and what wasn’t. I’m sure knowledgeable rock people such as yourselves would find things less obscure than most.
But that being said, I knew what they were pushing at.
I can go very obscure but I don’t think people are looking for a Cyrkle record or one by Grapefruit, which would be hard to get. What they were really asking was what mainstream artist’s obscure records should I get?
That’s a bit easier. Here’s five you should be able to find easily enough, which I think are totally overlooked. The first is Badger’s debut One Live Badger which was taken from a show opening for Yes at London's Rainbow Theatre. It came out in 1973 and was co-produced by Jon Anderson of Yes. They were Tony Kaye ; Hammond organ, piano, Minimoog, mellotron, Brian Parrish : Guitar, vocals, David Foster : Bass guitar, vocals, Roy Dyke ; Drums and they played Yes-like prog with as much extemporisation and soloing as you’d want. Five of the six tracks are over seven minutes. The cover was by Roger Dean and it really is the best prog you never heard. They made a terrible second album with Jackie Lomax which was more soulful, had a very different lineup and shouldn’t have happened. Not hard to find a vinyl copy with a pop-up badger and well worth the money. You can get it on CD but shouldn’t.
My second recommendation is from Italian vibesters P.F.M. surely the only band named after a bakery, Unless Greggs are a band. (Famous UK bakery) Chocolate Kings with its distinctive cover, is I think, their best studio album, though I love the live Cook. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, as they’re on Manticore, they are a bit like an Italian ELP but perhaps a little more melodic. If ELP is your bag, you’ll enjoy this.
I don’t suppose Greenslade could in any universe be thought obscure.But you may have forgotten how brilliant Bedside Manners Are Extra is. Released at the height of prog in November 1973, it was obviously keyboard led. Dave Lawson’s vocals divide opinion but the often largely instrumental pieces with flash, swirling yet melodic synths make your skin prickle. Its Roger Dean cover just adds to the magic. I was 12 when this came out and felt it was very grown up. Very much older brother music, if you know what I mean. Like all Roger Dean covers they are lost on CDs, a pale imitation of their full vinyl magnificence.
For something a bit different, try Kraan Live released in 1975. A double gatefold it’s where prog rock meets jazz rock. You get their classic Andy Nogger. Tracks are long. Four are over 10-minutes. It’s one of those ‘strap in this is gonna be a long one’ records which takes you on adventures. I think they’re still going in some format. Even at the height of Krautrock, they didn’t chart in the UK but should have.
Lastly, we come to American 70s prog. A rare beast, to be sure, because it was a genre dominated by European bands. Kansas probaby led the way for American bands in this respect but much less commercial were Starcastle. Their first album came out in 1976, which was probably the wrong time in retrospect, with New W Wave and punk insurgent. From Illinois the debut was 7 tracks which sounded like Yes, with high vocals and some complex arrangements. Opening track, the 10-minute Lady of the Lake may be the best thing they ever recorded. They remained in the discount bins with this. It even had a super cover and deserves rediscovery.
As I say, all of those should be easily found and I’m sure you’ll love them. They all provide a satisfying diversion from the giants of the genre.
