ENGLAND - Endless odyssey

16. March 2016

England Progressive Rock

ENGLAND - Endless odyssey

England is often referred to as the last prog band of the seventies. When their only studio record came out, Progressive Rock was already in the throes of death. The group itself came to an abrupt end due to a series of unfortunate coincidences - which is why keyboarder/singer Robert Webb, who has lived in Greece for fifteen years, looks back on this time with a laughing and a crying eye. "In the heyday of progressive rock, between 1967 and 1977, the musicians had every freedom to do what they wanted," explains Webb, who once sawed his Mellotron in half for transport reasons. "For two hundred years the British had had no musical style of their own. Progressive Rock thus offered the opportunity to create an independent music in Great Britain."

However, progressive bands soon became the target of punks and the music press, Webb sighs: "Because of the power of the media, anyone associated with old pop songwriting was dropped. That's exactly what happened to us." England was lucky enough to have their record released at all: "[label boss] Tony Roberts, who signed us for Arista, left the company six months later and was replaced by an accountant who had no interest in us. After that Arista didn't want to spend any more money on "Garden Shedʻ". Thank God the recordings were almost done."

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 179 (April 2016).