What makes one piece of music great in the minds of the masses, and another not? I asked this to myself today when I jumped in the car and turned on the radio to the sound of "Money" from Dark Side of the Moon.
Pink Floyd may be the only band to successfully maintain a piece of Prog artistry on the moolah airwaves. Dark Side of the Moon has been called their opus, and I think it may be termed the opus of Prog fans too as part of our quest to convert the great unwashed listening audiences to our amazing musical secret. It was on the "chart" for 14 years straight, and was dubbed by Rolling Stone magazine as the 4th greatest album of all time.
Now for some heresy - is it the 4th BEST album of all time? During that 14 years of dominance, was there no other piece of prog that could have made it to the radio? I think ELP did with their "Lucky Man" composition, although I would argue that Lucky Man was destined for FMishness. Hawkwind made music but you never heard them outside of university campus radio studios. Van Der Graaf Generator, Marillion, String Thing, Genesis (I know they made it to FM, but with what compared to, say, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway?)and many other underground bands experimented with musical boundaries (Prog) but were never deemed radio worthy.
I thought I might drift into a diatribe about the philosophical and psychological bents of Prog listeners as an answer, but sitting here writing this brought to mind the simple fact that "Money" and the other radio friendly tunes from DSOTM were unique in their ability to appeal to the acid heads and the mainstream alike. Come to think of it, the reign of DSOTM occurred when those two sectors were merging and transitioning to become today's society. Yesterday's acid heads are today's overseers.
Hmmm, this letting the fingers do the writing is an interesting exercise as my thoughts have moved towards a possible answer to another question I have about what makes one person like Prog and another not?
But the thought will have to cook some more and I'll come back to it in a future post. It may be well thought out or, like this one, a Saturday night ramble.
Whatever the case, let me conclude by raising a glass to Pink Floyd as thanks from all of us Proggers out here. You did us proud Pinky.
But what was your secret?
I think the following video demonstrates the longevity of the song as well as the band.
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Don't forget Yes--during the mid 70's they were one of the most bankable musical acts out there. I believe the "Going for the One" tour was the highest selling tour of 1977, and they were overall one of the biggest acts of the decade. How time changes, huh?
However, unlike Waters and Co, that longevity didn't last. As to why DSOTM still stands up with proggers and "mainstreamers" alike, I can't answer that question, but you made a good point about their ability to appeal to more than one kind of person. Maybe it's because Yes and Genesis and some of the others were writing lyrics that were more, um, esoteric (either telling strange stories, being uberhippy, or what have you), while PF had lyrics that seemed to be more real and relatable?
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I believe that at the time of the release of Darkside Of The Moon FM airwaves were more experimental and outside of the mainstream themselves than they are today. Today FM stations are so classified (playing only Country, Pop, Classic Rock, Jazz, Modern Rock etc.) Where back at the beginning FM was more open to new forms and progressive rock was one of those that came along at that point in time. As to way Darkside has withstood the ravages of time, its musically and lyrically superior to most other prog of the time and as Groon pointed out also more real and relateable. Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, ELP all wrote about more obscure topics, or their lyrics were less straight forward in their meaning. So their music became less accessible to the mass audience. Genesis for instance never were a big success until the unfortunate stinking of the group to three (and Phil Collins gaining more control). They became more pop than progressive and more popular with the masses. Thank for posting and opening the thought waves.
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An interesting post, Capn. While I would hold Wish You Were Here a bit higher than DSOM, your observations are correct. As a defining moment in Prog rock, DSOTM stands as it's absolute apex in terms of artistic & commercial success. Of course saying that is to admit that its been all downhill from there, (at least in terms of commercial success).
BTW: Does anyone remember Electric Lucifer ?
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'Yes,' of course. I even almost saw them in concert in Buffalo but was "detained" at the border. Great point re them, btw, because as I think about it, they're still frequenting radio, although with the less prog type stuff. I never personally enjoyed Roundabout on the radio, although it's not as bad coming from a decent system.
I do wonder if today's Prog popularity, small as it is, is really the result of musical choices made by those acid heads and wannabe's when they discovered that Prog like PF, Yes, ELP, etc. was the only music that would take them "there." Prog music really does have a 70's vogue drug type flow to it, so in that context it makes sense that we would follow the genre. Especially when what gets offered up motivated by profit requires far more discernment to the musically refined taste. I will, however, have to say that there are bands today who come very close. Radiohead, Oceansize, even some of Coldplay's stuff has elements of Progism.
Great point also Wiz about the evolution of FM. I can remember hailing FM radio as the alternative we'd all been waiting for. But as with anything that catches on, the suits aren't far behind. That's probably what's happening right now with the new regulations in the U.S. regarding internet radio. And Genesis was my all time favorite band in the Gabriel era, but sadly Phil Collins ruined that.
Never heard of Electric Lucifer.
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i have to agree with wizillusions. in addition to Dark Side having lyrics everyone can relate to like Groon said, i think the reason that Pink Floyd was so successful with that album (and others for that matter) is because the music was simpler. Not simple in that in was inferior to others, but that it was music boiled down to the core elements. i think the reason a lot of people get turned off by prog sometimes is because when you have something that is too complex and takes a lot more attention to listen to many just get turned off by it. once Floyd developed their signature simplistic/rich sound on Meddle they simply took it to a whole 'nother level.
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My wife and I once had an entire telephone conversation that consisted of nothing but lyrics from Pink Floyd songs.
I'm going to disagree with my esteemed colleagues. The one factor that has contributed to Floyd's success over the years is the way that they have been able to include songs that are, in their own right, just plain old great rock songs into albums that are complete and, on the whole, tell a story. Money and Have a Cigar from Wish You Were Here are classic examples of this. While being great songs in their own right, they aren't forced into some story just to flesh out an album. They remain logical, integral parts of the overall story.
The accessible single provides a hook that draws people into the story that is the album. Without it, the album isn't popular, but, because the album is a complete whole, people are drawn to it and accept the overall album by the single that captures their attention.
As a point of contrast, consider Songlines by the Derek Trucks Band. While it's not progressive rock, it's characteristically similar to progressive rock in that it does consist of songs built around an overall theme. The "story" is the common social/spiritual thread that runs through the various forms of "roots" music on the album. As an artistic achievement, I'd put it right up there with any of the great progressive rock albums.
But, it lacks the hook. It won't achieve the same kind of commercial success, because there isn't anything that will draw people in to hear the rest of the story. There's no barker outside the carnival, just the carnival itself.
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Re Rschaut's final comment, that's the story about many prog rock bands. Most of them will never be heard on mainstream radio because the hook was never pushed or even recorded. Many PR bands, for some strange reason, just want to push the envelope and produce something different.
I think ZZTodd's point about complexity is a good one too.