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FOUND: 2 | Mind Blowing Facts

“We were making very peculiar music not particularly well played. We got a record contract because the record companies thought, ‘We better get weird’”: Inside the mind of Judge Smith, the man who named Van der Graaf Generator

Inspired by the work of bandmate Peter Hammill and Frank Zappa, Smith aimed never to sound like them – and after working on large ensemble pieces and stage musicals, admitted he’d quite like to “just roll in with a guitar”

"When he agreed to sing it just blew me away": Sheryl Crow releases cover of Peter Gabriel's Digging In The Dirt and he's on board

"When he agreed to sing it just blew me away": Sheryl Crow releases cover of Peter Gabriel's Digging In The Dirt and he's on board

Sheryl Crow's version of Peter Gabriel's Digging In The Dirt comes from her upcoming album Evolution

“Lyrically, it’s something that makes Samuel Beckett sound like Tommy Cooper." Tim Bowness and the story of Flowers At The Scene

“Lyrically, it’s something that makes Samuel Beckett sound like Tommy Cooper." Tim Bowness and the story of Flowers At The Scene

Tim Bowness may explore morose subjects like murder and divorce on his new album, but this collection of “cinematic short stories”, featuring an impressive prog line-up, is certainly not all doom and gloom…

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“Our contemporaries had numbers that got people up on their feet cheering. We didn’t… We wondered if A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers was the way to go. I thought, ‘We can’t even play this!’”: Van der Graaf Generator’s struggle through the 70s

Keyboardist Hugh Banton on deciding not to emulate Keith Emerson’s stage persona, how he got the band signed, and why it took him so long to accept the “prog” label

The 6 prog bands John Lydon says he loves

Hawkwind, Van der Graaf Generator and even Pink Floyd – they’ve all had ex-Sex Pistols singer John Lydon’s stamp of approval

“We broke up after debating the exact time signature of Solsbury Hill!” Before being able to enjoy lively debate with Peter Hammill, Tim Bowness dated an argumentative prog fan

If he hadn’t discovered the genre via a childhood Subbuteo tournament, he might have wound up working in flavoured crisps

“A vivid, three-dimensional update… they outstrip the originals’ impact by some distance”: Peter Hammill’s In A Foreign Town / Out Of Water 2023

Van der Graaf Generator frontman has little to prove – but does it anyway with his revamp of solo albums hobbled by late-80s production values

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"Undeniably brilliant but unlistenable": Pawn Hearts by Van der Graaf Generator - Album Of The Week Club review

"Undeniably brilliant but unlistenable": Pawn Hearts by Van der Graaf Generator - Album Of The Week Club review

Van der Graaf Generator's fourth album Pawn Hearts sums up all that is glorious and bewildering about the band: unconventional vocals, confrontational music, and the unruly spectre of jazz

“Am I Prog’s Taylor Swift? That’s a debate that could run and run”: why Peter Hammill re-recorded his Enigma-era albums

“Am I Prog’s Taylor Swift? That’s a debate that could run and run”: why Peter Hammill re-recorded his Enigma-era albums

Van der Graaf Generator lynchpin cites pop star’s motivation behind his new versions of In A Foreign Town and Out Of Water

“Though quintessentially punk records, their first two albums featured tricky time signatures, a four-part musical suite, and songs that clocked in at seven minutes”: The Stranglers were always more prog than you thought

“Though quintessentially punk records, their first two albums featured tricky time signatures, a four-part musical suite, and songs that clocked in at seven minutes”: The Stranglers were always more prog than you thought

Third album Black And White is Exhibit A in a case that also includes Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill, Steve Hillage and Nik Turner

“I’ve been known to rant and rave… I had no idea that my words would be hostages to fortune”: but Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill doesn’t mind if quotes limited his success

“I’ve been known to rant and rave… I had no idea that my words would be hostages to fortune”: but Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill doesn’t mind if quotes limited his success

He’s glad he never reached a level of success where someone offered to make him a star

Aylesbury Friars: the story of a venue

Aylesbury Friars: the story of a venue

The Buckinghamshire venue was instrumental in furthering the careers of David Bowie, Genesis, VdGG, King Crimson, Marillion and more

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