The late 1970s were a challenging time for prog in the UK, but Renaissance tackled the punk tsunami that was engulfing the country by releasing what's since become their most successful work. A Song For All Seasons spawned their only UK Top 10 single, and, for many fans, marked the end of their classic era. Moving away from 1975's full-blown concept album, Scheherazade And Other Stories, and the folk vibe of their original line-up, the band's eighth studio album was packed with symphonic drama and driven by Annie Haslam's stunning vocals.
Forty-five years after its release, Haslam remains the only active member from that line-up, and yet her journey into progressive music began by accident.
"I wanted to be a dress designer," she explains on a call from her home in Pennsylvania, USA. "I was an apprentice at a Savile Row tailor and the recession came and they had to let me go. Then I went to this other place. They gave me a book to do some drawings in and come up with ideas, they had me there for a week and I did loads of designs. And then they took that book into their office for two hours and fired me. It broke my heart. I called my mum and dad. They said, 'Right, you're coming with us to Canada to see your brother.' It was then that I started singing, because my brother Michael was a singer, and he was managed by Brian Epstein."
Encouraged by her then-boyfriend, Haslam started entering talent competitions "in the East End of London where the Kray brothers used to hang out. I kept winning." This led her to seek out a professional singing coach. Eventually, she landed a job at The Showboat in the Strand, a cabaret dinner theatre, playing in a band called The Gentle People.
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Esta historia es de la edición Issue 141 de Prog.
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JAKKO M JAKSZYK
King Crimson's vocalist and guitarist shares anecdotes from his revealing new autobiography, discusses his lost career as a footballer and reveals what he said when he met the former king of pop.
A Part & Yet Apart
Sheffield-based 80s proggers Haze have returned with a new studio album, The Water's Edge - their third since their 2013 comeback record, The Last Battle. Prog catches up with threequarters of the band to discuss Haze's DIY ethos, the curse of prog and playing to Cumbrian sheep farmers.
CONTROLLED AIRSPACE
He's about to embark on Dream Theater's 40th Anniversary Tour, but keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess has taken time out to discuss his soaring new solo album, Permission To Fly.
On The Wing
Birds, break-ups, big choruses and the Charlie Chaplin effect can all be found on In Murmuration, the ninth album from Finland's Von Hertzen Brothers. But as they embrace their power pop influences, have the Finns cast off their prog wizard cloaks once and for all? Mikko von Hertzen talks about the Seattle influence, songwriting secrets and sax solos.
Fourth Dimension
The stock of melodic Northumberland-based proggers Stuckfish has been rising since they formed six years ago. Their fourth studio album, Stuckfish IV, represents an important watershed in the band's musical evolution. Co-founders Adrian Fisher and Phil Stuckey tell Prog about the diverse influences that have helped to shape it.
Symphly The Best
In the 70s, Barclay James Harvest almost bankrupted themselves by performing with an orchestra, but, several decades on, they’re celebrating last year’s performance with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic, captured on their latest live record, Philharmonic! The Orchestral Concert. John Lees reminisces over the band’s ambitious early years and bassist Craig Fletcher fills Prog in on JLBJH’s upcoming “progtastic” double album.
We've Not Been Expecting You
The unpredictable Frost* are back with Life In The Wires, a bold double concept album that revisits the mood of Milliontown. Bandleader Jem Godfrey tells Prog why he rolled out the solos on a record he describes as the most fun since their dazzling debut.
FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS
Dutch five-piece Lesoir have been steadily gathering momentum over the last 15 years, and they hope to build on that with their latest release, Push Back The Horizon. Vocalist/ instrumentalist Maartje Meessen and guitarist Ingo Dassen discuss the creation of their sixth album, working with Muse's production team, and their dream of bringing their intricate music to new audiences.
'I mean, what is classical nowadays?'
Tony Banks reflects on his role as a 21st-century classical composer.
There Can Be Only One!
Never meet your heroes, or so the saying goes, but Opeth have had a blast working with Ian Anderson on their latest, The Last Will And Testament. Bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discuss the band's proggiest album to date, the return of the growl and why blood isn't always thicker than water.
