Prog Rock Trailers, Prog Rock Films

If you scour Youtube for Prog videos and documentaries, you'll find some interesting trends. There are a number of films out there supposedly on "Prog Rock" that basically focus on just Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, and perhaps Genesis. Weirder still, I've seen an art rock doc give a full 10 minutes to Roxy Music without even mentioning Tull, Yes, or ELP. Other then the BBC's excellent Prog Rock Britanna, the more minor bands seem to get barely any recognition on film, despite their ability to finally reach a wide audience in the Internet age. Why do the directors streamline?

There always is the film itself, as most directors only get an hour or an hour and a half to tell the story. If you're going to cover Pink Floyd thoroughly, its going to have to come at the expense of Goblin and Catapilla. Secondly, for the films to get to a mass audience, the film will need to stay relatively within the normal spectrum of musical tastes (no Henry Cow or The Residents). Additional, due to narration and interview snipits, it's tough to put in a full length prog rock epic, only a piece can be played. A major factor of success for the most major bands was their ability to make an occasional single worthy cut, which can be translated well to the film arts.

Yet, if you dig deep, there are some nice documentaries out there. Every last little thing the Floyd did has some kind of documentary, and there's some nice Cantebury Scene and Modern Prog films out there. Perhaps this is all just rambling, but I think that some dedicated film makers should get on out there and make some wonderful documentary material on the less lauded Prog bands before the musicians head to the Great Gig in the Sky.

Jukebox #2

Here's some November goodies.