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Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.

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Speaker 2: I'm buzs Knight and welcome to another episode of Taking

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Speaker 2: a Walk. This is the podcast where we stroll through

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Speaker 2: music history, one story at a time.

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Speaker 3: Today, we're going to dive deep into the mind of

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Speaker 3: legendary radio innovator.

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Speaker 2: Media innovator Lee Abrams.

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Speaker 3: We're going to count down his picks for the top

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Speaker 3: ten best progressive rock albums of all time. So, whether

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Speaker 3: you're a lifelong prog rock fan or just curious about

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Speaker 3: the genre's wildest sonic adventures, this episode promises to challenge

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Speaker 3: your expectations and definitely expand your playlist.

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Speaker 2: It's coming up after these words, Taking a Walk, Lee Abrams,

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast.

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Speaker 1: Great to be here, Great to see you again.

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Speaker 2: Always great. So we're not in person. We have walked

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Speaker 2: actually in person in your backyard in the suburbs of Chicago.

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Speaker 2: But since the podcast is called Taking a Walk, if

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Speaker 2: you could take a walk with somebody, living or dead,

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Speaker 2: who would you take a walk with? Then where do

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Speaker 2: you think you'd take a walk with him?

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Speaker 1: I'd like to do a walk with like Einstein, probably

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Speaker 1: learn a few things from him, and it would be

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Speaker 1: along the beach somewhere talking about the universe.

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Speaker 2: I feel like he'd have something to say.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he'd have a few good points. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: What do you think he'd think of the world today though?

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Speaker 2: That's what I want to know right.

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Speaker 1: Oh, he'd be freaked out. Yeah yeah. I mean you

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Speaker 1: read about what he said about the future and it's

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Speaker 1: kind of scary and he's not that far off, So yeah,

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Speaker 1: he'd be freaked out by it. I'm sure.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, this episode is going to be focused on

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Speaker 2: one of your favorite topics and one of my favorite topics,

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Speaker 2: which is progressive rock albums, and specifically your top ten

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Speaker 2: on the progressive rock album list. But before we get

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Speaker 2: to it, do you what was the first time you

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Speaker 2: were personally impacted and just enamored with a progressive rock

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Speaker 2: band and you know what yielded being so impacted by him?

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Speaker 1: Well, there were really a couple. The first one was

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Speaker 1: Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd, which

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Speaker 1: was just so eccentric and had great songs, and you know,

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Speaker 1: Sid Barrett was a mad genius himself, and it really

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Speaker 1: his personality came out on that album and it was

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Speaker 1: it was pretty mind blowing because I had never heard

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Speaker 1: of him. I just was at a record store and

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Speaker 1: saw kind of a cool cover and bought it and

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Speaker 1: went home, and that was that.

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Speaker 2: It was great and it was one of those things.

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Speaker 2: I bet that you put it on and then you said,

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Speaker 2: I got to listen to that again, and I got

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Speaker 2: to listen to that again.

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Speaker 1: I'll fix the grooves on that one for sure, And

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Speaker 1: it was just such a you know, nobody had ever

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Speaker 1: created music like that before. It was probably more psychedelic

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Speaker 1: than progressive, but at the time it was very advanced.

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Speaker 1: And Side Too had a cut called Interstellar Overdrive, which

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Speaker 1: was I think eighteen or twenty minutes long, So I

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Speaker 1: think that was the first really long song I got into.

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Speaker 2: And when you were first getting into programming radio stations,

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Speaker 2: did progressive rock fit into that immediately or did it

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Speaker 2: take some time? Oh?

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Speaker 1: No, I think early on ELP and yes, and to

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Speaker 1: a certain degree Jethrotel and some other bands. We played

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Speaker 1: Court of the Crimson King and so, No, it was

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Speaker 1: definitely a component. Some of it was again just too long.

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Speaker 1: I mean we'd play it maybe at night or overnights,

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Speaker 1: but the more melodic stuff was great, no problem, and

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Speaker 1: we integrated it easily into the mix.

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Speaker 2: What role did album artwork and packaging play in the

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Speaker 2: progressive rock experience?

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Speaker 1: Oh, it was part of the completeness of a great

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Speaker 1: progressive rock album. And not only had the music going,

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Speaker 1: but it had that visual that really captured the particularly

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Speaker 1: Roger Dean who did all the Yes covers, and also

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Speaker 1: Hypnosis which did Pink Floyd and a lot of other bands.

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Speaker 1: It was just it was an art piece in its

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Speaker 1: own and again it reflected the album. It was an

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Speaker 1: extension of what you heard in the grooves, and so

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Speaker 1: I think it was. It had a lot of impact.

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Speaker 1: And again some of those artists, the Roger Dean's and

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Speaker 1: Hypnosis is really were as adventurous in their art as

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Speaker 1: the artists were in their music.

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Speaker 2: I remember, I think you came up with this branded

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Speaker 2: feature for radio stations. I'm sure you did, and it

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Speaker 2: yields this question. Remember for headphones only?

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Speaker 1: Of course?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that. So do you remember the first

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Speaker 2: moment you got a headphones?

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Speaker 1: Yes, it was a pair of those costs. I forgot

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Speaker 1: the name of them, but everybody cool had one. They

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Speaker 1: had the liquid pads and the first album was Sergeant Pepper.

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Speaker 1: I remember I got that album and listened to it

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Speaker 1: on the home stereo and it was like, Wow, I

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Speaker 1: wonder what it sounds like in headphones. So I went

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Speaker 1: to E. J. Corvette's got some headphones and that really

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Speaker 1: was an eye opening experience, ear opening experience.

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Speaker 2: That made all the difference. Didn't hit the headphones?

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Speaker 1: Oh god. Yeah, I still listen almost exclusively in headphones,

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Speaker 1: just because you hear the nuances and headphones today you

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Speaker 1: know the quality is great and you just hear all

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Speaker 1: the subtleties. So well, I love headphones.

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Speaker 2: So before we get to the list, are there any

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Speaker 2: bands or albums that in your mind nearly made the

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Speaker 2: cut but they just missed the top ten?

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Speaker 1: Oh god, that's a good question. I would say there

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Speaker 1: are a lot of albums by Well, yeah, there was

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Speaker 1: one very obscure one. It was a Chicago band called

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Speaker 1: Aorta and it was on Columbia Records, and it's very obscure,

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Speaker 1: but it was great and I still listened to it

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Speaker 1: today and that would have made my list, but when

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Speaker 1: I looked at the top ten, it wasn't quite there.

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Speaker 1: But that was one of them that pretty obscure but

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Speaker 1: really interesting and eye opening.

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Speaker 2: Okay, one last thing we have to disclose is I know, oh, yes,

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Speaker 2: we'll be on this list, and I know your affection

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Speaker 2: and mine for Yes runs very deep. But your connection

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Speaker 2: with Yes even includes you getting producing credit at one point?

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Speaker 2: Am I correct on that?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, me and Chris Squire worked on the Drama album

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Speaker 1: together under a company called Onward, and we didn't make

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Speaker 1: a big deal of it because of my involvement in radio.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I was pretty deeply involved in that one.

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Speaker 1: And it was unfortunate because John Anderson and Rick Makhen

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Speaker 1: were around for that album. But it's a good album.

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Speaker 2: Otherwise, I think it's a great album. Yeah, all right,

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Speaker 2: without further ado. And what I love about this it's

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Speaker 2: going to spark questions and controversy and good hearted arguments,

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Speaker 2: and that's why we're here doing this. So let's start

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Speaker 2: with number ten on your list, Lee Abrams, of the

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Speaker 2: top ten progressive rock albums of all time. Wish I

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Speaker 2: had the drum roll. Maybe we'll do that in post

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Speaker 2: that production.

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Speaker 1: Okay, Number ten, Dark Side of the Moon. We were

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Speaker 1: talking about album covers. I think the music on that

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Speaker 1: record sounds just like the cover, very kind of dark

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Speaker 1: and cinematic and conceptual, you know, great record obviously survived

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Speaker 1: the test of time. I think it's still on the

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Speaker 1: Billboard chart and maybe not, but you know, it's It

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Speaker 1: was a groundbreaking record for progressive rock because it opened

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Speaker 1: the door to so many listeners say hey, this is

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Speaker 1: kind of cool, and they would try other bands of

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Speaker 1: that genre. So it was a monumental album. I mean,

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Speaker 1: that's number ten.

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Speaker 2: Do you think the Wizard of Oz thing was just

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Speaker 2: an accident that people who synced them up together and you.

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Speaker 1: Were I mean, so as you know, if you play

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Speaker 1: a Beatles background backwards, it turned me on dead Man.

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Speaker 1: You know, No, I don't believe any of that stuff.

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Speaker 1: It's clever and interesting, but no, I don't think it

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Speaker 1: was planned. I think they were too busy to do that.

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Speaker 1: And I actually asked Alan Parsons about it once and

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Speaker 1: he was like, he just rolled his eyes. Right.

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Speaker 2: So there's number ten, Kink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon,

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Speaker 2: number nine.

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Speaker 1: At number nine, checking in its Court of the Crimson

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Speaker 1: King by King Crimson. You know, speaking of Yes, there

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Speaker 1: is a band that Yes saw very early on play

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Speaker 1: at the UFO Club. It's from club in London and

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Speaker 1: got with the guys after the show and said, boys

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Speaker 1: we got to practice more because they were so good

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Speaker 1: and ahead of their time, and that had a lot

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Speaker 1: of the equalities of great progressive rock records. It was very,

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Speaker 1: very clever, brilliant playing, brilliant production, interesting arrangement, and just

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Speaker 1: an amazing breakthrough album. Again turned a lot of people

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Speaker 1: onto other bands just with this new sound.

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Speaker 2: I love that one. And do you think they were

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Speaker 2: foreshadowing the future with the song twenty first century Schizoid Man.

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Probably, Yeah, they were ahead of their tie.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, King Crimson in at number nine and

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Speaker 2: now let's roll the number eight.

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Speaker 1: Number eight is a We're a little little obscure, but

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Speaker 1: really good. And that is Friends of Mister Cairo by

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Speaker 1: John and Van gellis another kind of yes off feude

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Speaker 1: and what's great about that The title track is just

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Speaker 1: a cinematic masterpiece. Talk about headphones. If there was ever

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Speaker 1: a song designed for headphones, it was Friends of Mister

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Speaker 1: Cairo the song and also had I think it had

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Speaker 1: State of Independence on it, which became a hit for

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Speaker 1: Donna Summer. That's an interesting story. Quincy Jones called and said,

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Speaker 1: what I need a song for Donna Summer? What do

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Speaker 1: you know? What do you have, and so I sent

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Speaker 1: him an ascetate of friends of State of Independence and

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Speaker 1: he said, that's it, and he went with it. It's great,

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Speaker 1: So progressive rock touches disco in that case. But it

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Speaker 1: was a great underappreciated album. I think PolyGram didn't really

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Speaker 1: do a very good job promoting it here because it

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Speaker 1: was pretty big overseas, and Vangelis added a whole new

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Speaker 1: dimension to it. And he was actually auditioned Van Gelis

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Speaker 1: to replace Rick Wakeman, yes back in the mid seventies.

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Speaker 1: And the problem was he overtook the band. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he was the center. He just had such command that

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Speaker 1: the rest of them just sent around with the armsfold

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Speaker 1: and wondering when he's going to quit. And he also

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Speaker 1: couldn't play the same thing twice.

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Speaker 2: Oh is that right?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so that'd be hard to tour with. But a

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Speaker 1: brilliant guy and paired with John, it just it just worked.

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Speaker 2: That's a good one. That's that's one out of out

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Speaker 2: of left field for sure, Yeah, but a good one.

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Speaker 2: It'll spark it'll spark some memories for people, for sure.

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Speaker 1: And if they had never heard of it, should pick

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Speaker 1: it up or download it. It's really good.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's move up the ladder.

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Speaker 1: Number seven is well, we talked about it Piper at

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Speaker 1: the Gates of Dawn. Pink Floyd again, very original, very eclectic.

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Speaker 1: It was the album that really showed us what Sid

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Speaker 1: Barrett was capable of. Unfortunately said of course didn't stick

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Speaker 1: around very long because of some acid problems. But what

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Speaker 1: a what a great again when it came out, it

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Speaker 1: was so fresh, so different, and I unfortunately know a

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Speaker 1: lot of Pink Floyd fans have never heard it. So

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Speaker 1: I would encourage people who are fans not to expect

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Speaker 1: Dark Side of the Wind of the Wall, but for

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Speaker 1: a really almost amusing, eccentric record with great songs, that

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Speaker 1: would be the one.

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Speaker 2: What's up on number six?

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Speaker 1: Number six and a countdown is the Moody Blues Days

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Speaker 1: of Future Past, I think the first concept album and

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Speaker 1: you know Knights and White Satin. A little burned out

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Speaker 1: on that one, but when it came out that Tuesday afternoon,

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Speaker 1: the whole concept of it was great with the orchestra

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Speaker 1: and it just worked. And it was a tough one

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Speaker 1: because I love the Moody Blues and went through about

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Speaker 1: all of the mainly their first seven and the couple

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Speaker 1: in the eighties and it was hard to pick one,

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Speaker 1: but I had to go with this one because it

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Speaker 1: was so revolutionary at the time and I was a

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Speaker 1: staying power.

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Speaker 2: I'm so glad you bring up the Moody Blues because

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Speaker 2: I think in this you know, current state, even the

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Speaker 2: current state really of classic rock, they're sort of, you know,

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Speaker 2: somewhat forgotten, and they should couldn't be. They were such an

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Speaker 2: integral part of the landscape.

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Speaker 1: Oh I know, yeah, I know they've kind of fallen

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Speaker 1: through the cracks, but my god, they still well had

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Speaker 1: broken up, but when they were still together a couple

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Speaker 1: of years ago, they still packed in the arenas. They

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Speaker 1: have an audience. But yeah, I'm surprised radio hasn't embraced

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Speaker 1: him more.

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Speaker 2: They shouldn't be forgotten. The Moody Blues in at number six. Yes,

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Speaker 2: and now we're heading into the territory that I think

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Speaker 2: is going to really start some of the sparring. What's

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Speaker 2: up on number five?

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Speaker 1: Okay, this is controversial because technically it's not progressive rock,

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Speaker 1: but I think it's very progressive. And that's magical Mystery

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Speaker 1: Tour by the Beatles. I mean, they had melotrons just

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Speaker 1: listening to I Am the Walrus in Headphones. That was

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Speaker 1: such an adventurous record and maybe overshadowed by the White

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Speaker 1: Album and Abbey Road and Sergeant Pepper, but from a

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Speaker 1: standpoint of very progressive, very interesting, I think that was

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Speaker 1: the one again I Am the waal Res Blue Jayway.

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Speaker 1: Some of the songs again once again in Headphones are

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Speaker 1: just like brilliant. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

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Speaker 2: All right, Well I'm buying your your argument. I'm putting

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Speaker 2: it in there so you have no argument for me

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Speaker 2: on that one. Number four, okay, coming in at number four.

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Speaker 2: Number four.

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Speaker 1: Nursery Crimes by Genesis. This was another one that was

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Speaker 1: very similar to the Moody Blues, and it was hard

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Speaker 1: to pick. They had so many great albums. I like

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Speaker 1: that one for I love Steve Hackett. It's playing on

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Speaker 1: that is great. And there was a song Fountain of

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Speaker 1: Salamisis which just blew my mind then and still does.

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Speaker 1: That took that album into the top ten. But again, Genesis,

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Speaker 1: I could have picked seven eight other ones for sure,

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Speaker 1: but it was a great record.

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Speaker 2: I mean, Genesis is. The legacy of Genesis is remarkable

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Speaker 2: when you think about, you know, the incarnations of the band, right.

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Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, absolutely, And now they've seamlessly went from the

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Speaker 1: long extended pieces into the more pop stuff, but never

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Speaker 1: really lose their lost their adventurous edge. I mean, even

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Speaker 1: though the Phil Collins oriented stuff in the eighties was,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's pretty adventurous, pretty pretty progressive. So that

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Speaker 1: was a hard one, but I went with the nursery crimes.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 1: Good Number three is ELP's Trilogy. I noticed a lot

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Speaker 1: of bands it takes them their third album to really

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Speaker 1: get in the groove, and I think this one really

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Speaker 1: got the ELP sound down. Emerson's playing is remarkable, particularly

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Speaker 1: on the song Trilogy. I mean the piano intro is

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Speaker 1: just like with no no metronome or drummer. He just

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Speaker 1: flows beautifully. And some great great songs on it too.

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Speaker 1: I think very melodic of an album. You know what

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Speaker 1: it did it for me? It balanced musical precision, musical

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Speaker 1: excellence with great melodies. All the songs had great melodies,

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Speaker 1: and you know, melody is such a key to progressive rock.

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Speaker 1: What I find what makes progressive great is the songs

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Speaker 1: are cinematic, where you close your eyes and a movie

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Speaker 1: unfolds in front of you. They're clever, Yes, they're particularly clever.

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Speaker 1: It's just the endings of yours into this grace or

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Speaker 1: heart of the sunrise. I mean, it's it just blows

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Speaker 1: people away, that degree of cleverness, brilliant playing, brilliant production.

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Speaker 1: Trilogy had Eddie Offferd who did all the yes records

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Speaker 1: too in the ELP and just got that sound, a

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Speaker 1: very wide screen sound. And what kills progressive rock I

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Speaker 1: think are endless doodling at the expense of melody, And

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Speaker 1: I credit ELP for as they never went overboard in

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Speaker 1: the doodling. They sure could have, but they always maintained uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, a melodic structure and you could actually hum

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Speaker 1: their songs even though they were very advanced instrumentally.

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Speaker 2: And since drummers are such an important backbone of progressive rock,

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Speaker 2: obviously the great Carl Palmer, who I think is really

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Speaker 2: not as appreciated as he should be as well.

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Speaker 1: No he's not. Yeah, he's a great drummer. He's still around,

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Speaker 1: you know, touring, and he's really good. Some insiders said

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Speaker 1: he couldn't keep time, but I never noticed that he

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Speaker 1: sounded fright in time to me. Yep, but I didn't

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Speaker 1: play with them.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, Number two.

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Speaker 1: Okay, we're in the top two. Now Close to the

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Speaker 1: Edge by Yes, Just Magne, some majestic, soaring album. The

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Speaker 1: song close to the Edge is a journey and I'll

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Speaker 1: never forget the first time I listened to it, what

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Speaker 1: are they doing? But by about the tenth listeners, Oh,

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Speaker 1: I get it. It's just it's really amazing that it's

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Speaker 1: amazing how they put it together and how they actually

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Speaker 1: perform it because there's so many sections and so many

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Speaker 1: links between the sections, and so many different things happening.

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Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you know it's

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Speaker 1: a it's a journey and you're very satisfied by it.

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Speaker 1: And the other two tracks Iberian Katrue was a real smoker,

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Speaker 1: and You and I was just pastoral gorgeous. And what's

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Speaker 1: great about those records They sounded as good live as

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Speaker 1: they did on the album, so they had but the

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Speaker 1: fact that they could reproduce those live always put me away.

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Speaker 2: I love that one. That's a that's a great one.

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Speaker 2: They're all great. So here we We're.

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Speaker 1: Up Here we are Yes the number one album. Okay,

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Speaker 1: this one changed my life. It is the Yes album

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Speaker 1: by Yes. When I first heard it, I was at

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Speaker 1: home late at night Sunday night. Wanted to hear some music,

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Speaker 1: and all the FM stations were doing public affairs or something,

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Speaker 1: so I turned over to this AM station, the middle

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Speaker 1: of the road AM station WGBS that had a underground

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Speaker 1: DJ on at night for some reason, China Vallas was

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Speaker 1: his name. So anyway, I tuned on WGBS, knowing maybe

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Speaker 1: they're playing some music, and I caught the first bar.

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Speaker 1: What I realized now I was like the first couple

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Speaker 1: of bars of Starship Trooper, and I'd never heard anything

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Speaker 1: like that. I got chills. It was everything. It was cinematic,

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Speaker 1: brilliant playing, brilliant production, wide screen, amazing melodies. It was

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Speaker 1: just mind blowing. So about eleven o'clock at night, I

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Speaker 1: was working on WNYQ. We're setting up a new VM

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Speaker 1: station nineteen seventy one, and I remember seeing the album

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Speaker 1: going through all the records we had, and I went

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Speaker 1: down there at eleven thirty midnight, got the album and

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Speaker 1: never looked back. I still listened to it almost every day.

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Speaker 1: It's just magic. And talk about another Headphones record, I mean,

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Speaker 1: but it had all the characteristics. It was just it

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Speaker 1: was really a stunningly beautiful album. Colorful, cinematic, just gorgeous

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Speaker 1: production and those melodies, oh my god, they're just great.

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Speaker 1: And the playing was Steve Howe and Chris Squire in

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Speaker 1: particular were just amazing. And Bill Bruford on drums. What

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Speaker 1: I loved about him was his subtlety. He was more

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Speaker 1: of a jazz player. And if you listen to a

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Speaker 1: song like Starship Prooper listened to the drum, it's so

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Speaker 1: and airy, but it just works, and that might be

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Speaker 1: my favorite YES lineup. In fact, I thought Tony Kay

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Speaker 1: was brilliant with the ham and organ. I mean on

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Speaker 1: YouTube you can hear the songs like yours is no

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Speaker 1: disgrace isolated, just organ. It's not dutally or playing fast

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Speaker 1: or anything. It's just powerful. Yeah, he got that B

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Speaker 1: three sound and it just roared and just everything worked

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Speaker 1: on that record. It was so amazing.

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Speaker 2: That's great, Lee. There's no one that I would rather

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Speaker 2: be speaking with as far as a countdown of the

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Speaker 2: top ten progressive rock albums of all time than you

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Speaker 2: appreciate that. I absolutely love your background on it, and

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Speaker 2: love everything that you talk about here and love you

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Speaker 2: for all your work, and thanks for sharing these thoughts

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Speaker 2: on on the Top ten Progressive rock albums of all time.

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Speaker 1: My Pleasure and when you want to do number eleven

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Speaker 1: through twenty let me know that sounds good. Thank you

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Speaker 1: all right, great.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a

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Speaker 2: Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends

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Speaker 2: and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking

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Speaker 2: a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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