Prog Rock - distinctly unpopular with radio

[zelmo]

In high school I was a bit of a music snob - if it wasn't "progressive" it wasn't worth my time. You may know the type: I was all about Genesis (with Peter Gabriel, of course), Gentle Giant, Caravan, Pink Floyd, National Health, Camel, VDGG, King Crimson, Henry Cow, Goblin, Eloy, Mike Oldfield, Gong...all that weird artsy stuff.
Over the years I have certainly broadened my musical tastes a bit, but I also still listen to some of that stuff, as well as more current bands of that ilk like Marillion, IQ, Dream Theater, Fate's Warning, and my current fave, Porcupine Tree (love the sound of Steven Wilson's voice).

Of course, apart from Dark Side of the Moon, none of this stuff ever got airplay on US radio, apart from the occasional college stations.

Was this type of music ever even on the radar in Europe, which is where so many of these bands are from?

[Loge]

In the UK in late 70s, when I remember, there was very little progressive music played on the radio, except in specialist programmes and occasionally on TV. Many people at my school liked it though, it was spread through word of mouth and borrowing each others LPs.

And to your list I would add Focus, Supertramp and Alan Parsons (who was of course the sound engineer for Dark Side of the Moon).

[Blue Velvet]

Perhaps the average track lengths made it radio-unfriendly... or the lack of official singles.

Not enough time left for the ads...

[zelmo]

In the UK in late 70s, when I remember, there was very little progressive music played on the radio, except in specialist programmes and occasionally on TV. Many people at my school liked it though, it was spread through word of mouth and borrowing each others LPs.

And to your list I would add Focus, Supertramp and Alan Parsons (who was of course the sound engineer for Dark Side of the Moon).

I'll agree to all of those, and there are countless more - haven't even scratched the surface on Italian symphonic rock (Arti e Mestieri, PFM, et al.).
When in high school, I had a couple of friends who were a year or two ahead of me, went off to college, and came home on the weekends with all this incredibly complex and passionate music for us to enjoy. If not for word of mouth and album lending, I'd have never gone beyond Floyd and Yes.

[zelmo]

Perhaps the average track lengths made it radio-unfriendly... or the lack of official singles.

Not enough time left for the ads...

:) True story. You can't fit too many 9 and 17 minute tracks in between the ad's and PSA's. I was lucky enough to be a DJ at Johns Hopkin's college station for a couple of years, and had the luxury of playing pretty much whatever I wanted for three hours every weekend. College radio has always been the place for the more experimental side of music, at least around here. [Back then, the station was a scant 10W, so there were some places on campus that didn't even know that WJHU even existed!]