Bombastisch, ondansbaar en weergaloos
My best friend Siebe Thissen and I were young music lovers in the 1970s. It was the time when pop music began to take itself seriously. Musicians flirted with philosophers, writers, artists and gurus. They invented grotesque names for their bands, put their records in fantastic gate-fold sleeves and flouted conventions. Experimentation was the word. Young record buyers and concertgoers were equally drawn into that rapidly expanding universe. They were introduced to new ideas, images, books, works of art and, above all, music that had never been heard before.
Using twenty-eight records that played an important role in our youth, we sketch an intriguing cultural landscape. The reader will get a kaleidoscopic view of one of the most fascinating periods of pop history, in which not only the Anglo-Saxon world but also the European continent took a leading role. Of course, icons such as Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Genesis get plenty of space. But we also pay attention to Dutch, German, French, Italian and South African music, bands such as Can, Tangerine Dream, Alquin and Magma. Moreover, we reject the notion that punk put an end to progressive rock. The genre is vital and innovative. It constantly takes on new guises - from avant-prog to post-rock, from post-punk to neo-prog. And last but not least, we also focus on women and black bands in this male-dominated, mostly white domain.
Bombastisch, ondansbaar en weergaloos: hoe progressieve popmuziek in de jaren zeventig alle conventies doorbrak (en ons het universum leerde begrijpen) was published in 2022 by Koninklijke Van Gorcum, co-authored with Siebe Thissen.