Now available in selected stores, and online worldwide through this link is a special magazine from the makers of the UK's respected Uncut Magazine.
Prog Rock - The Ultimate Genre Guide is a blend of newly written articles, along with classic archive features, looking at the greats of the golden age of UK progressive rock. As the opening piece suggests, the period featured bands and performers retreating from the limelight, be it via elaborate stage shows, or the wearing of fox heads and make-up as a mask. This was all to give prominence to the music - and what music some of it was!
Artists covered in some depth across the 124 pages include The Moody Blues, King Crimson, Yes, ELP, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Floyd's chums The Soft Machine, and of course Pink Floyd, who are also the cover stars.
The twelve-page Floyd section is in two parts. First, there's an extensive look at the band's music, including how they took some of the complex arrangements on the road - and how these were presented to the audiences. This section is followed by three fascinating articles from 1973 editions of the New Musical Express and Melody Maker weekly newspapers, two of which include extensive interviews with David Gilmour - giving an interesting look at his, and the band's, thoughts and feelings at the time.
There's also a list of the 40 best UK prog albums so you can see how many are in your own collection, and maybe find titles that you'll want to track down to explore further. Elsewhere you can find a list of some of the most collectable records of the genre, in case you are sitting on an obscure goldmine!
Our very best wishes go to Guy Pratt today (January 3rd), who is celebrating his birthday. Born in London in 1962, son of the actor Mike Pratt from Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), Guy took to a career in music, which lead to his first world tour whilst still a teenager!
Working with the likes of Bryan Ferry and Robert Palmer lead to him being noticed by David Gilmour, who invited Guy to play for Pink Floyd in 1987. This lead to work with other major artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson, but Guy stayed loyal to David, performing alongside him up to the most recent tours, including David's 2015-2016 Rattle That Lock tour that concluded in London's Royal Albert Hall. Of course, in 2018 Guy was revealed as part of Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets, a band who have thrilled fans in the UK, Europe and North America with their highly acclaimed shows playing early Floyd songs (with those indulging in unofficial audio and video elsewhere, also loving the band!).
The Saucers have announced more shows that will be taking place this year - starting in April with a number of dates in the UK and Ireland, before heading back into Europe for more shows there. Tickets for all these shows are now on sale, so don't miss out!
Life as a musician on the road, and in the studio, inspired Guy to write his hilarious "My Bass And Other Animals" book, an essential read for any Floyd fan. He has toured his memories in a tour of the same name, and has also developed adaptations of the show. Whatever your interests in music are, the book (as with his solo, stand-up shows) give a mind-boggling and hilarious look at life with various musicians. There's plenty of detail within the pages of his Floyd life, so well worth taking a look.
Many happy returns, Guy, from all of us at Brain Damage!
Nick Mason is amongst the musicians taking part, alongside Tom Jones, Eric Clapton, Mick Hucknall, Rick Wakeman, Gary Brooker, Paul Jones, John Illsley, Paul Carrack, Bonnie Tyler, Mike Rutherford, and Paul Young, plus others to be announced, all gathered to help raise funds for The Royal Marsden's brand new cancer treatment and research facility, the Oak Cancer Centre.
Eric Clapton said: "This is a great cause and I'm honoured to be part of the efforts to raise money for The Royal Marsden. I also couldn't say no to the opportunity to work with the other artists and bandmates in the line-up. I am sure it'll be a fantastic evening providing much needed support for this pioneering hospital."
Some great news for many of you: with Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets clearly loving life on the road, the thirteen dates already announced in Ireland and the UK in April/May 2020, have been augmented with a further four shows in the UK, and fifteen in Europe! One of the additional UK shows is in a venue that Nick would have been rather familiar with in the earlier days of Pink Floyd...
For those yet to check them out (and if so, where have you been?!), Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets brings together some familiar names, all great musicians: joining Nick are Gary Kemp and Lee Harris on guitar, Guy Pratt on bass, and Dom Beken on keyboards. Before coming together to form Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets, Kemp was best known for his work with Spandau Ballet, Harris as having played guitar with The Blockheads (Ian Dury's band), Pratt needs no introduction, and Beken was principally known for his work with The Orb, and Transit Kings (with Pratt). The band play early Pink Floyd songs, concentrated on the period of 1967-1972.
Tickets for the additional nineteen concerts, which are really not to be missed, have just gone on sale, via this direct link at SeeTickets.com for the UK dates, with different outlets for the European shows, links below. The dates and venues for the dates so far in 2020 are as follows, with the newly added concerts shown in bold:
Each date above links off to its individual show page, which should build into a record of each concert, a home for your reviews, pictures, and more!
This is a very special opportunity to experience Pink Floyd's celebrated and significant early body of work played live including songs from albums 'The Piper At The Gates of Dawn' and 'A Saucerful Of Secrets', through to 'Obscured By Clouds'. The band have been very highly praised by fans and the media alike for the quality and uniqueness of each performance - the Saucers clearly have a wonderful time performing together, and that comes across clearly in the music.
To mark the release of The Later Years, David Gilmour gave BBC Radio’s Matt Everitt unprecedented access with his only interview about the project, the result of which is the four part podcast which will be available weekly on Mondays from 25th November, via your chosen podcast service.
Covering the material and stories featured in The Later Years box set, the episodes are split into four key themes from the band's career from 1987 to the present day, delving into the multi-faceted elements of Pink Floyd's creative output:
The Studio
David talks about the band's return to the jam sessions in the recording studio and embracing new technology when faced with mountains of new advances in synthesisers and other instruments.
Artwork
David tells of his ideas for the band's artwork including how his simple sketch of a single, empty bed was transformed by the artist Storm Thorgerson into the epic image of hundreds of beds on the cover of A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
Live Performances
How the band were preparing for the terrifying prospect of the upcoming tour, only added to by
the enormous pressure facing them whilst rehearsing in a massive aircraft hangar at Toronto
airport.
Unreleased New Material from the box set
David talks about the many hours of new and rare material included in The Later Years, his memories jogged by watching footage of the band flying around in promotional airships over Miami beach, watching hapless swimmers surrounded by sharks.
Older News Archive 
Tickets have just gone on sale for the newly announced Music For The Marsden, a concert being held in aid of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
