By Monk
The first of two books exploring the history of the Eighties prog revival, is to be published in June.
‘A Mirror Of Dreams – The Progressive Rock Revival 1981 To 1983‘ by journalist and author Andrew Wild will be published by Kingmaker Publishing, the company run by Big Big Train founder Gregory Spawton and ‘Prog’ magazine journalist/Big Big Train manager Nick Shilton.
Following Kingmaker’s two books on Genesis (‘Genesis: 1965 to 1975 – The Peter Gabriel Years’ and ‘Genesis: 1975 to 2021 – The Phil Collins Years’) and several other publications – including the autobiography of Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly, ‘Marillion, Misadventures & Marathons’ – ‘A Mirror Of Dreams’ is the first of two books by Wild which provide the definitive account of the intertwined stories of the six bands which led the progressive rock revival: Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon, Solstice and Twelfth Night.
For ‘A Mirror Of Dreams’, Wild interviewed no fewer than 85 musicians and other participants in the early 1980s progressive rock scene. These interviews included most of the members of all the aforementioned bands as well as Abel Ganz, Airbridge, Comedy Of Errors, Electric Gypsy, Galahad, Haze, It Bites, Jadis, Janysium, Lahost, The Lens, Liaison, Multi Story, No-Man, Pride Of Passion, Quasar, Tamarisk, Trilogy and Twice Bitten. Additionally, Wild spoke with key non-musical figures such as veteran Aylesbury Friars promoter David Stopps, former Marillion manager John Arnison and Nigel Hutchings, the former manager of the legendary Marquee Club in London.
Edited by Gregory Spawton and with a 2,000 word foreword by ‘Prog’ magazine editor Jerry Ewing, the book features over 200 photographs and illustrations, many of which have either been previously unpublished or are very rare.
Spawton comments: “This is a book which I have long wanted to see written. It’s the story of how, in the early 1980s, a number of rock bands ignored the naysayers and fashioned a second coming for the much-maligned and misunderstood genre of progressive rock.”
Andrew Wild has previously written the official biographies of Twelfth Night, Galahad and Geoff Mann, as well as books on Queen, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Dire Straits and the Allman Brothers Band. His comprehensive study of every song recorded and performed by The Beatles between 1957 and 1970 was published in 2019.
A second volume, covering the years 1984 through 1989, is due for publication in 2025.