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* Emerson, Lake & Palmer - "Tarkus"
* Moody Blues - "A Question of Balance"
My mother belonged to a record and tape club in the early 1970s and she had these two albums on cassette, but didn't really like them. Somehow, I got ahold of them and played them on the cheap portable cassette player she got from the club (and passed on to me because she and Dad had the good stereo equipment). Anyway, I was captivated by the cover art on both and listened to those two tapes constantly, and although I drifted from those two groups for a few years, they planted the seeds of my future (and current) love for prog rock.
* Carpenters - "The Singles 1969-73"
* Elton John - "Greatest Hits"
I asked for and got these albums for Christmas 1974. I also listened to them to death, memorized them note for note, word for word. Gave me an appreciation of harmony, melody and production.
* Soundtrack to the movie "Jaws"
The first soundtrack album I bought, one of many (which include "Star Wars," "King Kong," "Logan's Run" and "Superman"). Got me interested in orchestral arrangements and classical music, which also laid the groundwork for my later forays into prog.
* Pink Floyd -- "The Wall"
I saw a TV ad for the album with Gerald Scarfe's animation, and thought it looked neat. I was at an age where I was ready to leave pop music behind (lots of Carpenters and Beatles, etc.) and get "serious." So I bought the album and loved it, and immediately went out and bought "Dark Side of the Moon." That just blew me away, and I plunged into beginning my record collection of "serious" album rock. My folks had a rock encyclopedia that I studied; I'd read about groups that sounded interesting and did lots of trial and error; also bought groups that were compared to others that I liked. But it all started with "The Wall" in 1979.
* King Crimson -- "In the Court of the Crimson King"
Around 1980 or 81, I woke up in the middle of the night, 2 or 3 a.m., and my radio was on. Just then they began playing the song "The Court of The Crimson King," the likes of which I'd never heard before. It was like I was meant to hear that song. It just struck a chord in me, made me go out and buy the album. The first time I delved deep into the world of prog.
* Yes -- "Yessongs"
Around that same time I stayed up late one night watching USA Network's "Night Flight." They showed the Yes concert movie "Yessongs." I was captivated. Here was a group that had it all for me -- complex instrumentation, orchestral arrangements, hard rock and vocal harmonies. The next Saturday I went out and bought the triple live album "Yessongs." I still remember playing that thing at 4 a.m. in my basement as I played Strat-o-Matic baseball (geek alert). I became, and remain, a huge, huge Yes fan. That and King Crimson led me to embrace Genesis and a whole host of other prog bands -- including returning to my "roots," ELP and The Moody Blues, who started it all 35 years ago ...
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