Strange as it may seem, over the years I've been asked some rather unusual questions. Naturally I won't respond to any of them here, but for the rest of you here are some obvious answers to some obvious questions infrequently posed to me over the years.
"What's your day job? We know you can't make a living writing."
I actually work in radio broadcast sales. I started on air in radio
while still in high school in 1970 and have worked in virtually every aspect of the broadcasting business including station management,
on-air and music-programming.
"Where do you live? On an island or something?"
I live in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and as a matter of fact it is on an
island. It's called Vancouver Island located near Vancouver BC and Seattle WA.
"Why did you write a book about Progressive Rock?"
The idea for the book came about in 1982 when I was hosting and producing a progressive
rock radio show called Exposure. Each week I would feature old and new progressive stuff wherever I could find it. I was always having
trouble finding background material on the artists and I suggested to some friends that somebody should write a book about prog. They
said, "Why don't you do it." So I did.
"Have you written anything else?"
As a matter of fact Yes. I've also written about the fifty most influential prog artists in
a book called 20th Century of Rock and Roll: Progressive Rock and recently put together the more exhaustive Progressive Rock Handbook.
In addition to progressive rock I've written a book about the history of psychedelic rock, appropriately entitled The Psychedelic
Rock Files. Most recently I've self-published another book about the psychedelic era entitled The Family Dog Story that's all about
Chet Helms and the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.
"Where can I purchase these books?"
The Progressive Rock Files
This book is both a handy reference guide and general overview of the Progressive Rock genre. Here you'll find a year-by-year history of the genre, how it developed and who the key players were and are. There's also a definition, genre guide and a response to the critics. Lastly there is an A-Z listing of over 1400 progressive rock artists with style descriptions and discographies.
NOTE: The last remaining copies of The Progressive Rock Files are now available direct from me for
$12 plus shipping and handling.
Air-Mail Shipping and handling for single copies are listed below:
In Canada: as low as $4.25...In the United States: $9.20...International
orders: $14.10.
Contact me for details.
The Progressive Rock Handbook
This book picks up where the Rock Files book leaves off. Included here are a variety of commentaries relating to the Progressive Rock genre, plus individual sections on prog festivals, books, websites and webstores There's also an updated genre guide. Lastly there is a greatly expanded, updated and mostly rewritten A-Z listing of over 3300 progressive rock artists with style descriptions and discographies.
