I don't mind admitting that in 1976, with the rise of punk, I was resentful of how it stopped loads of bands from touring and releasing records. I wasn't as vehement as some. There were people who were offended to their core by punk. I thought that was an over-eaction and reckoned early on that it would be a short-lived fad. That being said, I didn't enjoy it and saw little virtue in listening to it. So at that time I was always glad to hear a band play some progressive rock simply because it was so unfashionable.
One of my favourites were by National Health which is still complex, original music today. National Health the debut, was released in 1978. Characterized by long, intricate, mostly instrumental compositions, this album was created during the rise of punk rock, which made their elaborate style a defiant statement.
They followed it up with Of Queues and Cures also in 1978. The band was formed in 1975 by keyboardists Dave Stewart (formerly of Hatfield and the North) and Alan Gowen (formerly of Gilgamesh). Their name was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Stewart's National Health Service spectacles.
The band's lineup was in constant flux, with Phil Miller being the only constant member. Early on, the band featured a "supergroup" of musicians from other Canterbury bands, including keyboards: Dave Stewart, Alan Gowen, guitar: Phil Miller, Phil Lee, Bass: Mont Campbell formally of Egg. Drums: Bill Bruford (later replaced by Pip Pyle)
In fact Bruford with Feels Good to Me in 1978 Bruford's debut solo album featured many of the same people, as did One of a Kind in 1979. The Bruford Tapes was a live album recorded in New York City, Gradually Going Tornado was also briefly at the forefront of the resistance against lack of musicality
It went without saying these records got little or no exposure but they kept feeding my hunger for jazz-rock and progressive music
In hindsight, I wonder just how poular punk really was. Wasn't it at least a media obsession which became a ground zero for music. If you released a record that wasn't thought of as punk, you were knackered from 1976-1979, by whch tme I was listening to late 60s acid rock bands, ever the fashion guru!
