Warm-Air-Fund

Warm-Air-Fund: Trying to escape New Siberia!
UPDATE: Though it's getting warmer one can still pitch in so I can do a bit more this year.

Mary Whitehouse

The queen of clean on the scene!

Mary Whitehouse may not be as well known in the US as she was in the UK but she led a decades long campaign against indecency (also see our sister blog).  Her musical targets included The Beatles (the Boxing Day film Magical Mystery Tour was slated and did have an X certificate scene snuck in), Chuck Berry ("My Dingaling"), Pink Floyd [I possibly heard of missus in "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"], Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Alice Cooper to name a few.  PMRC (30th Anniversary this year) may have been indirectly influenced by her.  Whitehouse would be appalled by hip-hop, EDM perhaps, death metal, Miley Cyrus and other current trends today.  Whitehouse and Sir Cliff Richard co-founded the Nationwide Festival of Light back in the late '60s.  Sometimes it's a good thing she's not around anymore to have to see what's going on right now.

Pennsylvania: The Prog State?

From Harrisburg with Love: The state flag.

For some reason if there's one state in the union that knows prog it's Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.  One may be the late DJ Ed Sciaky from the Philadelphia radio market promoted it (mainly Yes and Renaissance).  Another could possibly be a colonial connection, who knows?  It's not that Commonwealth.  I had been in touch with someone in Lycoming County who knew a lot of these (sadly he is no longer with us), and another from there now in Huntingdon County also is a bit of an expert.  I went to a shop in Luzerne County and found Steve Hackett and Mike Oldfield CDs.  ROSfest in Gettysburg (Civil War capital) and the now-defunct NEARfest in the Allentown-Bethlehem area brought in bands from around the globe.  Annie Haslam from Renaissance now lives in Bucks County.  I may have to head that way again once the weather is better and a trip in my time frame and price range is available.
Indie labels MVD Audio have had their offices in Philly suburb Oaks but moved not too far off in Pottsville, and InsideOut Music had their US offices in Pittsburgh but moved them west to LA when they were taken over by indie metal label Century Media.
Philly native Sherman Hemsley boasted of listening to bands like Gentle Giant, Eloy, Gong and Nektar when he was alive despite being even older than the band members themselves and had recorded with Jon Anderson.
While prog will always have fans far and wide, the land of pretzels and cheesesteaks will always hold a special place in America for it all.