Defend The Indefensible: Rick Wakeman

He was asked to appear in Mighty Boosh but turned it down, don't know why.

He was at an awards ceremony for cats recently. Mostly talks about his diet and animal cruelty on twitter.

Love this so much
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdDpuT5stnk

grumpy old men did brexit >:(

(= true with and without caps and quote marks)

plus there's GasTank, which was this wretched rock prog from the early days of ch4. Wakeman and some other keyboard player were the presenters. It was terrible stuff. All long blues jams, yurgh.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, November 16, 2004 1:40 PM (fourteen years ago)

This is of course all on Youtube now, it's really bad (warning: 50 mins video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRvDoFGfWoE

I've never heard of this programme! I wonder if it was Not For Viewers In Scotland.

I remember watching it at the time but that was down in t'smoke, think yourself lucky you were spared the sight of an increasingly sloshed Tony Ashton banging out pub piano while Alvin Lee or someone of that ilk farted out a generic blues-rock solo. In fact Rick seemed the odd man out, what with his rococo synth fanfares and wizardly cape.

Living in Ayrshire a the time, I remember it took absolutely ages for C4 to get to us.

Hope Big World Cafe reached you.

'Anne Of Cleeves' on 'Six Wives ... '
is an absolute massive tune.

* Cleves *

to be fair this whole album is absolutely everything i love re PROG.
i rarely enjoy vocals in prog, so this album hits the spot more than most when the need for excess arises.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/06/the-stranger-than-fiction-secret-history-of-prog-rock-icon-rick-wakeman

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is pretty great, especially the "save me!" and "praise god!" bits. Quite a departure from Six Wives.

ooh yes.
and to think its a live album.
the logistics/planning before the recording.

Some of the songlike parts are quite sweet too. "Forests from far gone time, no living man has seen, A private pre-historic world, for you and I a dream".

I heard this a couple of times more than 30 years ago, almost all I remember is "an embryo at birth". He's fine in Yes, but Wakeman is probably the one "big name" of 70s prog whose solo work does nothing for me.

So far I love his first two albums, I've got the next three at least.

I'd bail before the new age period if I were you

When asked about his personal favorites, he said the first 3 and A Suite Of Gods. So I feel I should at least try the latter.