5. Curved Air

This week, we have part two of our two part special featuring Jeff Wayne. He shows us some exclusive outtakes from The War of the Worlds, talks working with Gary Barlow and Ricky Wilson on 'The New Generation', and talks about his 1992 musical version of Spartacus with Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

This week, we have part one of our two part special featuring Jeff Wayne. We talk about his work in advertising, his years producing and touring with David Essex and of course, his musical version of H.G Wells' novel 'The War of the Worlds.'

This week, We're talking with the English prog rock band Curved Air. Founded in 1970, Curved Air rose to prominence as one of the few female fronted Prog Rock bands. Drawing on folk and baroque influences, the band shot to fame with their hit song ‘Backstreet Luv.’ Since then their albums Air Cut, Phantasmagoria and North Star are highly regarded as pinnacles of English prog rock. Reece joined the band over Zoom to talk through 50 years of their career.

This week, I’m talking with Martin Turner, one of the founding members of the British prog rock band Wishbone Ash. Turner penned lyrics and played bass guitar on albums such as Pilgrimage, Argus and Wishbone Four and helped create the signature sound that helped Wishbone Ash stand out from other bands at the time. Since 2005, Martin and his new band, now named Martin Turner Ex Wishbone Ash, have been playing the hits of Wishbone all across the world. Martin and his band joined me to talk through 50 years of history.

This week, I’m talking with the English/German prog rock band Nektar. Founded in Hamburg, Germany over 50 years ago, this band introduced some of the most iconic prog rock albums of all time into the scene. Albums such as 'Journey to the Centre of the Eye', 'Remember the Future' and 'Recycled' , just to name a few, are all held in high regard amongst prog fans across the world. And now, the band are still touring and forging new music. The band joined me from New Jersey to talk about their time in the prog scene.

This week, I’m talking with Focus, the hugely influential dutch progressive rock band. Focus changed the scene of prog rock in Holland and all across the world with hit singles ‘House of the King’ and ‘Hocus Pocus’ . They’ve recently celebrated 50 years together as a band, and have recently released their latest album Focus 11 last year. They joined me over zoom from The Netherlands to chat about their huge career.

This week, I’m talking with Derek Shulman, founding member and lead singer of the band Gentle Giant, one of the most influential bands on the prog rock movement. Known for their multi-instrumental talents, complex melodies, and baroque influences, Gentle Giant stated their aim was to "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular" and whilst not breaking a huge commercial success, the band developed a cult following and are held in high regard amongst prog rock fans today. Derek joined me over zoom from New York City to chat about the band, and his own solo career as a music executive.

This season on Communication Breakdown we explore the world of prog-rock. Join Reece Dunn in lockdown as he reaches out to artists all over the world to talk about their influence on the genre.