Latest articles by Mark Blake
“Storm Thorgerson didn’t say the pig on the cover of Animals had been Roger Waters’ idea. Roger was very angry”: Why Pink Floyd didn’t go to their go-to artwork guys for The Wall, and what The Dark Side Of The Moon cover might have looked like
Hipgnosis design house co-founder Aubrey Powell recalls the 70s from their first big success and the inflatable pig incident to destruction at the hands of a young punk artist
"We like going places where it's a challenge." How Queen helped tear down the Iron Curtain
In July 1986, Queen became the first band to play a stadium show in the communist Eastern Bloc. Cue armed soldiers and genital-related insults
How Led Zeppelin seized control of the industry and became the biggest rock band on the planet
Magic hexes, hotel robberies and cut-throat deals: Led Zeppelin band members and associates chronicle the heady days of 1972/73
How the very first song Queen ever played live went on to become a 70s rock classic covered by the world’s biggest metal band
It took Queen four years to record Stone Cold Crazy – but when they finally did, they nailed it
Amazingly, a prog supergroup soundtracked the summer of 1982. Their secret? English church music
With a background in three of the genre’s biggest bands, the quartet got tired of creating epics and decided to go pop. But they know their debut album would have only achieved a thousandth of its sales without the last track to be added
How a freak meeting with a lost friend inspired one of Pink Floyd’s greatest ever songs
Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond is a bittersweet tribute to former frontman Syd Barrett
Steely Dan: The band who don't like rock'n'roll but have sold 50 million records to people who do
Steely Dan: An enigma in search of perfection
“We have an identity crisis”: Mike + The Mechanics’ history is a bit more rock’n’roll than Genesis’
Spurred on by surprise early success, Mike Rutherford’s band endured a tough time with a demon-haunted singer, then a replacement who expected rehearsals to be all thought and no action
Peter Gabriel’s exit could have finished Genesis. Instead Phil Collins stepped up
The quartet attempted to continue as an instrumental group, then sorted through hundreds of audition tapes, before realising they already had their new vocalist
Carnage, shotguns and exploding drumkits – the insane story of The Who’s very first US tour
When The Who toured the US in 1967, they wanted to “leave a wound” – they succeeded
The 70s art-rock provocateurs who stole Alice Cooper’s crown as America’s most deviant band
There was more to The Tubes than White Punks On Dope
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson was once seconds away from becoming a cop instead of a prog star
He expected to live at least three other lives. But subculture signposts led him to a career as a band leader who never made enemies – and a brief period as Tony Iommi’s boss
It was in a weird time signature and their ex-singer struggled to play it, but this song helped turn Genesis into pop stars
Turn It On Again would be a huge turning point for Genesis
“We came on after the bingo but before the stripper. It freaked me out when this woman walked past us naked… it was enough to put you off sex for ever”: Jon Anderson before, during and after Yes
His unique voice has made him revered among music fans – while his unique attitude has made him notorious among label execs
How Genesis wrote the career-changing song that confused their fans - and Peter Gabriel
Deceptively straightforward but with a rhythmic banana skin, Genesis's transformation from major cult band to stadium-filling hit-makers started here
"Smell this! It smells like my childhood!" Bombsites, buttocks and the Beatles: Two encounters with Ozzy Osbourne
Interviewing the Prince Of Darkness was not like interviewing other members of the rock royalty
Why Peter Gabriel was the ideal inspiration for fictional prog icon Brian Pern
Simon Day and Rhys Thomas, creators of the TV mockumentaries, identify the Gabriel song that got them started and the one time the ex-Genesis singer refused them – but won’t name the band they wouldn’t allow to take part
Black Country Communion's debut album is a heartfelt homage to 1973
Original it ain't, but Black Country Communion's debut ticks all the right boxes for anyone who can't get enough of that classic early-70s sound
“Brand X was great fun to play with – not so much fun to listen to”: Phil Collins’ adventures outside Genesis with Robert Plant, Eric Clapton and others made him so big he had to apologise
Wherever you looked in the 80s and 90s, there he was as a session man, producer or solo artist. But it wasn’t ego – it was down to his passion for music
One TV smile made Marillion’s name, and made Misplaced Childhood a hit
A pill in the post, a mystery woman and a chat show appearance helped turn the band into rock stars and took their 1985 dark prog masterpiece to Number One
The Tubes bring in the big producer on The Completion Backwards Principle, with mixed results
Desperate for major label success, The Tubes turned to David Foster, who had just struck gold with Earth, Wind And Fire
The epic story of Pink Floyd’s Live At Pompeii, the prog classic recorded next door to a volcano
Lights! Camera! Chaos! How Pink Floyd made their 1972 album Live At Pompeii
Fish, stalkers, being ripped off: Steve Rothery’s life and times with Marillion
It’s always been about music for the veteran guitarist, although distractions have included catching fire at the band’s first gig, realising he should be much richer than he actually was, and an alternative career he came close to pursuing
