Toast Of London’s Adrian Lukas has been regular on stage and screen after he started acting at the age of nine. About four years later he discovered prog – and an appreciation of other art forms through that discovery. In 2018 he offered Prog a look at his record collection.
“When I was 13 I was sent off to a boarding school in Berkshire called Wellington College, where I discovered prog. We all had record players and a record shop nearby, in Crowthorne. We’d be pondering which Sinclair amp to buy and spend hours going through hi-fi magazines trying to find the best deck.
We listened to Elton John, Alice Cooper and everything else from the time, but for many of us, Genesis were the band. At first I got into Trespass – I loved the lyrics, and the references to classical mythology. Somehow it got a hook into me and caught my soul. But above all, Genesis were public schoolboys and I was a public schoolboy. This was a strong case of self-identification. I thought, ‘Wow, I can understand these guys!’
Bands would visit about once a term, and one day Genesis came to play. Peter Gabriel had broken his leg so was sat with that in plaster. They played The Knife, which is an incitement to revolution. A cool older student called Tony Mercer stood up and smashed his chair. He’s probably the CEO of a multinational now.
The arrival of each new Genesis album became really exciting – actually holding the sleeve in your hands, looking at the artwork, reading the words. This was like our Bible. As I got older, I read more and my mind expanded. Genesis became part of the whole process of me growing into an adult and discovering art and... beauty. Something like Supper’s Ready is a great work of art.
Then you have Yes, and Fragile and Close To The Edge. There were 700 boys at the school, so we traded lots of music and ideas. I was playing guitar so I was aware of how complex Yes’ music was. There was me, plodding away, trying to work out Steve Howe’s style. The lyrics sounded good, but what did they mean? I couldn’t grasp them like I did with Genesis.
I discovered Emerson Lake & Palmer at the same time, from their first album. I remember it sounding so very delicate with Lucky Man. We’d all get a bit excited by The Barbarian – people said a note was so low that unless you had good enough speakers, you wouldn’t hear it. Deep on all levels! ELP were the first band I saw live, somewhere in Leicester Square. Keith Emerson threw knives and pulled the keyboard on top of himself. Then I fell for Tarkus and Pictures At An Exhibition.
These bands were an interesting bridge to classical music, and a lot are classically trained. So around 17, for the first time ever, I raided my parents’ classical collection. Hearing Beethoven’s 4th Symphony, I was absolutely consumed by it, like I was with early Genesis. Prog led me here.
What I liked about all these bands was the great musicianship – it gave them such a wide palette to go forward with. At 15 I got into Roxy Music’s first album. I heard Re-Make, Re-Model, and that amazing voice of Bryan Ferry, and was hooked. I saw them play the Fairfield Halls in Croydon – it was outrageous and fun and they consciously dressed themselves as works of art. Along with David Bowie and Peter Gabriel’s shaved head, they had quite a radical impact, wearing eyeshadow and lipstick before the dawn of glam.
Drugs did play a part… I remember dropping acid and having Jean-Luc Ponty’s Aurora played to me
discovered Curved Air when my hormones kicked in. Sonja Kristina looked like she came from Haight-Ashbury. I was very hippie at the time and I wanted a brood of blond children and to live in the forest. The music was great – sexy, sweaty; and I loved Vivaldi and Back Street Luv.
When I was 18 I was working in a hippie restaurant in Bath. I had a band and we were semi-serious and writing Genesis-y songs. We’d been spotted by someone who thought we could go down well on some US airbases and they offered us a contract to tour. We didn’t know what to do.
A woman called Lynn who we knew offered a hand, saying, ‘Do you want Peter Gabriel to look at this?’ You can imagine the reaction! One day, I came out of the kitchen and Peter Gabriel was there, sitting in a chair. I took off my apron, sat down and we talked for half an hour. My manager said to me, ‘You’ve got tables to serve,’ and I said, ‘I’m talking to Peter Gabriel.’ Peter told me, ‘You don’t want to touch this contract, we were burned in the early days.’ He was very kind.
Drugs did play a part in getting into this stuff. We were all smoking as much dope as we could, then did LSD for a short period. I remember dropping acid and having Jean-Luc Ponty’s Aurora played to me. Fantastic! Musically, it’s a bit more jazzy, but it’s still got the depth and skill. In that period there was so much diverse music to enjoy.
Pink Floyd’s Cambridge intellectualism and Englishness is a big draw… these are clever people writing clever lyrics
I didn’t define Jethro Tull initially as prog, but Ian Anderson was fascinating – conjuring characters and commanding the stage in such a crazy, trippy style. I’d been acting since I was nine and in school plays since 13. As hard as I tried, my guitar playing and poetry writing weren’t as good as these bands’ – but I found a common bond with the theatricality of these people who were playing characters. Thick As A Brick is Tull’s pinnacle. It has a lot of humour and is a great song in itself.
If Joni Mitchell was available I would marry her, because everything she says is brilliant. Also, her arrangements and lyrics are beyond compare. You want experimental? Try Hejira. The story of Coyote is incredible. God, she’s epic.
I’ve rediscovered Pink Floyd as I’ve got older. There was a retrospective about The Dark Side Of The Moon on TV a while ago and I realised that they are giants. The mood might be melancholy at times but I find it profound. Their Cambridge intellectualism and Englishness is a big draw. ‘Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way’ is like something by TS Eliot, Evelyn Waugh or Cyril Connolly. These are clever people writing clever lyrics.
I’ve tried to get my daughter hooked on Genesis – she’s in her 20s and she doesn’t get it. I’m always surprised by this
I first got into Supertramp with the song School – it was quite political, like Floyd. It suggested the education system was going to cheer you up, but that really, the establishment was going to take your soul away, a sort of Rousseau idea. They were great at these songs that sounded so happy but were subversive. I saw them headlining at Reading Festival and they were note-for-note excellent, which I liked.
Genesis are still my top pick and I go to see tribute band The Musical Box when I can. I’ve tried to get my daughter hooked – she’s in her 20s and she doesn’t get it. I’m always surprised by this – it’s obviously brilliant!”
