Did you ever get so lost looking useless things up on Wikipedia that you ended up somewhere you never thought possible? It happens to me all the time. And tonight's unforeseen Wikipedia adventure has led me to the Scottish prog-rock band Marillion -- perhaps the least cool band of all time -- still going -- if not exactly going strong -- after 30 years.
I remember their 1985 single "Kayleigh", which managed to reach #14 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. It's somewhere between Genesis and Journey, and while it's pretty bad, it has a certain charm.
Not so for the follow-up hit "Lavender", which has exactly nothing to recommend it.
When the lead singer (a rather stocky guy named Fish) left in 1989, he was replaced by Steve Hogarth, who turned down a gig with The The to join Marillion. (Do you see how trivially useless these Wikipedia adventures can get?). Anyway, they made something like nine studio albums in relative obscurity -- basically paying their studio costs thanks to their small but devoted band of loyal fans who send whatever petty cash they can to keep Marillion from going under. And in 2004, they actually made a pretty good song. Here's the critically acclaimed -- and commercially successful -- "You're Gone."
And now that I've documented my Wikipedia adventure, I can end this time-wasting enterprise and go home.
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I'm lost for words.
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