A Playground of Broken Hearts – Andrew Wild

BUY BOOK £29.99

The Progressive Rock Revival 1984 to 1989

Please note this is a PRE-ORDER – for UK CUSTOMERS ONLY and will not be shipping until early July 2025.

All non-UK customers should order from Bandcamp where the correct postage will be applied. https://twelfthnightuk.bandcamp.com/merch/a-playground-of-broken-hearts-andrew-wild

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Following Andrew Wild’s acclaimed 2024 book A Mirror Of Broken Dreams – The Progressive Rock Revival 1981 To 1983, A Playground Of Broken Hearts is the second of two books which provide the definitive account of the intertwined stories of the six bands which led the progressive rock revival: Marillion, IQ, Pallas, Pendragon, Solstice and Twelfth Night.

This books covers the period when, amongst other things, we toured the Live And Let Live album with new vocalist Andy Sears (including a live TV show at the Marquee), the recording of Art and Illusion, a management deal with Hit and Run (Genesis etc.) who finally secured us a ‘major label’ record deal with Virgin Records, with the eponymous album Twelfth Night following in 1986. A couple of personnel changes saw the introduction of former Pookah Makes Three singer, Martyn Watson, before a lack of commercial success saw the band split in late 1987. However, as you know that was not the end of our story!!

 For A Playground Of Broken Hearts, Wild interviewed over 80 musicians and other participants in the 1980s progressive rock scene. The book also includes in-depth profiles of many of the other bands involved in the era: Abel Ganz, Airbridge, Comedy Of Errors, Electric Gypsy, Galahad, Haze, It Bites, Jadis, Janysium, Lahost, The Lens, Liaison, Multi Story, No-Man, Pride Of Passion, Quasar, Tamarisk, Trilogy and Twice Bitten.

Like ‘A Mirror Of Dreams’, ‘A Playground Of Broken Hearts will be published by Kingmaker Publishing. Running to over 300 pages it has been edited by Big Big Train’s Greg Spawton and includes a foreword by PROG magazine’s editor Jerry Ewing. The book features over 300 photographs and illustrations, many of which have either been previously unpublished or are very rare.

Andrew Wild is an experienced writer, music collector and film buff with numerous books to his name including the official biographies of Twelfth Night, Galahad and Geoff Mann and recent publications about artists as diverse as Queen, Pink Floyd, Phil Collins, Dire Straits and the Allman Brothers Band. His website is: www.andrew-wild.co.uk.

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Praise for A Mirror Of Dreams—The Progressive Rock Revival 1981 To 1983

  • “Andrew Wild’s book is an essential read.” – Johnny Sharp, Prog
  • “A hugely informative yet eminently readable book… gloriously written and lavishly illustrated.” – John Tucker, Record Collector (July 2024)
  • “[An] in-depth analysis, methodically researched.” – Chris Roberts, Classic Rock
  • “A book documenting something that has actually happened, something that was not just a blip on the radar, but something that touched the taste of a lot of people — that is an important book. The fluent writing and an interesting take of six bands travelling their own paths on the timeline, makes it such a wonderful read. This book made me feel like I was part of it.” – Jerry Van Kooten, net
  • “This is a very well written book about a seldom-visited time with great music. Wild [has an] easy and never breathless style – [he] really knows his stuff.” – Fireworks
  • “This excellent exhaustively researched book gives an absorbing in depth account of the resurgence of prog in the UK in the early part of the 80’s. As well as providing a meticulously detailed overview of the scene as a whole, the author intertwines the histories of half a dozen influential key bands from the period who would all have their roles to play at the forefront of the burgeoning movement. A superb, comprehensive and dare I say definitive look at this era.” – The Afterword
  • Some of the bands featured in this book went on to achieve amazing heights while others remain cult favourites. But whatever heights they attained, their stories have never been told with such chutzpah and sparkle.” – The Midland Rocks
  • “For all of us who were there or who’ve discovered the music subsequently, this is an absolute treasure.”- Andy Glass, Solstice

For the book Andy Wild interviewed over 85 musicians and other participants in the 1980s progressive scene. These included…

From Marillion: Steve Rothery, Diz Minnitt, Mick Pointer, Brian Jelleyman, Ian Moseley, Mark Kelly, Neil Cockle, Pete Trewavas

From IQ: Martin Orford, Mike Holmes, Peter Nicholls, John Jowitt, Paul Cook, Paul Menel, Tim Esau

From Pallas: Euan Lowson, Graeme Murray, Mike Stobbie, Alan Reed, Niall Mathewson, Ronnie Brown

From Pendragon: Nick Barrett, Clive Nolan, Peter Gee, Fudge Smith, John Barnfield, James Colah, Julian Baker, Mat Anderson, Nigel Harris, Rik Carter

From Solstice: Andy Glass, Martin Wright, Ken Bowley, Marc Elton, Mark Hawkins

From Twelfth Night: Andy Revell, Brian Devoil, Andy Sears, Clive Mitten