V is for… Van der Graaf Generator

Arguably the most eclectic and challenging of the first era of prog rock bands, like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, VdGG (it was always a small 'd') eschewed the lead guitar, in this case replacing it with the squawking saxophones of David Jackson.

Fired by the emotionally fragile vocals and fevered imagination of Peter Hammill, VdGG were often surprisingly melodic but always an intense listen.

They reformed a few years ago to some fanfare, their re-appearance as challenging as ever. Up there with King Crimson as prog’s deliberately awkward buggers.

V is also for… Vangelis Odysseus Papathanassiou

You probably know him better as Vangelis, composer of the trillingly engaging Chariots Of Fire theme, or the more enthralling Blade Runner soundtrack. However he was also a member of Greek prog demi-Gods Aphrodite’s Child, who also featured Demis Roussos (we kid you not), who released the excellent 666, a concept album about the Bible’s Book Of Revelations. the album was released on another 'V' - Vertigo - for which we'd need another A-Z entirely…