Kingmaker Publishing is delighted to announce the publication of its latest book. A Playground Of Broken Hearts – The Progressive Rock Revival 1984 To 1989 by Andrew Wild will be published on July 3rd, 2025.
Following 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.
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.
The book features over 300 photographs and illustrations, many of which have either been previously unpublished or are very rare, and a foreword by Progmagazine editor Jerry Ewing.
A Sunday lunchtime and afternoon event to celebrate the book’s publication will be held in association with London Prog Gigs on 6th July 2025 at The Camden Club, London NW1 8AN.
The afternoon will include a panel discussion with Andy Glass (Solstice), Martin Orford (ex IQ), Brian Devoil (Twelfth Night) and more to be announced, as well as an audience Q&A. There will also be some acoustic music from Andy Glass and Solstice lead singer Jess Holland and from Martin Orford. The book’s author will be attending and signing any books purchased at the event. Doors open at 1pm, with lunch and drinks available.
Tickets are available here: https://wegottickets.com/event/648841
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. The first of two volumes analysing the songs of The Beatles, co-written with Big Big Train vocalist Alberto Bravin, will be published by Sonicbond in February 2025. Andrew lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK. His website is: www.andrew-wild.co.uk.
A Playground Of Broken Hearts – The Progressive Rock Revival 1984 To 1989 is available for pre-order now from Burning Shed via https://burningshed.com/store/kingmaker and The Band Wagon USA via https://thebandwagonusa.com/en-gb/collections/kingmaker-publishing
All pre-orders received by 22nd June will be signed by Andrew Wild.
