Marillion's secret? The memorable tunes

I have listened to "SCRIPT FOR A JESTER'S TEAR" and "MISPLACED CHILDHOOD" during the past two days.
With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to see why the band MARILLION would have been popular, despite the out-of-its-time nature of the music.
Marillion recreated a type of PROGRESSIVE ROCK deep in the heart of the PUNK, NEW WAVE and NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY METAL eras.
How on Earth did they pull it off? On paper, it never should have worked.
The answer is memorable tunes. (Isn't that always the answer?)
"Kayleigh" and "Lavender" are the songs most people remember. "Heart of Lothian," "Garden Party" and "Childhood's End" are equally worthy.
Here is how Keith Goodwin, the publicist who discovered Marillion in the early 1980s, described the launch of the band:
"I sensed the guys had the drive and talent to go all the way. So I took them under my wing. All sorts of people in the music industry warned me that I'd be banging my head against a brick wall -- 'prog rock' was washed up, the music was desperately unfashionable, and Marillion stood no chance. But I knew differently, so I ignored the critics and forged ahead. Slowly, I convinced the British music press to take not, and by the time Marillion cut their first maxi-single for EMI, we had created a big waiting public for the product. 'Market Square Heroes' climbed into the charts -- and the rest is history."