PINK F. 30 years of blowing minds

You bloody bowser!

Excuse me but I think you'll find I'm a scowser!

Dude- I did this and it does work- it's so strange, but so cool.

In a message dated 03/22/2003 10:07:34 AM Pacific Standard Time,
greyrider@softhome.net writes:


> A brainchild born of insanity
> By John Harris
>
> After Syd Barrett descended into mental illness, Roger Waters took over as
> Pink Floyd's driving force. From Dark Side of the Moon until The Final Cut,
> he wrote ninety-five percent of the lyrics and devised the concepts that
> underpinned the albums. Despite the band's messy 1987 splintering, he is
> now on friendly terms with Rick Wright and Nick Mason, but he has yet
> reconcile with David Gilmour.
> Dark Side of the Moon is partly based on the underlying theme of insanity.
> Was that there from the start?
>
Rog W; Yeah, I think so. There is a residue of Syd in all of this. Syd had been
> the central creative force in the early days, and so his having succumbed
> to schizophrenia was an enormous blow. And also, when you see that
> happening to someone you've been very close friends with, and known more or
> less your whole life, it really concentrates the mind on how ephemeral
> one's sensibilities and mental capacities can be. For me, it was very much
> "There but for the grace of God go I." That was certainly expressed in
> "Brain Damage."
>
> You've said in the past that your direct style of lyric-writing on Dark
> Side of the Moon was influenced by 1970's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
> album.
>
> I just think that's one of the truly great moments in the history of rock &
> roll, or of the history of any writing. It's a remarkable piece of work.
> Who knows? He might have found his way back to making something of similar
> power had he lived. It's so raw. There are a number of records that, when
> one's young, knock you into a different place and give you the will to go
> on trying to do something. That record is one of them. Another one was the
> Band's first album. That completely changed everything about records for
> me. Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper, too.
>
> What's your memory of writing "Money"?
>
> Although it's based around a bass line, I wrote it on an acoustic guitar.
> Occasionally, I would do things and Dave would say, "No, that's wrong.
> There should be another beat. That's only seven." I'd say, "Well, that's
> how it is." A number of my songs have bars of odd length. When you play
> "Money" on an acoustic guitar, it's very much a blues thing. That's how the
> demo was. There's a very bluesy feel to it.
>
> And how did you come up with the tape loops on that track?
>
> I made those recordings in a shed at the bottom of the garden, throwing
> coins into a big industrial bowl that my wife used for mixing clay. I
> recorded those sound effects on my first proper tape recorder, chopped them
> up and glued them together, stuck them in the machine, put a mike stand
> there to hold tape taut, and off we went.
>
> What do you recall of recording "The Great Gig in the Sky"?
>
> It was something that Rick had already written. It's a great chord
> sequence. "The Great Gig in the Sky" and the piano part on "Us and Them,"
> in my view, are the best things that Rick did -- they're both really
> beautiful. And Alan [Parsons] suggested Clare Torry. I've no idea whose
> idea it was to have someone wailing on it. Clare came into the studio one
> day, and we said, "There's no lyrics. It's about dying -- have a bit of a
> sing on that, girl." I think she only did one take. And we all said, "Wow,
> that's that done. Here's your sixty quid." Years later, I moved house, and
> she lived just round the corner. I used to run into her all the time,
> walking her dog.
>
> It was your idea to record the snippets of speech that are all over the
> album . . .
>
> I thought it was a terrific idea. I wrote questions down on a set of cards,
> and they were in sequence. Whoever was in the building came and did it.
> They would read the top card and answer it -- with no one else in the room
> -- and then take that card off, and do the second one. So, for instance,
> when it said "When was the last time you were violent?" the next one said,
> "Were you in the right?" It provided essential color for the record. The
> questions that provided us with the best material were the ones about
> violence.
>
> Looking back on your relationship with Dave Gilmour, what do you make of
> the theory that your input was based around organizing ideas and
> frameworks, and he contributed his intuitive musicianship?
>
> That's crap. There's no question that Dave needs a vehicle to bring out the
> best of his guitar playing. And he is a great guitar player. But the idea,
> which he's tried to propagate over the years, that he's somehow more
> musical than I am, is absolute ****ing nonsense. It's an absurd notion, but
> people seem quite happy to believe it.
>
> How did you feel as you watched the album become so successful?
>
> We were very pleased, but not surprised. It went up the American charts
> quite quickly. We were on tour in the States while that was happening. It
> was obviously going to be a big record -- particularly after AM as well as
> FM radio embraced "Money." From that moment, it was going to be a big
> record.
>
> How did your life change?
>
> If I'm honest, I have to accept that at that point, I became a capitalist.
> When you suddenly make a lot of money, you have to decide whether to give
> it away to poor people or invest it. I decided to give some of it away to
> poor people and invest the rest. I was faced with that dilemma, coming from
> the background I did. I could no longer pretend that I was a true
> socialist, but twenty-five percent of my money went into a charitable trust
> that I've run ever since. I don't make a song and dance about it. One of
> the good things about being a capitalist, is that you become a
> philanthropist, to a certain extent.
>
> Did Pink Floyd ever make another record as good as Dark Side of the Moon?
>
> Well, I think The Wall is as good. I think those are the two great records
> we made together.
>
> (March 12, 2003)
>
>
>


"I don't know if pop is an art form? I should think it is as much as sitting
down is."
Syd Barrett, 1970