Today we were introduced to the work of phellow Floydian, Udo, who landed in Bernburg, Germany, sometime during the prior millenium. Wishing to reestablish contact with our Pink Floyd brethern, he writes:
"[Moonhead was an] instrumental piece used for a TV [program] on the evening of the first moonlanding—July 20, 1969. The program was used by the BBC in between coverage of the actual moonlanding and was called But What If It's Made of Green Cheese. The theme was the first verse and the coda, with various actors reading quotes and poetry about the moon over [the music]. The rest of the [program] was information, discussions and sketches. Later in the show, Moonhead was performed uninterrupted.
"The music can be heard on the bootlegs With/Without and Wavelengths. The song has also been known as Trip On Mars."
Our indebtedness to Rod Fender of the Trippy-Dippy-Hippies group (hosted by Yahoo) for calling this interstellar video transmission to our attention!
UPDATE: The Beeb's Apollo 11: A Night to Remember is scheduled to be released to DVD on June 29th! Since we haven't yet seen it, we cannot attest that it includes the Pink Floyd soundtrack, but believe it's certainly worth investigating.
Showing posts with label David Gilmour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Gilmour. Show all posts
David Gilmour Live In Gdansk!
This appears to be an excellent new double DVD/double CD set from the last David Gilmour concert to feature the late Rick Wright on keyboards and vocals. Guitar cacophony at its best, Astronomy Domine is one of my all-time favorite Floyd tracks.
Click here for the background story on Astronomy Domine. And here the BBC reviews the DVD.
In memory of Rick Wright and Kay Seeburg.
Another Brick In the Wall—DVD Review
Although this blog is named in honor of the Floyd and I had previously viewed snippets, last night marks the first time I've ever seen The Wall in its entirety—though it's been around for 25 years. Perhaps I was waiting for my own big screen, surround sound home theater. Perhaps not.I don't need to prove my fanhood here; previous blog entries attest to my involvement with the band's music—Saucerful of Secrets having been a defining listening experience that permanently juggled my neurons. So those who were first indoctrinated to Pink Floyd through Dark Side of the Moon and/or The Wall may take me to task, but comments made by Mssrs. Wright and Gilmour lead me to believe they feel pretty much the same way. For, as keyboardist Rick Wright had posted on MySpace:
I'd like to meet a bassist (who) doesn't write songs about his dad all the time.
I believe it was in Nicholas Schaffner's excellent Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey where he reported David Gilmour was in regular battles with Roger Waters about the musicality of the the latter's work. It was Gilmour, then, who insisted that their recordings include a melody component—something to which Waters apparently wasn't, uh, attuned.
In listening to this work all the way through, it became clear why I never rushed out and bought this LP, having also been deeply disappointed by their prior effort, Animals. While Waters may be a terrific poet (and I believe him to be, especially after viewing the extra bits last night), Gilmour is much more the musician of the two, with an able assist from Wright in plotting the notational direction.
Assessing the music of The Wall, there are roughly four tracks that truly qualify as music I like to hear on a repeated basis, and—guess what—they're all Gilmour. And this is pretty much historical running backwards through their catalog.
BUT...about the movie. As all those interviewed pointed out, The Wall was very much a collaborative work of art, extending far beyond Waters' initial ideas. His reaching out to Gerald Scarfe for the live stage visuals, then later the movie, was an inspired choice. And Sir Alan Parker, as director, made an outstanding contribution, as did the cinematographer, the choreographer, and on down the line. Exploring first the inner turmoil of those having attained stardom, coupled with the alienation imposed on us all through our existence as humans ("How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"), The Wall works as a very creative artwork. But is it entertainment?
During the included interview, Waters remarks that what the film lacks is humor—a key component to his work, he insists. (One wouldn't know it from listening to the Waters-penned Animals). In fact, he felt the film ran too long, which explains why Hey You—one of the more listenable tracks—was cut out of the movie (but added to the DVD as an extra bit).
The Wall's fascist rally scenes were particularly interesting in relation to whose idea it was to include them, Waters stating that he didn't provide the seed. Disturbingly, I saw myself in the crowd, exuberantly expressing my enthusiasm for anything eminating from the stage! How many times has each of us had that experience, with the performers either going through the motions or openly displaying their hostility toward the audience? Having been on the road for seven years as a seminar speaker before hundreds at a whack, I can relate. My guess is that, although it appears he denies it, there's more ownership to these scenes than Waters takes credit for. I wonder if his former bandmates might agree?
In listening to this work all the way through, it became clear why I never rushed out and bought this LP, having also been deeply disappointed by their prior effort, Animals. While Waters may be a terrific poet (and I believe him to be, especially after viewing the extra bits last night), Gilmour is much more the musician of the two, with an able assist from Wright in plotting the notational direction.
Assessing the music of The Wall, there are roughly four tracks that truly qualify as music I like to hear on a repeated basis, and—guess what—they're all Gilmour. And this is pretty much historical running backwards through their catalog.
BUT...about the movie. As all those interviewed pointed out, The Wall was very much a collaborative work of art, extending far beyond Waters' initial ideas. His reaching out to Gerald Scarfe for the live stage visuals, then later the movie, was an inspired choice. And Sir Alan Parker, as director, made an outstanding contribution, as did the cinematographer, the choreographer, and on down the line. Exploring first the inner turmoil of those having attained stardom, coupled with the alienation imposed on us all through our existence as humans ("How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"), The Wall works as a very creative artwork. But is it entertainment?
During the included interview, Waters remarks that what the film lacks is humor—a key component to his work, he insists. (One wouldn't know it from listening to the Waters-penned Animals). In fact, he felt the film ran too long, which explains why Hey You—one of the more listenable tracks—was cut out of the movie (but added to the DVD as an extra bit).
The Wall's fascist rally scenes were particularly interesting in relation to whose idea it was to include them, Waters stating that he didn't provide the seed. Disturbingly, I saw myself in the crowd, exuberantly expressing my enthusiasm for anything eminating from the stage! How many times has each of us had that experience, with the performers either going through the motions or openly displaying their hostility toward the audience? Having been on the road for seven years as a seminar speaker before hundreds at a whack, I can relate. My guess is that, although it appears he denies it, there's more ownership to these scenes than Waters takes credit for. I wonder if his former bandmates might agree?
There Is No Dark Side of the Moon, Really
Mo' BackgroundLast week I received a bluesky e-mail from a fellow who was trying to track down a former flame—one Kay Seeburg, she of the jukebox family. He had Googled her name and, lo' and behold, up came a post I had made on Radio Paradise in reference to Pink Floyd's Remember A Day. The track is from their second LP, A Saucerful of Secrets, which she thought was the funniest LP title ever. Don't ask me why.
The title of this blog comes by way of the Floyds. Being a HUGE fan of theirs from that LP forward (save for the Animals atrocity), it always amazes me to find listeners—like you, perhaps—who have no inkling of what transpired prior to their epic DSOM (Dark Side of the Moon, for the uninitiated). Sure, that seminal LP sat on Billboard's charts for-freakin'-ever and, though I haven't checked, I'm pretty certain it set Guinness Book records (humor, ar-ar).
So if you have an incination, in addition to the aforementioned Saucerful, may I suggest for your listening pleasure the following: Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and More. The latter is a very obscure soundtrack the Floyd did for a highly-forgettable movie, though their contribution is outstanding. (The Floyds also recorded another soundtrack, Obscured By Clouds, but only overzealous Floyd freaks need track this one down.)
Some of my running buddies also like Meddle, as do I, though I can only listen to the version of Echoes that I edited using Sony Sound Forge. (I understand the track that appears on their Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd CD by this name is essentially the same as my edited version.)
And for you Netflixers, see if you can spot one pre-Lennonesque Yoko Ono in Pink Floyd: London 1966-1967. This rare footage features the band with founder Syd Barrett, performing a pre-Piper At the Gates of Dawn version of Astronomy Domine, as I recall. Maybe it was Interstellar Overdrive, I dunno. Watch the DVD: you'll enjoy seeing what the mid-60s Carnaby Street crowd was up to after hours.
So if you only know of Pink Floyd by way of DSOM and The Wall, you've got a LOT of terrific listening ahead of you. And David Gilmour's On An Island is also highly recommended!
Wish(ing) You Were Here
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