On the publication of Ginger Gilmour’s book “Behind the Wall (etcetera)” PROG magazine seized on the opportunity to put the Floyd on the cover of the August issue (#142 – would you believe it?) - and why shouldn’t they?
The photo of a tiny stage with four fly-like musicians totally eclipsed by the thronged masses at Soldier Field, Chicago on 19th June, 1977: Pink Floyd were maybe thinking we’ve become too big for our boots and where the Hell are we anyway? Any intimacy or connection with their audience had been severed. Did they long for the days of A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS? It must have seemed surreal. Now millionaires, was Roger Waters, conflicted given his political views? Maybe, they all felt a bit uneasy; after all they weren’t the most outspoken of people, Roger aside (who had described their last show at the Montreal Olympic Stadium where 90,000 people attended as “a bad joke” and “a weird kind of religious rite”).
David’s first wife Ginger recalled that Roger and his wife travelled in a separate limo and stayed in a separate hotel. Of course, he carved a lone furrow and has recently taken “The Wall” on tour with a band that included prog/psych folk legend Jonathan Wilson, who apparently grew up listening to “The Final Cut” so is well tuned in to Roger’s political views, which with regard to the Thatcher era makes that particular album even more prescient. Roger has been in the news again recently, but let’s not go there, and concentrate on his wonderful musical legacy.
PROG is right to cast a light on this, and, personally, it is strange that 1977 was the year of ANIMALS, the Floyd album I most often return to. Speaking of which, I will make another attempt to prize out of DISS readers what their favourite three Floyd albums are. Mine are ATOM HEART MOTHER, ANIMALS and A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS, and I have my reasons.
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