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From echoserv@tcs.com Sun Feb 26 17:01:04 1995 Return-Path: <echoserv@tcs.com> Received: from tcsi.tcs.com (tcsi.tcs.com [137.134.41.11]) by cs.pdx.edu (8.6.10/CATastrophe-12/23/94-P) with ESMTP id RAA22196; Sun, 26 Feb 1995 17:00:53 -0800 for <henk@cs.pdx.edu> Received: from tcs.com by tcs.com (8.6.5/8.6.5) with SMTP id RAA27686 for <henk@cs.pdx.edu>; Sun, 26 Feb 1995 17:00:35 -0800 Received: from allston (allston.tcs.com) by draco.tcs.com (4.1/CGD-CHAOS1) id AA16002; Sun, 26 Feb 95 17:00:32 PST Received: from tcs.com (fawnya.tcs.com) by allston (4.1/CGD-CHAOS1) id AA13254; Sun, 26 Feb 95 17:00:29 PST Date: Sun, 26 Feb 95 17:00:29 PST Message-Id: <9502270100.AA13254@allston> Received: by tcs.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA25377; Sun, 26 Feb 95 16:59:19 PST From: echoserv@tcs.com (Mailing List Processor) To: henk@cs.pdx.edu Subject: Re: "send echoes.faq.3.4 echoes" (your ECHOSERVE request) Status: O b!uK /\ /|_\ /___|\ /__|___\ /_|___|__\ /|___|___|_\ /___|___|___|\-------|||||---||||--|---|---|||---|||||---||||-- /__|___|___|___\------|------|------|---|--|---|--|------|--------- ---faq===/_|___|___|___|__\-----|||||--|------|||||--|---|--|||||---|||----- /|___|___|___|___|_\----|------|------|---|--|---|--|----------|----- /___|___|___|___|___|\---|||||---||||--|---|---|||---|||||--||||------- /__|___|___|___|___|___\ /_|___|___|___|___|___|__\ Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) /|___|___|___|___|___|___|_\ List /___|___|___|___|___|___|___|\ -= Part 4 =- /__|___|___|___|___|___|___|___\ /_|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|__\ Version 3.5 (January 1995) Originally compiled by David Schuetz Currently maintained by Matt Denault (mdenault@pomona.edu) or (echoes-faq@fawnya.tcs.com) -=- With help from all over the world! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The FAQ is broken down into four sections, as follows: Section 1 - General Information The first section is general information, and includes stuff like lists of albums, videos, tour personnel, set lists, etc. Section 2 - The Early Years The second section covers their "early years," that is, _Piper_ through _Obscured by Clouds_. Section 3 - The Glory Years The third section is the "glory years" (and any discussion regarding this time frame *not* being the time of their greatest glory will be ignored). This section covers DSotM through _The Wall_. Section 4 - After the Wall The fourth section covers TFC through TDB and beyond, the various solo albums, and general trivia that doesn't fit anywhere else. In addition to these four parts, there is the "Pink Floyd Internet Reference List," which details how to access various other Internet sources of Floyd information, such as FTP sites, WWW servers, IRC channels, Usenet newsgroups, and the Echoes mailing list. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Section 4 - After the Wall [+] 01. "Problems with the _Final Cut_ CD." [+] 02. "What do the colored stripes on the TFC cover represent?" [-] 03. "There's a lyric on _The Final Cut_ which isn't sung!" [-] 04. "What's all this about poppies?" [+] 05. "What are Holophonics and QSound?" [-] 05.1 "Holophonics" [*] 05.2 "QSound" [-] 06. "What was 'The Hero's Return part II'?" [*] 07. "When and why did Waters leave Pink Floyd?" [-] 08. "I heard an extra verse to 'Running Shoes' in concert!" [-] 09. "Who or what is/was Fassbinder?" [-] 10. "Why is Yoko Ono mentioned in 'Pros and Cons'?" [-] 11. "Differences between the US & UK _Pros and Cons_ Lyrics Sheets" [-] 12. "What does the morse code on _Radio KAOS_ say?" [-] 13. "What is the 'Lost Verse' to 'The Tide is Turning'?" [-] 14. "What is said at the very beginning/end of _Radio KAOS_?" [-] 15. "Who is having that pilot/tower conversation in 'Learning to Fly'?" [-] 16. "Wasn't there talk of a KAOS 2?" [-] 17. "What were the original lyrics to 'Amused to Death'?" [-] 18. "Who were Alf Razzell and Bill Hubbard?" [-] 19. "What's the backwards message in 'Perfect Sense' say?" [-] 20. "What do the Arabic words in 'Late Home Tonight' mean?" [*] 21. "Why does Waters hate Andrew Lloyd Webber?" [-] 22. "What does the title 'Amused to Death' refer to?" [-] 23. "Just how much money does Floyd make, anyway?" [-] 24. "Didn't They Get In A Crash And Nearly Mangle Themselves To Death?" [-] 25. "What is Richard Wright's current status with the band?" [+] 26. "What does the title _The Division Bell_ refer to?" [+] 27. "Who is Stephen Hawking?" [-] 28. "What languages are TDB's page numbers in?" [-] 29. "What are the differences between the various versions of TDB?" [+] 30. "Who or what is 'Publius'?" [+] 31. "General Trivia...." [-] 31.1 "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" [-] 31.2 "A Saucerful of Secrets" [-] 31.3 "More" [-] 31.4 "Ummagumma" [-] 31.5 "Zabriskie Point" [-] 31.6 "Atom Heart Mother" [+] 31.7 "Meddle" [-] 31.8 "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" [-] 31.9 "The Dark Side of the Moon" [-] 31.A "A Nice Pair" [+] 31.B "Wish You Were Here" [*] 31.C "David Gilmour" [+] 31.D "The Wall (album and movie)" [-] 31.E "The Final Cut" [-] 31.F "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" [-] 31.G "Radio KAOS" [-] 31.H "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" [-] 31.I "Delicate Sound of Thunder" [+] 31.J "Amused to Death" [-] 31.K "Shine On" [+] 31.L "The Division Bell" [-] 31.M "Other" [-] 32. "UAQs (Unanswered Asked Questions)" [+] 33. "The Rumor Mill" [+] 34. "What ever happened to Syd?" [-] 35. "Which Floyd is better?" - Same as last version + Changed since last version * New since last version This Document Copyright 1994, 1995 by the Echoes Mailing List and its Members For questions on distribution, contact: echoes-faq@fawnya.tcs.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 01. "Problems with the _Final Cut_ CD." There have been several reported problems with the CD of TFC, all of which deal with where the title track begins. The three versions we've been able to isolate have the following "features": + "The Final Cut" begins 3/4 the way through "Southampton Dock." + "The Final Cut" starts before he finishes with "...cut" at the end of "Southampton Dock." (CBS) + "The Final Cut" begins during the words "through the fish eyed lens.." (Harvest) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 02. "What do the colored stripes on the TFC cover represent?" For finally tracking down the solution to this vexing problem, we are forever in the debt of Scott Plumer: They're all WWII service medals: + The one on the bottom right, yellow-green background with black and red stripes, is a Defence Medal, for 3 years service. + The middle one with a gold background and black, red and blue stripes is an Africa Star, for service in the North African campaign. + The leftmost one, blue with a red stripe, is a 1939/45 Star, for at least 6 months service between 1939 and 1945. + The one with purple and white diagonal stripes is the Distinguished Flying Cross, "for acts of courage, valour or devotion to duty while flying." For officers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 03. "There's a lyric on _The Final Cut_ which isn't sung!" This was noticed just recently, and basically surprised everyone that they hadn't noticed it before (I know *I* was surprised). In "Your Possible Pasts," there is the following stanza: By the cold and religious we were taken in hand Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad. > Tongue tied and terrified we learned how to pray > Now our feelings run deep and cold as the clay. And strung out behind us the banners and flags Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags. The two lines with ">" on them were not sung on the album. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 04. "What's all this about poppies?" [With help from Steve South:] During the First World War, the fields of Flanders were dug over. Not by farmers, but by trench digging, shell and mortar fire, etc. Now it is a curious thing, but the seeds of the red poppies found in Europe can lay in the ground for years without germinating, and then grow after the ground has been disturbed. Consequently, sometime after the battles, the sites of devastation were transformed into a blaze of colour. The poppy has become a symbol of that time. Every November, when Americans celebrate Veterans Day, the British have Rememberance Day. Poppy wreaths are laid at the memorial to the Unknown Soldier, etc. A national charity collects money for vetarans by selling artificial poppies -- wearing a poppy shows that you remember and that you gave. The same thing happens in the US, for Memorial Day. It does also have something to do with morphine. Poppies are also a symbol of relief from life's pain, and have been since long before WWI. [...and more, from Helen Bransfield:] IN FLANDERS FIELDS by John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place: and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die WE SHALL NOT SLEEP, THOUGH POPPIES GROW IN FLANDERS FIELDS. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 05. "What are Holophonics and QSound?" Pink Floyd's _The Final Cut_ made use of a special encoding process that allows the simulation of "three-dimensional" sound, called "holophonics." This was also adopted by Roger Waters for his _Pro's and Cons_ album; while on _Amused to Death_, he used a somewhat similar mixing process called QSound. Both are explained below... [-] 05.1 "Holophonics" [From a posting by David Schuetz:] > By the way, has anybody really noticed the "huge improvement" in sound > staging produced by Mr Zuccarelli and his labs? If so, explain what's > so special. I noticed it. It really does give a certain amout of imaging, around you rather than just between the speakers. When Waters did his Pros & Cons show on the radio in 1985, he did an introduction where he walked to a timpani, struck it with his fingernail, and then said "If I ask you to point where that timpani came from, [here I pointed over my right shoulder] and if you don't point over your right shoulder, then we're in trouble." It was impressive. As for just what it *is*, they were *very* secretive. They had "ringo the holophonic microphone." The process was based on holography, but of an audio form (you can do holography with *any* wave-based phenomena). The theory was that there were high frequencies generated by the ear (and some people have been shown to "generate" some frequencies from time to time), and that sounds interfere with these frequencies, and the interference pattern is what we interpret. So, what holophonics is is a conversion of sounds directly to that interference pattern. Now, the fact that this sounds like a crock is immaterial, because it does work. So, just what is it? Most (including myself) believe it's just a form of binaural recording. That "ringo" is probably just a dummy head with microphones where the ears are. And when you listen with headphones, your ears are right where those microphones were, and you hear it as if you were actually there. Binaural is *fantastic* fun, and I wish more people would work with it. It's a shame, though, that Floyd/Waters got duped into believing that Zuccareli's process was anything special.... [*] 05.2 "QSound" Roger's _Amused to Death_ (and a number of albums from other artists) use the QSound mixing system. It essentially allows sound to be positioned anywhere within a half-sphere around the listener. Roger himself explains how it works in the following interview (from Rockline, Feb. 8, 1993): It divides any signal into a left and right component...(so it works with any stereo system), and it introduces minute delays at different frequency levels into left and right components to make your brain think that the sound is coming, not from in front of you -- from the two speakers -- but from in any one of a number of other positions around you. But you have to be sitting right between the two speakers, I mean exactly -- to within like an inch or an inch and a half [on] either side of the central perpendicular axis. And it is an amazing effect... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 06. "What was 'The Hero's Return part II'?" The single for "Not Now John" (obscured) came with the album version of "The Hero's Return" and what was basically an additional verse to the song, called "The Hero's Return part II." The lyrics go something like: Jesus Christ, I might as well be dead If I can't see how dangerous it must feel to be Training human cogs for the machine Without some shell-shocked lunatic like me Bombarding their still soft shores With sticks and stones that were lying around In the pile of unspeakable feelings I'd found When I turned back the stone Turned over the stone Of my own disappointment back home -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [*] 07. "When and why did Waters leave Pink Floyd?" The following is taken mainly from Schaffner's "Saucerful of Secrets" book, with additional pieces and support from other books, interviews, and articles. -=- 1983 During and after the recording of _The Final Cut_, it was pretty clear that there was no way that Dave and Roger were going to record together again. The artistic and personal differences between the two had just grown too strong. Whether this meant that Pink Floyd was dead or not is an open question -- suffice to say that Floyd was certainly not going to continue with the same membership. But there was never an offical statement disbanding the group or stating its future intentions. 1984 So following TFC's release, Roger went off and did his "might have been Floyd" album, _The Pros n'Cons of HitchHiking_, while Dave worked on his own solo album, _About Face_. Both were released in '84, and both went to about #30 on the Billboard charts. At the time, Dave said "there are three of us in what is laughingly called the Pink Floyd, and none of us have any plans at the moment to work together on any project." [The three being Rog, Dave, and Nick.] Both Gilmour and Waters embarked on world tours, neither of which were terribly financially successful. Dave stated "I've made this record and done this tour to see if it was possible for me to continue without Pink Floyd." 1985 Roger continued touring in 1985, while Dave devoted his energies to working on projects for and with other musicians. In mid-85, Waters decided to terminate his personal management deal with Steve O'Rourke, who was pressuring him to make another Floyd album. Since Steve was Pink Floyd's manager, and since Floyd had not been officially disbanded, Roger was still contractually obligated to him. In order to terminate this deal, he needed the assent of Dave and Nick, the other parties to the deal. In return, he offered them the rights to the Pink Floyd name (later saying he did so without making the ethical considerations he should have). At any rate, Dave and Nick would not ratify O'Rourke's termination. Roger then decided the way to get around this was to simply leave the group officially, as he had unofficially, thinking it would be dead without him. So, in December 1985, Roger wrote to the record companies and announced his departure from Pink Floyd. Also, in autumn of 1985, Mason said that he'd like to tour again as Pink Floyd, stating that he and Dave were "interested in revitalizing [Pink Floyd]...We definitely haven't agreed it's all over." 1986 So then Roger did the (fairly rare) _When the Wind Blows_ soundtrack, and started work on _Radio KAOS_. Gilmour meanwhile started work on a project he said publicly might either be a Floyd album or a solo album. In mid-1986, Steve O'Rourke sued Waters for holding back commissions. If nothing else, this certainly did nothing to brighten Waters' feelings toward the remaining Floyd members (with whom Steve was still associated). Gilmour, working with Mason, Wright, Bob Ezrin, and a variety of others had decided by this time that what they were working on was indeed to be a new Floyd album. Learning of this work-in-progress, Roger went to the High Court on Halloween (October 31st) 1986 to have the group partnership, and thus the group, formally disbanded. Several days later, on November 11, 1986, Pink Floyd (that being Gilmour and Mason, "with Rick Wright and producer Bob Ezrin") publicly announced they were working on a new album. Upon finding out that the group partnership was in fact unofficial (and thus that disbanding it would be meaningless), Roger asked the Court for a ruling that would make the unanimous consent of all members (including Roger) necessary for any decision regarding Pink Floyd Music, including use of the name, concert props (like Mr. Screen), etc. The court never actually ruled on the issue, and meanwhile _Momentary Lapse of Reason_ was released. Roger raised a lot of public hell, but privately his lawyers told him he didn't really have a case, and so he settled for a compromise: Dave and Pink Floyd agreed to give Roger sole jurisdiction over the _Wall_ theatrical concept, and of course to pay royalties for those songs they played that Roger had been credited on. And while Floyd retained the use of the circular screen and other (non-_Wall_) concert elements, they were forced to give Roger credit for the "original pig concept" used in "One of These Days..." [see Q31.K] And I think that's about it... I ignored several issues (Ezrin and Wright's involvement, "the record company meeting," etc.) that I don't think are legally relevent -- info on them can be found in the articles and interviews at ftp.halcyon.com. The degree to which they're morally relevent, and the question of whether reviving Pink Floyd was "good," are matters I leave to your judgement... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 08. "I heard an extra verse to 'Running Shoes' in concert!" Well, it's not on the album, and since RoIO's aren't always all that great, it's hard to be sure exactly what the lyrics were. But here's a pretty close approximation: Ooh Babe, where ya been? You bring back the feeling the flavor of damp teenage skin and hot afternoons by the river spent crushing the clover I said "Lie down, roll over I wanna go back there again" Oh baby, sweet Fassbinder lady ooh, where ya been? Also, during several shows after "Sexual Revolution" they did an additional bit, mainly the line "let's go to the country" repeated several times. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 09. "Who or what is/was Fassbinder?" Fixed on the front of her Fassbinder face Was the kind of a smile That only a rather dull child could have drawn While attempting a graveyard in the moonlight Fassbinder is a German playwright/filmmaker. He's been called "artsy," "grim," and "simplified." The line could refer to the kind of leading lady that he'd use in a movie, or perhaps it means "grim/mournful." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 10. "Why is Yoko Ono mentioned in 'Pros and Cons'?" [From a posting by Marshall Wood:] Regarding Yoko Ono, I read an interview with Roger somewhere where he said that those lyrics had been inspired by a dream that the drummer on the album had had (that would be Andy Newmark, I guess?). In Andy's dream, said Roger, he was standing on the wing of an airplane ("standing on the leading edge, the eastern seaboard spread before my eyes") and Yoko Ono was telling him to jump. Personally, I don't tell people when I have dreams like this... :-) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 11. "Differences between the US & UK _Pros and Cons_ Lyrics Sheets" There are some differences between the respective lyrics sheets. For one thing, the British version has the characters who say each bit listed, but the CBS version does not. This is from a posting by Dave Cowl: Type of Difference British EMI US/Japan CBS ====================== ====================== ======================== Extra Surgeon:"Drill" drill Man:"Oh God!" Wake up.. Extra Wife:"What border? Uh, what border Go back to sleep" Extra bit after Arabs Arab:"Don't cut the with knives woman Mohammed, I want the woman" Extra line You've got to admit it was wrong what you did. Difference oder drinken Mehr Ha.. oder drinken bier, ha.. Extra from Clerk Room Clerk:"Goodnight Keys bit Sir" Extra in Stay with Me! Woman:"No...I'm sleeping" Bit Lost bit 4 lines of Sexual Revolution Missing Extra (Thunder) Difference And trailed our.. And we trailed our.. Extra ..gets two presents" (Man pauses to light a joint) Difference Jump says Yoko Jump says Yoko Ono "Oh No!.. Extra Trucker:"Hey ...Turn the fucking Juke Box Down" Difference In the company of has In the company of beens In bent backs has beens and bent In sleeping backs and sleeping Under tube trains in Under tube trains and commuter accidents commuter accidents Difference On loading ramps On unloading ramps Difference Then the moment of And the moment of clarity. clarity I thought this would be of interest. The most amusing part is that in the music book, the listed lyrics are the British ones, but the words against the music are the CBS lyrics. Weird, huh! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 12. "What does the morse code on _Radio KAOS_ say?" The cover is pretty easy to decipher--it says: ROGER WATERS RADIO KAOS WHO NEEDS INFORMATION THE POWERS THAT BE HOME THE TIDE IS TURNING RADIO WAVES The morse code at the beginning and end of the album, however, is harder to decipher, and supposedly contains a deleted verse from "The Tide is Turning." Here's what we've been able to figure out, from Douglas Whisler and David Truckenmiller: Start: /..|-|..-|.--|-.|..|-.|--.|...|-.?--|(.-..) End: --|.-|-.-.|....|---|-...|..-|.-..|.-..|...|....|..|-|.-|-.|-..| --|.|-..|..|---|-.-.|.-.|..|-|-.--|---|....|-|..|-.-|.|..?../ Which, when decoded, comes to: Start: I TUWNING SYL (turning Sylvester) End: MACHO BULLSHIT AND MEDIOCRITY OH TIKE H (tide) See the next question for an explanation... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 13. "What is the 'Lost Verse' to 'The Tide is Turning'?" There was supposed to be another verse to this song, but it was removed because Waters was worried about lawsuits. He did, however, sing part of it (the last two lines) during some live concerts. The lyrics are: Now the past is over but you are not alone Together we'll fight Sylvester Stallone We will not be dragged down in his South China Sea of macho bullshit and mediocrity This is also who Waters refers to later in the song when he sings "The tide is turning, Sylvester." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 14. "What is said at the very beginning/end of _Radio KAOS_?" This is taken from Q&A in TAP (#53): According to "Psycho Pink" Eric Wayne Morrison (Colorado Springs), it's "...back to the beginning" and "That's...". -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 15. "Who is having that pilot/tower conversation in 'Learning to Fly'?" That's Nick Mason, who recently received a pilot's license. I believe that David Gilmour is his co-pilot. The conversation is an actual conversation between Nick and the tower, during one of his first solo flights. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 16. "Wasn't there talk of a KAOS 2?" Roger liked the KAOS concept so much that, during a break in the KAOS tour, he began writing material for a new album about Billy and Jim, to be called "Amused to Death." The album was rumored to be ready for release in early 1989, and included a Gerald Scarfe cover that depicted three familliar musicians drowning in a giant martini glass. But the album was reportedly rejected by the record company, and later on by Waters himself. What happened next is a matter of speculation. In a Rockline interview at the time of ATD's release, Waters said he had been putting the songs together for the past four or five years (interuppted, presumably, by his work on the "Caira" project). Another article notes that most of the album was written and conceived before the Gulf War. So one might assume that at least some of the KAOS 2 material was worked into the new, "TV-concept" _Amused to Death_. But we don't know for sure... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 17. "What were the original lyrics to 'Amused to Death'?" Some time ago, Penthouse magazine printed an interview with Roger Waters in which some lines of "Amused to Death" were printed. The lyrics survived unchanged to the release of the album, so there's nothing special to report here. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 18. "Who were Alf Razzell and Bill Hubbard?" The voices in ATD of somebody trying to rescue a comrade are those of Alf Razzell, a WWI veteran. Here's a (small) bit of background to his story (appparently from the same TV special from which Waters took the sound bites): Alf Razzell had the job of collecting the dead soldier's pocket-books, whatever they are, (some kind of ID thing I expect) and usually the corpse had to be rolled over to get it out of the top pocket. You would then see why the man had died. There were guys with empty brain cavities, faces blown off, limbs blown off and half the time he was walking through intestines of dead men. The Germans picked up Alf and took him to the trenches where he found Bill. The Germans would not help at all. Bill had a large hole in his back exposing his intestines and it was dirty with oil, chalk and all kind of shit from the trenches. The Germans wanted Alf to take him back and to be quick about it but due to the injuries Bill couldn't stand it and with the Germans getting impatient and abusive, he decided that he would have to leave him behind. Bummer. Its not all that gory. Alf looks in pretty good condition for a 90 odd year old. He reckons war is completely unnecessary. At the end of any war, everyone sits around a table and comes to some agreement. Why don't they do that before the war instead? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 19. "What's the backwards message in 'Perfect Sense' say?" It's really (REALLY) difficult to decipher. I've managed to sample this thing into my computer (but with some distortion since I was connecting a line out into a microphone in, but that's another story). [if anyone's got a good 44.1kHz stereo 16-bit sample, I'd love to see it!] Anyway, here's what I've been able to decipher, so far [along with further information from Piet de Bondt]: July [pause] however [pause] in the light and visions of the [very soft] issues of sterling [pause], we have changed our minds. We have decided to include a backward message [pause] Stanley [pause] for you [pause] and all the other [dramatic pause] geek partners. [pause] [very loud, noisy, screamed sentence] [end of song (well, actually the beginning, but we're backwards, now, remember?)] The story goes like this: Waters had asked Stanley Kubrick if he could use some lines and "breathing effects" from his "2001: A Space Odyssey" film on the album. Specifically, Waters wanted to include the part about HAL's shutdown [from the ATD songbook]: HAL: Dave, my mind is going...I can feel it...I can feel it...My mind is going...There is no question about it...I can feel it...I can feel it...I can feel it...I'm afraid... Mr. Kubrick refused. So Waters dubbed in his own breathing effects, and recorded a nasty message for Kubrick's benefit. Heaven only knows if he's heard it, or more importantly, if he cares. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 20. "What do the Arabic words in 'Late Home Tonight' mean?" [Translation courtesy of Fady Alajaji:] Some of the phrases were really hard to grasp because they were being spoken very quickly in the background of the high tempo beating drums. Anyway I tried my best and here is the translation (although not very accurate) of what I could grasp: 1) At the end of the song, while Roger is singing the following: "And in Tripoli, another ordinary wife [....] in the street below" a woman is shouting in the background in egyptian arabic. Apparently she is complaining to her husband and blaming him for her sufferings. Her words run as follows: ".... And then what !!!! why don't you ever help me ? you all the time leave me alone at home and go join your fat friends in your endless useless discussions.... I work for you and your family from dawn to dusk, and you don't give a damn ! I badly need to rest, I just wish the devil's angel will soon come and take me with him......" 2) Then the beating drums start, and here everything is very chaotic. There are different voices in the background. I was able to distinguish a TV (or radio) commentator talking (but I can't get what he's saying) and at the same time there is a crowd shouting slogans in arabic. I could not grasp all their words. This what I could get: "..... is Great;.......is Great; God is great........ Death, Death , Death to the ..... (imperialists ?)..." I am not sure if the last word is "imperialists". Anyway you get the meaning. I think it's kind of a demonstration of fundamentalist muslims. However I'm not really sure. 3) At the end of the beating drums, right before the missile explosion, the voice of the TV commentator becomes more clear, and he says the following: ".....his days are rarely spent at home....as for her, she stays alone, she stays alone at home..... while all the men are out gathered at the squarre, she's left to loneliness and (oblivion ?)................BBBBBOOOOOOOOUUUUMMMMMMM" That's it folks. I want to point out that this translation is not completely accurate, and it's not completely word by word. Arabic cannot be translated word by word into English because it won't make any sense. However, overall I think the translation is 90% accurate. By the way I think Roger got these arabic phrases from an Egyptian movie and mixed them into his song. I am certain the arabic is Egyptian arabic and not Lybian arabic as it was meant to be ; since this song is supposed to be about the bombing of the Lybian capital, Tripoli. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [*] 21. "Why does Waters hate Andrew Lloyd Webber?" [With much help from Adam Floro:] In general, he just doesn't like ALW's music, and doesn't mind saying so. But specifically, there's a section of Webber's _Phantom of the Opera_ that bears a marked similarity to a part of "Echoes." The opening notes to the "Overture" of _Phantom_ (Track 2, Disc 1) are C# C B Bb A C#. This matches rather closely a section of "Echoes," approximately 6:06 to 6:16. While Waters was less than pleased with this similarity, it has been pointed out that such a chromatic pattern is fairly common; by no means a Floyd invention. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 22. "What does the title 'Amused to Death' refer to?" Television. Specifically, a book by Neil Postman, called "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business." It's apparently a very well-received book, and worth reading. Publishing information, for anyone interested: (cloth: New York: Viking, 1985; ISBN: 0670804541) (paper: New York: Penguin, 1986; ISBN: 0140094385) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 23. "Just how much money does Floyd make, anyway?" It really depends. The MLoR and TDB tours made LOTS of money, as you can see below. The _Wall_ tour, however, lost money in a big way. And, as happens to many mega-successful entertainers, the Floyd have made their share of bad investments. But the following two tables are presented to give an indication of at least what league they're in. (taken from Forbes magazine) GROSS INCOME 2YEAR TOTAL RANK 89 88 1989 1988 Star/age ---------million $--------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 1 Michael Jackson/31 65 60 125 2 3 S.Speilberg/41 64 41 105 3 2 B.Cosby/52 60 35 95 4 8 Mike Tyson/23 26 45 71 5 6 Charles Schulz/66 28 32 60 6 5 Eddie Murphy/28 22 35 57 7 19 Pink Floyd (3 members) 25 31 56 8 __ The Rolling Stones (5 members) 44 11 55 9 14 Oprah/35 30 25 55 10 13 George Michael/26 11 36 47 Here are similar figures for 1994 and 1995 (projected), again from Forbes. 1. Steven Spielberg $355 million 2. Oprah Winfrey $105 million 3. Barney $84 million 4. Pink Floyd $62 million 5. Bill Cosby $60 million 6. Barbra Streisand $57 million 7. The Eagles $56 million [...] 9. The Rolling Stones $53 million -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 24. "Didn't They Get In A Crash And Nearly Mangle Themselves To Death?" One of Nick Mason's favorite pastimes is auto racing. He, David Gilmour, and Steve O'Rourke (their manager) participated in a road race in Mexico called "La Carrera Panamericana" in late 1991. They later released a TV-movie of the car race, directed by Gilmour, with a little "new" Pink Floyd music for backing (including "One Slip"). During the race, there was an accident. The movie didn't provide in-depth coverage of the accident, just about the same coverage as other crashes received. Here is a transcription of the voice-over regarding Dave & Steve's crash (courtesy of Martin Pitwood): "They went into a corner too fast. Either through misreading the pace notes or whatever and, er, basically took off over the edge of a cliff and landed, I think upside-down, on a small road below. The general feeling seems to be that they are incredibly lucky to have got away with it so lightly. Dave is fine, maybe a few cuts and bruises, and Steve -- broken leg." Then shots of the car being towed away. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 25. "What is Richard Wright's current status with the band?" As stated before, Richard Wright was essentially fired from Pink Floyd just before the Wall tours. He did not appear on TFC. He did, however, appear as a "session" musician on AMLoR, and also participated in the DSoT tour. This was seen by fans as a promising indication that he's about to be fully re-instated in the band. With the new album, it appears that he's finally back in the band: [from MTV News] Wright: On this one I have been involved right from the begining. Writing and singing, and it's a compleatly different situation this time, and I'm not on a wage (big smile). I'm in partnership with them, and very happy about that. We are actually three of us making a Pink Floyd album. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 26. "What does the title _The Division Bell_ refer to?" [From a post by Chris Solnordal:] [In England and Australia] during parliamentary sessions, if there is a disagreement about a matter then a vote must be taken. At this point, The Division Bell is rung for some time, and during that time every parliamentarian who is eligable to vote must proceed to the house. When the Division Bell stops sounding, the doors are shut and so if you're late you miss out on casting your vote. The use of this for the title was suggested by Douglas Adams (author of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio show, book series, TV show, and computer game, among other things), which is why he is listed in the album's credits. Adams made the suggestion in exchange for Gilmour donating a certain sum of money to a charity of Adams'. Adams has also said that Gilmour asked him to fool around with the lyrics a bit, but that none of his suggestions were actually used on the album. Douglas Adams also appeared at the October 28th Earl's Court show, playing acoustic guitar on "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 27. "Who is Stephen Hawking?" [Thanks to David R. Rorabaugh and Microsoft's Encarta]: Hawking, Stephen William (1942- ), British theoretical physicist, best known for his attempts to unite general relativity theory with quantum mechanics and for his integrally related contributions to cosmology. Hawking is Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Much of his work has dealt with the black hole concept. His research indicates that general relativity, if true, supports the big bang theory of the creation of the universe. He wrote "A Brief History of Time" (1988). Hawking has made his important contributions to science while battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, an incurable disease of the nervous system. It is this disease, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, which forces him to use a speech-synthesizer to talk, which is what you hear on "Keep Talking." The phrases he speaks are sampled from a British Telecommunications commercial that Gilmour heard after the song was otherwise completed. DG liked it so much (said it almost brought him to tears) that he asked BT if he could sample it. NOTE: The complete text of the advertisement is in the TDB lyric file at ftp.halcyon.com -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 28. "What languages are TDB's page numbers in?" 3. Spanish 15. Swahili 5. English 17. Chinese / Japanese * 7. Hindi 19. French 8. Italian 21. Hebrew 11. German / Dutch 22. Russian (Cyrillic) 13. Japanese (romaticized) * On some CD booklets, you can see "Dix-Neuf" written faintly under the characters. It has also been suggested that the circles on page 2 are a binary representation of the number 2. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 29. "What are the differences between the various versions of TDB?" With all the small differences, not only between EMI and Sony, but also between the various recording media (CD, LP, MD, cassette), _The_Division_ Bell_ is quite annoying to keep track of. For now, let me just give a summary of the differences between the British and US CDs, based on info from Piet de Bondt, bear, and Gerhard: + The EMI CD has braille molded on the case that says "Pink Floyd", which the US CD lacks. + Artwork differences: - The English front cover pic was taken later in the day than the US version, so the sky is darker, and there are 4 lights in between the mouths. - The English back cover has a simple sine wave, as opposed to the three waves on the US version. - The pictures for "Cluster One" are different pieces from the same larger picture (all 4 buildings are visible on the EMI release, only 3 on the US). - The words on pages 2 and 3 are red in the English version, white in the US. - Page 8, with the credits, is much darker on the UK version. - The photo that goes with the English version of "Take It Back" has some balloons next to the tree; the US version doesn't. Also, the page that has the lyrics is colored differently. It is black on white on the US, white on a deep brown/red on the UK. - The pictures for "Coming Back to Life" are different (different angle, and the people and water are positioned differently). + The US booklet's paper is much thinner. + There appears to be many small variations in the length of the album and songs. I've heard of lengths ranging from 66:30 to 66:33. Finally, the following is from Demetri S. Mouratis: I own both the English and US CD's of TDB. I found that there were some audio glitches on the English version, that were not on the US. Mainly, if you listen VERY carefully at the end of TIB through the beginning of CBTL, you will hear pops/buzzing that sounds like someone jiggling a cord. Also around 1:55 into CBTL you can hear a fair pop in the left channel. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 30. "Who or what is 'Publius'?" [Taken from asummary done by Mark Brown:] During the TDB U.S. tour, someone describing himself as a messenger, and using the common Latin name Publius, started posting anonymously to the newsgroup, using the following subject line or variations: ">>>>>>>>>> T H E M E S S A G E <<<<<<<<<<". NOTE: The name Publius was also used as a pseudonym early in U.S. history by the writers of The Federalist Papers. John Jay, James Madison, and James Monroe wrote under one name to promote discussion of an idea. The posts continue on an irregular basis, with a mysterious tone and many ambiguous clues, inviting us to look at the new album with open minds, discuss it in the newsgroup, and investigate some sort of enigma or puzzle in The Division Bell music, lyrics, art, and other tour materials. Publius says a tangible prize is to be found. The newsgroup was generally pretty annoyed by the posts, but on July 16, Publius told us to watch for a sign: flashing white lights, East Rutherford, New Jersey, July 18, at about 10:30 p.m. At the Pink Floyd show in N.J. that night, "ENIGMA PUBLIUS" was displayed from the foot of the stage by the lights they use during KT and ABitW. Then, some people accepted the idea that Publius was a messenger with some connection to the band and began to take the enigma seriously. Many theories have been entertained, but we don't know who Publius is. Publius says that his/her/their identity is unimportant. Douglas Adams, the friend of the band who suggested the name of the album, has said that he is not involved and is not aware of any involvement by the band members. Another sign was later predicted by Publius, and on October 20 the word "ENIGMA" was projected in large letters on the back of the stage during the beginning of "Another Brick in the Wall, pt.2" during a show at Earls Court in London. This show was televised in Europe the same night, and in the U.S. on November 1. A further "clue" was also found in the booklet of the MiniDisc release of _A Momentary Lapse of Reason_. On one photo is the plain white text "ENIGMA," and on another "PUBLIUS." Guitar World magazine received a packet of newsgroup articles about the enigma by anonymous mail and a writer collected information from the newsgroup via email. The resulting article in the January 1995 issue unfortunately features artwork that confuses newcomers to this investigation. The pictures depicting clues hidden in the TDB cover art are purely fictional products of the artist's imagination. -=- This is how the situation now stands. If you wish to take part in the enigma discussions, the main forum for them is the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup. Because of polarizing effect Publius discussion produces, it is requested that, if you wish to discuss the enigma, you include the word "Publius" in the subject header of your post. Likewise, if you have no interest in reading Publius-related posts, put the word "Publius" in the kill file of your newsreader (or simply don't read posts with that subject.) For those wishing to learn more about Publius, check out what's available in the "publius" file area of echoserv. There you will find a history of past Publius posts, as well as some summaries of past solution theories. [See also P0Q7.1] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 31. "General Trivia...." The following bits of interest don't really warrant an individual topic, so here they all are, ordered by album. -=- [-] 31.1 "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" The album's title comes from the the seventh chapter of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" (the book was a favorite of Syd's). [-] 31.2 "A Saucerful of Secrets" On the "Pink Floyd 25th Anniversary" radio show last year, Roger said that the lyrics for "Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun" came straight out of a book of Chinese poetry from the late Tang period. Except for the title, which he said came from within him, somewhere. [-] 31.3 "More" The following, straight from the Fillmore West 24 April 1970 show, sheds a bit more light on the song "Cymbaline": Roger: "This one's called Cymbaline, and it's about a nightmare" It's also notable that "Cymbaline" is a self-referential song: "...will the final couplet rhyme?" The final couplet in fact is the only one that doesn't... On the Capitol pressing of the _More_ LP (SW-11198), the record (not the sleeve) has following titles for "Up The Khyber" and "Quicksilver": Up The Kyber (Juke Box) Quicksilver (Water-Pipe) [-] 31.4 "Ummagumma" [From David Schuetz and Steven Dobbs:] "Ummagumma" was a slang term for knockin' boots. (Knockin' boots of course being a slang term for doing the Wild Thang; which is, of course, slang for having sex.) Of course, Rock and Roll was a slang term for -- you get the picture. So, looked at that way, the album "Ummagumma" could simply mean "Rock and Roll." On the _Ummagumma_ album cover, the last "reflection" in the wall is of the cover to _A Saucerful of Secrets_. The "Jude" listed alongside Waters is Judy Trim, Roger's first wife. [-] 31.5 "Zabriskie Point" Zabriskie Point Song Titles (from NeXT Digital Webster): Fin-gal's Cave (fin'g'lz) large cavern on an islet (called Staffa) west of Mull in the Hebrides, W Scotland Oe|no-ne (e no'ne) [L < Gr Oinone] Gr. Myth. a nymph deserted by her husband, Paris, for Helen of Troy [-] 31.6 "Atom Heart Mother" In the AHM Suite, there are two voices that can be clearly heard: 17:28 "Here is a loud announcement" 19:08 "Silence in the studio!" Stanley Kubrick wanted to use music from AHM for "A Clockwork Orange." It didn't work out... [+] 31.7 "Meddle" The title "Meddle" was meant to be a pun--"a play between 'medal' (the thing that you wear for achieving something) and 'interfere'" The picture on the cover depicts a close-up of a human ear. A portion (the instrumental bits) of "Seamus" was used as the theme song for the movie "Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead." On "Seamus," you can hear someone say "Here is the real dog" right before one of the dog's solos. [-] 31.8 "Pink Floyd at Pompeii" Nick Mason loses a drum stick during 'One Of These Days...', then continues to play furiously with one hand while he gets a new stick from a little container attached to his drum kit. The guitar part Gilmour is playing on "Brain Damage/Eclipse" was not used on the album; however, a mix of the songs with the part was made, and is available on some RoIOs. [-] 31.9 "The Dark Side of the Moon" The fourth best-selling rock album of all time is _Dark Side of the Moon_: 1 - Thriller 2 - Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack 3 - Rumors 4 - Dark Side of the Moon It stayed on Billboard's top 200 album chart until April 23, 1988, when it dropped off the charts for good. It had been there for 723 weeks, the longest of any album, ever. The second longest chart stay was somewhere around 9 and 1/2 years, for Johnny Mathis' _Greatest_Hits_. After this, Billboard changed the format so that once an album dropped off, it could not return. Otherwise, DSotM would still be accumulating weeks. [From AJTS&Tw/PF, courtesy of Toapher (summary chart by djs):] "Dark Side of the Moon" on the USA Top 200 Charts: Debuts on 17 March 1973 and stays until 19 October 1974 (84 weeks) but falls off. Appears on the charts again on 12 April 1975 and stays until 6 March 1976 (lost 24 weeks, but stays for 48 weeks more). Back on charts again on 18 December 1976 and stays for a record 11 years until 23 April 1988 (lost 40 weeks but gained 591 weeks). On USA charts for a grand total of 723 weeks: on chart off chart on chart off chart on chart 17Mar73 --> 19Oct74 12Apr75 --> 6Mar76 18 Dec 76 --> 23 Apr 88 weeks: 84 24 48 40 591 723 on, 64 off months: 19 6 11 10 125 155 on, 16 off years: 1.6 0.5 .9 .8 11.3 13.8 on, 1.3 off An alternate lyric ("laying supine in the sunshine") was used in "Time" at some DSotM concerts. What the heck is a VCS3?? The VCS3 is an analog synthesizer. It possibly means: Voltage Controlled Synth. 3 [ three osc. for waveform generation ] It is mentioned in Walk Away Rene that the cover of DSotM was specifically designed by Hipgnosis so that if you fold it out (the LP, that is) and put it end to end with other copies then they all fit together, thus perpetuating the cyclic theme of the album. [-] 31.A "A Nice Pair" The cover to _A Nice Pair_ was comprised of several different cover ideas that Hipgnosis came up with, plus several more new ones (they couldn't make up their minds, so, "why not use them all?") Many of these pictures represent common sayings or phrases: Frog in your throat Fork in the road Kettle of fish Laughing all the way to the bank A nip in the air Flying saucers A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush going in circles [+] 31.B "Wish You Were Here" There's a violin at the end of "Wish You Were Here," but it's nearly impossible to hear (it's at the end, right after all the wind stuff starts). Violinist Stephane Grappelly was recording in a downstairs studio, and Gilmour had suggested that there be a little "country fiddle" at the end of the song, so they talked Grappelly into coming up and recording a bit. They hardly used anything of his (in fact, they felt that giving him an album credit would be insulting), but they enjoyed listening to him play. He did get about 300 Pounds for it, though... When Pink Floyd was recording "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (and on the very day of David Gilmour's wedding to his first wife, Ginger), they received a visitor in the studio. He basically kept to himself, occasionally getting up to brush his teeth. From _Pink Floyd: The Illustrated Discography_: "During the WYWH sessions a fat, shaven-headed person wearing grey Terylene trousers, a nylon shirt and string vest wandered into the studio. The band ignored the visitor and kept on playing and it was the visiting Andrew King who finally recognised their guest: 'Good God, it's Syd! How did you get like that?' To which Syd replied, 'I've got a very large fridge at home and I've been eating a lot of pork chops.' The whole event was slightly un-nerving since the theme of the album was based on Syd and his subsequent madness." The coughing sounds on the title track were caused by Gilmour's smoking habits. It has been reported that when DG heard the sounds on the album, he decided then and there to quit. The lake on the _Wish You Were Here_ inner sleeve is Mono Lake, in California. The strange rock formations are a result of the *extremely* high mineral content of the water there. It's a protected area. The weird noises and radio sounds between "Have a Cigar" and "Wish You Were Here" were picked randomly from a radio. The music includes a snippet of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, and the interview includes "and you, Derek, this star nonsense, what do you think of it?" In concerts, the band extended the bit by playing live off-air samples from the local town, and then switching into the pre-recorded bit from the album. [From Barth Richards:] In the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio series, there is a gag in the scene where the five main characters are stepping out of the starship HEART OF GOLD onto the planet Magrathea. The music in the background is the opening of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5)," which, it turns out, is being provided by Marvin. At one point, Arthur says, "Ford, do you realize that robot can hum like Pink Floyd?" When the radio series was released on cassettes and CDs, this scene was cut for legal reasons. [*] 31.C "David Gilmour" According to Gilmour, "'Mihalis' is the name of my boat...It's Greek for Michael. That's what it was called when I got it and, in Greece, they say it's bad luck to change it..." [+] 31.D "The Wall (album and movie)" In the movie "The Wall," there are a lot of scenes in the background of a WWII film called "The Dambusters." It's the story about 617 squadron, which attacked 3 Ruhr dams in 1943 flying specially converted Lancasters carrying Barnes Wallis's "bouncing bomb" and it is the film of this event featured in the Wall movie. The raid was lead by Wing Commander Guy Gibson who survived the raid and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part in it. Guy Gibson died later in the war. There are a number of uncredited session musicians on _The Wall_. Freddie Mandell plays Hammond organ on "In the Flesh," Lee Ritenour plays rhythm guitar on "One of My Turns" (Gilmour "couldn't think of a good part to play"), and there's some guy playing Spanish guitar on "Is There Anybody Out There?" because Gilmour couldn't play the part without a pick. "Where the hell are you? Where the hell are you Tyler?" heard just before the song "Vera" is from the movie "Battle of Britain". The airplane that you hear crashing afterward is Tyler's. Toni Tennille (credited on _The Wall_ LP) is from The Captain and Tennille. Bruce Johnston is from The Beach Boys -- the original plan had been to have *all* the Beach Boys harmonize on "The Show Must Go On" and "Waiting for the Worms," but this was scrapped. On "Gohill's Boots:" Gohill's is a shoe store in Camden, North London (UK). The boots referred to in The Wall would have been short ankle boots with an elasticated "gusset" (rather than laces). These were "de rigeur" in London in the late '60s and Gohill's was THE place to get them. A picture of Syd wearing a pair of yellow Gohills can be found in the Mick Rock Photo Sessions book. [-] 31.E "The Final Cut" "and maniacs don't blow holes in bandsmen by remote control" This refers to an event that happened in the summer of 1982. The Royal Green Jackets band was giving a concert in Regent's Park, when a bomb planted under the stage by the Irish Republican Army detonated, killing 6 and injuring 28, most of them bandsmen. [-] 31.F "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" "...nailed ducks to the wall..." Nailing painted wooden ducks to the wall was a British post-WWII symbol of settling down to the quiet life (hence "Dunroamin"). [-] 31.G "Radio KAOS" "There's a blood red dragon on a field of green" This is a description of the Welsh flag. It can be seen on, among other places, the Radio KAOS video EP. [-] 31.H "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" The voices that can be heard in "Yet Another Movie" are Humphry Bogart, in a famous scene from "Casablanca." [-] 31.I "Delicate Sound of Thunder" The DSoT album cover is meant (according to its designer) to capture what was so special about a Pink Floyd concert--sight and sound. "So you have Mr. Light in a showdown with Mr. Sound. The whole thing was shot in Spain." One concession made by Pink Floyd to Roger Waters as a result of the great Floyd Lawyer Wars was the concept of the "Pig." Waters had sued to stop the Floyd from using many of their now-standard concert features, like the huge screen, weird animated movies, and in particular, the floating pig. So when Pink Floyd went on the road, they not only credited Waters with the concept (seen in the DSoT Video closing credits - "Original Pig Concept: R. Waters"), they also changed the pig's gender. [+] 31.J "Amused to Death" "And we all like the bit when you take The jeans from the refridgerator and Then the bad guy gets hit" This is based on a television advertisement. Semtex is an "inexpensive" Czechoslovakian plastic explosive. "Each man has his price Bob and yours was pretty low" Waters explains this line..."When we recorded the album I would sometimes rehearse vocal takes by impersonating Bob Dylan. That line originally read 'Each man has his price my friends...' so make of that what you will. As a joke I sung Bob instead and Pat insisted that we left it in. So although it was unintentional I'm happy that it's there for Bob Ezrin. I hope he appreciates it." [-] 31.K "Shine On" On the box set, in the print around the weird logo (with all the overlapping album titles) is the working title for Shine On, "The Big Bong Theory." This was suggested by Mason, but wasn't approved. [+] 31.L "The Division Bell" The sounds at the beginning of "Cluster One" are the crackling noises beneath the earth's crust. They were recorded by California seismology buff G. William Forgey, who offered them to the band. [From the Toronto Star] Picture Locations: - The building on the cover of the CD is Ely Cathedral, in Cambridgeshire, England. - The buildings on page 2 and 3 of the TDB CD booklet are those of the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, in Chile. - The beach scene in CBtL was shot in the UK: Durdle Door, Dorset, on the South English coast. Right after the 3:00 mark in "Take it Back," you can hear the following: [From Charles Panati's 'Extraordiary Origins of Everyday things', thanks to Demetri S. Mouratis] Ring-a-ring o' roses | Refers to circular rosy rash, an early | symptom of the Great Plague. A pocket full of posies | Herbs carried in pockets, people thought | they would protect them A-tishoo! A-tishoo | Literally, the plague's final sneeze | which preceded physical collapse. We all fall down. | i.e. dead. [Don't be surprised if you learned the song slightly differently -- I did, too -- but this is the original version.] There are a number of sounds in TDB that are a bit familiar... - Bells from "Fat Old Sun" - Drums from "Bring the Boys Back Home" - Fly from "Grantchester Meadows" Polly Samson, listed in the "Thanks" section and co-writer of many songs, is Gilmour's wife (as of summer 1994--he and Ginger seperated during the MLoR tour). Don't know much about her except that she's a journalist and writer. At 8:18 of "High Hopes" there is the following phone conversation: O'Rourke: Hello? Charlie: Yeah... SO'R: Is that Charlie? C: Yes. SO'R: Hello Charlie. C: <mumbles something and hangs up> S'OR: Great! <hangs up> (Steve O'Rourke is the band's manager, and Charlie is Polly's son.) The LP of TDB is several minutes shorter than the other versions. It lacks the above conversation, and the song ends are trimmed down a bit. "Wearing the Inside..." also has some small structural changes. There was a rumor before its release that TDB would be a double LP, to fit everything on, but apparently the band decided against this. [From Gerhard:] I recently found an old Dutch telephonecard (you know, one of those things with which you can telephone without using cash), and on it was a stylized picture of 2 faces, facing each other seen from the side, and in between the faces were some sinal waves... [-] 31.M "Other" On Primus' _Pork Soda_ album, there is a lyric on song #12 ("The Air is Getting Slippery") that goes, "If you studied your Floyd properly, you'd know that pigs could fly." Primus has also covered "Have a Cigar" on their _Miscellaneous Debris_ EP. In the video for the Beastie Boys' song "Gratitude," they play in a "Pompeii-style" arena and have their rotating (Leslie) amps marked "PINK FLOYD -- LONDON", just like in Pompeii. The ambient group The Orb has used the Battersea Power Station on album covers, features bassist Guy Pratt, and has some obviously Floyd-inspired tunes (eg "Plateau"). The multimedia software company 7th Level features some interesting connections to Pink Floyd. Scott Page is the Executive Vice President, while Bob Ezrin is Co-Chairman of the Board and Executive Vice President of Production. Gilmour is credited for the "guitar effects" on the company's "Tuneland" CD-ROM. According to Autoweek, some of the cars that Nick Mason owns (and races) are: Ferrari 250 GTO F40 246 GTS Dino Bugatti 35B Alfa 2300 Maserati 250F Specialized Bicycle Components makes a series of tires with a greyish, ultra-grippy, ultra-soft rubber compound they call UmmaGumma. It is used for the company's "extreme application" tires. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 32. "UAQs (Unanswered Asked Questions)" Here we present some questions that have been asked that nobody's really come up with an answer for yet: + "What's the Morse code at the beginning of 'Astronomy Domine'?" No clue ;) I tried to decode it, but my skill at Morse code is all but nil. Someone had a go at one of the live versions, and reported it was just random. But maybe someone could try the _Piper_ version? + "Are there any MIDI/MOD files of Pink Floyd music?" There are two versions of "Money" around, a .MOD and a .MED The MED is decent, the MOD not too good. There are also some AMH files (for use with the DOS player DMP) of "The Nile Song," "Interstellar Overdrive," "Goodbye Blue Sky," "Is there Anybody Out There," and "Goodbye Cruel World," all of which are available at halcyon. There are also a fair number of ROL, CMF, and MIDI files out there. A bunch of these are also on halcyon, among them "Time," "Us and Them," "Comfortably Numb," "Wish You Were Here," and "Shine On." If you come across any that aren't already available at halcyon, could you do us all a favor and please upload them? Thanks! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 33. "The Rumor Mill" These items deal with events far enough in the future as to make them at least somewhat uncertain: + Roger stated in a recent New York Times interview that he has been working on a stage adaptation of The Wall, with more "humanity and humour." He also said that he has been writing some poetry and short stories, which may be published in the future. In this interview Waters also states that "there's a distinct possibility that I may go on the road again at some point in the future." + According to numerous sources (REG, TAP, interviews) Roger has also been working on an opera based on the French Revolution named "Caira." The lyrics were written by Etienne Roda-Gil in 1988, and he asked Roger to do the music. Roger agreed, and, over the course of nine months, produced a 2 hour demo (singing all the lyrics in French, avec accent). [Historical note from Colin Bunnell: "Ca Ira" ("It will go") was a popular song among the French Revolutionaries.] + Pink Floyd's tour schedule after Earl's Court is still unknown. There are rumors that they'll tour Australia, that they'll come back to the US, etc. However, Mason has said that this is a fantasy, and Gary Wallis flatly said the tour ends in October. However, they've also said that they won't wait another 7 years to tour again. So we'll see... + There were a fair number of out-takes from the TDB sessions, and Nick Mason has said that some of these may be released on a satelite album at some point in the future. + Finally, Pink Floyd have been recording several of their performances of DSotM (P1Q16), for a 2 disc set to be released in late-March/early April. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [+] 34. "What ever happened to Syd?" [Info from the "Saucerful of Secrets" and "Crazy Diamond" books:] Roger Barrett currently resides in suburban Cambridge. He lives a fairly isolated existence, his affairs looked after by his sister, and spends his time painting, reading, tending his garden and coin collection, and working on a pet-project of his, "The History of Art." The money from his Pink Floyd and solo albums is more than enough to subsidize his low-key lifestyle. Though there are occasional "Syd sightings," Mr. Barrett finds it difficult to relate to and communicate with other people, and anyone attempting to track him down is likely to meet with a closed door. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [-] 35. "Which Floyd is better?" This comes up all the time, especially when new people join and want to voice their opinions. The problem with this question is that *everyone* has their own thoughts on the matter, and that these thoughts are entirely subjective. Without going into any details, any pros and/or cons of either Syd's, Waters' or Gilmour's writing, singing, or playing styles, and without delving into the personalities of different members of the band or the concepts they provided or the concerts they performed, I'm just going to say that everyone likes or dislikes any particular version of Floyd or the solo artists for strictly personal reasons, and trying to convince anyone to change these likes is going to be a futile effort. Posting on this subject is *highly* frowned upon, both on the newsgroup and especially on echoes. In other words, don't do it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- /\ // \ /\ /// \ // \ //// \ /\ // \///// \ // \ /// \// \ \ //// \ /\ \ \ ///// \ // \ \ \ ////// /// \ \ \ _____////// //======\ //// \ \ \ // \//// || | ////// \ \ \ ...---|| ||=====|| |=================================--------... ! T H A N K Y O U ! Douglas Adams, Fady Alajaji, David Artus, Jonathan Baumgartner, bear, Piet de Bondt, Ray Botelho, Helen Bransfield, Mark Brown, Colin Bunnell, Ted Clement, Chris Coffman, Dave Cowl, Scott Eberline, ERST, Vernon Fitch, Adam Floro, Scott Frank, Dirk Gently, Bruce Hammerle, Herwig Henseler, Dean Herbert, Gerhard Den Hollander, Tom Hood, Tor Hulbakviken, Grigori Humphreys, Kym Ide, Aaro Koskinen, R. Brigham Lampert, Scott Lindsey, David Lynch, Karl Magnacca, Tim Meekins, Tom Miller, Demetri Mouratis, Ray O'Hara, Richard van Oosterhout, Martin Pitwood, Scott Plumer, Barth Richards, Rudi Riet, Geoff Rimmer, David Rorabaugh, Charles Saeger, Donald Scheidt, David Schuetz, Chris Solnordal, Steve South, Adam Stanley, Hannes Taucher, Toapher, Brian Tompsett, David Tratt, David Truckenmiller, Brian Underwood, Chris Walsh, David Weinberger, Adam Winstanley, and Marshall Wood ```--------=======================================================--------''' Isn't this where...