18 April 2013

Storm Thorgerson 1944 – 2013

Designer and film-maker Storm Thorgerson grew up in Cambridge and was an early friend of Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and David Gilmour, all from Pink Floyd, for whom he designed many album covers, including the iconic sleeve for The Dark Side Of The Moon. The graphic art group Hipgnosis (co-founded by Storm with Aubrey 'Po' Powell) became one of the most famed design and photographic teams in music, with covers for many other internationally successful artists, including Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Wishbone Ash, 10cc, Black Sabbath, Wings, Peter Gabriel, and Yes. After the team went their separate ways, Storm spent some time creating films and documentaries, but always maintained his design work, most recently as founder of StormStudios, which has created memorable images for Muse, Biffy Clyro, and The Steve Miller Band, as well as the graphics for the recent Why Pink Floyd? campaign.

Storm Elvin Thorgerson was born in Potters Bar, Middlesex (now in Hertfordshire) on February 28th 1944. Of Norwegian heritage, he was schooled at Summerhill free school and then Brunswick Primary School in Cambridge. His secondary education was at local grammar school, the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, alongside Syd Barrett and Roger Waters, who went on to form Pink Floyd.

He studied for a degree at Leicester University from 1963 to 1966, initially in Psychology, but he switched courses, gaining more satisfaction from attaining a BA Honours degree in English and Philosophy. However, his primary interest had always been film, so he progressed to a Masters' Degree course in Film and TV at London's Royal College of Art (1966-69). He had a variety of jobs, including being a temporary porter for British Rail, before founding Hipgnosis with fellow college student 'Po' Powell.

Po, originally from Sussex, had attended school in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and had met Storm in Cambridge, striking up a friendship that led to them sharing a flat in London. The Thorgerson/Powell design company was named Hipgnosis (by juxtaposing 'hip' with the Greek 'gnosis' – to know) and their first commission was for a series of book jackets. In 1968, wanting to break into the world of album covers, which had become much more flamboyant and art-oriented since the psychedelic explosion of 1967, Storm asked his friend David Gilmour, who had recently replaced Syd Barrett as guitarist/singer in Pink Floyd, to help persuade the other members of Pink Floyd that they should use him to do the artwork for their latest album.

The resulting cover for A Saucerful of Secrets still stands as one of the best examples of British psychedelic cover art. As Q magazine stated, the designers attempted to mirror three "altered states of consciousness" – religion, drugs, and Pink Floyd music. A studio was acquired at 6 Denmark Street in Soho and until 1982 Hipgnosis thrived as one of the best known photography and design companies.

The Pink Floyd connection continued with the covers for the band's subsequent albums, including More, the double album Ummagumma (shot at the house of Storm's then-girlfriend Libby January) and Atom Heart Mother, but Hipgnosis worked with many other artists, including The Pretty Things, Syd Barrett, The Nice, T. Rex, Marvin, Welch & Farrar, The Electric Light Orchestra, Wishbone Ash, the Climax Blues Band, and Renaissance, before the huge success of 1973's The Dark Side Of The Moon and its stark graphic sleeve brought their work to a global audience.

Larger budgets allowed Storm and Po more free rein, and suitably cinematic sleeves were created for clients such as Led Zeppelin (Houses Of The Holy), Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway) and 10cc (Deceptive Bends), among many others.

By Storm's own admission, he was never a draughtsman, preferring to work with ideas and concepts, and many of his designs are notable for their surreal elements, placing objects out of their traditional contexts, especially with vast spaces around them, to give them an awkward appearance while highlighting their beauty. Storm has said: "I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality...to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not?"

Acknowledging the influence of Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte, Storm said: "I probably first came across Magritte via my mother, and I think my mother rather indirectly encouraged my interest in art, particularly in painting. Magritte was probably an early interest, I think because he dealt not with technique so much as with ideas, and some of them are quite funny. I like to look, because it makes me smile.

"I think I took away from Magritte a sort of love of oddity, or oddness, or rather, juxtaposition or contrariness. He used to play with the reality, you know, so in a sense I have to set it up as a real thing which has been slightly twisted – that's the contrariness, the oddness. We often stage these things for real and don't do them in a computer because the reality has its own attributes. What you see is what you get."

Another element that set Hipgnosis apart from their contemporaries was their use of English puns to create a pictorial counterpart to an album's title: Wishbone Ash's Live Dates recreated the imagery of an ornately illustrated box of dates; There's The Rub by Wishbone Ash depicted a cricketer, showing evidence of him having shined the cricket ball against his trousers to add spin when bowling; 10cc's Sheet Music showed the four band members holding a giant bedsheet that engulfed the lens; UFO's Force It utilised bathroom imagery, as a pun on the US use of 'faucet' rather than the English 'tap' – and so on.

Hipgnosis weren't afraid to use multiple visual techniques to effect their designs; over the years their sleeves used hyperreal photography, pencil illustration, airbrushing, photo montage, Polaroid manipulation and colour photocopying, while their design for The Dark Side Of The Moon was entirely graphic (with Hipgnosis associate George Hardie). In spite of that, their most celebrated images are still probably the ones using Storm's favoured method of grotesquely oversizing everyday objects like balls of wool, lightbulbs and sculpted heads and then placing them in an otherworldly landscape.

By the early 1980s the studio had diversified into advertising, designing and shooting campaigns for Peugeot, Kronenbourg 1664, Levi Jeans, Volvo, Gillette, Stella Artois, Rank Xerox, and The Beatles. Moving from photo design into moving pictures, Powell, Thorgerson and Peter Christopherson started Green Back Films in 1982, shooting many music videos including Big Log for Robert Plant, Wherever I Lay My Hat for Paul Young, Owner of A Lonely Heart for Yes, and Blue Light for David Gilmour. The trio wrote, produced and directed three feature films: Incident at Channel Q starring Al Corley (Sony), Train of Thought with Yumi Matsutoya (Toshiba EMI), and Now Voyager starring Sir Michael Hordern and Barry Gibb (Universal). Green Back Films closed in 1984, with Storm and Po each striking out on their own, Storm forming successively STd (Storm Thorgerson Design), then StormStudios.

StormStudios' loose group of freelancers currently includes Peter Curzon, Rupert Truman, Daniel Abbott, Lee Baker, Jerry Sweet, Laura Truman, Silvia Ruga, and Charlotte Barnes, some combinations of whom have been working with several newer artists, including Muse. In the foreword to 'Taken By Storm' (2007), a book dedicated to Storm's album art, Muse's Matt Bellamy said: "When we first met it occurred to me that he is one of the most bloody minded and stubborn grumpy sods I have ever met! He speaks his mind and has a stoic disposition, which is bold and a rarity in this fickle industry, but one which garners respect. The pursuit of his own vision, which on occasion bypasses all external input can be difficult for some to handle. However his reasoning, delivered with a mordant, even waspish, wit and a dogged attitude, ensures you come round to his point of view."

Storm explained his approach: "I'm very interested in intentional ambiguity. You know what it is, but not why it is. You might know what it is, but not how it is. There was one particular cover that was very consciously about Magritte. It was a sort of homage. It was Wish You Were Here for Pink Floyd, and we did four pictures, including a man on fire, a man diving into a lake, a veil floating in the air in Norfolk, and the man in a desert who had no features. The one that was on the back cover, which was the man in the desert, is very obviously, and was supposed to be, a Magritte thing. So I think there is a certain Magritte feeling to the cover. It does confound you a bit, because you look at it and think, well, is this real?

"I mean, I am predominantly an image-maker, so I try and come up with images that will suit the music. In the contemporary world, rather than in a gallery, I'm trying to persuade the viewer to look again, to give the album cover a second look, as they will give them in a gallery, so partly you look at it and say, 'Well, that's pretty silly, or strange, or weird – what does it mean?'"

In 2010, the UK's Royal Mail paid tribute to several classic album covers by issuing them on First Class postage stamps. Included in the release was Storm's striking image for Pink Floyd's 1994 album The Division Bell, which featured two massive 9-feet high heads (drawn by Keith Breedon and sculpted by John Robertson) sited in a corn field in front of a distant Ely Cathedral.

Several books have been devoted to surveying Storm Thorgerson's work, spanning the more than four decades that he had been creatively active. He famously never stopped working, and at the time of his death was pursuing various projects, including a documentary on the life and work of Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett.

Speaking of his work in 2012, Storm said: "I think it's always a very difficult thing for commercial artists and designers to pursue, against either circumstance or financial restrictions, that which you believe. So I've been very lucky, really. I was working for the [Pink] Floyd, who couldn't think of anything better to do than to hire me, and fortunately what we did worked, quite early on.

"I always thought, and I still think, that Ummagumma is a great design. I probably shouldn't, as an artist, like my own work (heavens, us artists are supposed to suffer dreadfully), but I quite like it.

"Film school definitely had an effect on my love of landscape. The humour, which I hope is there occasionally, like the cow [on the sleeve of Atom Heart Mother] I think just comes from the background I emerged from."

He died on 18th April, 2013. His family said: "Yes, Storm has died. He passed away, on Thursday 18th April in the afternoon. His ending was peaceful and he was surrounded by family and friends. He had been ill for some time with cancer though he had made a remarkable recovery from his stroke in 2003. He was in his 70th year."

David Gilmour said: "We first met in our early teens. We would gather at Sheep's Green, a spot by the river in Cambridge and Storm would always be there holding forth, making the most noise, bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. Nothing has ever really changed.

"He has been a constant force in my life, both at work and in private, a shoulder to cry on and a great friend.

"The artworks that he created for Pink Floyd from 1968 to the present day have been an inseparable part of our work.

"I will miss him."

Nick Mason said: "Scourge of management, record companies and album sleeve printers; champion of bands, music, great ideas and high, sometimes infuriatingly high, standards.

"Defender of art over commerce at all times, and tireless worker right up to the end. Two days before he passed away, and by then completely exhausted he was still demanding approval for art work and haranguing his loyal assistants.

"Dear friend to all of us, our children, our wives (and the exes), endlessly intellectual and questioning. Breathtakingly late for appointments and meetings, but once there, invaluable for his ideas, humour, and friendship.

"Irreplaceable and unforgettable, but leaving a wonderful legacy of ideas, film, writings and art work, Hipgnosis and Storm have contributed to so many musicians to engineer sums immeasurably greater than their parts."

He is survived by his mother Vanji, his son Bill, his wife Barbie Antonis and her two children Adam and Georgia.


15 April 2013

See Emily Play On Pink Vinyl

Saturday 20th April is this year's Record Store Day, which aims to support small independent record shops. To celebrate this, there will be a limited one-off release via EMI Records of a pink vinyl 7" version of See Emily Play, backed with The Scarecrow, as per its original 1967 release.

It will be available as a Record Store Day exclusive for those stores collaborating in the Record Store Day concept. Packaging will include an EMI house bag, a card insert with Syd's original artwork of a train, plus a facsimile of the original instore poster, with the whole shrinkwrapped round a backer card.

Quantities will be limited to the numbers pre-ordered by the countries involved, which include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK, and the USA. It was mastered for the 2013 release by Pink Floyd associate Andy Jackson of Tube Mastering.

For participating stores, click here.


4 April 2013

40 Years On – The US Returns To The Dark Side

The Dark Side Of The Moon is one of the best-selling albums of all time, but only spent one week at the top of the US Album Charts on its first appearance. Now, 40 years after its release in March 1973, Dark Side has returned to the top, hitting Number One on both the Billboard Catalog Album Chart and the Catalog Digital Album Chart.

The Dark Side Of The Moon made history in the US, racking up 741 weeks in the Billboard Top 200, the longest for any album. When Billboard instituted the Catalog Album Chart in 1991, Dark Side went straight in at Number One, and has remained on the chart ever since.

Recent activity to commemorate the album's 40th anniversary, which included a Twitter campaign to 'turn the moon dark', and a 5.1 playback to media in Studio 3, Abbey Road Studios, where the album was recorded, helped introduce a new public to the album's enduring appeal, which is reflected in its new position.

Other activity surrounding the anniversary has been announced, including the broadcast in the UK of a brand-new Tom Stoppard play on BBC Radio 2. The celebrated playwright's hour-long drama, entitled Dark Side, airs on August 26th, and will incorporate music from the album as part of its "fantastical and psychedelic" story. The cast will include highly-regarded UK actors Bill Nighy and Rufus Sewell.


27 March 2013

Unlock a free mp3 of Money (Roger Waters Demo) with your copy of The Dark Side Of The Moon
#DarkSide40

If you have purchased any version of The Dark Side Of The Moon on CD or if you purchased the 2011 remaster at iTunes or on vinyl, you can now unlock a free download of Money (Roger Waters Demo) – previously only available in the Immersion Box Set!

To access the bonus area, visit www.pinkfloyd.com/bonus and follow the on-screen instructions.

- If you have a CD copy of the album, insert the disc into your computer for validation, following the on-screen instructions.
- If you have the 2011 remastered iTunes edition of the album, ensure it is in your iTunes library on the computer you use to access the bonus area.
- If you have the 2011 remastered vinyl edition of the album, enter the code on the paper insert included in your vinyl sleeve when prompted.

This same code also allows you to receive a free 320kpbs mp3 digital copy of the album.
This is also accessible at www.pinkfloyd.com/bonus.
IMPORTANT: If you have already redeemed your digital copy of the album with your code, those codes have been reactivated to now access the Dark Side 40 bonus area.

The offer is not accessible on mobile devices and requires an up-to-date java plug-in. Follow the on-screen prompts to update yours. Please contact the customer services team via the 'Help & Info' tab if you have any difficulties accessing the bonus area.


22 March 2013

The Dark Side Of The Moon to be preserved by the US Library Of Congress

Every year since 2000, the US Library of Congress makes a decision to add a further 25 new recordings to its National Recording Registry, a federally funded archive that seeks to preserve songs and sounds that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States". This year, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon received the highest number of public nominations, so the album is to seal its place in history.

The library said the ground breaking album from 1973 was an example of "brilliant, innovative production in service of the music".

The Los Angeles Times said: "Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon is no longer just the rock album that has logged more weeks than any other on Billboard's national album chart, nor merely the one acid heads favored for syncing up as a twisted soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz".

The Library's selections, which span from 1918 to 1980, also feature recordings that capture the political climate of the period, including Jimmie Davis' You Are My Sunshine (1940) which became Davis' campaign song while running for governor of Louisiana. Other material added this year includes Chubby Checker's 1960s dance hit The Twist and Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.

The classical pianist Van Cliburn's Cold War performance when he won the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition at the age of 23 was also selected.


5 March 2013

See Emily Day 20th April

Saturday 20th April 2013 is this year's Record Store Day, which aims to support small independent record shops. To celebrate this, there will be a limited one-off release via EMI Records of a pink vinyl 7" version of 'See Emily Play', backed with 'The Scarecrow', as per its original 1967 release.

It will be available as a Record Store Day exclusive for those stores collaborating in the record Store Day concept. Packaging will include an EMI house bag, a card insert with the original Syd Barrett artwork of a train, plus a facsimile of the original instore poster, after which the whole thing is shrinkwrapped.

Quantities will be limited to the numbers pre-ordered by the countries involved, which include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK, and the USA. It was mastered for the 2013 release by Pink Floyd associate Andy Jackson of Tube Mastering.

Please try and support Record Store Day; if you need any further information, click here.


3 December 2012

Nick Mason Receives Honorary Degree From University

Last Monday, 26th November, Nick Mason was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree for his contributions to music by the University of Westminster in London. Nick became a student at the school in 1962, known at the time as Regent Street Polytechnic, and it was there that he started the bands with Roger Waters and Richard Wright that eventually turned into Pink Floyd, when the lineup had stabilised as Mason, Waters, Wright, and Syd Barrett. Nick had studied architecture alongside Roger and Richard, but left a year before completing his studies when the band's career began to take off.

Reflecting on his experience at the school Nick said, "Studying at the Regent Street Polytechnic introduced me to some of the key people and biggest collaborators in my career, many of whom I have been lucky enough to work with over the last 40 years".

He added, "In essence [Pink Floyd was] formed under the roof of the Polytechnic," while pointing out that the group practised in the basement of a common room at the institution and played some of their first gigs at the college. "Not only did studying architecture teach us some useful stuff," said Mason, "but it also gave us an opportunity to develop and put us in touch with some fantastic mentors and industry contacts that have helped us along the way".

Alan Fisher, the University of Westminster's Head of Music, noted, "Nick Mason has been at the forefront of the music industry for nearly 50 years. He helped found Pink Floyd, a band which is internationally renowned for innovation, both musically and in terms of stage design and production, aspects of which were undoubtedly influenced by the band members' architectural education at the university".


18 November 2012

David Gilmour In Concert Android App Out Tomorrow

As previously announced, release date of the App version of 'David Gilmour In Concert' will be tomorrow, on Android devices around the world. Please look on your local Android store to find the App, which is entitled, simply 'David Gilmour In Concert'.

Release on Apple devices has been postponed until Monday 3rd December, due to technical issues, but it is planned for release on Apple's iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, and should be available from the Apple iTunes Store from that date.

As well as the interactive features already announced, the App also includes links to David's Facebook and his official Website.


15 November 2012

Roger Waters: Press Conference Today

Roger spoke at a press conference for the 2013 European 'The Wall Live' tour today.

You can view the live stream above.


14 November 2012

Floyd Classic Rock Double Header

Last night's Classic Rock Awards, held by Classic Rock magazine at The Roundhouse in London, saw Pink Floyd winning two awards. First was the readers' vote for 'Reissue Of The Year', awarded for the entire 'Why Pink Floyd?' reissue series, which included 14 remastered albums, three 'Experience' edition CD sets and three multi-disc box sets. The second winner was the recent Eagle Rock production of 'The Story Of Wish You Were Here', a fascinating look at the making of the album, with new contributions from David, Roger and Nick, plus archive interview footage of Richard Wright. Also a readers' favourite, the DVD beat off competition from equally deserving programmes, including those from George Harrison, Mott The Hoople, and The Rolling Stones.

Nick Mason was on hand to accept the awards with a speech, delivered in his customary humorous style.


12 November 2012

Stand Up For Heroes Concert

On Thursday night at The Beacon Theater in NYC I took part in an evening called, Stand Up For Heroes. This event is six years old, is put on by The Bob Woodruff Foundation and the New York Comedy Festival which raises money to help wounded veterans. I was privileged to perform with some of the wounded. A great bunch of young men (Will, Eric, Brandon, Josh, Nathan, Erik (soon to be Major Erik Johnson), Eddie, Daniel, Rex, Lander and Tim, to all of whom I extend my love and heartfelt thanks. So here's some of it.............. Victims of war, no matter who they are, or where they're from, are all to often forgotten, I support all who reach out to help them.

Thanks also to GE Smith, Jeff Kazee, Abe Fogle, Sergeant Jon Joyce, Arthur Bloom and Greg Loman.

Love
Roger


8 November 2012

Stand Up For Heroes Tonight

Be sure to watch a very special live performance of Roger Waters performing with a band of combat wounded veterans to benefit the Bob Woodruff Foundation tonight at 8pm ET. More information is available here.

The vision of the Bob Woodruff Foundation is to provide resources and support to injured service members, veterans and their families ... building a movement to empower communities nationwide to take action to successfully reintegrate our nation's injured heroes – especially those who have sustained the Hidden Injuries of War – back into their communities so they may thrive physically, psychologically, socially and economically.


7 November 2012

David Gilmour In Concert As An App

In a new development, DVD authoring group The Pavement have created a new technique to convert DVDs into smartphone Apps, and the first one in the world will be David Gilmour In Concert. The programme has already been a big success on DVD, but this new App is a way to enjoy it on the move for anyone who may not already own it.

Released on November 19, 2012, the App will be available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with a version for Android phones to follow shortly afterwards.

With all the content of the original DVD – including the extras – it will be available worldwide on the Apple App store at a price of £5.99, $8.99, €6.99 or equivalent.

Directed by the award-winning David Mallet, the original programme's features have been retained in full. The concert songs are: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-5); Terrapin; Fat Old Sun; Coming Back To Life; High Hopes; Je Crois Entendre Encore; Smile; Wish You Were Here; Comfortably Numb (featuring Robert Wyatt); Dimming Of The Day; Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-8); A Great Day For Freedom; Hushabye Mountain; Breakthrough (featuring Richard Wright); and Comfortably Numb (featuring Bob Geldof). Extras include: Spare Digits (closeups of David's guitar parts); Home Movie (shot at rehearsals); High Hopes Choral; I Put A Spell On You (with Jools Holland and Mica Paris); Don't; and Sonnet 18.

The 2001 songs (concert tracks 1- 13) were shot in HD, while tracks 14-16 of the concert footage and the extras were shot in standard definition. The App works exactly like its source DVD – full of rich video and audio material with interactive motion, menu navigation options and bonus extras. The quality of the HD footage can be especially enjoyed on the latest range of tablets, many of which have enhanced screens for HD viewing.


7 September 2012

Prog Rock Awards Honour Floyd

The first Prog Rock Awards, organised by the UK's Prog Rock magazine, honoured Pink Floyd, who won the 'Grand Design' award for the series of Immersion box sets, released over the last year and including The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall.

Peter Curzon, longtime associate of Floyd designer Storm Thorgerson, accepted the award at the ceremony, which also honoured Genesis with a Lifetime Achievement award.


Mike Rutherford of Genesis of course teamed up with Nick Mason and The Feeling's bassist Richard Jones to back Ed Sheeran last month, performing Wish You Were Here at the Olympics closing ceremony.

More details of the Prog Rock Awards can be read here.



22 May 2012

Final Show Features Largest Wall

An historic performance of Roger Waters – The Wall will take place in Québec City on Saturday 21st July. This final date of the 2012 tour will feature the largest wall ever built.

Roger Waters says: "I've always loved playing in Québec. The Québécois are a very passionate and musical people and we'll be playing on the Fields of Abraham. This is going to be completely unlike any of The Wall shows we've done anywhere else in the world".

A limited number of priority tickets (wristbands) will be available in advance of the public sale for fans who register on RogerWaters.com between 9.00am on Wednesday 23rd May and 9.00pm on Thursday 31st May.

Fans who have purchased a pass for this year's Festival d'été de Québec can also get priority booking by registering online at www.infofestival.com during the same time period.

General public sales will commence on Tuesday 5th June at www.infofestival.com.


18 May 2012

Pink Floyd Channel For Sirius XM

Roger Waters announced the launch of a Pink Floyd Channel when he visited veteran rock deejay Jim Ladd's nightly show on Sirius XM yesterday in Los Angeles. The new channel is due to launch on Tuesday 29th May, and will carry Pink Floyd concerts, interviews, rarities, and will air the group's full recorded catalogue.

"I can't think of a better home for the Pink Floyd catalogue, and all the solo stuff, than Sirius XM," said Roger. "How cool for all our fans and what a great way to introduce the work to new generations of listeners."


11 May 2012

David Gilmour In Conversation

David has given an exclusive interview to high50 editor Tim Willis about recording The Dark Side Of The Moon.

Click here for more information.


2 March 2012

'Wish You Were Here' Premieres Tomorrow Night

In the USA only, VH1 Classic is presenting what amounts to a day of Pink Floyd tomorrow, having acquired the brand-new 'The Story of Wish You Were Here' (made by Eagle Rock), which will get its world premiere at 7.30PM (EST).

Floyd programming kicks off at 1PM (EST) with 'Classic Albums: The Dark Side Of The Moon', which is followed by the movie 'Pink Floyd: The Wall', 'Which One's Pink?', and 'David Gilmour Live In Gdańsk', ahead of 'The Story Of Wish You Were Here'. The evening concludes with a repeat of the 'Wall' movie.

'The Story Of Wish You Were Here' runs for 90 minutes and, as well as new and recent interviews with Roger, David and Nick, plus some archive interview material from Richard, it includes contributions from original album engineer Brian Humphries, backing singer Venetta Fields, photographer Jill Furmanovsky, stunt man Ronnie Rondell, and the design/photography team of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey 'Po' Powell. Roy Harper talks about recording 'Have A Cigar', and both Roger and David shine some light on some of the material with musical illustration.

Click here to view the schedule.


20 February 2012

Planet Rock 'Building The Wall'

UK-based Radio station and Internet broadcaster Planet Rock have announced a one-hour special on the making of 'The Wall', entitled 'Building The Wall'. Broadcast at 7PM UK time this Saturday, February 25th, it is based on exclusive interviews with Planet Rock DJ's from the last six months. Covering the whole of 'The Wall' from conception, to recording the original album and staging the shows, right up to Roger Waters' current 'The Wall Live' tour, it includes interviews with Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Snowy White and Gerald Scarfe.

Planet Rock Radio is available on DAB in the UK or globally via www.planetrock.com.


9 December 2011

Alan Styles

Sad to report that Alan Styles passed away yesterday in a US hospital, aged 75, after suffering from pneumonia. Alan was one of Pink Floyd's main road managers for many years, and is the subject of Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast on the Floyd's album Atom Heart Mother, where he can be heard describing his breakfast experience.


He is shown on the back cover of Ummagumma, and in the picture above, standing on the left, next to Peter Watts and Roger Waters.

Our condolences to his family and friends.

30 June 2011

Pink Floyd Make 'Time' For Crisis

In aid of UK homeless persons' charity Crisis, Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason have signed a guitar, specially hand painted by Ian Emes, creator of the animated clocks on the 'Time' screen film. Ian's clocks from the 'Time' live segment, floating into the infinity of a blue sky, is one of the screen images that added to the experience of Pink Floyd's live shows. Ian kindly recreated the clocks on to a Fender American Standard Stratocaster guitar that has been signed by the band and Ian himself, and the guitar is for sale on the Charity Buzz auction Web site with all proceeds going directly to Crisis.

Click here to be taken directly to the guitar; the auction opened today and closes on Thursday 14th July at 2:45PM Eastern Time, (7:45PM GMT). If you wish to make a separate donation to Crisis, their Web site is here.

10 May 2011

Major Pink Floyd Release Campaign, 'Why Pink Floyd?'

Pink Floyd and EMI Music, whose association dates from 1967, announce a comprehensive release schedule, to be launched on September 26, 2011, encompassing CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, SACD, an array of digital formats, viral marketing, iPhone Apps, and a brand-new single-album "Best Of" collection.

The legendary band, who are still one of the most successful and iconic artists of all time, recently signed an agreement with EMI which has allowed the development of a multi-format programme of packages, many containing archive material that has been collated during an extensive process between EMI and Pink Floyd for a range of media formats.

The releases, under the banner Why Pink Floyd?, are designed to appeal to a wide cross section of their fans, with music to excite first time listeners, while super-deluxe box sets will cater to dedicated fans, allowing them to immerse themselves in multi-disc sets, containing alternate takes, unreleased tracks, restored live concert screen films and a live recording of the legendary The Dark Side Of The Moon performance at Wembley in 1974.

A series of different listening experiences have been specially created for this release: in addition to remastered CDs called 'Discovery' and the 'Immersion' CD/DVD/Blu-ray memorabilia box sets will be a series of 'Experience' Editions – coupling one classic album with a further disc of related content from that album to offer a deeper listening experience.

Roger Faxon, CEO of EMI Group, said: "This is a unique collaboration between EMI and one of the most creative and influential bands in history. We have worked together for more than a year on this programme which incorporates all the elements that have made Pink Floyd one of the most inspiring forces in modern music. Why Pink Floyd? Because their music is without equal and these exciting new releases will allow music fans to rediscover their incredible legacy and demonstrate that an appreciation for artistic quality never goes out of fashion".

Storm Thorgerson, the band's longtime Art Director, has overseen the visual design, including new booklets for all the CDs, new artwork for the box sets and men us for the DVD content. Respected photographer Jill Furmanovsky, has edited books of original unseen photographs. Pink Floyd collaborators James Guthrie (in the US) and Andy Jackson (in the UK) have been in charge of digital remastering to the highest audio and audiovisual standards.

Pink Floyd film archivist Lana Topham has supervised the painstaking restoration of many historic films from Pink Floyd's classic era, included in the 'Immersion' box sets for 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' and 'Wish You Were Here'.

First to be available on 26 September 2011 will be:

Expanded deluxe and special edition versions of Pink Floyd masterwork The Dark Side Of The Moon, in a 6-disc 'Immersion' box set and 'Experience' 2-disc versions, as well as a collectors' Vinyl LP and various digital formats. Plus 14 studio albums, digitally remastered will be available separately or as a box set.

Other initiatives will include a digital marketing plan utilising user-generated content to allow fans to make their own creative contributions to the band's music, plus iPhone Apps which will give a unique insight into Pink Floyd's recorded legacy.

On 7 November 2011, Phase 2 of the releases will include:

Wish You Were Here 'Immersion' 5-disc and 'Experience' 2-disc editions, both of which will include bonus material from the band's 1974 Wembley dates, including a 20-minute tour de force live rendition of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', as well as a unique recording of 'Wish You Were Here' featuring the legendary jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli. A collectors' Vinyl LP will also be available, as will various digital formats.

Released simultaneously will be A Foot In The Door – The Best Of Pink Floyd, a collection of their most well-known songs, contained on one album for the first time.

The long-awaited 5.1 version of 'Wish You Were Here', mixed by James Guthrie, will also be released in parallel via independent label Acoustic Sounds.

The Wall, which has sold 25-million double sets and has become a cultural and political touchstone over the last three decades, will be afforded the same exhaustive treatment on February 27, 2012, with deluxe packages including a 7-disc 'Immersion' set and a 3-disc 'Experience' edition. A collectors' Vinyl LP will also be available, as will various digital formats.

Pink Floyd's official Web site, www.pinkfloyd.com, will be given a substantial relaunch from today. Pink Floyd's Facebook page now has over 11 million followers.

September 26 2011:
All 14 remastered studio albums 'Discovery' editions
Box-set of all 14 albums with photo book
Audio downloads of 'Discovery' albums and box-set
The Dark Side of The Moon – 'Immersion' and 'Experience' editions, Vinyl LP, and digital editions

November 7 2011:
A Foot In The Door – The Best of Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here – 'Immersion' and 'Experience' editions, Vinyl LP, and digital editions

February 27 2012:
The Wall – 'Immersion' and 'Experience' editions, Vinyl LP, and digital editions

In 1967 the band comprised Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright. Barrett left in 1968, to be replaced by David Gilmour. Syd Barrett died in 2006; Richard Wright died in 2008. Pink Floyd have sold over 200 million records worldwide to date.