Richard Wright - Fired During Recording The Wall Album

[theaussiefloydian]

They could've had Michael Kamen wearing a mask of himself and no one would have known or cared.

According to who? You? Talk to some older floyd fans. Why are you being ridiculous? Were you even alive in 1980?

I suspect you didn't mean to state that I said that because I was quoting Ziggy there

[Kerry King]

According to who? You? Talk to some older floyd fans. Why are you being ridiculous? Were you even alive in 1980?

I suspect you didn't mean to state that I said that because I was quoting Ziggy there

Yeah. Sorry man. I was trying to quote Ziggy.

[theaussiefloydian]

The Waters and Gilmour albums don't hold a candle to the best floyd albums.

Exactly. I love Gilmours solo stuff but I would much rather listen to Pink Floyd most days. So the idea that his concerts sold less because people didn't know who he is? Very strange.

[penguinzzz]

And as for the "surrogate band" thing... that was just part of the show. It is neither here nor there in terms of whether Wright would have been on the tour or not.

I saw the Wall show in 80 and 81 so I can only tell you what it was like at the time. As we've established, people going to the show knew who was in the band. The assumption at the time was that Wright was still fully on board and had played the keyboards on the LP. The opening number had the fake band playing in PF masks, so when the curtain pulled back to reveal the real band it was a significant visual / conceptual moment - which, pre-internet, was still a surprise for many (especially towards the back of the area which of course was the point being made).

More important was the later In The Flesh / RLH / WFTW segment which was the theatrical highlight of the show, again relying on the idea that the band's alter egos had stepped out of their bodies. Having each member alongside their 'ghost' double was a big visual part of all this. And this aspect of the show all relied on having the 'real' band intact on stage. Would a MIchael Kamen mask have worked? Not really.

No one's saying the show couldn't have been redesigned to have a more nebulous group of musicians (like subsequent Waters versions). But avoiding the hassle of doing this - and explaining Wright's absence - at a time of so much other financial and general stress, must have factored into the decision to keep Wright in the show. This was all I was saying before we got into all the 'no one knew who was in the band' nonsense.

[theaussiefloydian]

Having each member alongside their 'ghost' double was a big visual part of all this.

Wow I didn't know that was part of the show. That must have been fricken' awesome.

[ZiggyZipgun]

Alright, I'll try to put a finer point on it: a little less than half of the people that attended the original Wall shows knew who was in the band, because that's how many bought tickets to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, even with Eric Clapton's name on the poster. And as Roger routinely bemoaned to the press, "They don't know who I am." Or maybe they just weren't impressed.

[theaussiefloydian]

Or maybe they just weren't impressed.

That is infinitely more likely. Waters trying to say "they don't know who I am" (if you have that press clipping do float it my way) is beyond obviously him trying to rationalise his tour not doing well with his ego.

[mosespa]

I remember reading a lot of "I'd be selling out more seats if people knew my name, but no one knows me outside of Pink Floyd," stuff like that.

[theaussiefloydian]

I remember reading a lot of "I'd be selling out more seats if people knew my name, but no one knows me outside of Pink Floyd," stuff like that.

I'd assume most of that is Waters talking out of his arse though.

[mosespa]

I dunno. Living in "flyover country," I've always been amazed to meet anyone who doesn't think of Pink Floyd as a "he."

Especially during my high school years ('85 to '89,) when it took the whole litigation thing to really push their names and faces into the spotlight, so to speak.

[ZiggyZipgun]

Compare it with something like George Harrison's Dark Horse. A household name, an established solo career, a wildly unpopular album recorded with laryngitis, a terrible tour with a lot of funk and reggae renditions - plus traditional Indian music! People knew about it. People talked about it. People decided not to go. It's still been remastered and reissued and given the boxed set treatment. (Gilmour even wore a Dark Horse t-shirt.)

Whatever the hardcore fans thought of Pros and Cons, no one else was even aware of it. 550,000 people saw the original Wall production, which was unlike anything else and cost a fortune to pull off. The same production team hit the road only a few years later, and whoop-dee-doo. Some percentage of the audience only went to see Eric Clapton. It's a shame, because the Chicago '84 bootleg proves it was a pretty damn good show.

[Kerry King]

Alright, I'll try to put a finer point on it: a little less than half of the people that attended the original Wall shows knew who was in the band, because that's how many bought tickets to The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, even with Eric Clapton's name on the poster.

That's not a very scientific deduction. I know older folks who knew everyone in the band at the time of the wall tour who had zero interest in pros and cons. Personally, I love pink Floyd but I couldnt care less about Clapton. Or pros and cons. Believe what you want. Revisionism is for those who need it

[ZiggyZipgun]

Sounds like those older folks you know are hardcore fans, and are not relevant to this discussion. Obviously, some people did attend the Pros and Cons shows. Some people thought Is This the Life was a good album. Some people have been writing Roger fan mail since the late '60s. And some people handle snakes for religious purposes.

[Kerry King]

Sounds like those older folks you know are hardcore fans, and are not relevant to this discussion. Obviously, some people did attend the Pros and Cons shows. Some people thought Is This the Life was a good album. Some people have been writing Roger fan mail since the late '60s. And some people handle snakes for religious purposes.

Plenty of people knew who was in Pink Floyd in 1980. They're not hardcore fans. But I have no problem with your revisionism because you need it. My ego is not wrapped up in Pink Floyd trivia.

[ZiggyZipgun]

I think you do have a problem with it, but you secretly want me to flood you with contemporaneous quotes from Roger saying no one knows who he is.