Pink Floyd Begins Recording Live Performances at Pompeii

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Rick Watts

On This Day in Rock: March 23

In 2008 – Neil Aspinall, who ran the Apple Corps music empire for the Beatles from 1970 – 2007 died at a hospital in New York from cancer aged 66.

In 2004 – An album Paul Simon recorded in 1965 that has never saw the light of day in America gets its first official release there. “The Paul Simon Songbook,” previously only available as an import and long out-of-print even in that form, is released via Columbia/Legacy. The original 12-track album was recorded in the wake of the lukewarm response afforded Simon & Garfunkel’s 1964 debut, “Wednesday Morning 3 A.M.”

In 1985 – Billy Joel marries model Christie Brinkley. The couple splits nine years later.

In 1972 – Pink Floyd spend the first of eight days recording performances at Pompeii, Italy’s Roman amphitheater. The film was later released as “Pink Floyd At Pompeii”, and is one of the greatest-ever concert films (at least in KMZN DJ Bob Allen’s humble opinion).

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Rick Watts

February 21st: On This Day in Music

1961: Three gigs – One day. That was The Beatles m.o. on Feb. 21, 1961. The first show was a lunchtime exhibition at The Cavern Club, then at night they appeared at the Cassanova Club in Liverpool and then at Litherland Town Hall, also in Liverpool.

1964: At the time an unknown piano player, Billy Joel is recruited to join The Echoes, a band from New York.

1967: Pink Floyd starts their first sessions at the EMI Studios in London on their debut album.

1968: Otis Redding enters the UK singles chart for the first time with ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’. It goes on to be a No. 3 hit and the song became the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US.

1970: Simon and Garfunkel rockets to No. 1 on the UK chart with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.

1972: Led Zeppelin releases ‘Rock And Roll / Four Sticks’ as a 7 inch single in the US, peaking at No. 47 on the chart.

1986: Metallica releases their third and highly influential album, Master of Puppets. This was the last Metallica album with bassist Cliff Burton who was killed when the group’s tour bus overturned while touring to promote the album.

2004: Mud singer Les Gray dies of a heart attack while fighting throat cancer at the age of 57.

2008: A computer expert is jailed for two years for stalking Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington electronically. Devon Townsend worked at a US national security laboratory in New Mexico, where she allegedly used a computer to track Bennington. She admitted to obtaining family photos, accessing e-mail and voicemail, and threatening his wife.

2014: A statue of a weeping Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana fame) is unveiled in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington.

Pink Floyd Photographed for ‘Jackie’

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Rick Watts

On this day in 1967, Pink Floyd were photographed for the weekly British girls magazine Jackie. The magazine was published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd of Dundee from January 1964 until its closure in July 1993. A total of 1,534 issues were published during that time, and the magazine was the best-selling teen magazine in Britain for ten years.

This Day in Rock History

Posted on January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 by Rick Watts

In 2000 – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young play the first date of their reunion tour at Michigan’s Palace of Auburn Hills. It’s the first time they’ve toured together in 25 years.

In 1993 – Keith Richards plays Las Vegas for the first time with his solo group the X-Pensive Winos.

In 1980 – In Los Angeles, a billboard is put up advertising Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Every day a brick is added to the billboard until the entire space is covered.

In 1969 – Jethro Tull play America for the first time. They open up for Led Zeppelin in New York City.

And in 1955 – Born on this day, Jools Holland, keyboardist for Squeeze and Jools Holland’s Big Band.

Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ Gold Record Heading to Auction

Posted on June 21, 2017 by [email protected]

Pink Floyd’s iconic album The Dark Side of the Moon has sold over 45 million copies worldwide. The band’s most commercially successful album and arguably one of the best ever was Certified Gold in 1973 for over one million copies sold by the RIAA.

Now, one of those gold records is set to be auctioned off by Nate D. Sanders this week. The gold plaque was owned by founding band member and keyboardist Richard Wright, who passed away in 2008. The plaque reads, “PRESENTED TO / RICHARD WRIGHT / TO COMMEMORATE THE SALE OF MORE THAN / ONE MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF THE / HARVEST RECORDS / LONG-PLAYING RECORD ALBUM / ‘THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.”

Auction owner Nate Sanders stated, “Pink Floyd Memorabilia has been in great demand in recent months. Even the Victoria & Albert Museum in London is hosting a extremely popular retrospective of this iconic band.”

The RIAA award also comes with a letter from Wright’s second wife, Franka Wright, that testifies to the authenticity of the plaque. “I hope anyone that has any of Rick’s items enjoys them as much as I do,” she writes.

The record will head to auction on Thursday, June 22nd.

WATCH: Roger Waters’ “The Last Refugee” Music Video

Posted on May 19, 2017May 19, 2017 by [email protected]

Roger Waters has been teasing his new album for quite some time now. In gearing up for the release, Waters has officially released a music video for his new song “The Last Refugee”.

“The Last Refugee” is expected to be the third and final pre-release track from Is This the Life We Really Want?. Waters unveiled the first single “Smell the Roses” a week after announcing the album, and followed up two weeks later with teasing the track, “Deja Vu.”

Is This the Life We Really Want? will be his fifth studio album. The new LP is due out June 2nd, and will continue Water’s socially conscious rock n’ roll style. In the press release announcing the album, it is described as an “unflinching commentary on the modern world and uncertain times” — a promise upheld by the video for “The Last Refugee,” which seeks to humanize the displaced by depicting them in the act of creation, expression and reflection.

This album snaps a 25-year drought between studio LPs from the former Pink Floyd frontman.

March 10th: On This Day

Posted on March 10, 2017 by [email protected]

On this day in 1973, Pink Floyd released their eighth studio album The Dark Side of The Moon. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. It is 15x Certified Platinum by the RIAA.

It spent a total 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, on the US charts, longer than any other album in history, longer than any other album in history.

Roger Waters on Donald Trump: ‘Hopefully He Can Be Removed From Office’

Posted on February 24, 2017 by [email protected]

Roger Waters has always let his opinion on war be known, especially in his music. In Pink Floyd, Waters brought up the effects of war with The Wall and The Final Cut albums. He has now shifted his political views on the new US President, Donald Trump, the world is heading down a similar and frightening path.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Waters said “fighting is always about cash. War is hugely profitable. It creates so much money because it’s so easy to spend money very fast. There are huge fortunes to be made.”

And he’s worried that Trump sees war as a lucrative reason for building up the U.S.’ armed forces.

“All the Donald cares about is business,” he said. “He cares about winning and losing at business. He just wants to be the strongest country in the world and to dictate what he believes to everybody else, and he is trying to do so and will continue to try to do so until the resistance grows to the point where hopefully he can be removed from office.”

Waters has also suggested staging The Wall at the U.S.-Mexico border in protest of Trump’s proposed wall. If that doesn’t end up happening, he hopes his upcoming tour will help anyway. “We have to organize our love in such a way that it becomes a potent and powerful enough tour to resist their narcissism and their greed and their callous disregard for the feelings of others and their absolute lack of the ability to empathize with anybody,” he told Rolling Stone. “It’s a lack of empathy that creates a true sociopath like Donald Trump.”

January 19th: On This Day

Posted on January 19, 2017 by [email protected]

On this day in 1980, Pink Floyd’s The Wall started a 15-week run at #1 on the US album chart. The group’s third US #1, it went on to sell over 23 million copies in the US alone. The Wall is still the third largest grossing album in the US, behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Eagles’ ‘Greatest Hits’.

Roger Waters Takes To Instagram To Preview His First Album In 25 Years

Posted on January 13, 2017 by [email protected]

Roger Waters decided to give his fans a little tease of his first studio album in 25 years.
The former Pink Floyd member posted a brief clip on Instagram of himself in the studio playing bass. He’s sitting at a mixing board with producer Nigel Godrich (who’s worked with Paul McCartney).

You can check out the clip below.

In addition to the above clip, Waters posted a photo of himself and Godrich taking a break during the album’s sessions.

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February 21st: On This Day in Music

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