The combined wishes of all of us on the Brain Damage team, along no doubt with many of you reading this, go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 75th birthday today.
Roger was born in Great Bookham, Surrey, in 1943, moving to Cambridge when he was two years old. It was there that he met, and became childhood friends with, a number of key people in the story of Pink Floyd.
Of course, Roger has been extremely busy over the last few years, having successfully taken Dark Side Of The Moon on tour in 2006, through to 2008. On completing that, he immediately started work on a new version of The Wall - which finally opened in September 2010. That tour was spectacularly successful, wrapping up in Paris for show number 217 in September 2013. Recordings of that tour turned into the film, shown in cinemas and released on DVD/Blu-ray and as part of a mammoth, Super Deluxe Edition.
More recently, he kicked off his Us + Them world tour, which so far has been performed in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Roger and the band are now on a break before the tour resumes in a month's time, in Brazil. He's also released his latest solo album, Is This The Life We Really Want? as well as overseeing the release of the late Nick Sedgwick's book about the band, and in particular, the 1974 tour of The Dark Side of the Moon...
We hope you have a great day, Roger. Many happy returns!
The new issue of the UK's Classic Rock magazine (cover date September 2018, issue number 253) is well worth tracking down. A detailed, four page article takes a close look at Nick Mason's new project - his Saucerful Of Secrets - and speaks to all five members of the band.
For those wondering where the idea came from, and how the band members were assembled, the details are revealed by the men themselves. With the European tour starting in just over a week in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Unattended Luggage limited edition box set coming out next Friday, it is little surprise that there is a strong focus on all things Nick at present.
Elsewhere in the magazine is a review of the box set, and a large review of the BST Hyde Park festival, which of course started with Roger Waters headlining the first day, presenting an outdoor version of his current Us + Them tour. There's also a large interview with Slash about Guns n' Roses, plus plenty of other articles to keep you busy.
The magazine is now available from all good UK stores, and will be in selected outlets worldwide in due course as an import. Alternatively, you can buy individual issues (again, worldwide) from this direct link.
Back in June we brought you the news that the UK's Uncut Magazine were inviting your questions for Nick Mason. They posed a number of your submissions to Nick, in the latest of their 'An Audience With' interviews, in the new issue of Uncut, in UK stores now. In due course, the issue (cover date October 2018, issue 257) will be available in selected outlets in Europe and elsewhere.
In a candid and wide-ranging chat, he discusses his soon-to-be re-released solo projects, producing The Damned, what's in the Pink Floyd archives, and the formation of his new 'early Floyd' band Saucerful Of Secrets.
"What I didn't really want to do was go out as another version of Pink Floyd and play the best of Dark Side and so on. All this other material was there, lying dormant, and could be interpreted in a slightly different way… No, I didn't ask [Roger Waters and David Gilmour] to join in, because that would be Pink Floyd. But I did tell them what I was proposing to do, as good manners, and I have to say both of them were supportive – which I found slightly disturbing! 'Yeah, go ahead, make a fool of yourself…' I know David has looked at a lot of it online."
Elsewhere in the magazine, from a Floyd perspective, there's a review of Nick's upcoming box set Unattended Luggage, and a mildly unimpressed review of Roger Waters in Hyde Park, which includes the comment that "Roger...gives an impression of an angry neighbour gearing up to throw a slipper at next door's cat"!
In just ten day's time (August 31st), Nick Mason's 'Unattended Luggage', a three album CD or vinyl box set of his albums 'Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports', 'Profiles' and 'White of the Eye' is released by Warner Music. These limited edition box sets will be available shortly before his acclaimed new band Nick Mason's Saucerful Of Secrets begin their European tour at Cirkus in Stockholm on September 2nd.
For those who need reminding, 'Fictitious Sports' was Nick's debut solo album from 1981, which included collaborations with a variety of different musicians including Robert Wyatt and Carla Bley.
1985's 'Profiles' saw him hook up with 10cc guitarist Rick Fenn, and is a mainly instrumental album except for tracks Lie for a Lie which features vocals from Maggie Reilly and Floyd bandmate David Gilmour and Israel, sung by UFO keyboardist Danny Peyronel.
Finally, there's 'White of the Eye', another collaboration with Rick Fenn, a soundtrack for the British thriller movie of the same name. Originally released on January 1st 1987 on Harvest in the UK, and Columbia in the US, to coincide with the film's release, this is the first time the record has been made available for over 20 years, and the first time it will appear on CD.
For those not after the physical, 3CD or 3LP box sets of 'Unattended Luggage', the albums will all be available to download and through streaming platforms.
Here's a little taster for you:
Below, we list dedicated ordering links for both box sets - CD and vinyl - using these links will give a small but vital contribution to the running costs of Brain Damage, without costing you a penny/cent extra, and we really appreciate it!
Last Monday (August 13th) at the Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway, Roger Waters participated in a very special event. A very small audience - just 200 people - got the opportunity to attend.
He gave the audience a lecture on music and politics. It was amazing! His hobby horse: war, fear and how the Western world (in particular) is responsible for destroying all kind of hope and belief in a good life for children.
He talked about the nuclear weapon industry, Palestine/Israel, Donald Trump/US, and the Syrian conflict. But he was pretty modest on what influence he could bring to people all around. But, he pointed out, you don't have to give in!!
It is nothing but impressive that this man, 74 years old, spends his time wherever he tours with his wonderful Us + Them show, talking about children, all over the world, suffering due to (civil) wars. And most of the crisis is created by the Western nations, with the US and UK in leading key roles.
It was a very useful reminder for all of us in the audience.
And the big surprise: the lecture ended with two songs from Roger: Broken Bones and Mother. He was joined by Lucius, Gus S and Jonathan W, all from his current touring band. It was an amazing night!
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The combined wishes of all of us on the Brain Damage team, along no doubt with many of you reading this, go to Roger Waters, who celebrates his 75th birthday today.
