Posted September 22, 2009 by Floydian Slip
Pink Floyd drummer and auto enthusiast Nick Mason took the prize in his race Sunday at the Goodwood Revival, a nostalgic three-day auto event.
Mason pushed his 1930s Aston Martin Ulster (pictured) to an average speed of 77.25 MPH to come in first in the Brooklands Trophy race.
Twenty-three drivers competed in the race.
Goodwood Revival is held each year in West Sussex, 60 miles outside London, 30 miles from Southampton.
Posted September 15, 2009 by Floydian Slip
London’s Metro newspaper reports 24-year-old singer/songwriter Lily Allen has spoken out against file sharing.
Her comments, posted on her MySpace page, are in response to a recent Times story quoting Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason suggesting prosecuting those who illegally share music files is misguided and shortsighted.
“I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead don’t seem to think so,” she wrote.
“These guys from huge bands said file-sharing music is fine. It probably is fine for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world.
“For new talent though, file-sharing is a disaster as it’s making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.
“You don’t start out in music with the Ferraris. Instead you get a huge debt from your record company, which you spend years working your arse off to repay.”
The Ferrari reference would seem to be a jab at Mason’s impressive auto collection.
Posted September 10, 2009 by Floydian Slip
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason (left) is one of many professional musicians lending a voice to the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a group encouraging the British government to rethink its stance toward illegal file sharers.
“The last thing we want to be doing is going to war with our fanbase. File sharing means a new generation of fans for us,” Mason said.
“It’s a great thing to have another generation discovering your music and thinking you’re rather good. File sharing plays a part in that, because that generation don’t do it any other way.”
His comments are a reaction to British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson‘s plan to suspend the Internet accounts of those caught sharing digital music files.
FAC has drafted a resolution that calls on the government to innovate new business models that help fans obtain music legally.
That plan has received backing by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and the Music Producers’ Guild.
Pictured, from left: Mason and other FAC members — Ed O’Brien (Radiohead), Dave Rowntree (Blur) and Billy Bragg. (David Bebber/The Times)
Posted September 8, 2009 by Floydian Slip
Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has told the BBC his band might consider a Floyd-themed video game along the lines of Guitar Hero or Rock Band.
“Everyone’s looking at new ways of selling the music because the business of selling records has almost disappeared,” he said.
“We’re all still interested in the catalog and trying to make the most of it, re-mastering when necessary, and looking at other things that we could do with it.”
His comments came on the eve of the release of “The Beatles: Rock Band” by MTV Games.
Mason and Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones) took the opportunity to question those games’ effect on budding musicians.
“It irritates me having watched my kids do it,” Mason said. “If they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now.”
Wyman was more direct: “It encourages kids not to learn, that’s the trouble. … It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument.”
Posted July 15, 2009 by Floydian Slip
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has joined other artists in re-recording Graham Nash‘s “Chicago.” The new recording is part of an effort to help British computer hacker Gary McKinnon avoid extradition to the United States.
Bob Geldof and Chrissie Hynde also appear on the track, which was produced by Chris Thomas (“Dark Side of the Moon”).
McKinnon is accused of causing more than a half-million dollars of damage by hacking into nearly 100 federal and military computers in the United States. McKinnon, who is a UFO fanatic, says he was looking for evidence of extra-terrestrial life.
McKinnon has Asperger’s syndrome, which has turned his plight into a wider discussion of treatment of those with autism.
Nash’s song, written in the aftermath of the conflict at the 1968 Democratic party convention in Chicago and subsequent trial of the “Chicago Seven,” has been rewritten by KcKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, to include new lyrics.
You can download the song here after making a donation of any size to benefit McKinnon’s cause. Funds go to the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and the National Autistic Society (NAS).
Posted September 15, 2008 by Floydian Slip
Keyboardist Rick Wright, a founding member of Pink Floyd, died today at his home in England following a short fight with cancer. He was 65.
His family declined to give more details of his death.
Wright was a member of Sigma 6, which evolved into The Pink Floyd Sound in 1965 — eventually shortened to Pink Floyd. He remained an integral part of the band until 1979’s “The Wall,” when he was forced from the band by Roger Waters, citing lack of creative input.
Wright didn’t participate in Floyd’s 1983 album “The Final Cut,” but returned late in the making of 1987’s “A Momentary Lapse of Reason,” after Waters had left the group.
As a songwriter, he’ll probably be best remembered for “Us and Them” and “The Great Gig in the Sky,” both from 1973’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”
Wright also released two solo works — “Wet Dream” (1978) and “Broken China” (1996) — and paired with ex-Fashion guitarist Dave Harris to form Zee, which release one album, “Identity,” in 1984.
Wright’s most recent Floyd-related work involved playing on Floyd guitarist David Gilmour‘s “On an Island” (2006) album, and subsequent tour.
“He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound,” Gilmour said today. “I have never played with anyone quite like him.”
Posted August 6, 2008 by Floydian Slip
Sony/Columbia will release “Live at GdaÅ„sk,” a double live album and concert DVD by David Gilmour, on Sept. 22 in the U.K., the following day in the U.S.
The concert, performed in front of an audience of 50,000 at the GdaÅ„sk shipyards in Poland, was the only show of the Summer ’06 tour that included an orchestra. The 40-piece Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zbigniew Preisner, joined Gilmour on stage. Preisner also handled orchestral arrangements on Gilmour’s “On an Island” album.
“Live at GdaÅ„sk” will come in a number of different packages: 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-disc versions, containing a variety of CDs and DCDs; as well as a 5-LP box, which comes with a pass to download the entire thing in MP3 format.
Posted March 11, 2008 by Floydian Slip
Tim Renwick has released “Privateer,” a collection of instrumentals.
The album, available for sale only at Renwick’s Web site, consists of material recorded in Renwick’s home studio in Cornwall for the Audio Network Production Music Library over the past few years.
“Media music represents my main source of income,” Renwick told “Floydian Slip.” “I’m lucky that the guitar is such a versatile instrument that I’ve been asked to produce many styles of music from punk and indie to classical and folk, country, blues and soul.
“I got permission to re-package a selection of tracks, did a bit of extra overdubbing and editing, and remastered the whole thing with the help of my friend Martin Bell of Wonder Stuff, who also helped me put together my Web site,” he explains.
Renwick was a member of Sutherland Bros. & Quiver (SBQ), who had hits with “(I Don’t Want to Love You But) You Got Me Anyway” (1973) and “Arms of Mary” (1976). But he might be best known as a prolific session player, providing guitar work for, among others, David Bowie, Elton John, Andy Gibb, Mike and the Mechanics, Paul Carrack, Joe Cocker, Dionne Warwick, Al Stewart, Kenny Rogers, as well as Floyd and its members.
He toured in 1984 with Roger Waters‘s “Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking” show — a gig that led to work with Eric Clapton, another guitarist on that tour — as well as Floyd’s “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” (1987-89) and “Division Bell” (1994) shows.
In July 2005, he made his 309th and most-recent appearance with Floyd when the band reunited with Waters at the “Live 8” festival. “Very strange having Roger Waters back after 17 years away,” says Renwick. “It was a rather uncomfortable experience.”
“Privateer” is only his second solo album, after his 1980 self-titled album on CBS Records. “As a ‘leaving member’ (of SBQ) the record company have the option to take up your services as solo artist,” he explains.
“I enjoy singing, but, with hindsight, should have featured more guitar playing, really. Glyn Johns was the producer and he insisted on ‘live’ vocal performances as much as possible. This I found quite a challenge!”
“Privateer” includes Guy Pratt on bass and Willie Wilson on percussion. Both musicians have Floyd connections: Pratt has played with post-Waters Floyd, and Wilson’s association with David Gilmour goes back to Gilmour’s early pre-Floyd bands Joker’s Wild and Bullitt.
As for future Floyd-related projects, Renwick is pessimistic. “From what I’ve heard, David enjoyed his recent solo touring so much that I think he would rather do more of the same in future,” he says.
“I know he has turned down a very large sum of money to do more Floyd touring in America. I think he’s in that wonderful position of not needing the money! Just imagine!”
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