Old Enough to Forget

Back in '84 both Roger Waters and David Gilmour put out solo albums. David's record dropped first and a month later Roger, who had enlisted Eric Clapton, released  The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking.  If people were expecting to settle the Waters / Gilmour debate, all the solo albums did was give the people little flags to plant in one camp or the other ... often both. I had both albums, and frankly I never really gave Roger's release more than a cursory listen ... although over the years it has grown on me. Over time both albums would be certified Gold by the RIAA in the states, but sales were nowhere near what Pink Floyd delivered - even  The Final Cut went double platinum. Roger wanted to be Roger, and David it seemed was trying to stay relevant. About Face spent a lot of time on my turntable back in '84. In hindsight a few of the songs on the album haven't aged that well, and even David himself stated that listening now the album has some great moments but it...

The Final Cut seems to be one of the more divisive albums in Pink Floyd's discography, and happens to be my personal favourite. I should qualify this and right off the bat admit to being a somewhat casual whose personal collection (for a long time) of Pink Floyd records started ... and stopped at The Wall . This should give you the general idea that I am pretty much one of the great unwashed Luddites who shouldn't be allowed to pass himself off as a fan. Except I do consider myself a fan. The Wall was one of those foundational albums that would go on to sell more than 30,000,000 copies world wide. It was an impossible album to try and top.  In 1983 the band would release The Final Cut , an ambitious and ultimately bewildering album that seemed to eschew any sense of standard form and song structure. "Not Now John" was released as a single, and I don't know if I ever heard it on the radio. I was curious as to what the radio edit would sound like, so I went to YouT...

"Life in a Northern Town" has long been one of my favourite songs. A dreamy (see what I did there?) song that seemed to be out of sync with the trends of the times, and yet it fit like a glove at the same time. The song propelled the band into the public consciousness but didn't seem to pull the album along with it. I know for me as much as I loved the song, and it's association with co-producer David Gilmour, a little nugget that was often mentioned on the radio, I never bought the album. I likely wasn't the only one. The song would over time become one of those tracks that would appear on multiple '80s compilations, as for the band, they were relegated to that most horrible of fates: The one hit wonder. Of course as is the case with so many of these bands who had their 15 minutes of fame, there was a lot more going on. Airplay and hit singles (in the singular) often do not define a band. For me it would take almost thirty years for me to hear more of their ...