Line-ups that make (or break) the band
by Princess Stomper
When the two old enemies embraced this week in London, many fans were wondering if the decades-long feud was finally and fully laid to rest. Would there be a Pink Floyd reunion? A new tour? A new album? Realistically, isn’t it much too late for that now? More to the point – as many were quick to remark – the band could hardly reunite since Richard Wright had died in 2008.
Everyone forgets about Richard Wright. Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour were the two charismatic frontmen that took Floyd from A Saucerful Of Secrets to The Final Cut, but Rick sang lead vocals on ‘Time’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Astronomy Domine’, among others. Even when he was formally kicked out of the band (during The Wall), he was retained as a salaried musician – ironically the only member to profit from the Wall tour, since the remaining three core members bore the cost of the extravagant shows.
Pink Floyd had got through three lead singers: Syd Barrett in the 60s, Roger Waters in the 70s and Dave Gilmour in the 80s. While most people would agree that the Waters-led era was the strongest (producing both The Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall),
the Barrett era is still considered classic and Gilmour’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was pretty listenable for posturing 80s stadium rock. While the sound was very different in each era, neither Barrett nor Waters was completely essential to keep the band going, or to continue the band’s commercial popularity. It would suggest that it was actually Wright – or drummer Nick Mason – who was the lynchpin of the band. Sometimes the most important member of the band is not the one with the highest profile.
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Princess Stomper is a former magazine contributor and music researcher, who now works in a marketing department for an academic organisation. She lives in the English countryside and runs the Reinspired blog.
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