This is coming out pretty late this month as I’ve been preoccupied with interior decorating and setting up my stereo equipment in my new listening room. I received the report from Tidal on my listening activity for July promptly, as usual, but I had to take an enforced breather to break it down.
Pink Floyd: What could I possibly say about Pink Floyd that hasn’t already been said… thousands of times and more. They are regarded as the best progressive rock band ever by many, and probably are. I have no objection. Founded in 1965 by Syd Barret on guitar and vocals, Nick Mason on drums, Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals, and Roger Waters on lead vocals and bass guitar, they were joined by David Gilmour on vocals and guitar in 1967.
Barret left soon after, in 1968, due to mental health issues. Roger Waters left in 1985, mostly due to heated acrimony between him and Gilmour, which has lasted until now. Wright, who left in 1981, rejoined the band in 1985. Pink Floyd continued to release albums sans Waters thereafter.
I am deliberately avoiding writing about any controversies that abound, especially around Roger Waters personally and his strained relationship with David Gilmour, because their artistic qualities and music produced over the years should take centre stage.
Their most successful album was Dark Side of the Moon, released in 1973. It is universally acclaimed as one of the best albums ever produced. The Final Cut was the last album with Roger Waters as a member. It contains my favourite Pink Floyd track, The Fletcher Memorial Home.
Tori Amos: Born Myra Ellen Amos, she adopted the stage name Tori after being told he looked like a rare species of California pine tree. Amos started playing piano at age two and, by age five, had won a full scholarship to study at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, becoming the youngest person to be admitted.
At age thirteen, Amos played in gay and piano bars around Maryland near Washington, DC. She started her music career in 1984 after moving to Los Angeles. Her debut album Y Kant Tori Read, wasn’t successful, and she has stated that she hated it.
Since then, she has released 16 albums, spawning hits such as Crucify, A Sorta Fairytale and Cornflake Girl.
However, my favourite Tori Amos song is Winter, which comes from the Little Earthquakes album.
Garbage: Butch Vig, the legendary producer for Nirvana’s groundbreaking album, Nevermind, together with Steve Marker and Duke Erikson, who had collaborated previously in another band, decided to form a new band with a new sound and a strong female vocal lead.
Marker spotted Scottish singer Shirley Manson from the band Angelfish performing in a music video and showed it to Vig and Erikson. They tracked her down and met for the first time on April 8, 1994, coincidently, on the same day that Kurt Cobain committed suicide. After an initial unsuccessful audition, they managed to hit it off.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1995 with Shirley Mansion on lead vocals, Butch Vig on drums (and production work, of course), Duke Erikson on guitar, bass and keyboards, and Steve Marker on guitar and keyboards. Garbage has released seven studio albums in total.
Garbage, the debut album featured the hits Stupid Girl, Queer, Only Happy When It Rains, and Milk which is my favourite track.
Roger Waters: My fourth most streamed artist for July is a June carryover, and I briefly wrote about him in a previous post.
Lindsey Buckingham: Born in California in 1949, Lindsey showed an early interest in music and started playing a toy guitar, but, by age 13, became interested in folk music and the banjo and later joined a high school rock band.
With his then-girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, also a backing vocalist in the band, he left in 1971 and recorded some demo tracks released in 1973 on the album Buckingham Nicks.
When Bob Welch left the band Fleetwood Mac in 1974, Mick Fleetwood offered the vacant spot to Lindsey, who accepted on condition that his girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, also be hired. The rest, as they say, is history, except for when things started to unravel. While recording Fleetwood Mac’s second studio album, Rumours, Lindsey broke up with Stevie Nicks.
While working on the third studio album, Tusk, Lindsey also started work on his solo album. Law and Order was released in 1981 and featured guest appearances from Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie, with Lindsey playing nearly all the instruments.
His second studio album, Go Insane, features the title track, one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham songs. He left Fleetwood Mac in 1987 and spent the next five years working on his third studio album, Out of the Cradle.
Lindsey released nine studio albums and has performed intermittently with Fleetwood Mac over the years, including collaborations with Mic and Christine.
Trouble is another popular Lindsey Buckingham hit from the album Law and Order.
As with Pink Floyd and many other bands, relationships between the members become strained for various reasons, including the pressure from record labels, management, artistic differences, etc. I prefer not to focus on this but on the art itself.
lenny unencumbered 