Pink Floyd Sells Out

by Chris Hogan

Pink Floyd are a bunch of sellouts. They haven't released anything of value since 1985. All of their recent albums are shallow imitations of their earlier work. Their live shows are clinical, bombastic, shallow affairs that rely solely on the strength of their classic hits and a bedazzling light show to pull the punters in. They continually exploit their back catalogue, from the recent spate of live albums to the endless stream of compilations and remasters. They'll stop at nothing when it comes to turning a quick buck.

And Roger "Call Me Pink" Waters isn't much better; the man who once criticized the others for touring with a 'greatest hits' set is now doing the same. He too, is doing the 'greatest hits CD and live album' trip. Even worse, everything he is even remotely involved with has a sticker plastered on the cover with 'written by the genius of *PINK FLOYD*' or words to that effect. It's as if he knows that his new material won't stand on its own merits, and he has to dredge up the reputation of his old band for it to stand a chance. Smart move--we all know he'll never top The Wall.

I am, of course, being facetious. But a lot of people who voice the above sentiments aren't, and there's a lot of fuel for their fire. After all, the individual members seem to spend more time flying, yachting, racing, or hunting than they do making music. Nonetheless, they are sentiments that I have never bought into... at least, until recently.

You see, I didn't get into Pink Floyd until around 1994, after it had become apparent that I would never have the opportunity to see any of them live. The Division Bell tour had petered out, and Roger was in brooding recluse mode. Even if one of them did decide to tour again, the odds of them visiting Australia were about as likely as David Gilmour doing a stripped-down solo show. So I was happy to build these people up in my mind, safe in the knowledge that my devotion would never be tested.

But when Roger announced his two Sydney shows, eight years of certainty went out the window. My expectations were about to be challenged. What if he wasn't any good? What if my teenage nostalgia had clouded my opinions, disguising that fact that this is nothing but bloated 70s space rock? What if he's just a pretentious wanker? These are the sort of things that can't remain hidden during a live performance. What if he's lost it? What if he never really had it? What if he's just cashing in on the hits of his old band and the talents of some hotshot session musos? In other words, what if he really is a sell out?

Of course, my fears were unfounded, and Roger put on a great show. On the way out, I walked past a couple of fans caught up in a heated argument. It turned out, true to form, that the guy was a Gilmour fan who thought Rog's show was a sham, and the girl was a Waters fan who thought the current Pink Floyd are a sham. I considered wading into the debate, but soon realised it would be pointless and moved on.

On the way home, I began to wonder why people--fans and critics alike--have this fixation on accusing bands of 'selling out' or being 'past it'. It seems less an expression of an artist's integrity than an excuse to romanticise their early work. To use Bob Dylan as an example, 1965's Highway 61 Revisited is always going to be considered a better album than 1997's Time Out Of Mind, regardless of their individual merits. So does this mean Bob Dylan is a sell out? No--more likely it means that music fans feel uncomfortable iconifying a 60-year-old who was making music before they were born.

So what is selling out then? It's either abandoning your artistic vision, or doing something for the money, depending who you ask. And that's when it dawned on me that Pink Floyd were indeed sellouts... but not in the 80s or 90s. Pink Floyd sold out big time during the late 60s and early 70s. They churned out albums on a yearly basis, even though they weren't entirely happy with the results. Why? They couldn't afford not to; they needed to keep the money coming in. And what about the movie soundtracks? For 600 quid each, why not? And what about the aborted Roland Petit Ballet arrangement? Do you really believe that the Floyd felt a genuine artistic desire to be the house band for a ballet production? This is to say nothing of the infamous Gini endorsement, which was so slimy that the Floyd themselves reneged on the deal and gave the proceeds to charity.

Even the decision to ditch Syd in favor of Dave was more a commercial move than an artistic one. Let's face it: early on in a band's career, they often can't afford to do the things they really want to do, so they opt for second-best. The Floyd are no exception. It wasn't until The Dark Side of the Moon became huge that they gained the financial independence to concentrate on doing things the way they wanted. They scrapped the Household Objects project, and later shelved the Animals material before finally releasing Wish You Were Here. The extra studio time would have cost a small fortune, but they could finally afford it. In other words, they were no longer obliged to 'sell out' in order to survive.

But there were still compromises being made, some of which became more apparent towards the end of the 70s. David wanted Pink Floyd to be an emotional, visceral band, whereas Roger wanted them to be more articulate and brooding. Inevitavably, one of them would have to abandon his artistic vision in order to fulfill the other's. So they were still selling out--not for money, but to each other. Neither of them was remaining true to his artistic ideals.

Now I realise that Roger Waters' leaving was the best thing that ever happened to Pink Floyd. From 1985 onwards, both Roger and the Floyd have been free to pursue their artistic goals without interference--or at least, with much less interference than they'd experienced previously. And while their respective work since then has been arguably patchy, it can't be denied that it's been honest.

Look at Amused to Death. It's brilliant, focused, moving, and political. If David Gilmour had been around, it wouldn't be any of those things. Alf Razzell's speeches would have been scrapped and replaced with big guitar solos. The lyrics would be cut to make them more 'song friendly'. The mood of the album would be constantly interrupted by indulgent 'dakka dakka' echoed guitar parts. The album is much better for his absence.

On the other hand, look at The Division Bell. It's also brilliant, mainly because Roger wasn't around to wreck it. Imagine if he had been: instead of that gorgeous, uplifting guitar solo of "Marooned", we'd have a muted, spoken word piece. Instead of the beautiful simplicity of "Coming Back To Life", we'd have a densely layered political song called "Coming Back To Death". Instead of that haunting, almost psychedelic interlude in the middle of "Poles Apart", we'd have a rather jarring collage of gunfire and television static.

This is not to say that they didn't complement each other well back in the early 70s--there's no denying that they did. But by the 80s they had outgrown each other, and I think that everyone, band and fans included, realized it. The separation was painful, but in the end it worked out better for everyone involved. It freed them up so that, for the first time ever, they were able to create albums that truly reflected their artistic intentions.

But what about the big, cynical world tours? Surely this makes them sell outs? Not likely. If Roger or the Floyd were really keen on raking in the dough, they'd be touring every couple of years, not once a decade. And they wouldn't take their tours to places like Australia and South Africa, where it's unlikely that they make any money at all. Gilmour certainly wouldn't be doing his unplugged thing. Rick wouldn't be doing low-key solo albums, either.

So when you look at it, the Floyd situation is arguably better than it's ever been. But there's always going to be that group of people who have to piss and moan about it, and complain how it's all a crock and not a patch on the 'good old days'. These are the same people who are always begging for Waters to rejoin the Floyd, and for them to do a world tour playing all the 'old stuff'. To these people, a reunion tour would be the ultimate, which I find interesting.

To me, that would just be a big sellout.

Chris Hogan is a new addition to the Spare Bricks staff.