KH: I'm Kevin Hillier!
Tonight it's radio KAOS (isn't it always?) as we welcome our very special guest, live from London, former Pink Floyd man, Roger Waters. So jump on the phone to talk to Roger Waters in London.
And welcome to a very special edition of ANZ Rocksat; live in the palatial BBC Woodlands studios in London is Roger Waters.
Good evening, Roger, how are you?
Roger Waters: I'm alright Kevin - how are you?
KH: Now are they palatial BBC studios? We hear so much about the *Beeb* over here.
Roger Waters: They certainly are. It's sort of ... rococo marble floors, marble ceiling...
KH: (sighs)
Roger Waters: ... it's exquisite...
KH: Divine...
Roger Waters: It's all done in the best possible taste...
KH: (Sniggers)
KH: And so too hopefully will be the next hour of Rocksat for ANZ bank, and in fact we're making a little bit of radio history tonight, because it is the very first international Rocksat, broadcast from London, and you are able to talk to Roger, simply by picking up the phone. It's been about 15 years since you were last in Australia, Roger - uh looking forward to tonight, and talking to some of the people who just may have seen you on that tour?
Roger Waters: Yes.
KH: Alright, well lets get stuck into it - straight up -here IS Roger Waters, Radio Waves from Radio KAOS... (Radio Waves is played)
KH: Roger, Radio KAOS in LA, is there actually such a stations
Roger Waters: No there isn't. Er, there is a Radio KAOS, but it's a student Station in Oregon.
KH: Right. Oh well we hopefully... er won't...
Roger Waters: but...
KH: yeah...
Roger Waters: Yeah, I was jus... I was just gonna say that KAOS is loosely based upon a station that closed in LA last year called KMET.
KH: Oh, right! Is that actually a guy that you'd used the voice-overs for, who actually worked on KMET?
Roger Waters: Yeah, Jim Ladd was one of the DJs at KMET, in it's heyday.
KH: Well, let's hit the phones now... And First up is Rex, listening to MMM in Sydney. Hi Rex...
Rex: How are ya?
KH: Bounce your call across the the uh satellite links to London.
Rex: I'm bounced.
(general laughter)
KH: OK...
Rex: Hello...
Roger Waters: Hi Rex.
Rex: Hello, how are you, man?
Roger Waters: All right, thanks.
Rex: That's not bad. Well, my question was, what inspired you to write The Wall, because I'm a really big fan?
Roger Waters: A number of things, but the starting point for the Wall was playing a gig at Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1977 at the end of the Animals tour...
Rex: Right.
Roger Waters: ...and I'd finally become completely disillusioned with the whole idea of stadium gigs in rock 'n roll, because I'd come to the conclusion they're not about music or communication or any of the things that I'm interested in - they're only about money.
Rex: Yeah, sure, - I can dig that.
Roger Waters: And so the theatrical idea which was the centre of the theme of building a wall of bricks across the front of the stage, while a band is actually playing, is an expression of the distance I was feeling at that time from the audience. Ummmh...
Rex: Did this have anything to do with your actual life, or you know, your early life?
Roger Waters: Yeah it is it is partially uh autobiographical... I've taken ...it's... it's a lot about my early life... I mean my father being killed and all that stuff, and... and some of it's about Syd and some of it's drawn from other experiences, you know... writing a piece like that's a bit like... I suppose writing a novel, or writing anything - you draw largely from your own experience, but also from other peoples that you know well.
KH: Alright Rex, thanks a lot for your call, listening to MMM in Sydney. Now we've got er Jeff listening to FM 104 in Brisbane - hi Jeff!
Jeff: G'day.
KH: What's your question for Roger?
Jeff: Roger, speaking about Syd - what is Syd Barrett doing nowadays?
Roger Waters: He just lives quietly in Cambridge, with his mum.
KH: He's not involved in music at all, Rog?
Roger Waters: No. He's not involved in anything very much.
Jeff: Damn shame...
Roger Waters: Well, he's schizophrenic..., and has been since 1968.
Jeff: ohhh...
KH: Gee, that's sad - that is sad... thanks for your call, Jeff.
Jeff: Thank you.
KH: And now we move onto Kaye, listening to FOX-FM in Melbourne - hi Kaye!
Kaye: Hi. How are you?
KH: I'm terrific - what's your question for Roger Waters?
Kaye: Right - Roger. I was just wondering - with your song "Wish You Were Here" - was that directed at anyone in particular, or was it just another of your great songs?
Roger Waters: Ahh, no - it wasn't directed at - I s'pose you could say within the context of that record it... maybe... it was more about Syd Barrett than about anyone else. Though I would have to try and remember all the lyrics - no, it think it was - it was more a general song about... umm... feeling a sense of loss when you're not with somebody that you love, or have loved, or...
Kaye: Yeah, that's what I thought... it's really deep and it's an excellent song, like all your others...
Roger Waters: Thank you.
Kaye: OK, nice talking with you, Roger.
Roger Waters: And you.
KH: Kaye, thanks for your call, listening to FOX-FM in Melbourne - actually, we'll give you a chance to re-live the lyrics of "Wish You Were Here" a little later on, Roger - we're gonna actually play a live version from your solo tour, out of last year, when you played in Quebec, in Canada. Remember that gig?
Roger Waters: I do indeed.
KH: Alright, we're gonna play that a little later on, but right now we might slip into a Pink Floyd classic, featuring Roger - Money... (Money is played)
KH: We've got Cheryl, listening to 96 FM in Perth - hi, Cheryl!
Cheryl: Hello - how are you?
KH: I'm fine - you have a question for Roger?
Cheryl: Roger, I'd like to ask you - what your ultimate goal in life would be?
Roger Waters: I'd like to die a very old and happy man.
KH and Cheryl: (general laughter)...
KH: Sounds fair to me. How about musically, Roger?
Roger Waters: Musically?... Well, I'd just like to go on doing work that I... ahh, believe in.
KH: Yeah. Do you have any... um... do you have... do you set yourself goals for albums, in terms of... you'd like it to get to this position on the chart - do you... do you have those kind of, err material goals, with your music?
Roger Waters: Ahh, no. They're a bit of a waste of time. It's best to just throw 'em out, and see what happens.
KH: Alright.
Roger Waters: There... there are other things I want to do. I'm involved at the moment in uhh ... I'm trying to find a decent film project...
KH: Ohhhhh...
Roger Waters: to do a film score for - and there's one in the pipeline that will be great, if it comes off...
KH: Alright, thanks for your call, Cheryl, listening to 96 FM in Perth, and now we've got Peter, listening to SA-FM in Adelaide... hi Pete!
Pete: Hi.
KH: Your question for Roger...
Pete: Yeah, Roger, umm on the last album, Radio KAOS - the err rather optimistic song, "The Tide is Turning" - I was wondering if that was a genuine feeling, or just wishful thinking, and if so err where you sort of found this optimism, where you saw the tide was turning.
Roger Waters: Sorry, what was your name again?
Pete: Pete.
Roger Waters: Well, I tend to go up and down like a yo-yo, Pete.. some.. some... some uhh afternoons I feel extremely optimistic and uhh sometimes uhh at four o'clock in the morning, I feel a deep and black gloom coming over me, as I... as I lie awake...
Pete: Yeah.
Roger Waters: I feel we're at a bit of a watershed, you know, and... uhh, my hope is that umm because of the advances that have been made in the technology of communication, it... it becomes easier and easier for individuals to communicate directly with one another, and bypass uhh the powers that be, and uhh take control of the uhh ... of the uhh... the way the uhh... the Earth is organised. Uhh, uh, at this time, at twenty-four minutes past twelve on this.... uh Wednesday afternoon, am I... I am optimistic now!
Pete: Oh, that's good...
Roger Waters: But by tea time I might be pessimistic again, y'know, it's a... it's a... it's a strange piece of history we're living through, but at least because of uhh... television, we all get a chance to see more of what's going on than they did in the middle of the last century.
Pete: Right...
KH: Thanks for your call, Pete.
Pete: OK, thank you.
KH: We might slip into into, err... a track that's live and exclusive to Rocksat tonight, and it err goes back to err 1987 - Roger, your solo tour - you were in Quebec, in Canada - was it a good night?
Roger Waters: It was a great night, yeah... the... the French Canadians are very warm people, and it was a good night.
KH: Well, let's have a listen to it now, live and exclusive to Rocksat - Wish You Were Here... (Wish You Were Here is played)
KH: Live and exclusive to Rocksat - that's err Roger Waters and The Bleeding Hearts Band, recorded in Quebec, during Roger's solo tour in 1987... and Wish You Were Here... who was in the band at that stage, Roger?
Roger Waters: Uhh, Graham Broad on drums, Katie Kassoon and Doreen Chanter... vocals, Paul Carrack... keyboard and vocals, uhh... Andy Fairweather Low... vocals and umm guitars and bass, Mel Collins... saxophones, and Jay Stapley... guitar.
KH: Now, you're currently putting together a new album - umm is that the same people who you have involved in this new album you're recording?
Roger Waters: Umm - Andy Fairweather Low is involved and.. uhh, most of the people are the same... yeah, most of the people are the same.
KH: Andy Fairweather Low of course will be remembered as a member of Amen Corner, here in Australia, who had... uh... one big hit, of "Paradise is Half as Nice." Good stuff! Lets... uhh, let's hit the phones again... 008 033 300 is the number, if you want to talk to Roger tonight, who's sitting in the BBC studios in London... we've got Karen, listening to MMM in Sydney - hi!
Karen: Hi!
KH: What's your question for Roger?
Karen: Uhh... who wrote most of the... uhh... songs for Pink Floyd?
Roger Waters: I didn't catch that, Karen.
Karen: Umm... who wrote most of the songs for Pink Floyd?
Roger Waters: (mostly laughter, and a canine grin)... Errr... I did.
Karen: (giggles) You did (giggles)...
Roger Waters: Yes, I did...
KH: And justifiably proud of the fact, too, I would imagine?
Roger Waters: Wellll... I dunno...
KH: YEAH! Is there any you go back on, and go "Awwww.. wish I hadn't done that"?
Roger Waters: Umm... possibly "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" from the very first album..., but... but most of it I err... quite like... I'm not very keen on Atom Heart Mother, for students of... uhh... of the old Pink Floyd catalogue - I thought that was rather a... a - I thought the err... instrumental piece that takes up side one was rather dull, in retrospect.
KH: Alright, thanks for your call, Karen. We've got Rob in Perth, listening to 96 FM - hi Rob!
Rob: Hi!
KH: Fire your question at Roger.
Rob: Uhh yeah - I saw Pink Floyd ummm a few months ago, but I've never seen you in concert, so I was wondering if you had any plans to tour Australia in the near future?
Roger Waters: Umm... well I... you were... you were... you were all part of my plan err last year, when I was errr... I was touring err ... I toured America for a couple of months, and the plan was to go on to err... Australia, and we had talks with... who's the promoter there? Paul Dainty, is it?
KH: Yesss, there's a couple of them, actually, but he's one of them...
Roger Waters:Yeah, I think... I think it was him - yeah - and, uhh..., there was no interest, I am afraid, so we couldn't come.
Rob: Ohh... right...
Roger Waters: It's not something that I can do... as a hobby...
Rob - Yeah...
KH: (laughs)... Is it...uhh...
Roger Waters: ... Y'know, I put on a... well... I put on a... well... a very involved show, with uhh Quad sound and films and all the kinds of things I used to do with Floyd, and it costs a lot of money to take it around... I'm not just... I'd like to come to Australia... there has to be interest there, before I can tour.
KH: I think there is certainly interest now since The Tide is Turning - it got a lot of radio airplay in Australia, and I think people are more aware of what you are doing now.
Roger Waters: Well...
KH: ... COME ON DOWN!
Roger Waters: ... I will approach all the Australian promoters, and if any one of them is prepared to offer me a deal that... that doesn't cost me - I don't need to make a profit, but I... but I really err... can't go on, y'know, spending lots of money, touring strange places. I'd love to go to Australia and play!
KH: Alright, thanks for your call, Rob.
Rob: Yep... no worries...
KH: We might slip into a little bit more, urrr... music, on Rocksat, live via satellite across Australia, and tonight across the world with Roger Waters - you can join us on 008 033 300. Here's the Floyd, with uh... Another Brick in the Wall... (Another Brick in the Wall Part II is played)
KH: Another Brick in the Wall, Roger?... uhhhm - the film that was made... uh based on... on a lot of that work... umm - what did you think of that film, when it was all sort-of washed up, and you had a chance to have a look at it, maybe a few years down the track?
Roger Waters: Well, I haven't looked at it err recently, but I was... I was a bit disappointed with it in the end, because umm at the end of the day I felt no sympathy at all with err the lead character... the character that Geldof played.
KH: Yeah, right...
Roger Waters: A... and I err found it was mmm so unremitting in its onslaught upon the senses, that umm... it didn't actually err... give me, anyway, as an audience, a chance to get involved with it.
KH: Alright... well we might...
Roger Waters: It was spectacular I thought, visually... umm I mean...
KH: Yes!
Roger Waters: ... I mean Alan Parker is... is... ahhh is a ve... is an extremely accomplished technician. (laughs)...
KH: (giggling away conspiratorially)... Said he laughingly... alright!... - If you want to talk to Roger tonight, about anything ahh you like, you can give us a call... it's as simple as picking up the phone, and here's the number to dial...
KH: Well, let's hit the phones again, to talk to Roger Waters, and first up... John, listening to SA-FM, in Adelaide - hi John!
John: G'day.
KH: You have a question for Roger, obviously...
John: Yes, please...
KH: Go ahead!
John: Ahh... G'day Roger - umm, why do you always wear dark glasses when you're having your photo taken?
Roger Waters: Well... well I haven't always in the past... I have recently, ummm .... and I'll tell you why... it... it means that if I can project an image of someone wearing dark glasses, then when I'm not wearing them (and wearing dark glasses is something I very rarely do)... nobody recognises me!
John: Ohh, yeah...
Roger Waters: Which is, err ... y'know... something I'd like to promote. To preserve my anonymity.
(general laughter)
KH: Actually, you're famous for your anonymity, aren't you, Roger?
Roger Waters: (laughs, very briefly) [Ed. The laugh is vaguely reminiscent of the look of a dog, when you suddenly realise that it just might bite]
KH: ... uh, never mind... thanks for your call, John.
John: No worries - thanks.
KH: We have err Jefferson, listening to FM 104 in Brisbane - hi! Jefferson - G'day!
KH: Alright - fire your question at Roger, listening to... ahh... to you, in the BBC studios in London.
Jefferson: Righty- ho... yeah, Roger? Uhh, out of the Pink Floyd albums, which one would be your favourite, and why?
Roger Waters: The Wall. Because it has... well actually, no, I don't... YES... I s'pose I said that without thinking, so it probably is. I dunno, its very complete... it's got... its...its..i... its got great form, I believe...
Jefferson: Yeah, right...
Roger Waters: And it's...
Jefferson: I was hoping...
Roger Waters: uhh...
Jefferson: ... 't might be Ummagumma!
Roger Waters: You were, were you?... Umm, remind me of Ummagum.. that was the one with... umm... where half the album was live from Mothers' in Birmingham, and the other half was bits that we all made up individually.
Jefferson: That's the one...
Roger Waters: Yeah... - well, that's - not - my - favourite...!
KH: (laughs)... Thanks Jefferson, for your call. Now we've got David, listening to FOX in Melbourne. Hi Dave.
David: Hi!
KH: Your question for Roger?
David: What inspired you to write The Embryo, from the... on the Works album?
Roger Waters: Embryo?
Dave: Yeahh...
Roger Waters: Errr...
David: Previously unreleased...
Roger Waters: I... I honestly can't remember - we're talking about 20 years ago, now...
David: Well, I...
Roger Waters: I really don't remember!... is that Jefferson? Is that what I heard?
KH: No, David...
David - David...
Roger Waters: David! David... yeah... I don't remember, David.
David: Awwww... (sighs)...
Roger Waters: It's not a... a song I'm proud of... which is why it was never released on an album. It came out, I think, on a compilation album...
David: (sighs)... ohhh, OK.
KH: Alright - thanks for your call, David. And we might slip into a little more Radio KAOS - sound good to you, Roger?
Roger Waters: Why not.
KH: Alright, let's get into... umm the track that has been on radio stations, right across the country... The Tide Is Turning... (The Tide Is Turning is played)
KH: Roger Waters, from Radio KAOS - and he's on your radio station tonight, on Rocksat, live via satellite, across Australia, and across the world, to London's BBC Woodlands studios, where Roger is sitting, at this very moment. Aren't you, Roger!
Roger Waters: I am, sir!
KH: Alright... shortly we're going to draw the...
Roger Waters: And I'm sitting up straight, as well, Kevin!...
KH: that's good
Roger Waters: and I'm paying attention
KH: I'm pleased to see your posture has improved... shortly we're going to draw the winner of the... the "Rocksat Rock Sack", from Brashs, but first up were gonna hit the phones again, and we've got Donna, listening to err, 2PK, in Parkes... hi Donna!
Donna: Hi!
KH: You are going live to London, now, to talk to Roger...
Donna: Oh, that's great.
KH: Go for it!
Donna: Err, Roger? Do you mix socially with other... (clears throat) musish... musicians?
Roger Waters: Err, yeah! S... some, I do... yeah.
Donna: Whhhat... what, who like... could I ask who like?
KH: (laughs)
Roger Waters: (mild amusement) You don't want me to name names, do you, Donna?
Donna: n.. n.. ...not any particular name... like any band, or?
Roger Waters: Err, no - no, not really... just... just people who I have met socially... really... through... err... through other things..
KH: Well before the program sta...
Roger Waters: ... W...w... we spoke earlier about... umm - Kevin and I spoke earlier about Mike Rutherford, because we have a connection err via... Paul Carrack, who's done work for both of us...
Donna: Right, just general people...
Roger Waters: ...and I see him and his wife Angie from time to time.
Donna: Right - just general people that you meet in... in the circuit?
Roger Waters: Yeah... yeah - I don't... I don't kind of go and hang out at other people's houses, or in... in studios, or... or..., umm, it's... it's not... I don't lead that kind of life.
KH: Do you have musicians hanging out in your studio, though, 'cos you have a full studio setup at home...?
Donna: Ummmhhhh... (he he)
Roger Waters: Welll, uhh...
KH: N... n... not you, Donna - I meant Roger...
Roger Waters: (amused, and KH laughing in the background) Well, its possible, Kevin, that Donna has a studio setup at home as well - I mean let's not jump to hasty conclusions - but it's... I can only speak for my own... and no, I don't have musicians hang out - when they come to my studio, they... fffff-bleep-bleep-work... and uhh.. uhh...
KH: (laughter)
Roger Waters: (with some amusement) and they work bloody hard, as well - from the moment they arrive, until the moment we knock off...
KH: (still laughing)... alright...
Roger Waters: We do very little "hanging out".
Roger Waters: OK, thanks for your call, Donna.
Donna: OK- thank you.
KH: ... and John, listening to FOX FM in Melbourne has a question for you too, Roger. Hi John!
John: Hi... hi Roger!
Roger Waters: Hi John!
John: How are you?
Roger Waters: Um, I'm alright, thanks...
John: Good - I'd like to ask you, um, which town in England you originate from, and also, if that place has had any influence on your music?
Roger Waters: Umm, well I was born in Great Bookham, in Surrey, which is err near a town called Dorking, about twenty miles south of London...
John: yeah...
Roger Waters: ... and err so, for the first umm eighteen months of my life, we were being overflown by err Doodlebugs, err-umm which I don't really remember, and then we moved to Cambridge, which is where I was brought up, and I... I do remember moving to Cambridge, which is when I was... two, and I remember... I remember... uh... VJ night...
John: yeah...
Roger Waters: a big bonfire, and being held up to the window, and people with flags.. and dancing, and flickering light...
John: Yeah...
KH: Did it have any effect on... on you musically - that upbringing?
Roger Waters: Yeah - growing up in Cambridge certainly did, because it was a bit.. a University town, and there were lots of err... trad-jazz bands, when I was sort of eleven... twelve... thirteen... fourteen... growing up in the beginnings of umm... of err... rock 'n roll starting, via skiffle bands, and things like that, but mainly it was trad-jazz, and I... I... I used to go to umm dances in the Corn Exchange, and I'd... I'd stand there at the back, and err look at... y'know the guy playing the trumpet on the stage, and think 'Jesus, that looks good fun...
KH: (laughs in background)
Roger Waters: I'd like to be him. I... I wou... I want to be that person.' And so I'm... maybe that err was... uhh... something that was very likely to happen in... in err Cambridge, and not so likely to happen in Warrington, or Middlesborough, or somewhere...up North.
John: Yes, right...
KH: John, thanks a lot for your call.
John: Thank you.
KH: And, ahh... excuse me, Roger - I just have to dig into our little barrel here, our Rocksat barrel, and actually draw out a winner for our Rocksat Rocksack from Brashs, which is worth fifteen hundred dollars...
Roger Waters: (indecipherable, but in a friendly tone of voice)
KH: Yes?
Roger Waters: My time is your time...
KH: Ohhh... I... I... I...jusw...w...w...
Roger Waters: Sorry to interrupt... you carry on... you go ahead!
KH: I just want to dig in here, and grab this thing out... and see who we got... uhh - we actually have Grant Beale, or Grunt Beale, who lives in... (indecipherable)
Roger Waters: It's not likely to be...
KH: ... No, it wasn't you, unfortunately, Roger... I'm sorry about that!...uhh...
Roger Waters: ... No, I'm saying his name is not likely to be Grunt, is it?
KH: (laughs)... So, Grant has got that ahh... that Rocksat Rocksack, and what we'll do is try and phone him during this break, and have a talk to him after that, here on Rocksat, live via satellite, across Australia.
KH: Roger is sitting in the BBC err... Woodlands studios in London... Roger, what's... uhh... what's coming up for you now? I mean, you are in the middle of recording the album, and we do thank you for.. popping in tonight and... err taking time out from recording the album. How far along the track are you with it?
Roger Waters: I'm just about to start mixing. He can't have been listening tonight, can he, or he'd have known he'd won - if you see what I mean...
KH: (laughs)...
Roger Waters: ...Anyway, that's neither here nor there! Umm... I'm... yeah - I'm just about to start mixing, Kevin.
KH: Ahhh... now when are we likely to see this album?
Roger Waters: (draws in breath) I should think... err in September.
KH: Right... have have.. g... have you got any titles for the album ... have you sort of worked all that stuff out yet... you tell us about?
Roger Waters: Yeap-yeah-yeah - I've got... I've got all that worked out, but... umm... I'm...
KH: ...But you're not going to tell us?...
Roger Waters: ...anonymous...
KH: (laughs)
Roger Waters: ...Nope-no I'm not, but I - I am going to at this point, because we're running out of time now, say hello to Jo-Jo and Pauline, and Susie, and Janet, and Bronwyn.
KH: These are friends that you met on the... ahh... on the tour...
Roger Waters: ...These're...
KH: when you were here, in '73?
Roger Waters: N... N-no - these... these are old friends that I've met at... at other points in my life, which... and I won't go into it, but they know who they are.
KH: Right, now after you... after the album comes out, umm... are we... are we likely to see you err... touring around the world, and maybe coming down to Australia?
Roger Waters: Yeah, I'm... I'm ahh... my plan is to tour... err do some touring, starting in the States probably, in err... uhhm... let me think... Ma... probably March and April of next year, and as I said before - I would... I would dearly love to come to Australia.
KH: Well, its been a long time...
Roger Waters: Keep... yep...
KH: Fifteen years is a long time - I... I think Australia has changed a heck of a lot, and obviously what you are doing now has changed a heck of a lot, in that time?
Roger Waters: Yep!
KH: Well, listen - we thank
Roger Waters: W-w... ww.. ww.. w...
KH: you for taking
Roger Waters: Wwell..
KH: ...ahh time out from ahh... from recording the album...
Roger Waters: (short muffled chuckle)
KH: for joining us tonight on Rocksat...
Roger Waters: Kevin, it's been a... my pleasure, sir!
From www.brain-damage.co.uk
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