Personalities | Pink Floyd | The Waters-Led Era (1985) | Key Events

July

Live Aid

The Live Aid concerts held on 13 July 1985 were one of the greatest musical events of all time. That Bob ‘Pink’ Geldof was a prime mover meant that David Gilmour received a phone call to get Floyd together to perform. With relations between Gilmour, Waters and Nick Mason approaching legal waters, Gilmour suggested he bring his solo band to play, ‘but they didn’t want me’. Gilmour did appear with Bryan Ferry, but his guitar could not be heard on the first two songs; his solo on ‘Slave To Love’ was fantastic, however.

Mason’s Profiles

Away from Pink Floyd, Nick Mason had built up an impressive collection of sports cars and was to establish a company, Ten-Tenths, to hire them out for photoshoots and films to keep them in petrol. Mason also established a company with Rick Fenn, keyboard player for 10cc, to provide music for TV commercials and films. Their 1985 album, Profiles, was a neat musical summation of potential instrumental themes and included the single ‘Lie For A Lie’, featuring lead vocals by Dave Gilmour. ‘Even with [Gilmour’s] help,’ Mason wrote in his memoirs, ‘it failed to get close enough to the charts to tarnish the paintwork.’

December

Waters Quits

By December 1985 Roger Waters saw his future as a solo artist and believed that Pink Floyd were ‘a spent force’. He took steps to dismiss Steve O’Rourke, legally dissolve the group and apportion future royalties. O’Rourke thought it was his duty to inform Gilmour and Mason of Waters’ proposals who, after working together on Nick Mason’s single ‘Lie For A Lie’, countered that they intended to carry on trading as Pink Floyd. As the prime creative force behind Floyd’s last three albums (Animals, The Wall and The Final Cut) Waters was shocked. ‘You’ll never f****** get it together to make a record,’ he allegedly told Gilmour.

Personalities | Introducing Pink Floyd
Personalities | Pink Floyd | The Gilmour-Led Era (1986–94) | An Overview

Source: Pink Floyd Revealed, by Ian Shirley

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