Roger Waters

Singer+songwriter & bass player and even composer, George Roger Waters was born on September 6, 1943, in Great Bookham, Surrey ENGLAND; he grew up in Cambridge where he first met Syd Barrett when they attended the Morley Memorial Junior School. In 1965, Waters was a founding member of Pink Floyd, with then lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Syd Barrett, as well as Richard Wright and Nick Mason. their 1967 debut album, "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", was a critical success and positioned the band for stardom.

In 1970, Waters collaborated with British composer Ron Geesin on a soundtrack LP, "Music From The Body", a mostly instrumental album which featured some of Waters' and Pink Floyd's later work, "Breathe" for example, but in an embryonic form.

Within Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, the main lyrical contributor, exerted more and more creative control over the band. He had the idea of doing concept albums such as "Dark Side Of The Moon" and "Wish You Were Here", with Waters writing all of the lyrics and most of the music being written by David Gilmour. Waters is the sole writer of two of Floyd's most successful singles, "Money" and "Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)"; in total, he has songwriting credit on over 85% of the band's entire music catalogue.

In April 1984 Roger Waters released his first solo album, "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking"; it peaked at #13 in U.K. and reached the #31 position on the American Billboard Top 200 chart going gold.
The following year he proclaimed that, due to irreconcilable differences, Pink Floyd had dissolved. The ensuing disagreement between Waters and Gilmour over the latter's intention to continue to use the name Pink Floyd descended into lawsuits and public bickering in the press. Gilmour and Mason won the right to use the name and with Wright back in tow, Pink Floyd continued to exist without Waters.
In 1986 the psychedelic-Rock genius contributed songs to the soundtrack of the movie "When The Wind Blows"; his backing band, featuring keyboardist Paul Carrack, was credited as The Bleeding Hearts Band.
In mid-1987 Waters, still accompanied by The Bleeding Hearts Band although not always credited as such, released another concept album, "Radio K.A.O.S.", about a man named Billy who can hear radio waves in his head; the 8-song set hit #25 on the British chart and #50 on the U.S. Top 200 spawning two singles, "Radio Waves" and "Sunset Strip", which both fared well on The Mainstream Rock chart peaking at #12 and #15, respectively.
After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, Roger Waters staged a gigantic charity concert of The Wall in Berlin on July 21, 1990 to commemorate the end of the division between East and West Germany; the concert took place on Potsdamer Platz, featured many guest superstars such as Cyndi Lauper, Ute Lemper, Scorpions, Sinead O' Conner among others and was one of the biggest concert ever staged with an attendance of over 300,000 and watched live by over 5 million people worldwide. The event was documented on a double-disc, "The Wall: Live In Berlin" which reached #24 in U.K. and #56 in U.S. while the first single, "Young Lust" performed by Bryan Adams, rocketed to #7 on The Mainstream Rock chart; "Hey You", performed by Paul Carrack was another Active Rock top 40 hit.
In September 1992 Waters delivered his third studio album, "Amused To Death", which once again showcased his talented use of concept, imagination and lyrical mastery; the record shot to #8 on the U.K. Pop chart and peaked at #21 on The Billboard 200 Albums list; the single "What God Wants, Part I" rose to #4 on The Mainstream Rock chart.

In 1999 Waters embarked on the In The Flesh tour which saw Waters performing some of his most famous work, both solo and Floyd material. The tour was a success and eventually stretched across the world; one concert was released on CD-DVD, named "In The Flesh Live", in late 2000.
Roger Waters and Pink Floyd reunited for a performance at the Live8 concert in July 2005. They played a 6-song, 23-minute set, including "Speak To Me", "Breathe", "Breathe (reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb".

In February of 2005, it was announced on Roger Waters' website that his opera, "Ça Ira", had been completed after 16 years of work. It was released by Sony Classical on September 27, 2005 with Baritone Bryn Terfel, soprano Ying Huang and tenor Paul Groves; nor does it contain an appearance by Waters as a performer, he is the composer and he also co-produced the 3-act opera. The album debuted at #1 on The Billboard Top Classical chart.
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger 'Syd' Barrett died on July 7, 2006, at the age of 60, due to complications from diabetes. “The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death”, the surviving members of Pink Floyd said in a statement, “Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire”.
“Syd was a lovely guy and a unique talent”, added Waters. “He leaves behind a body of work that is both very touching and very deep and which will shine on forever”.

Roger Waters has recorded the original song "Hello (I Love You)" to be featured in New Line Cinema's upcoming sci-fi film "The Last Mimzy", to be released on March 23.

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—Ron Geesin - Roger Waters—

Music From The Body

(1970)

1. Our Song
2. Sea Shell And Stone
3. Red Stuff Writhe
4. A Gentle Breeze Blew Through Life
5. Lick Your Partners
6. Bridge Passage For Three Plastic Teeth
7. Chain Of Life
8. The Womb Bit
9. Embryo Thought
10. March Of The Past Embryos
11. More Than Seven Dwarfs In Penis-Land
12. Dance Of The Red Corpuscles
13. Body Transport
14. Hand Dance - Full Evening Dress
15. Breathe
16. Old Folks Ascension
17. Bed-Time-Dream-Clime
18. Piddle In Perspex
19. Embryonic Womb-Walk
20. Mrs. Throat Goes Walking
21. Sea Shell Amd Soft Stone
22. Give Birth To A Smile

 

The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

(1984)

1. 4.30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)
2. 4.33 AM (Running Shoes)
3. 4.37 AM (Arabs With Knives And West German Skies)
4. 4.39 AM (For The First Time Today - Part 2)
5. 4.41 AM (Sexual Revolution)
6. 4.47 AM (The Remains Of Our Love)
7. 4.50 AM (Go Fishing)
8. 4.56 AM (For The First Time Today - Part 1)
9. 4.58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin)
10. 5.01 AM (The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking - Part 10)
11. 5.06 AM (Every Strangers Eyes)
12. 5.11 AM (The Moment Of Clarity)

 

—Roger Waters & The Bleeding Heart Band—

When The Wind Blows
[soundtrack]

(1986)

1. When The Wind Blows —David Bowie—
2. Facts And Figures —Hugh Cornwell—
3. The Brazilian —Genesis—
4. What Have They Done? —Squeeze—
5. The Shuffle —Paul Hardcastle—
6. The Russian Missile
7. Towers Of Faith
8. Hilda's Dream
9. American Bomber
10. The Anderson Shelter
11. The British Submarine
12. The Attack
13. The Fallout
14. Hilda's Hair
15. Folded Flags

 

Radio K.A.O.S.

(1987)

1. Radio Waves
2. Who Needs Information
3. Me Or Him
4. The Powers That Be
5. Sunset Strip
6. Home
7. Four Minutes
8. The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)

 

The Wall
Live In Berlin

(1990)

DISC #1:
1. In The Flesh —Scorpions—
2. The Thin Ice —Ute Lemper - Roger Waters—
3. Another Brick In The Wall (Part I)
4. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives —Joe Chemay-John Joyce-Stan Farber-Jim Haas-Roger Waters—
5. Another Brick In The Wall (Part II) —Cyndi Lauper—
6. Mother —Sinead O' Conner—
7. Goodbye Blue Sky —Joni Mitchell—
8. Empty Spaces —Bryan Adams - Roger Waters—
9. Young Lust —Bryan Adams—
10. One Of My Turns
11. Don't Leave Me Now
12. Another Brick In The Wall (Part III)
13. Goodbye Cruel World

DISC #2:
1. Hey You —Paul Carrack—
2. Is There Anybody Out There? —Rundfunk Orchestra And Choir—
3. Nobody Home
4. Vera —Roger Waters - Rundfunk Orchestra And Choir—
5. Bring The Boys Back Home —Rundfunk Orchestra - Military Orchestra Of The Soviet Army—
6. Comfortably Numb —Van Morrison - Roger Waters—
7. In The Flesh —Roger Waters-The Bleeding Heart Band-Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir-The Military Orchestra Of The Soviet—
8. Run Like Hell —Roger Waters-The Bleeding Heart Band-Rundfunk Orchestra & Choir-The Military Orchestra Of The Soviet—
9. Waiting For The Worms
10. Stop
11. The Trial
12. The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)

 

Amused To Death

(1992)

1. The Ballad Of Bill Hubbard
2. What God Wants, Part I
3. Perfect Sense, Part I
4. Perfect Sense, Part II
5. The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
6. Late Home Tonight, Part I
7. Late Home Tonight, Part II
8. Too Much Rope
9. What God Wants, Part II
10. What God Wants, Part III
11. Watching TV
12. Three Wishes
13. It's A Miracle
14. Amused To Death

 

Ça Ira

(2005)

DISC #1:
1. The Gathering Storm
2. Overture
3. A Garden In Vienna 1765
4. Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine...
5. Kings, Sticks And Birds...
6. Honest Bird, Simple Bird...
7. I Want To Be King...
8. Let Us Break All The Shields...
9. The Grievances Of The People
10. France In Disarray
11. To Laugh Is To Know How To Live...
12. Slavers, Landlords, Bigots At Your Door...
13. The Fall Of The Bastille
14. To Freeze In The Dead Of Night...
15. So To The Streets In The Pouring Rain...
16. Dances And Marches
17. Now Hear Ye!...
18. Flushed With Wine...
19. The Letter
20. My Dear Cousin Bourbon Of Spain...
21. The Ship Of State Is All At Sea...
22. Silver, Sugar And Indigo
23. To The Windward Isles...
24. The Papal Edict
25. In Paris There's A Rumble Under The Ground...

DISC #2:
1. The Fugitive King
2. But The Marquis Of Boulli Has A Trump Card Up His Sleeve...
3. To Take Your Hat Off...
4. The Echoes Never Fade From That Fusillade...
5. The Commune De Paris
6. Vive La Commune De Paris...
7. The National Assembly Is Confused...
8. The Execution Of Louis Capet
9. Adieu Loius For You It's Over...
10. Marie Antoinette - The Last Night On Earth
11. Adieu My Good And Tender Sister...
12. Liberty
13. And In The Bushes Where They Survive...

 

The Last Mimzy
[soundtrack]

(2007)

INCLUDES:

- Hello (I Love You)

 

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