1                                                           Radio Europe 5/1/82


 

This transcription copyright 2004 Kenneth D. Langford

For permission to re-publish, please email: trylucius at comcast dot net

 

Translation: Luc Nierat (LN)

Transcription: Ken Langford (KL)

 

This interview was conducted live on Radio Europe in Paris France on May 1, 1982.  It was conducted mostly in the French language, as Dave Gilmour is a French speaker.  It was translated many years ago in Colorado USA by Luc Nierat (Nee ROW), and transcribed from the translation cassette by Ken Langford. 

 

The interview is unique for many reasons.  We get an unreleased clip of the 1/23/70 radio broadcast, a portion of which has circulated for years as “Waters Gate,” but which did not include this (rather unexciting) bit.  Several of the guests are otherwise absent from the known archives of Pink Floyd related interviews.  These include Barbet Schroeder, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Bulle Ogier, and Etienne Rodajil (more recently of Ca Ira fame).

 

Participants:                  Dave:   David Gilmour

                  & nbsp;                 Nick:    Nick Mason

                  & nbsp;                 MDJ:    Unnamed Male DJ

                  & nbsp;                 FDJ:     Vivian, A Female DJ

                  & nbsp;                 FL:       Francois Lemere

                  & nbsp;                 JPK:     Jean-Pierre Kalfon (Actor in La Vallee)

                  & nbsp;                 BS:       Barbet Schroeder (Director of More and La Vallee)

 

Guests:                  & nbsp;      BO:      Bulle Ogier (Star Actress of La Vallee - on tape)

                  & nbsp;                 ER:       Etienne Rodajil

                  & nbsp;                 MG:     Mark Garcia

                  & nbsp;                 MX:     Maxie (Program Director)

 

MDJ:    Tonight on Radio Free Europe, Pink Floyd!

 

FDJ:     Well I say Pin Floyd!

 

MDJ:    Well I pronounce it PINK FLOYD!!

 

Nick:    We are Pink Floyd.

 

MDJ:    What's important is to listen to the music, anyway.

 

FDJ:     And to look at David and Nick, who are both very cute boys!

 

MDJ:    David, guitar and Nick, percussion.  We also have with us Maxie, Mark Garcia, Francois Lemere-director, guests Jean-Pierre Kalfon who is an actor and a musician and will join us later, and our first guest Etienne Rodajil, who lived in the Pink Floyd era with passion.  Now he has gray hair.

 

ER:       Yes.  I made a pilgrimage to London for the first Wall concert.  I went without my kids, by myself.  I was just turning 40.  I had a terrible evening!  I went on a free pass from Steve (O'Rourke?-KL); the show was sold out, but I'm telling it like it is - I had a terrible evening.  I had a bad time.  We can talk about the show as a pilgrimage... we can talk about faith.

 

MDJ:    But the whole crowd was in their 40's...

 

ER:       No, no, there were young people... older... everything, but I felt very lonely in my own trip.  I saw black flags everywhere, hammers and things.  It made me very happy in a way because I realized that something was still going on, at least as far as the music was concerned.

 

MDJ:    We are always alone in our own history, says Etienne Rodajil!  This is a little bit the theme of not only the double album of The Wall and the concerts, but also the movie by Alan Parker.  So the theme of The Wall is claustrophobia... isolation... introspection... ?

 

Dave:   Yes.  It is the story of somebody born during the war, somebody that would have all those problems.  They are not my problems, even though it is autobiographic in a way...of Roger, who wrote the story.

 

MDJ:    It is his story when he was isolated in a room in Los Angeles, abusing too many things.  Too many groupies, maybe too much drugs...

 

Dave:   Too much hysteria, too many shows.

 

MDJ:    And now he's projecting atrocious images, as we do on TV at certain times.

 

Dave:   You're linking everything so well!

 

MDJ:    Well, I just adapt.  And he thinks... he dreams... he meditates.  It is a dream, a nightmare about himself... a reflection on his own life.

 

Nick:    Yes, that's it.  He tries to protect himself by creating this wall around himself.

 

MDJ:    And so during the show, Etienne, they build this wall brick by brick, and at the end of the show you couldn't see the band, right?

 

ER:       That's right, but without forgetting something very very important: the fact that there were two bands.   A very small band, and then the others.  At the end you didn't know who was the real band, and I think that was very very important.  There was the band and there was the image of the band, which was very interesting.  You can interpret it as you like, but there was this notion of people trying to protect themselves, and the notion of a rock star, which doesn't mean much.  We know that the superstar notion is not worth much anyway.

 

MDJ:    I was talking to Dominique Bleufeutare, the sound engineer from Rushmoutier for the film La Vallee, which was recorded in the Chateau d'Herouville, which at the time belonged to Michele Maur(?), and Dominique was saying that at that time in the early 1970's there were not enough technical means for you.  The electronics were such that the instruments of the time were not enough.  Now with this album you have gone farther than what we hoped for.

 

Dave:   Yes, we needed equipment that we didn't have...

 

MDJ:    (Interrupting) Well, you needed equipment that wasn't invented yet, or equipment that was not quite ready for a band like you.

 

Dave:   Yes.

 

?:          So, now you don't have anymore problems playing live or in the recording studio?

 

Dave:   We always have problems!

 

MDJ:    But they're not technical problems anymore.

 

Dave:   Yes, yes!

 

MDJ:    Still?  You still have technical problems?

 

Dave:   Yes.

 

MDJ:    Have you had any specific problems with The Wall?  Do you have a little anecdote?

 

(One Of These Days begins behind talking)

 

Dave:   It was very hard work, but we knew exactly what we wanted to do.  It was very hard work!

 

MDJ:    How long does a recording like this one take?

 

Dave:   For this particular one, about six months.  It was a little more than six months.

 

MDJ:    But did you record every day?

 

Dave:   Well, just about.

 

MDJ:    Do you know in a particular day if you have recorded one song or two songs?

 

Dave:   No, we never know.  It's always different.

 

MDJ:    Does it also depend on the creative feeling of everybody?

 

Dave:   Everybody or somebody.  In this case it was an idea of Rogers'.  He said he wanted to do it.

 

MDJ:    So then you did it?

 

Dave:   Yes.  I thought it was a good idea!

 

FL:       Well, if you like Pink Floyd then you'll want to listen to our station...

 

FDJ:     Francois, open your mike.

 

FL:       Oh yeah.  I could have never been a musician!  I don't understand the technical aspect.

 

MDJ:    Francois was saying, if you like Pink Floyd you should listen to our radio station, because very soon we will be asking a simple question, and if you have the answer you'll get some free passes for the Cannes show (debut of The Wall movie).  The prizes include airfare, hotel, food and maybe alot of other things.  Now we are telling Mark Garcia that we will be listening to One Of These Days.

 

(Music comes up full, interview continues at the conclusion of the song)

 

FDJ:     So now, one little commentary about this piece...

 

MDJ:    The commentary I would have is that this piece is from the album Meddle.  It was very famous, and was a long piece that we listened to at home to space out.

 

?:          Forgive me for interrupting you, but I want to say that I don't think that the music of Pink Floyd can be listened to on the radio.  I really think that to listen to Pink Floyd you have to be by yourself, in your house, hiding behind a wall with headphones on your head, and just listen to it.

 

?:          I think that there are two types of Pink Floyd music.  There is the very long song that you can indeed listen to by yourself in your house with your headphones and two burning candles, and there is the very short two or three minute songs that you...

 

MDJ:    Oh yeah, especially around the 14th of July (French Reunion Day- LN) with "fireworks" (he is implying marijuana- LN).

 

?:          Oh yeah, we're just talking about different kinds of fireworks!  And those little short songs that are perfect for radio stations, like "Have A Cigar" and "Money".  Do you agree?

 

MDJ:    Yes!  Yes I do!

 

?:          But on this album there are both styles, and everybody will find what they like, like the song Echos.  We just couldn't have Echos on the radio because it is too long.  But a little song like San Tropez is perfect, and it's neat!  Also the song with the dog.  How did that happen?

 

Dave:   It just happened.  It was luck... I just had a singing dog.

 

MDJ:    Yeah, like crying babies.  It just happens, right?

 

(Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pt. 1 begins behind talking)

 

FDJ:     And now for our four trips to Cannes for the first showing of the film (The Wall).  David, are you going to be at Cannes?

 

Dave:   Well, I hope so... if I get free passes!

 

FDJ:     You might have a chance to see David and Nick down there too, so listen to the question.  Name as many as possible soundtracks that Pink Floyd have done.  If you have listened to our show from the beginning, we've already told you about three of them.  You don't have to tell us all of them, but the winner will be the one who knows the most!  So call us at 256-9020.

 

MDJ:    The one who says the most wins!  (Intro to Run Like Hell begins)  Pink Floyd: Run Like Hell.

 

(Run Like Hell is played full volume)

 

MDJ:    Another song from The Wall.  David, is this song in the movie?

 

Dave:   Yes, it's in there.

 

MDJ:    All of it?

 

Dave:   Almost all the music is in the movie.

 

MDJ:    One thing which is magical about this album is that on top of the instruments there are little noises in the background, such as a helicopter flying in.

 

Dave:   Yes, we were trying to tell a story.  We have told the same story on the album and in the shows, but the movie is the same story told in a completely different way.

 

MDJ:    You said that you use all the music in the movie, but is there music in the movie that we don't know... that is not on any album?

 

Dave:   Yes, one or two... there is one new thing...

 

(Main Theme from More plays behind talking)

 

MDJ:    So are you going to have a new album with those songs?

 

?:          That's a good idea!

 

Dave:   Yeah, maybe.

 

FDJ:     We have a winner!  We thought the question was tough, but we had a winner right away!  His name is Kestof Legan from Gennevillers.  He found six movies with Pink Floyd soundtracks!

 

MDJ:    Did that include The Wall, because it's the last one!  It should be in there!  So you have won two tickets for the show at Cannes, with train tickets - or airplane, I don't know - and everything else!

 

MDJ:    So... we had talked about La Vallee, More and Zabriskie Point.  The director just walked in - Hi, Barbet Schroeder!   In Zabriskie Point the music was definitely not the worst part of the movie!  Pink Floyd in Pompeii... always very big in France, you can still see it any time you want in Paris, it's always in at least one theater.  Zabriskie Point won a film festival last year.  There was also another movie that I've never heard about... Tonight Let's All Make Love In London.

 

Dave:   Oh, I've never seen that movie, it was before my time in `67.  Ask Nick about that, he would know.

 

Nick (in English): I don't know, I can't remember.

 

Dave (English): It was just Interstellar Overdrive, wasn't it?  Wasn't it a live version of Interstellar Overdrive?

 

Nick (English): No, that was San Francisco.

 

Dave (English): Was it?  I don't know, it was an Ann Stone (?- San Francisco director?) thing, wasn't it?

 

Nick (English): No, that was someone else.

 

(Tonight Let's All Make Love In London was a film by Peter Whitehead about “swinging London.”  It was released in 1967, and prominently featured Interstellar Overdrive, which was recorded on 1/11/67 for the film.  The complete raw film of Syd’s Pink Floyd performing Interstellar Overdrive and the previously unreleased “Nick’s Boogie was eventually released in the 1990s.  KL)

 

MDJ: But you got royalties on the movie, didn't you?

 

Nick:    Yes, but we don't know anything about it besides that.

 

MDJ:    Is it comic, or is it erotic... you don't know?

 

Nick:    No, we don't know.

 

MDJ:    Well then, this winner is really good for knowing this movie that no one else knows about.  Hello again to Barbet Schroeder, glad to see you, long time no see!  I was saying earlier before you walked in that More was definitely the movie that made Pink Floyd famous in Europe.  Even though they were well known in England before that, it was the beginning of their being famous in France.

 

BS:       Well, my movie wouldn't have been as famous without Pink Floyd music!  The public wanted a movie about those times.

 

Nick (In English): A story of sex and drugs, you know.

 

Dave (In English): And rock and roll, of course!

 

BS:       For me it was a movie about love and destruction, where drugs were playing a very important part.  It was not like a sign of the times, it was more like a German romantic movie or L' Ange Bleu by Steril Misengil.  In America the movie didn't do well at all because the dialogue was not tailored to young Americans.  There was no hippie slang in the dialogue. They were speaking a completely different language at the time.  But it was very big in Europe.

 

MDJ:    What happened to Mimsi Farmer (star of More)?

 

BS:       She married somebody in Italy and she lives there now. She has one kid from an Italian screenwriter, and she has acted in many movies in Italy.

 

MDJ:    She was a little blonde cutie, and I can't forget her face... nice round face.  In the movie she would shoot drugs under her tongue, and it was really a reflection of an era that was not as nice as we say it was.

 

BS:       For me it was the opportunity to create a new vamp...   completely innocent without having all those expensive costumes.  A vamp wearing T-shirts!

 

MDJ:    You have told me in the past that you don't like the music in most movies - especially in bad movies when the music lets you guess what the next scene will be.

 

BS:       That is true.

 

MDJ:    And you changed that by making a movie where for the first time the only music in the movie was coming from a radio which was in the scene.  That has been done alot since.

 

BS:       Yes.  Especially in one scene where the music stops and the camera shows that the tape had stopped running.  That was a first.  That was to really show that the music was not coming out of thin air, but was really the music that the people in the movie were listening to.

 

MDJ:    Yes, the Pink Floyd music, the blue sky of Ibiza, the blue eyes of Mimsi Farmer, and communion with nature... all those images really stick well together.  We will return to talking with the members of Pink Floyd in a second.

 

(The Nile Song is played)

 

MDJ:    That is another song off the album More.  So how do you write a soundtrack for a movie?  Do you look at the images and then write?

 

Dave:   In that case, it was not very complicated.  We were in a studio in London trying to write the songs and the music... myself, Rick and Nick.  We wrote the music and Roger went into another room to write the words.  Then we all got together and put the words to the music.  It was a little like a factory.

 

?:          Oh what a deception to know that!

 

Dave:   We did it very fast.  Eight days.

 

BS:       It was very hard work, and the people in the studio didn't know the Pink Floyd, and would say "who are these people that work so hard?"  They were really working harder than other people.  Then we watched the movie to double check.

 

Dave:   Yes, it was eight days to do everything from writing, recording, editing... but everything we did was accepted by the director.  He never asked us to redo anything.

 

MDJ:    You know the Pink Floyd because you really love music, but did you make this movie just to have the Pink Floyd play?

 

BS:       No, no.  Not at all.  I made the movie because it was the right thing to do at the time.  Pink Floyd were making the music that was best adapted to the movie at the time - spacey and very in tune with nature.

 

(Have A Cigar begins behind talking)

 

FDJ:     Radio Free Europe will be back very soon.

 

MDJ:    Have A Cigar!

 

(Have A Cigar plays)

 

MDJ:    Have A Cigar – that's from the album Wish You Were Here, isn't it?

 

?:          Yes, that's it.

 

?:          There was also a very nice piece that was the opening song before this one... with amazing guitar.  What was the name of that?

 

Dave:   Oh yeah, what was the name?

 

MDJ:    This song was just perfect because it really made us understand about this guy who knows everything and walks in and says "have a cigar... by the way, which one of you is Pink?"

 

Dave:   Oh, but it's a true story!  It happened many times where people would ask us... they would really think that that was the name of somebody.

 

MDJ:    So they would ask you?

 

Dave:   Yeah... which one of you is Pink?

 

MDJ:    Meaning, you play the music, we'll do the work and everything will be fine - have a cigar.  That's it, right?

 

Dave:   Yes.

 

FDJ:     O.K., another question now.  Listen to the question carefully.  We'll ask you the dates of the creation of a few things.  It is the foundation of the band Pink Floyd, so we need three dates.  We need when they met, when they did their first gig, and when they did their first recording.  If you know call 256-9020.

 

MDJ:    You're listening to Europe Free.  We have two amazing musicians with us in the studio: Nick Mason, drummer, and David Gilmour, lead guitar, and Nick doesn't speak too much because Dave's French is so good that he let's Dave talk.  Hello Dave Gilmour!

 

Dave:   Bonsoir, good evening.

 

MDJ:    Nick Mason...

 

Nick:    Bonsoir, good evening.

 

MDJ:    They are very cute boys, as Vivian has just told me again in my ear.

 

FDJ:     Oh yeah, especially on stage in concert!

 

MDJ:    We also have in the studio Etienne Rodajil, millionaire...

 

ER:       Yeah, millionaire, but also film producer.

 

MDJ:    And we have with us Jean-Pierre Kalfon.  Good evening.

 

FDJ:     He's also a millionaire!

 

MDJ:    We have Maxie, program director, and Barbet Schroeder, the   director of two very famous movies, La Vallee and More; movies that we've talked alot about tonight.  We're talking about Pink Floyd... very important for our generation... and every fifteen minutes we interrupt the program to ask you questions that seem to be easier and easier, judging by the number of right answers we have had.  Everybody has called right away and known the answers.  So we have a winner, Michele Eneruex, living in Ville Neuve Dach.  He gives us the date when the band met.  It was nineteen hundred and uh... Dave, why don't you tell us when it was, just to double check.

 

Dave:   Well, I think it was `65.

 

MDJ:    Well our winner also knows the month, do you remember the month?

 

Dave:   No, I don't.  We know it was in the Fall.

 

MDJ:    First major show?

 

Nick:    1966.

 

MDJ:    Well, what month?

 

Nick:    I have no idea.

 

MDJ:    It was October.  Nick doesn't remember the month, but at least he has the years right.  And now, the first recording             released?

 

Nick:    `67.

 

MDJ:    Eleventh of April, 1967.

 

Nick:    No, no, that's completely wrong.  That might be the release in France, but it is the wrong date.

 

MDJ:    Well, we are in France...

 

Nick:    Well, it was in February, if you want to know when it was.  It was February.

 

(The first release in France was the Arnold Layne / Candy And A Currant Bun / Interstellar Overdrive EP, which was released sometime after 3/22/67, the date that Interstellar Overdrive was mixed for the release.  So the French release date of 4/11/67 could be right.  KL)

 

MDJ:    So the answers were `65, `66 and `67, and now we're listening to La Vallee.  Here we go.

 

(Free Four is played)

 

(Note: Correct answers are- met & performed as The Spectrum Five (Syd, Rog, Rick, Nick & Bob Klose) in Spring of 1964, 1st known show on 5/2/64 at the Count Down club, Palace Gate, London.  Then as Leonard's Lodgers (without Rick, and with Mike Leonard) in the Fall of `64... 1st as Pink Floyd around the Fall of `64 to Winter of ‘65 – still including Bob Klose;  first known gig as four man Floyd on 1/30/66, at The Marquee, London;  first recording (unreleased) on 31 October, 1966 at Thompson Private Recording Studios in Hemel-Hempstead, UK... first release was Arnold Layne / Candy And A Currant Bun on 11 March, 1967 (the version recorded at Sound Techniques Studios on 27 February, 1967).  No less than seven sessions are said to have preceded the one which produced the final take.   KL)

 

MDJ:    La Vallee.  Earlier you said that this song was what inspired you to do The Wall.

 

Dave:   Yes.  In this song there is a little bit of the story of Roger.  It talks about the death of his father.  That is the idea that started The Wall.

 

MDJ:    We will go back to La Vallee and The Wall, and we will talk to Jean-Pierre Kalfon who acted in La Vallee.  We will also talk to Bulle Ogier, who lives in Leon, but is linked to us by tape, and also to director Schroeder.  Obscured By Clouds, the first song on La Vallee.

 

(Obscured By Clouds is played)

 

MDJ:    Jean-Pierre Kalfon, this music brings very important memories for you, doesn't it?

 

JPK:     Oh yeah, it was a very nice trip... super trip!  Three months in the middle of tribes, with tornados and fire everywhere... fire burning the equipment and destruction everywhere. Very strong winds, very very nice, then jet lag... completely off with the time change.

 

MDJ:    So it was in the middle of Papua country in New Guinea?

 

JPK:     That's where it was, yes.  That's where they shot the movie.  We were not exactly hippies.  We had alot of equipment with us, but it was still an adventure.  There were only six of us in the middle of nowhere.  I was very happy to be this actor driving this truck in the middle of nowhere to get to this white beach.

 

BS:       We don't know what they were really looking for.  They were looking for themselves, and they were looking for death.  This also leads us to The Wall because it's the same theme.

 

MDJ:    And as Rodajil said earlier, it was very Sartresque.  You were looking for hell, and at least you found green hell in this tropical forest.

 

JPK:     Well I can't say it was hell because we had birds of paradise everywhere, and those nice feathers didn't look like hell to me at all!

 

MDJ:    But still, with the jungle, I would say it was hell!

 

BS:       And of course the highlight was when we met the tribes, because they had known white people for only 20 years.  They were so friendly and hospitable.  They had met military and police people, but they had never seen a white woman, so we recorded that in the movie for the first time and it was very moving.  They had a very big party in the movie, more than primitive.  The actors would become part of the ritual and just blend in with the members of the tribe.  The tribesmen were naked with mud all over their bodies.  The actors were also naked and painted among the members of the tribe.  Jean-Pierre was the first one to be completely painted with all of the native paints and oils.

 

JPK:     Yeah, that was kind of funny.

 

BS:       It was not our idea to do that with the tribe.  It was the tribe that proposed that the actors be part of it, and as the director I was very happy about their offer, and that's why we shot it.

 

MDJ:    And so would you say your movie was an important sociological ethnic movie?

 

BS:       No, it's more like dreamy and esoteric.  It's a movie of contemplation, not a drama, so it's more difficult.

 

MDJ:    So to come back to Pink Floyd, after your very big success with More, you decided that your next movie La Vallee would have Pink Floyd music too, right?

 

BS:       The reason Pink Floyd music was used in La Vallee was because the actors were people that were listening to Pink Floyd music, so that's why we used Pink Floyd.  Because it fit the actors.  I asked them to write different songs with different moods.  Some of it I told them what I wanted, and some of it they did themselves.  When the LP came out I chose what I could use for the movie.

 

MDJ:    There is a very nice mix of music and clouds.  I have to say that the mixing of image and sound is really well done.

 

BS:       Yes. That was the first time that I really used music for the introduction and the end to link everything.

 

MDJ:    Jean-Pierre, as a musician I know you've played alot of music in the past.  Can you talk about Pink Floyd as a musician?

 

JPK:     No, not really.  I don't like Pink Floyd music.  It's not my speed.

 

MDJ:    It's not anymore?

 

JPK:     No, it was never really my kind of music.

 

MDJ:    Well, when you were acting in the movie La Vallee, you didn't like the music?

 

JPK:     Yeah, I liked it alot, but it's just not my kind of music.

 

FDJ:     Radio Kalfon!

 

JPK:     Well I don't like the tempo of their music.  If I'm in the mood for it then I listen to it.  I like guitar and I like all kinds of music... that's why I can like Pink Floyd too.. but this is not my kind of music.

 

MDJ:    So Jean-Pierre Kalfon, you were acting in the movie with Bulle Ogier, who won an oscar for acting in this movie, and now we have a recorded interview with her from Leon.

 

BO:      Yeah, it was a very nice blend of natural sounds, like birds and tribal sounds like the music of the Papua.  Their music,  their voices and the music of Pink Floyd.  It was like a marriage of all those different sounds; like a communion with the tropical forest and the clouds.  All that was just blended perfectly.  The last time I saw Pink Floyd was in Los Angeles two years ago, performing The Wall.  I have to say it was the most moving show I've ever seen.  They are so smart, and what they are saying makes so much sense.  It was just a beautiful setting in a giant hall of maybe 30,000 people.  An airplane flew over and it was just magnificent!  I really hope they will perform it in France, because I want my friends to see it in France.  It was a very big theatrical shock.

 

(In The Flesh? is played)

 

FDJ:     O.K., this is your third chance for two people to win a trip to Cannes to see the new movie of The Wall.  Actually, it is for only one person, and this person can take whoever he or she wants with him to The Wall.  The question we have is give us the two titles of movies that Alan Parker made.  Alan Parker is the director of The Wall.

 

MDJ:    Two movies excluding The Wall, right?

 

FDJ:     Yes, two movies not including The Wall.

 

MDJ:    Well I think we mentioned that earlier in the broadcast.

 

FDJ:     (Laughs) Call 256-9020.

 

MDJ:    Now we have some real treasures... recordings of Pink Floyd.  Now we're going to listen to something which is unreleased.  It is an unreleased song from a concert in January of 1970, in Paris at the Theater of Champs de Elysees.

 

FDJ:     Radio Europe, hi, we've already had a winner.  We had alot of people calling and they all gave us the same names, but we have one winner and his name is Rosenbloom.  The winner lives in Paris, 11th district, and he gave the two names we wanted.  They are Fame and Midnight Express.

 

?:          They are not good movies to see on TV, even though they have both been shown on TV.  But they are both very good movies, especially Midnight Express.  The theme is very very good.

 

MDJ:    But nobody found another movie that is very good - Bugsy Malone.

 

FDJ:     Well we are asking for only two movies and we have a winner... Rosenbloom.  You win two tickets for the Cannes             show, and you can invite whoever you want and everything is paid for!

 

MDJ:    So, Etienne Rodajil, were you at the show at Champs de Elysees?

 

ER:       No, I wasn't.  I couldn't get any tickets, but I was listening to Europe 1 and I heard the broadcast.

 

MDJ:    Maxie, were you at the show?

 

MX:     No, I couldn't get any tickets either.

 

MDJ:    Mark Garcia, were you at the show?

 

MG:     Yes.  I hitchhiked across France to see the show and now it's so funny to realize that the Pink Floyd used to play in this tiny auditorium, knowing how big they are now.  But knowing where they played really tells us about who they were at the time - that they were just a small band that was very special!

 

MDJ:    So Vivian, were you at the show?

 

FDJ:     No.  At the time I hadn't realized how cute David Gilmour was, so I didn't go to the show.

 

MDJ:    Well I was coming back from India with my wife and I still had alot of necklaces around my neck, and I wasn't in a very good state.  Now we have the title - I don't understand what it means - Massed Gadgets of Auximenes or something like that...

 

Dave:   The first part was called The Man, and the second part was called The Journey.  I don't really remember those songs very well, because it was a mix of different songs from different albums, and also improvisations.

 

MDJ:    Why didn't you ever release this show on album?

 

Dave:   We couldn't because alot of those songs were already under contract on different albums.

 

MDJ:    It is a very long song, 12 minutes, with not much going on.  I will ask Nick Mason one question - do you remember hammering nails at the show?

 

Nick (In English): I'm sorry?

 

Dave (In English): Do you remember beating around with hammers on the stage... back in the good old days?

 

Nick (In English): Yes!!  (Laughter)

 

MDJ:    23rd January, 1970 - Champs de Elysees... unreleased Pink Floyd.

 

(Work–an unreleased percussion piece- is played...  the sound continues behind the following conversation)

 

Dave:   You asked me earlier why it wasn't on an album...

 

MDJ:    (interrupting) Well I was coming back from India at the time and this is great!  This is great music, this is very Asian... reminds me of Asia alot.  Little bells... this is great music.  You have gongs...

 

FDJ:     Well you can listen to that tape at home, can't you?

 

MDJ:    Oh sure, I do it all the time.  So Nick, as a drummer, do you miss when you were hammering boards on stage?

 

Nick (In English): What did we do?  We built a table, didn't we?

 

Dave (In English): Yeah.  We built a table and had tea on it!

 

MDJ:    Yes, you built a table and you had tea on it and it was very British of you.

 

Nick (In English): And we had a radio.  And we turned the radio on and left it on.

 

MDJ: Well, it's a very long piece.  We can't listen to all that on the radio... it would be just unbearable.

 

Nick (In English): We'd find RTL (Radio Luxembourg; a competitor of the station conducting the interview- LN) or something good. (Laughter)

 

MDJ:    I won't translate that part... David, you don't have this recording do you?

 

Dave:   No, I've never listened to it.

 

MDJ:    Well do you want it?  Do you want this copy?

 

Dave:   Sure, I'd like to have it.

 

(Work fades out)

 

MDJ:    Another never released song from December 1974 at the Palais des Sports in Paris, live.

 

(Money is played. Interestingly, this version is identical to the radio broadcast from Wembley, London, 16th November, 1974.  Additionally, while Pink Floyd did perform at the Palais des Sports de la Porte de Versailles in Paris on June 24-26, 1974, they did not perform in France in December of 1974.  KL)

 

MDJ:    Well, you know Money.  This one was never released, and was recorded in December 1974 at Palais des Sports, Paris... an exclusive archive recording of Radio Free Europe.

 

?:          Well, it was not at the Palais des Sports in Paris, it was at the Palais des Sports in Saint Ouen!

 

MDJ:    Well yes, you're right.  It was Palais des Sports de Saint Ouen.

 

?:          When I went to the show I jumped all the fences and no cop could stop me!  I didn't have a ticket so I jumped all the fences and got into the hall.

 

MDJ:    This hall, even without a band in it, was so big that you could hear a ping pong game from anywhere in the room!

 

MX:     While you were talking on the radio we were in the back, all of us old hippies, talking about the most important song that expressed how we felt in the late 60's and early 70's in France.  We don't know what the British thought, but since we're French we think we found the song that we really related to the most.

 

(Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is played)

 

MDJ: (speaking over "Set") It was 1968 for the British and 1969 for the French.

 

MDJ:    Pink Floyd with us until 10:30.  We'll go back to Pink Floyd after the news.

 

FDJ:     Radio Free Europe 1, Pink Floyd.

 

(Time is played)

 

MDJ: (speaking over "Time") Well that was a really nice song, a very long song, but David please tell us... Pink Floyd, the band, is it still together?  Are you going to play again together?

 

(Note: Rick was almost certainly gone as of this interview (1st May, 1982).  He performed on the last Wall gig on 17th June, 1981... but did not participate in remixes for The Wall film- KL)

 

Dave:   Yeah, we are together (!-KL), but we haven't made any plans to play again.  We were working on the movie until now, and we haven't talked about later.

 

(Time crossfades into Main Theme from More)

 

MDJ:    Well is there hope?

 

Dave:   We don't know.

 

?:          Anyway, all the members of Pink Floyd have their solo albums now.  David, you have yours and Nick has his.

 

MDJ:    We will listen to songs off your solo albums too, later.  Can we say that the band Pink Floyd is still together?  It has been a long time since you played in France.  When was the last time you played in France?

 

Dave:   `66 or `67, something like that.

 

?:          I was not listening to the conversation.  I was playing an electronic game with Etienne Rodajil's son.

 

Dave:   `67... no no no, `77!  (It was 2/25/77-KL)

 

MDJ:    Well, unfortunately there were no concert halls that were big enough to have The Wall in France.

 

Dave:   Well, there are halls that are big enough, but they don't have the sound quality that we need for the show.

 

Nick (In English): A certain shape.

 

Dave:   The room has to be a certain shape.

 

MDJ:    Yeah, for the quality of the sound.

 

Dave:   Yes.

 

MDJ:    Like the show in 1970.  We have only very bad concert halls in France.  Actually, it's almost a scandal, that we have good shows in terrible halls where you can't see anything... you can't hear anything... it's a scandal!

 

Dave:   This is a problem all over the world.  There are very few nice halls.

 

MDJ:    Well, it's a real scandal that we have to pay 75 Francs ($13.00-LN) to see a band as good as Pink Floyd and listen to those amazingly good songs in terrible halls, like Palais des Sports.

 

Dave:   Well that's where we play all over the world.  Even in America we play in stadiums.  In America the stadiums are a little better for the sound, but it's the same thing.

 

?:          I think he's right about being mad about not having good concert halls in France because I think that the importance of music is underestimated.

 

Dave:   Well, even in London we have Earl's Court, an ugly building which is not the best acoustically, but at least we can work over there.  It is good to work!

 

MDJ:    We will never know if the sound of The Rolling Stones is better in Wimbleton or in France, because at least in Wimbleton they are legal... they are allowed to play, whereas in France they don't get the clearance to play.

 

FDJ:     This is your last chance to win two tickets for the Cannes show.  The question this time is: only one album of Pink Floyd made an American chart record.  What is the album?  Radio Free Europe... now we will listen to Dave's solo album.

 

(Cry From The Street is played)

 

MDJ:    Maxie... no, Etienne first... no no, Maxie first.

 

MX:     O.K., during the song we were talking in the back about how important solo albums are.  I think it's very important because it gives some kind of external knowledge... enlightenment...

 

Dave:   I don't know what he's trying to say.

 

MDJ:    Me neither!  Were you more at ease recording your solo album than when you record with Pink Floyd?  Was it more an adventure?  Was it something that just happened along the way...?

 

Dave:   No, it was not something that just happened, it was something I planned to do.  I was not more or less at ease than with Pink Floyd.  It was an adventure.  I had meant to do it for a long time, and finally the time was right to do it and I did it.  It was different than what I was playing with Pink Floyd.  I had alot of material that I wanted to do on my own.  I wanted to do it very fast, very quick, because Pink Floyd's recording always takes a very very long time.  I did this one in three weeks.

 

FDJ:     And now we have two more winners to see the show down in Cannes.  Damyanish Cansefoisan found the album.  Record for total weeks in the American charts: Dark Side Of The Moon.  Congratulations!  You're going to Cannes... you won the trip!

 

(Siam is played)

 

?:          Etienne and some other guy were talking about how surprised they are to know the two musicians on this particular song: Carla Bley and Robert Wyatt.

 

MDJ:    And now Dave is looking at an album of Robert Wyatt that Dave himself produced.  Didn't you?

 

Dave:   Yes, I did.

 

MDJ:    Why did you produce the album?

 

Many (In English): Translate please!

 

MDJ (In English): Why did you produce the album of Robert Wyatt?

 

Dave:   When?

 

MDJ:    Why.

 

Dave:   Oh.  Because I like his music.

 

MDJ:    Well, that's a good answer!  Nick, will you only play with Pink Floyd, or will you have some other solo albums?

 

Nick:    I hope so... many solo albums!

 

Nick (switching to English): It's just very nice to work with other people... not necessarily a solo album, but...

 

Dave:   It's good that Pink Floyd doesn't take all our time and that we can record solo albums.  I'm going to do another one and Nick is doing another one too.

 

MDJ:    So the next albums are going to be solo albums from both of you guys, right?

 

Dave:   I think we'll have solo albums before having another album together.  I don't know who with.

 

MDJ:    Thank you David Gilmour, thank you Nick Mason, thank you everybody that participated.  Thank you to the winners of our game that are going to be lucky enough to go down to Cannes to see the movie The Wall.  Thanks again to everybody.  We had two guests that didn't show up.  They have been detained by the police... they haven't been able to make it to the show.  If the cops are listening to Europe 1, we want to let them know that those are people that we like, and they should let them go.  Now Vivian is going to kiss goodbye the guests.

 

FDJ:     Well, I'm not that friendly with guests in a work environment.




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