Why Roger Waters felt Genesis’ claims about Pink Floyd were “a load of fucking bollocks”
In the 1960s, British invasion rock bands like The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who gave rise to the psychedelic rock wave. This phase of rock’s evolution thrived on abstract lyricism and progressive, often distorted instrumentation. The wave became known for its instrumental complexities thanks to the intricate drumming of Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker and the guitar stylings of Jimmy Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Forged in these fires were early proponents of the prog-rock wave, such as Pink Floyd and Genesis.
As with most musical genre tags, prog-rock is a loose-fitting sock that covers a vast stretch of land on the musical map. Those who favour the raw simplicity of punk and heavy metal music might deride prog-rockers for over-sophisticated and even pompous creativity. Indeed, some bands under the prog-rock umbrella seemed to lose touch with the visceral power of music in oblique, convoluted efforts at the rock ‘n’ roll vanguard. However, we mustn’t tar all of these bands with the same brush.
By many listeners’ definitions, Led Zeppelin were part of the prog-rock wave, thanks to their audacious compositions and masterful musicianship. Crucially, the band also held strong ties to the heavy metal genre, thanks to John Bonham’s thunderous percussion and Robert Plant’s soaring projection. Similarly, Pink Floyd seemed to transcend their prog-rock associations after releasing their 1973 masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon, mostly because it was so universally accessible.
Speaking to Nick Sedgewick for an interview in 1975, Roger Waters remembered The Dark Side of the Moon as the insurmountable pinnacle for Pink Floyd. “It was the end of the road,” he said. “We’d reached the point we’d all been aiming for ever since we were teenagers, and there was really nothing more to do in terms of rock ‘n’ roll.”
The goal the band had met was one of “money and adulation”. Of course, one could always make more money and garner more fans, but the songwriter and bassist felt a degree of saturation in satisfaction. He claimed that all rock stars “dream” of such record sales and riches, even if some bands “pretend they’re not”.
On this point, Waters recalled reading an interview not long before in which an unnamed member of Genesis reflected on Peter Gabriel’s exit and noted a difference between his band and Pink Floyd. “There was a whole bunch of stuff about how if you’re listening to a Genesis album, you really have to sit down and listen,” Waters said. “It’s not just wallpaper, not just high-class musak like Pink Floyd or Tubular Bells.”
Naturally, Waters wasn’t too keen on his music being likened to musak or ambient music. “I thought, ‘Yeah, I remember all that years ago when nobody was buying what we were doing,'” he continued. “We were all heavily into the notion that it was good music, good with a capital G, and of course, people weren’t buying it because people don’t buy good music.”
Waters seemed to sarcastically posit that Pink Floyd’s less popular pre-Dark Side of the Moon material was good, and that’s why fewer people bought it. Fundamentally, esoteric prog-rock is never going to attract the masses and, hence, won’t satisfy the musicians making it. “My theory is that if Genesis ever start selling large quantities of albums now that Peter Gabriel – their Syd Barrett if you like – has left, the young man who gave this interview will realise he’s reached some kind of end in terms of whatever he was striving for and all that stuff about good music is a load of fucking bollocks.”
Concluding his argument, Waters re-asserted that The Dark Side of the Road was the end of the road. At the time of the interview, Pink Floyd had just released Wish You Were Here, the first of several cherries on top that “came about by us going on in spite of the fact we’d finished.”
As it happens, Genesis did start selling large quantities of records under the leadership of Phil Collins. Alongside Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, Collins gradually led the band towards more pop-centric climes. It would be interesting to know whether the member who Waters referred to ever felt they had reached a satisfactory “end” with Genesis.
