Roger Waters named his “favourite band to meet on the road”
Whilst Pink Floyd are now largely inactive, in their day, they were one of the most prolific bands out there, constantly working on new material and pushing each other to the next creative level. Part and parcel of this dynamism was that the band often went on the road to take their swirling sounds to the masses. Out on tour, they rubbed shoulders with some of their era’s other most prominent names. However, if it wasn’t already clear from the distinctive sound of their music, Pink Floyd were not like other bands.
Bar former frontman Syd Barrett, the band weren’t typical rockstars. They enjoyed lounging by the pool and seeing the sights a location offered rather than destroying everything in their immediate vicinity like so many of their peers. No matter what period of Pink Floyd is in question, there was always a panache about them, from their music to their extra-musical activities.
When sitting down with Zigzag in 1973, just before their masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon was to take popular culture by storm, the band’s vocalist/bassist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason discussed a host of topics, including their former frontman and Marcel Proust. At one point, the conversation turned to the topic of touring activities, and they gave a sobering account of what they tended to get up to.
Asked if they had ever smashed up hotels and hijinks such as that, the interviewer was met with a firm no. The pair were then pressed on what they do to “combat the boredom” when on the road in America. They then outlined what they’re into, with Waters somewhat sarcastically saying they’re not “heavily into crumpet”, an old British slang phrase that objectifies women for sex. Additionally, Mason explained how they enjoyed a board game, as none of them were “smashers” like the typical rockstar. They also conveyed a tight-knit image of the group at that point, a stark departure from what would ensue in the future.
Waters said: “Unlike most other bands, we’re not heavily into crumpet on the road. What we’re heavily into is swimming pools and trips to see or do things. If we can get together any kind of activity, we’ll all be into it. We play football, go to American football matches.”
Mason then added: “And we have crazes like Monopoly and Backgammon. We also tend to work almost daily, which is important because otherwise, it is so boring, but none of us are smashers.”
Following this, the interviewer asked the duo if they toured with any other bands during the early days. It was here that Waters looked back on playing with one of the era’s other biggest bands, The Who, whom he maintained, were his “favourite band to meet on the road” due to their similar personalities. Although, he did clarify that The Who’s drummer Keith Moon was indeed a “smasher”.
Mason said: “We don’t know any other bands really. The nearest we got to that was The Who, where we did about three gigs with them. It’s a whole area of social life that we’ve missed out on.”
Appending the drummer, Waters elucidated: “I think The Who are still my favourite band to meet on the road, because they’re the same kind of people as we are, really. They’re not all smashers. Moony’s a smasher, but he’s a very sophisticated smasher – he’s got it down to a fine art. When he’s not smashing, he’s incredibly amusing.”
Regarding Keith Moon, Mason said: “He’s very good company to have a drink with. A lot of people are just drunken maniacs, just lurching about, being boring.” Find out more about Keith Moon’s drinking antics here.
Then, the conversation took a stranger turn, with Roger Waters saying, “The Who like a good chat, except for Roger Daltrey.” After this claim, Mason provided a comical anecdote from the Fillmore where The Who’s frontman mistakenly thought Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright was former Cream guitarist Eric Clapton.
“You’ve never recovered from the time he thought Rick [Wright] was Eric Clapton. It was in a band room somewhere,” Mason recalled. “He came up to Rick and said, ‘Hello man, good to see you.’ And Rick was thinking, ‘Shit, that’s funny’.”
Waters concluded: “And when he realised he slunk off, and we’ve never seen him since.”
