Pink Floyd News and Notes

Richard Wright, the keyboardist whose somber, monumental sounds were at the core of the art rock by Pink Floyd that has sold millions and millions of albums, died Monday in London, where he had lived. He was 65.

The cause was cancer, said his publicist, Claire Singers.

Wright was a founding member of Pink Floyd, and his spacious, enveloping keyboards, backing vocals and eerie effects were essential to its musical identity.

Though Syd Barrett and then Roger Waters wrote most of Pink Floyd's songs, Wright shares credit on the improvisatory psychedelic studio works the band composed collectively, and he sang a few lead vocals, including on "Astronomy Domine" from the band's debut album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn."

Wright was also sole songwriter on "The Great Gig in the Sky," a hymnlike track with a soaring, wordless female vocal at the center of "The Dark Side of the Moon," the 1973 Pink Floyd album that has sold some 40 million copies.

David Gilmour, Pink Floyd's guitarist and singer, said in a statement Monday: "In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick's enormous input was frequently forgotten. He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound."

Wright was born in London in 1943 and taught himself to play keyboards, developing an early interest in jazz. He attended a school for haberdashers, then studied architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic College.

With fellow students at Regent Street - Waters on guitar or bass and Nick Mason on drums - he started a group, at first playing American rhythm-and-blues songs. Barrett joined them in 1965, reshaping the music and naming the band The Pink Floyd Sound, after the U.S. bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Barrett's whimsical, asymmetrical songs and the band's fondness for experimental sounds placed it at the center of London's underground psychedelic movement in the mid-1960s. "Music was our drug," Wright once said.

"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was released in 1967 and yielded pop hits in England, but LSD use and mental illness made Barrett so unstable that he left Pink Floyd in 1968.

Pink Floyd continued to thrive through the 1970s, and Wright released his first solo project, "Wet Dream," in 1978. Pink Floyd's 1979 album, "The Wall," eventually sold 23 million copies in the United States alone.

Waters, who had increasingly taken control of Pink Floyd, reportedly threatened not to release "The Wall" unless Wright resigned his full membership in the band. He does not appear on the band's 1983 album, "The Final Cut."

After that album, Waters left Pink Floyd. Amid lawsuits, Gilmour and Mason regrouped under the Pink Floyd name; Wright rejoined them for the 1987 album "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" and "The Division Bell" in 1994.

3-13-07

Top 200 'Definitive' albums

Last week, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, which represents more than 7,000 music stores in the United States, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put out the Definitive 200 list. It spans the past 50 years of modern popular music, ranking the top 200 albums.

Rank	Artist	Album Title	Release Date	Genre
1	BEATLES	SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND	1967	Rock
2	PINK FLOYD	DARK SIDE OF THE MOON	1973	Rock
3	MICHAEL JACKSON	THRILLER	1982	Pop
4	LED ZEPPELIN	LED ZEPPELIN IV	1971	Rock
5	U2	JOSHUA TREE	1987	Rock
6	ROLLING STONES	EXILE ON MAIN STREET	1972	Rock
7	CAROLE KING	TAPESTRY	1971	Adult Contemporary
8	BOB DYLAN	HIGHWAY '61 REVISITED	1965	Rock
9	BEACH BOYS	PET SOUNDS	1966	Rock
10	NIRVANA	NEVERMIND	1996	Rock
11	PEARL JAM	TEN	1991	Rock
12	BEATLES	ABBEY ROAD	1969	Rock
13	SANTANA	SUPERNATURAL	1999	Rock
14	METALLICA	METALLICA	1991	Rock
15	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN	BORN TO RUN	1984	Rock
16	PRINCE	PURPLE RAIN	1984	Pop
17	AC/DC	BACK IN BLACK	1980	Rock
18	ROLLING STONES	LET IT BLEED	1969	Rock
19	DOORS	DOORS	1967	Rock
20	GRATEFUL DEAD	AMERICAN BEAUTY	1970	Rock
21	SHANIA TWAIN	COME ON OVER	1997	Country
22	WHO	WHO'S NEXT	1971	Rock
23	STEVIE WONDER	SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE	1976	R&B
24	FLEETWOOD MAC	RUMOURS	1977	Pop
25	PINK FLOYD	WALL	1979	Rock
26	ALANIS MORISSETTE	JAGGED LITTLE PILL	1995	Pop
27	NORAH JONES	COME AWAY WITH ME	2002	Pop
28	EMINEM	MARSHALL MATHERS LP	2000	Rap
29	OUTKAST	SPEAKERBOXX-LOVE BELOW	2003	R&B
30	DR. DRE	CHRONIC	1992	Rap
31	BEASTIE BOYS	LICENSED TO ILL	1986	Rap
32	GUNS 'N ROSES	APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION	1987	Rock
33	DIXIE CHICKS	WIDE OPEN SPACES	1998	Country
34	MILES DAVIS	KIND OF BLUE	1959	Jazz
35	EAGLES	HOTEL CALIFORNIA	1976	Rock
36	DEF LEPPARD	HYSTERIA	1987	Rock
37	SOUNDTRACK	GREASE	1978	Soundtrack
38	MARVIN GAYE	WHAT'S GOING ON	1971	R&B
39	BEATLES	WHITE ALBUM	1968	Rock
40	SOUNDTRACK	SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER	1977	Soundtrack
41	JIMI HENDRIX	ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?	1967	Rock
42	BEATLES	REVOLVER	1966	Rock
43	BOSTON	BOSTON	1976	Rock
44	BON JOVI	SLIPPERY WHEN WET	1986	Rock
45	U2	ACHTUNG BABY	1991	Rock
46	WHITNEY HOUSTON	WHITNEY HOUSTON	1985	R&B
47	LED ZEPPELIN	LED ZEPPELIN II	1969	Rock
48	DAVE MATTHEWS BAND	CRASH	1996	Rock
49	ROLLING STONES	STICKY FINGERS	1971	Rock
50	GREEN DAY	DOOKIE	1994	Rock
51	LED ZEPPELIN	HOUSES OF THE HOLY	1973	Rock
52	JONI MITCHELL	BLUE	1971	Rock
53	ELVIS PRESLEY	ELVIS PRESLEY AT SUN	2004	Rock
54	AEROSMITH	TOYS IN THE ATTIC	1975	Rock
55	LAURYN HILL	MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL	1998	R&B
56	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN	BORN IN THE U.S.A.	1984	Rock
57	50 CENT	GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'	2003	Rap
58	AC/DC	HIGHWAY TO HELL	1979	Rock
59	NOTORIOUS B.I.G.	LIFE AFTER DEATH	1997	Rap
60	VAN HALEN	VAN HALEN	1978	Rock
61	GREEN DAY	AMERICAN IDIOT	2004	Rock
62	BLACK SABBATH	PARANOID	1975	Rock
63	EMINEM	EMINEM SHOW	2000	Rap
64	JEWEL	PIECES OF YOU	1995	Pop
65	COLDPLAY	RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD	2002	Pop
66	MEATLOAF	BAT OUT OF HELL	1977	Rock
67	USHER	CONFESSIONS	2004	R&B
68	KID ROCK	DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE	1998	Rock
69	GEORGE HARRISON	ALL THINGS MUST PASS	1970	Pop
70	BILLY JOEL	STRANGER	1977	Pop
71	EAGLES	HELL FREEZES OVER	1994	Rock
72	VAN MORRISON	MOONDANCE	1970	Rock
73	REM	AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE	1992	Pop