The Wall (original) (raw)

Stand beneath the Pink Floyd tour replica of The Wall, designed to mirror the Berlin performance July 21, 1990.

Pink Floyd bassist and co-lead vocalist Roger Waters began conceptualizing The Wall in 1977, and presented the idea to the rest of the band in July 1978.

Recording of The Wall, Pink Floyd’s eleventh studio LP, began later that year; the rock opera told the story of Pink, a burned-out rock star based on Waters’ own increasing feelings of isolation. “The idea for The Wall came from ten years of touring,” Waters explained. ”Playing to very large audiences, some of whom were our old audience who’d come to see us play, but most of whom were only there for the beer, in big stadiums, and consequently it became rather an alienating experience doing the shows…”

“i became very conscious of a wall between us and our audience…”

ROGER WATERS

…so this record started out as being an expression of those feelings.”

Released in November 1979, The Wall was a huge success, spawning three singles, a 1980-81 concert tour and a 1982 feature film. The three-part song “Another Brick in the Wall” outlines Pink’s traumatic life, from the death of his father to being the target of school bullies to a violent mental breakdown. The concert tour stage set featured a massive 340-brick wall that was built up brick by brick during the first half of the show as a physical symbol of Pink’s increasing reclusion from both his fans and society as a whole, and then was demolished during each concert’s finale.

This installation, created for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the museum’s opening in September 1995, mirrors portions of the set used for Waters’ July 21, 1990 all-star charity performance of The Wall at Potzdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. The text on the wall itself outlines the circumstances that inspired Roger Waters to create the album. One element of the exhibit, the long-limbed figure with striped tie and glasses, is a recreation of electronic musician Thomas Dolby’s teacher costume worn during the 1990 Berlin performance. Also featured is a surreal 20-foot tall inflatable “Teacher” character.

This exhibit was funded in part by Sony Music Entertainment Inc. Pink Floyd The Wall Stage Set Installation, 1995. Installation designed by Jonathan Park. Collection of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Foster Theater

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