The Bleeding Heart Band

The Bleeding Heart Band was the name Roger Waters gave his backing band for a brief period of his post-Pink Floyd solo career.

Although Waters released "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" in 1984, and toured as a solo artist promoting that album (with an "unnamed" supporting band), he was still technically a member of Pink Floyd, and did not officially leave the group until late 1985.

His first album as an ex-member of Pink Floyd was the soundtrack to "When the Wind Blows". It was for this soundtrack album that the band moniker "The Bleeding Heart Band" first appeared. (It's "Heart", not "Hearts".)

Personnel

The original personnel, from the soundtrack to "When the Wind Blows":

*Roger Waters: Bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
*Jay Stapley: Guitar.
*Snowy White: Guitar.
*John Gordon: Bass guitar.
*Matt Irving: Keyboards, organ.
*Nick Glennie-Smith: Piano, organ.
*John Linwood: Linn programming
*Freddie Krc: Drums, percussion.
*Mel Collins: Saxophone.
*Clare Torry: Vocals
*Paul Carrack: Keyboards, vocals

The band's membership would change variously as Waters went on to record the "Radio K.A.O.S." album, and then mount the tour.

*Roger Waters - vocals, bass guitar and acoustic guitar.
*Andy Fairweather-Low - Guitar, bass guitar and backing vocals.
*Jay Stapley - Lead guitar and backing vocals.
*Paul Carrack - keyboards and vocals.
*Graham Broad - drums and percussion.
*Mel Collins - Saxophone.
*Doreen Chanter - Backing vocals.
*Katie Kissoon - Backing vocals.
*Clare Torry - lead vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky" on just two shows of the tour.

"The Wall", Berlin 1990

When "The Wall" was set up in Berlin in 1990 to raise money for the charity Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief, the show featured an enormous number of international artists, as well as Roger Waters and The Bleeding Heart Band, which acted as the house band for the evening, and provided the music for the extra vocalists.

The Bleeding Heart Band also had a few extra members, such as Rick DiFonzo on guitar, and Peter Wood on keyboards. Also present was the vocal quartet of Joe Chemay, Jim Farber, Jim Haas, and John Joyce, reprising their role from the studio album and the Pink Floyd "Wall" performances. Whether the four were considered official members of The Bleeding Heart Band is unknown.

Roger Waters's career as of 2008

Apparently, the "Wall" performance in 1990 was The Bleeding Heart Band's last hurrah. For whatever reason, since 1999's "In the Flesh" tour, Roger Waters has abandoned the "Bleeding Heart Band" name, even though several of the members (such as drummer Graham Broad, multi-instrumentalist Andy Fairweather-Low, or backing vocalist Katie Kissoon) are part of his current (as of 2008), unnamed band.

External links

* [http://www.rogerwaters.org/bwdisco.html The Wall Live in Berlin]
* [http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Diner/2674/wood_peter_a.htm Peter Wood Info]
* [http://www.rogerwaters.org/bwdisco.html Info on The Wall in Berlin]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244296/trivia Trivia from IMDB]