alternatehistory.com

Pink Floyd
Although 1988 had resulted in the resolution of the majority of the legal issues between the group and ex-member Waters, it did leave David Gilmour wondering where they would go next. A Momentary Lapse of Reason had performed well, even if many critics did deride the album as a departure from the sound many had come to know and love. Gilmour did not disagree with this observation, in fact many of the songs had been written by songwriters from outside the group, although the album had provided an income for the immediate future, and proved that the group did not need Waters to survive.

Fate would prove to be on Gilmour’s side, as in 1988 EMI released Opel, a series of outtakes and demos from Syd Barrett’s solo albums. Although the album failed to chart, it received positive reviews. This gave Gilmour the idea to talk to Barrett about the possibility of him rejoining the band, even as a non-touring member. At around the same time, Richard Wright officially rejoined the band as a full member, as opposed to a session musician.

Upon visiting Barrett in Cambridge, Gilmour was surprised to see how reclusive Barrett had become. Barrett was much more coherent than he had been when Gilmour had seen him last in 1975, and while still somewhat strange, was as close to “normal” as Barrett could have been. Barrett’s house had many pieces of paper strewn around, containing many different ideas for lyrics. With uncharacteristic bluntness, Barrett agreed to a trial period with Floyd.

EMI soon agreed to this trial period, with the four convening on the Astoria, Gilmour’s recoding studio/houseboat. Work soon began on the album provisionally titled “There Were 4 In The Bed”.

In the early sessions, Barrett remained rather quiet, primarily due to his nerves at being back in a recording studio. Soon, however, his lyrical genius began to return, and the wackiness that many had come to expect would shine through on tracks such as “Sun-Day” and “Cabbage Man”. As the album neared completion in late 1991, it became clear that there were two “personalities” present within the album, and the decision was made to split the album along this line, with a “white” half to represent the ‘straightlacedness’ of Gilmour, and a “black” side representing the contributions of Barrett and Wright.

Track Listing for There Were 4 In The Bed:
1. The Day of End (SB/RW)
2. Voyage up the Stream (SB/RW/NM)
3. Take it Back (DG/RW)
4. Sun-Day (SB/DG)
5. Cluster One (DG)
6. Straight Laced Tights (SB)
7. Cabbage Man (SB/RW)
8. Edict of Edith (RW)
9. High Hopes (DG)

The album received mixed reviews, with many describing the album as disjointed and others criticising the “60s psychedelia”, although most expressed praise at the return of Barrett. Despite the mixed reviews, the album performed well in the charts, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and topping the UK album charts for four weeks. Pink Floyd had proved that they could still make a popular album.

As with prior albums, a tour soon followed, although Barrett would only join for the British leg. Part of his deal in rejoining the band was that it was to be gradual, and the group had come to the agreement that a world tour would not be good for his health. In the rest of the European tour and the North American tour, he would be replaced on vocals by Gilmour. The UK tour received rave reviews, with Barrett’s role as the frontman receiving great praise.



Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham had left Fleetwood Mac in 1987, and soon set his sights on a solo career, much as Stevie Nicks had done. There was little love to be lost between Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac’s remaining members, so Buckingham worked primarily alone. Over the following three years, he would work on the album now considered to be his magnum opus, Out of the Cradle.

Out of the Cradle was released in 1990 to rave reviews, with many commenting that it could become as popular as Nicks’ Bella Donna. The album itself topped at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, and three singles also charted in the top 20, Countdown (No.1), Turn it On(No 9) and Surrender the Rain (No.17). Buckingham went straight into a North American tour, even performing at some venues in Europe. This whole procedure had however left Buckingham very tired, and as a result he wished to work on something different, rather than going straight into another solo album.

His opportunity came when he talked to his friend and producer, Richard Dashut. Dashut and Buckingham had worked together on the song “Time Bomb Town” for the 1985 film Doctor Who: Back to the Future. Since then, Doctor Who had become a television show in the US, and had no main composer, unlike many other shows of a similar vein. Intrigued by the opportunity to have some steady income, Buckingham reached out to the producers of the show about filling the position of composer for the show.

The executives at NBC and BBC were eager to bring Buckingham on board, and it was agreed that he would begin work in the 1991 season, Siddig El-Fadil (The Eighth Doctor)’s first. Although this built a great deal of hype for the new season, there were questions by critics as to how the BBC and NBC were affording Buckingham. The two partied had, in fact, come to an agreement that Buckingham would be paid no more per episode than the previous composers, who worked on a more case by case basis, would. To compensate, Buckingham would hold the rights to any music written for the show, and should he decide to release any of the music, he would collect 80% of the revenue. Although this would cause some issues with the HD remasters down the line, it was an agreement that worked well at the time.

Buckingham would spend many days in the studio, watching the raw footage from the shows, working at various instruments to create a soundtrack for the show. Dashut once remarked: “It was like watching him during the recording of Go Insane again, he was just as meticulous, if not even more so!”

By the time the season was ready for release, most of the soundtrack was ready, although many of the tracks for the latter half of the season would be re-recorded. This resulted in a marked change in the musical style for Doctor Who, as while the soundtrack stayed primarily the same, the guitar played a much more prominent role.

Buckingham would also compose some songs for the show, “Wake Me Up” being written for the opening story Action at a Distance, and “Twisted” written for the season finale Love and War. “Wake Me Up” would be played when the Doctor wakes in hospital and later when Isabella realises the connection between herself and the Doctor. “Twisted” was originally envisioned as a duet between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, although this plan fell though. The song would play when the Doctor realises that he has to betray Isabella to keep everyone safe, potentially driving her away in the process.

Although the critical reaction to the seasons as a whole was mixed, there was near unanimous praise for Buckingham’s soundtrack, especially for his tracks in the latter half of the season. Following the end of the season, Buckingham would release “Twisted” as a single, and it would quickly top the Billboard Top 200 Singles chart, a position it would remain in for 4 weeks, selling over 1 million copies.



Hey everyone, one week, very little see. Hmm, doesn't quite have the same ring to it. As you may be able to tell, this update is the work of my good friend @Drorac. While I've not copied his notes verbatim, they're pretty close. Certainly enough that a plagarism detection algorithm would pick it up. Very little of this is me, I've just adjusted a couple of things so that they fit with the structure of how certain things worked at the time. If you have any questions, I might be able to answer them, I'll certainly do my best. Anyway, next updates will be TNG Season 5. Hoo boy, I've been looking forward to this one for a good few reasons, one of which I will make apparent after next update. We'll be seeing some real butterflies at play now with the story. Some things will stay the same, but many will not. See you then.