Today we celebrate the beloved Richard Wright on what would of been his 80th birthday! To mark the occasion a remix of Richard’s debut solo album Wet Dream has been released on CD (in some areas) and available on all streaming services!

Remixed by Steven Wilson, this reissue comes with brand new artwork that was commissioned and art-directed by Gala and Jamie Wright, Richard’s children and managers of his estate. As per the original release, the bi-fold sleeve folds out to extend the image and features the same vibrant colour palette. This time, the unidentified person in bright red shorts is swimming within deep blue waters of the sea rather than a pool and the image expands out to reveal a boat slightly out of their reach, referencing the nautical theme of the record. The image was taken by Costas Spathis, a photographer living and working in Greece, which is where the album was written and the graphic design is by Carl Glover. The original artwork was designed by Storm Thorgerson and photographed by Aubrey Powell for Hipgnosis and features in the vinyl booklet. 

September 29th sees the release of a blue transparent vinyl and a bluray edition featuring a 5.1 surround mix (DTS-HD Master Audio 96/24), the new stereo mix in Hi-Res Audio (96/24), and a Dolby Atmos mix! Included are exclusive personal images and videos from around this period of his life. It’s housed in a book format with four collectable postcards and an 8-page booklet. The Blu-ray has been expanded to also include a flat transfer of the original pre-master of the 1978 stereo mix, taken from the analogue reels, as well as Steven Wilson’s 2023 instrumental stereo mixes of the four vocal tracks on the album being added. Order your copy at the links below. 

USA  CD | Blu-ray | Vinyl   UK  CD | Blu-ray | Vinyl

In other Rick news, from our sister site Brain-Damage:

Yesterday evening, at the Dolby Listening Room in Soho, London, family (most of Richard’s were there), friends, and selected media were treated to a pair of playback sessions – in the pitch black – which straddled a Q&A session with Steven Wilson, hosted by Guy Pratt. First, the playback: this was the Atmos mix which is coming in September on the Blu-ray of the album, and simply put, it sounded absolutely superb. The clarity, power, and sheer musical and emotional impact made for a truly memorable night. The Q&A with Steven led to some fascinating insights into the process of finding the original master tapes (which were held at Universal in London), then getting them “baked” by Damon Iddins at Astoria (David Gilmour’s houseboat studio), before Steven could take the separate 24-track recordings and create the remix, which gives us an album which has never sounded as good as this!

Here’s a glimpse at the Q&A, and the message to the attendees on a screen in the Ray Dolby Lounge (a separate screen was showing home video footage of Richard, which should be on the Blu-ray when that is released). 

Photos and text used with permission and with thanks to Brain-Damage.co.uk 

It is with a heavy heart to say Ian Emes has passed away, below is the official statement from Pink Floyd:
British film director, animator, artist, writer and pioneer of experimental film techniques, famous for his work with Pink Floyd, has died. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends. Ian’s eye-catching animated film French Windows (set to Pink Floyd’s One Of These Days) from 1972 came to the attention of Richard Wright, and his unforgettable animation for other Floyd songs such as the spinning clock faces of Time, and the heartbeat of Speak To Me, were mainstays of the band’s concerts for many years. In more recent years he also created an absorbing 55 minute film for Pink Floyd’s The Endless River.

We at AFG offer our deepest sympathy to his family and friends during this difficult time.

Roger Waters has released Money on Spotify and Apple Music streaming services from his upcoming reimagining titled ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux.’ The full album will be available on October 6th, 2023. You can pre-order your copy on various formats including CD, LP, Double LP (which includes an original composition) & Cassette. You can go to Roger’s online store https://rogerwaters.tmstor.es for additional bundles and merchandise. 

From Roger’s official website:

“When we recorded the stripped down songs for the Lockdown Sessions, the 50th anniversary of the release of The Dark Side Of The Moon was looming on the horizon. It occurred to me that The Dark Side Of The Moon could well be a suitable candidate for a similar re-working, partly as a tribute to the original work, but also to re-address the political and emotional message of the whole album.

I discussed it with Gus and Sean and when we’d stopped giggling and shouting “You must be ****ing mad” at one another we decided to
take it on. It’s turned out really great and I’m excited for everyone to hear it. It’s not a replacement for the original which, obviously, is irreplaceable. But it is a way for the seventy nine year old man to look back across the intervening fifty years into the eyes of the
twenty nine year old and say, to quote a poem of mine about my Father, “We did our best, we kept his trust, our Dad would have been proud of us”. And also it is a way for me to honor a recording that Nick and Rick and Dave & I have every right to be very proud of.” 

Yesterday Roger Waters posted a short teaser on social media from his forthcoming reimagining of The Dark Side Of The Moon which was announced back in March. No details are given but the small snippet sounds to be a doomier version of Eclipse. More details announced soon!