The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking is a 1984 concept album and the first solo album by English musician Roger Waters. The album was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 1995.

Concept history

The concept, as envisioned by Waters in 1977, rotated around a man's scattered thoughts during a road trip through somewhere in Central Europe, focusing on his midlife crisis, and how he dreams of committing adultery with a hitchhiker he picks up along the way. Along the way he also faces other fears and paranoia, with all of these things taking place in real time in the early morning hours of 04:30:18 AM to 05:12 AM on an unspecified day.

In July 1977, Waters played some of the music demos of what he had pieced together, but he also played parts of another album he was preparing titled Bricks in the Wall to the rest of his bandmates in his group Pink Floyd. After a long debate, they decided that they preferred the concept of Bricks In The Wall instead, even though their manager at the time, Steve O'Rourke, thought that The Pros and Cons... was a better-sounding concept.^[4]

'Well, the idea for the album came concurrently with the idea for The Wall – the basis of the idea. I wrote both pieces at roughly the same time. And in fact, I made demo tapes of them both, and in fact presented both demo tapes to the rest of the Floyd, and said "Look, I'm going to do one of these as a solo project and we'll do one as a band album, and you can choose." So, this was the one that was left over. Um...I mean, it's developed an awful lot since then, I think.'

— Roger Waters, ^[5]

Retitled The Wall, it became the next Pink Floyd album in 1979, and Waters shelved The Pros and Cons.... In early 1983, following his split from the band, Waters undertook the shelved project himself.^[6] The album was recorded in three different studios between February and December 1983 in London, the Olympic Studios, Eel Pie Studios and in Waters' own Billiard Room, the studio where his demos were constructed. Several people appeared on the album, including musical conductor Michael Kamen, the vocal talents of actor Jack Palance, saxophonist David Sanborn and rock and blues guitarist Eric Clapton.

Album release and artwork

As the original album was released in January 1984 on the traditional two-sided vinyl LP and cassette formats, in keeping with Waters' concept there are a few seconds missing between sides one and two, allowing the listener to flip the record (or turn the cassette), thus keeping the second half starting at exactly 4:50 AM as planned. When the album was released on CD a few years later however, this short gap was lost due to continuous play, throwing the time back several seconds. Also, the times for "4:37 AM (Arabs With Knives and West German Skies)" and "4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love)" on the first side are incorrect: the songs begin several seconds earlier than indicated, as they start during the seconds of "4:36 AM" and "4:46 AM", respectively.

As for the design of the album itself, Gerald Scarfe, who had created the album artwork and some animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall album, created all the graphics and animation for the Pros and Cons album. Its cover prompted controversy for featuring a rear-view nude photograph of model and softcore pornography actress Linzi Drew. It was condemned by some feminist groups and was considered sexist with some claiming it even advertised rape. Many posters advertising the album worldwide were ripped down and destroyed by protesters. Although it was originally released with the nudity intact, subsequent editions distributed by Columbia Records censored Drew's buttocks with a black box, and it is this censored version that remains the only version available in regions such as the United States and Japan where the record is distributed solely by Columbia.

Supporting tour

In June 1984 Waters went on tour to promote the album with Clapton as part of the backing band, as he expressed interest in playing anonymously in front of a crowd. The live show was designed by Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park with the aid of film-makers Nicholas Roeg and Bernard Rose, plus animation from Scarfe. He had also drawn caricatures of all the band members for the tour program, and the figure of Roger himself (that he nicknamed "Rog") had a long snout like a dog. Scarfe therefore created a character of a dog in the image of "Rog" and named him "Reg". Reg became the main character of the story and stage animation of the Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking tour.

The stage was set up like a bedroom in which the dream takes place, with a working TV that showed old movies before the show and during the intervals. The back screen was 90 feet across and 27 feet high, designed for three 35mm projectors. The three projectors played film and videos in a synchronising form which used a click track for the performers and from which sound effects were produced (Allegedly the backdrop film itself cost over $400,000 to produce).

The first half of the concert contained Pink Floyd numbers, while in the second half they performed the album in its entirety. Some of the music on the album uses melodies also found in Pink Floyd songs, such as "In the Flesh", "Mother" and "The Fletcher Memorial Home". Lyrics from "5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity)" are used in the film of The Wall, along with lyrics from "Your Possible Pasts" (from Pink Floyd's last album with Waters, titled The Final Cut).^[6]

CBS did not support the 1984 concerts as they felt he had nothing to promote, as what they really wanted was a new Pink Floyd record. Clapton left the tour before it came to the United States, citing (according to Rolling Stone) that he was tired of the tour because "of the rigidity of it ... I was feeling a bit stifled." During the States leg of the tour Waters only played ten concerts in six cities. The concerts went reasonably well, with a special show at the New York concert on March 28, 1985, being the world's first holophonic broadcast.

'Roger's a very different sort of person [than Eric Clapton or David Gilmour, described as easygoing]. I have tremendous respect for him. He's a very clever man, but he is very serious. When Eric and I toured with him, he wanted everything exactly the same as the record, which, unfortunately, kind of took the fun out of performing.'

— Tim Renwick, guitar player^[7]

In the end, due to the massive preparations, set up and expense of the shows, Waters himself lost almost a million dollars by the end of the tour.

Possible film

A film based on the concept was proposed, and in 1987 a press release for the Radio K.A.O.S. album claimed a film adaptation had been completed, though nothing has been heard of it since.

Track listing

Side one

All songs written and composed by Roger Waters^[6]. 

Side two

Chart positions

Personnel

• Roger Waters – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, tape effects, lead vocals
• Eric Clapton – lead guitar, backing vocals, Roland guitar synthesizer
• Ray Cooper – percussion
• Andy Newmark – drums, percussion
• David Sanborn – saxophone
• Michael Kamen – piano
• Andy Bown – hammond organ, 12-string guitar
• Madeline Bell, Katie Kissoon, Doreen Chanter – backing vocals
• The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted and Arranged by Michael Kamen

Production

• Produced By Roger Waters & Michael Kamen
• Recorded & Engineered By Andy Jackson
• Assistant Engineer: Laura Boisan
• Mastered By Doug Sax & Mike Reese

References

External links

• REG:International Roger Waters FanClub