About Face is the second solo studio album by the Pink Floyd singer and musician David Gilmour. It was released in 5 March 1984 by Harvest in the UK and Columbia in the United States, a day before Gilmour’s 38th birthday.

The album was followed with a supporting tour, which lasted from 31 March – 16 July 1984, covering Europe and North America.

A VHS was released in September 1984 entitled “David Gilmour Live 1984”. The film is mainly a concert performance from The Hammersmith Odeon in London in April 1984. It also features promotional clips. Lastly, a documentary called After The Floyd which followed Gilmour on the 1984 solo tour and includes interviews with David on tour buses (the bus driver referred to David as ex-guitarist of Pink Floyd) and in hotel rooms. Also included is more live footage of concerts and soundchecks in Europe. It is now out of production.

The VHS was not released in Europe, apparently due to “lack of commercial interest”. This concert footage is now to be found on DVD, released by Crime Crow Productions.The DVD, however, does not contain the extra footage that could be found on the VHS.

Similarly, Sony Music has shown little interest in releasing the title on DVD in the US, possibly due to the age of the concert as well as Gilmour’s own dislike of About Face as an album.

We have recently been in contact with Michael Beers a Former Freelance writer with JAM Magazine and keen photographer enthusiast who has shared his personal collection from the tour for the first time online.

Click on the thumbnails below to view images in full size.

David Gilmour at the Kabuki Theater in SF on June 29, 1984.

David Gilmour at Cal Expo amphitheater in Sacramento on June 28, 1984

Our thanks go to Michael for his contributions.

David Gilmour released Rattle That Lock , the fourth solo album, in the summer of 2015.

His French fans especially remember the song that gives the album its title because it incorporates the jingle of the SNCF , the national railway company. The four musical notes that make up the jingle (C, G, A flat and E flat) have been used by the SNCF since 2005, in particular to introduce announcements in stations.

It was precisely taking the train in the summer of 2013 in Aix-en-Provence that David Gilmour fell in love with the melody. He urged his manager Paul Loasby to research the rights. It turned out that the melody was created by Michaël Boumendil , a specialist in jingles for companies, also author of a ringtone for Samsung mobile phones, music on hold for Orange, etc …

A very profitable business: his company Sixieme His Communication , created in 1995 just 23 years after leaving Edhec, achieved a turnover of 4.5 million euros in 2018, with a net margin of 19%.

David Gilmour‘s manager contacted Michaël Boumendil . They met on October 31, 2013 and made him listen to a first version of the song. On December 5, 2014, a contract was signed between David Gilmour and Michaël Boumendil . According to the agreement, the Frenchman would have been “co-author” of the song, would have received 12.5% ​​of the proceeds and, even, 25% for the exploitation of the music alone. Then, Michaël Boumendil signed an agreement with the SNCF that granted his authorization free of charge. Finally, on 23 June 2015, Michaël Boumendil went to the Astoria , David Gilmour‘s boat / recording studio moored on the Thames near London, where the Pink Floyd guitarist played him the final version of the song.

With great pride, Michaël Boumendil told his story to the RTL TV station on July 9, 2015, just before the song was released: “It makes me really happy […] David Gilmour told me: ‘what you have done is truly unique , it’s very well done, surprisingly groove, and it made me want to write a song ‘” . In the interview Michaël Boumendil assured: “It is not a question of money at all” . In addition, the SNCF was also launching a competition to win tickets to a David Gilmour concert.

But Michaël Boumendil‘s interview with RTL didn’t please David Gilmour‘s entourage ; they believed that the Frenchman had violated the confidentiality agreement while the song had not yet come out; as a result, they excluded him from promoting the album.

Relations between the two deteriorate. In December 2016, Michaël Boumendil denounced David Gilmour for “counterfeiting” before the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, asking € 493,619 in damages. He argued that the agreement signed two years earlier only covered copyright but not its production right. In other words, he claimed to have only granted the musical score (the four notes), but not their recording (the jingle that David Gilmour had recorded at the station and then inserted into his song).

Instead, on May 31, 2019, the court rejected Michaël Boumendil‘s claim , condemning him to pay 40,000 euros in legal fees. In the sentence, the judges observed that, the day after the meeting with Gilmour , “Michaël Boumendil had expressed the memory of the meeting in a message, leaving no trace of surprise or disappointment” . Furthermore, the sentence still states that the enthusiasm expressed during the interview with RTL “does not appear to be compatible with the hypothesis of violation of the contractual provisions, negotiated between professionals under conditions that do not lead to the presumption that the rights of the producer would have been ‘forgotten. ‘, as claimed ” by Michaël Boumendil .

Who did not give up and appealed, but again in vain. The Paris Court of Appeal has just rejected him, condemning him to pay an additional € 10,000 in legal fees. The appellate judges noted that the contract “states that David Gilmour is authorized to integrate the sample, modify it and use it; therefore, the sample can be understood as the excerpt of the sound recording ” of the SNCF jingle .

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

Presented by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who wrote and performed megahits like ‘Gold’ and ‘True’, and Guy Pratt, a bass player who shaped songs for the likes of Madonna and Pink Floyd, you’ll hear exclusive stories of life on the road, in the studio and what really happened behind the scenes from artists who wrote, performed and produced the some of the biggest classic rock and pop tracks of all time.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

This weeks episode is Number 42 and features guest Paul Stanley. (Kiss) Paul is a huge fan of soul and talks to the chaps about his beautiful new solo soul record on his new album ‘Now and Then’. Paul pays homage to some of the greats with a collection of classic covers and also a set of stunning original tracks that totally hold their own. Paul Stanley explains the roots of the iconic Kiss look that originated from their love of some classic British artists…

Check out the Podcast HERE

This weekend, local rock legend Alan Parsons told the world about his latest accolade, and it’s a big one. 

He has received the Order of the British Empire.

“Many of you will have already heard that I have been awarded an OBE at the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours,” Mr. Parsons, who lives in the Santa Barbara area, said in a statement Saturday on Facebook. “I am hugely chuffed and very grateful for the countless congratulatory messages from family, friends, business associates, and fans.

“I’ve actually known about the honour since May but was asked to keep it confidential until today,” Mr. Parsons continued. “It’s tremendously satisfying to be listed among an amazing array of musicians, actors and music producers who have also received The Queen’s Honours in the arts. “For those of you who may not know about the British Honours System, the Honour of OBE stands for ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire,’” Mr. Parsons said.

The OBE recipient has excited fans of classic rock and concept albums for more than 40 years. Mr. Parsons is known for everything from his sound production work for Pink Floyd to his performances with The Alan Parsons Project and his touring band, The Alan Parsons Live Project.

“For the over-50 crowd, or even the over-40 crowd, there’s a need for strong, melodic, song-driven music,” the British rocker told the News-Press in 2016. “I think that’s what I’ve always delivered.”

The London native’s career began as an assistant sound engineer on The Beatles’ albums “Abbey Road” (1969) and “Let It Be” (1970). He received industry attention with his engineering work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” (1973), before joining the late Eric Woolfson as his songwriting and performing partner in The Alan Parsons Project, a British progressive rock band.

“It was a wonderful series of being in the right place at the right time,” said Mr. Parsons, who moved to Santa Barbara in 1999 from London and the south of England.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

Presented by Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, who wrote and performed megahits like ‘Gold’ and ‘True’, and Guy Pratt, a bass player who shaped songs for the likes of Madonna and Pink Floyd, you’ll hear exclusive stories of life on the road, in the studio and what really happened behind the scenes from artists who wrote, performed and produced the some of the biggest classic rock and pop tracks of all time.

Rockonteurs is a podcast all about the real stories behind real music.

This weeks upcoming episode is Number 41 and features guest Noel Gallagher

UPDATE: Guy Pratt has been in touch to say in this podcast, Noel Gallagher confirmed the cultural significance of the 88 Maine Road Pink Floyd gig that Guy has been banging on about for years! Nice to be proved right now & again Guy!

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