Customer Reviews

Fictitious Sports

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

...sure, it says its "Nick Mason's" Fictitious Sports. Nick Mason himself even produced it with "Hipgnosis" supplying the cover art. Hipgnosis as you know has handled nearly every Pink Floyd album cover. This particular assortment of material was even released by Columbia Records. ...and there was probably a good reason for all the aforementioned. That reason being money. In retrospect, this should've been called "Carla Bley's Fictitious Sports" (considering the fact that she wrote all the words and music and even co-produced it). ...or even billed as a Robert Wyatt solo project (which might've produced some good numbers in Europe under the Harvest label). However...in the US, nobody would have ever purchased it, let alone listen to it. Carla Bley being a little known jazz composer at the time and Robert Wyatt not being heard of stateside by anyone unfamiliar with Pink Floyd. I'm positively certain the record executives' at Columbia figured it would be a better idea to market this product under Nick Mason's name instead.

However, because it was released under "Nick Mason" (who by the way, supplied all the drumming). It garnered the attention of millions of Pink Floyd fans and fanatics alike. ...although, it does make you wonder why some Pink Floyd fans weren't aware of Norman "Hurricane" Smith's hit back in the early 70's with "Oh Babe, What Would You Say". Or, their still in shock over it. What's shocking here is, Nick Mason's "solo" effort is actually better than anything Roger Waters ever produced in the post-Floyd era, "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking" included (well...with the exception of the cover art). "Sports" contains a slew of gems like Robert Wyatt's deadpan delivery in the classic "Siam". Wyatt's urgency is also quite addictive on "I'm A Mineralist" and "Do Ya?". "I Was Wrong" and "Wervin" also highlight this release from Robert Wyatt...err no...wait, Carla Bley...umm hold on. No, I meant to say Nick Mason. "I creep up to old wrecked cars and lick off the rust" ...too bad most cars are made of plastic now.

olofpalme63

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason released his first solo album entitled Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports in May of 1981.
This album may say Nick Mason as the name of the artist, seeing as he played all the drums and co-produced and helped record the album, but the tracks were all written and co-produced by jazz artist/musician Carla Bley.
The album featured a good collection of jazz artists like Carla, her husband trumpet player Michael Mantler (whom also helped record the album) and saxophonist (the late) Gary Windo plus rock artists like former Soft Machine drummer and singer Robert Wyatt who appears on all but one track and session guitarist Chris Spedding.
The album was recorded in November of 1979 but it wasn't released until the spring of 1981 as CBS (Nick's label in the US at the time) saw that it would be bad luck to release in England before America and not to compete with Pink Floyd's blockbuster The Wall.
The album starts with the funny "Can't Get My Motor to Start" which is about Nick's love of cars and automobiles and featured male and female voices. Next was "I Was Wrong", which was a science fiction song and the first to feature Robert Wyatt's vocals. Next, is "Siam" which would not have sounded out of place on a Pink Floyd album as does the next track "Hot River" in where Chris Spedding does a David Gilmour-type guitar work and musically sounds like something from The Dark Side of the Moon period (Nick confirmed this in a 1981 BBC interview to promote the album).
The rock shuffle "Boo to You Too" kicked off the second half and a great song. "Do Ya" follows and is not the ELO song but a nice quiet jazz type slow tune with some great trumpet work from Mantler. "Wervin'" follows and sounds like what would happen if The Police (in the guitar and drum textures during the verse) played with Count Basie and his band. The closing track, "I'm a Mineralist", which sounds like another Floyd outtake with its atmospheric music and excellent drumming fom Nick.
The Fictitious Sports album was hugely ignored when first released and peaked at a dismal #170 but sales aside is a great album nevertheless. This album is now out of print. Which is a shame because great art sometimes don't need commercial success to be appreciated!
Highly recommended!

As some other writter said, not for Pink Floyd fans (and i do love Pink Floyds music too)...more likely to appeal to jazz or avant garde rock fans. Very funny lyrics and of course excellent playing from all involved. Robert Wyatt is, right after Howlin wolf, Captain Beefheart and Peter Hammill, my favorite voice...totally unique. Watch out if you are not familiar with the works of Carla Bley or Michael Mantler ...you could like this music and get adicted to it! and there are a few other cds that go this way...so watch out if you are short of money...

Nick Mason, drummer with Pink Floyd and lover of classic cars, for some unknown reason got out one day and put together a collection of songs that contain some of the funniest lyrics I ever heard! To whit, in "I'm a Mineralist" the singer drones ......"I creep up to broken cars and lick off the rust.......I'm a mineralist........"

"Can't get my motor to start" is a scream and "Hot River" oozes heavy heavy glam rock with gorgeous slow rhythms; reminiscent of Peter Gabriel in " Here comes the Flood"

It's not everyone's taste but for the PF afficionado it is a must

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason delivered a surprisingly outstanding jazz-rock collaboration with Carla Bley - she wrote the music and lyrics - her ensemble, along with vocalist Robert Wyatt and guitarist Chris Spedding.

The quirky tempos, fast starts and equally fast stops combine with lyrics that truly tell complete stories to the listener in eight songs of perhaps the most accessible music written by Bley.

The choice cuts are Boo To You Too, the artist finally giving it back to an unappreciative audience; I'm A Mineralist, featuring tongue-in-cheek lyrics and music directed at Philip Glass and Can't Get My Motor To Start.

Mason let his subtle drumming define his musicianship with Pink Floyd. In Fictitious Sports, Mason demonstrates his creative craft when given the latitude to choose the paints for his canvas.

If you are expecting Floyd arrangments in this album you will see none but what you get is a lively Canterbury rock like Hatfield, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers et al. This album is like intelligent and bizarre pop, the vocals and singing are extraordinary though it would not require a lot of listening compared to other Canterbury lyrics, this one gives you the singing and dancing tunes with the laughs but the message is deep. I always give this a spin whenever I feel sad. Thanks Nick for this project an album that will never again be replicated.

What modern, crazy, touch of psycedelic Pink Floyd is this? (Ok, this is Carla Bley, but I'm sure there is a conection between them ;) )

Anyway: Let me tell you: This is beauty beyond the bizarr... and I love it, because "bizarr" is what we humans are all about (well, maybe not "all", but a lot, for sure). Fantastic musicians, a lot of (crazy) houmor (and rock'n'roll), sexy saxes, nice drumming (of course), varied vocals with big punch(es) and real beauty in its body, and really crazy, nice, jazzy, proggy, poppy, weird, and Beautiful Songs...

This one is full of surprises and strange qualities... Try it if you dear (and don't give up) ;)

... since this is, of course, nearly impossible to find, just as it was back in '81. The title really should be "Nick Mason Piggybacks Carla Bley's Band (minus drummer D. Sharpe and a few others) Onto a Major Label," but Mason doesn't do too bad a job here. The twisted, chugging funk lines on several tracks and the Phillip Glass parody section on "I'm a Mineralist" are worth the price, along with great work from Michael Mantler and Robert Wyatt. By the way, despite the earlier review's comments, Carla Bley does not sing on this recording, though, trust me, if you don't like this vocalist you would like Bley even less - "yowling" is the kindest description for her voice I can muster. She's an interesting writer and performer, and a great bandleader, despite that, though "Fictitious Sports" is more of a goof than anything else.

...records I have ever heard. I'd been a fan of these people for years before this record was released. Fantastic musicians, some of the finest in the world. Please check out "Hapless Child" by Mantler.

John Reed from Beijing wrote how amusing and entertaining it is, and I couldn't agree more. A truly great record.

No, it doesn't sound like Pink Floyd, and yes, it really is Nick Mason's album in name only. A lot of Floyd fans hated this when it came out, but they probably had never heard of Carla Bley or Robert Wyatt either. Now that they have, they probably still hate it.