Roger Waters came up with the concept for "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" in 1977. The story of the album revolves around a man who is going through a midlife crisis and his thoughts of cheating on his wife. The album takes place in real time, starting at 4:18 in the morning and ending at 5:12 a.m.
The artist Gerald Scarfe, who also created the cover of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is the man behind this album's cover as well. The artwork was a source of big controversy, as it features a rear-view nude photograph of a half naked woman. The model in question is Linzi Drew, an occasional soft-porn actress. Feminists and other protest groups voiced loud objections towards this cover, and for that reason, the record company decided to cover the model's rear end on the later editions of the album.
The album positioned highest in Sweden, where it peaked at number three. Similary, Norway accepted the album quite well, making it peak at fourth place. In the U.K., "The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" went to 12 and in the U.S. it reached the 31st place on the Billboard 200 chart, which makes it the lowest ranking album by Waters in that country.
Roger Waters invited many musicians to play on this album and among them were some very famous names. According to the Roger Waters website, he was joined on stage and in the studio by Eric Clapton who played guitar on the album and offered singing support to Waters as a back vocalist. Ray Cooper was on percussion and Andy Newmark played the drums. Other contributing musicians were David Sanborn on the saxophone, Michael Kamen on the piano and Andy Bown on the hammond organ and the second guitar.