Pink Floyd are the subject of the sixth of my short “Bluffers Guide to...” series.
Once again in a few short paragraphs here is all you need to know to bluff your way through a conversation on 'Pink Floyd' as long as you steer away pretty quickly...
Pink Floyd were a psychedelic Rock band formed in the 1960’s. It's difficult to say exactly when, as for some time they performed as both The Pink Floyd Sound (named after two blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council) and also performed as The Tea Set.
It was not until around 1970 that they became regularly billed as Pink Floyd.
The history of Pink Floyd can basically be split into three eras;
The Syd Barrett era saw Syd Barrett on Guitar and Lead vocals, Roger Waters on Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals, Nick Mason on Drums and Percussion and Richard Wright on Keyboards and backing vocals.
During this era the band were very much led by Syd Barrett who predominantly wrote the songs. The first two singles were 'Arnold Layne' (#20 UK Chart) and 'See Emily Play' (#6 UK Chart) which both appeared on the bands debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. This is now considered by many critics to be one of the best examples of British Psychedelic Rock, and also one of the best debut albums ever.
During this period the band toured with Jimi Hendrix and as a result became very popular. As the band became more popular Barrett’s intake of drugs, namely LSD, rose and he became very mentally unstable, and David Gilmour was drafted in to take on Barrett’s singing and playing duties.
Barrett eventually parted ways with the band in 1968 but was to produce two solo albums, albeit with the help of Gilmour, Waters and Wright. He eventually retired to Cambridge where he became a recluse and remained until his death in 2003.
It is without doubt that he was the inspiration of the band in the early days and also of ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ from Wish You Were Here penned by Waters in 1975. “Now there’s that look in your eyes / like black holes in the sky’...
The Roger Waters era was when the band first found their feet, coming through a period when it had three distinctive styles, those of Waters, Gilmour and Wright and recording some very avant garde albums A Saucerful Of Secrets and Ummagumma. They came across a combination of the talents of all three that was to become known simply as the ‘Pink Floyd' sound. Meddle was the first album to be fully accredited with this sound.
This period was to spawn what would become two of the Bands Masterpiece albums; Dark Side Of The Moon which spent 741 consecutive weeks (14 years) on the USA-based Billboard 200 album chart, the longest duration of any album in history, Wish You Were Here, and culminated in the release of The Wall.
It was during this time that Pink Floyd introduced the world to some of the most amazing stage / arena performances that have ever been witnessed, during the The Wall a complete polystyrene block wall was built in between the band and the audience only to be tumbled down at the end! performance of
Arena performances included full scale flying aircraft, blow up Pigs, huge pyrotechnic shows and some of the greatest lighting rigs ever designed. Only two bands have come close to Pink Floyd arena shows, The Rolling Stones and U2.
The David Gilmour era started in 1986 after Waters stated that Pink Floyd were a spent force and left the band. A bitter battle ensued over the band name which Gilmour and Mason eventually settled with Waters out of court. They released the album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason although some critics have described it as a Gilmour solo album as the other members had so little input.
A further tour with it’s now customary stage show followed and the resulting live album Delicate Sound Of Thunder was a world wide hit. 1994 saw the release of the final Pink Floyd studio album The Division Bell.
Rumours still circulate that Pink Floyd will get back together and tour but apart from an appearance at Live 8 there has been no sign of this happening, although Roger Waters still tours and until recently played Dark Side Of The Moon in it’s entirety.
David Gilmour also still tours but plays mainly his own songs, the Remember That Night DVD Iincludes both his own and some Pink Floyd material.
Here is an amazing video clip of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, courtesy of the nice chaps at YouTube;
In 1969 another, all British band were to form that would end up breaking new barriers as to world touring, they have recently released their 21st Studio album Wake The Sleeper and that band is Uriah Heep but they will be the subject of another Bluffers Guide...
That should get you through those awkward silences!
Oasis - New album to be titled: Dig Out Your Soul!
Dig Out Your Soul will contain tracks contributed by all four members but principle songwriter Noel explains “I wanted to write music that had a groove; not songs that followed that traditional pattern of verse, chorus and middle eight. I wanted a sound that was more hypnotic; more driving. Songs that would draw you in, in a different way. Songs that you would maybe have to connect to - to feel.” 
Here is the tracklist for Dig Out Your Soul: 
Other releases by Oasis are:
My Chemical Romance
Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
