Pink Floyd

The story of Pink Floyd began in London in 1965. The lineup comprised the London Polytechnic students Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright. They were joined by Syd Barrett who came from Cambridge. The name of the band was proposed by Syd as a tribute to the American bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. They started as an R&B outfit doing covers of The Rolling Stones. Influenced by Barrett’s ideas, Pink Floyd moved to the psychedelic sound with complex and long compositions. The band established their big ambitions with their very first single Arnold Layne. It was a story of a transvestite stealing women’s clothing. Although it was denied by the BBC, the single invaded Top 20 of the UK albums.

The debut full format release by Pink Floyd, called Piper At The Gates Of The Dawn, saw light in 1967 and immediately became a sensation featuring an absolutely innovational approach called ‘space music’. Numerous sonic effects along with specific depressive guitar solos rendered brilliantly the inner state of a person in the surroundings of the modern world. Barrett’s apocalyptic lyrics and music were both the product of his genius and result of heavy drug intake. The massive tours and packed studio activity exhausted him mentally and physically which led to an idea of keeping him focused on songwriting apart from stage performances. It was meant to replace Barrett during the concerts with his old friend David Gilmour. However, Barrett refused this alternative and left the band. He started his own career, but did not achieve much.

Despite the new reality without the established leader, Pink Floyd remained full of energy and creative ideas and released the subsequent album, A Saucerful Of Secrets, in 1968. It included only one song by Barret. This released was followed by the production of the soundtrack to the movie More and the double CD album Ummagumma in 1969. The first part of this record featured the band’s live performances, while the second one contained solo compositions written separately by each member of Pink Floyd. The early seventies became the new period in the Pink Floyd history. The 1970 album Atom Heart Mother was recorded in cooperation with the avant-garde composer Ron Geesin. In 1973 Pink Floyd finished the quest for the sought sound after the release of the iconic Dark Side Of The Moon. This one sold out over twenty five million copies and gave the model to follow on the next albums. The same formula of music was utilized for Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall. The latter became one of the most outstanding specimens of rock genre to influence multitudes of performers. This rock opera was devoted to the subject of loneliness and separation of performers from their audience with the wall being its main symbol.

In 1979, Richard Write quit Pink Floyd due to bitter differences with Waters. In 1982, the band shot the movie The Wall with the music taken from the same titled album. The 1983 record The Final Cut earned little attention with only one remarkable song, Not Now John. The failure pushed Waters to start a solo career, an example followed by Gilmour and Mason. However, they did not succeed as separate artists, which motivated Mason and Gilmour to resurrect Pink Floyd in 1987. Despite the protests and claims from Waters, they managed to preserve the band’s title. Richard Write came back to the group shortly after that. Immediately after the reunion, Pink Floyd recorded A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (1987). It was supported by a long tour giving the material for the live album Delicate Sound Of Thunder (1988). After a prolonged pause, the band released The Division Bell (1994). The material of the new disc reminded little of the Pink Floyd old works and much of Gilmour’s solo albums. In 2005 Waters once performed with Pink Floyd in London which was mistakenly taken by many fans as a sign of his long expected re-joining with the band.