Navigating the Passage of Time with Pink Floyd !
From personal agonies to glorious success stories, Pink Floyd has never stopped making headlines since more than five decades of its inception
Guitarist David Gilmour has auctioned off about 126 iconic guitars he had played solo and for band performances. He had raised $12 million at a charity auction in NYC. Few of these guitars had amassed popularity for being played on “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Money.” To Gilmour, the sale was crucial to strengthen the fight against climate change-- an indispensable project to collect resources that will sustain the battle and build a “civilised world.”
Pink Floyd was created by Syd Barrett, the Lead Guitarist before Gilmour, who had named the band after his two favourite Carolina businesspersons—Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The Pink Floyd Sound was the original name of the band.
‘Candy and a Currant Bun’ by Pink Floyd was originally titled ‘Let’s Roll Another One’ and had the controversial lines “I’m high don/t spoil my fun” which were later changed by Barrett on the advice of the record company.
Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were childhood friends growing up together in the London of 1960s.
Pink Floyd’s successful debut album ‘The Piper at The Gates of Dawn’ was recorded in a room at Abbey Road Studios adjacent to where Beatles were recording ‘Lovely Rita.’ The coincidence happened in 1967. Nick Mason would later describe the meeting amiably, “They [Beatles] were God-like figures to us.”
Pink Floyd had hired a full-time employee whose sole job was to decline with a big “NO” to whoever would approach Pink Floyd with an interview request. At the zenith of the band’s success and glory, the members had vowed to keep away from press. Unlike their contemporaries, interview of the members hardly appeared on print or electronic media.
Departure of Syd Barrett from the band was followed by the disappearance of ‘The’ from Pink Floyd in the late 60’s.
Pink Floyd was approached by director Stanley Kubrick who intended to use ‘Atom Heart Mother Suite’ as a soundtrack for Clockwork Orange. The band had, however, declined permission.
Album ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ was originally named ‘Eclipse.’ Much to Gilmour’s annoyance, the band inconveniently settled for another name after an album of the same name was released by Medicine Head and had flopped massively. ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ gained gargantuan popularity, nonetheless, and its commercial success later financed Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British comedy film,
