pink floyd

Syd Barrett EraPink Floyd is regarded as the premier space rock band that managed to push music to its limits with lyrical themes and album concepts of quality often associated with classical opera music. Back in the mid-sixties in Cambridge - England under the leadership of guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett and the support of bassist Roger Waters, keyboardist Richard Wright and drummer Nick Mason, Pink Floyd was emerging as a conventional band playing the usual R&B songs of the time. Their name originated from early 20th century blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. The band quickly began to experiment with poetic lyrics, electronic sound effects and light shows during their gigs to add a psychedelic edge. This caught the attention of EMI with whom they signed in 1967 and released their debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". Almost dominated completely by Barrett's compositions, it managed to achieve reasonable success in the UK where it reached #6. In January 1968 the band recruited vocalist/guitarist David Gilmour to temporarily carry out Barrett's duties, whose mental health state was highly unstable due to LSD usage; he would often stare into space during the band's performances or even sometimes not function at all. With Barrett soon fully replaced by Gilmour, Pink Floyd released their next few albums with Waters emerging as the dominant composer. "A Saucerful Of Secrets" (1968) and "Ummagumma" (1969) paved the way for the band's first UK number 1 album with 1970's "Atom Heart Mother", whereas 1971's "Meddle" (#3 UK) and 1972's "Obscured By Clouds" (#6 UK) cemented the band's image with their home audience. Dark Side Of The MoonAlthough by now the band had a solid following nothing prepared them for what was to follow. The massively successful 1973 album "Dark Side Of The Moon" hit number 1 in the US and remained in the Top 200 for the next 14 years and even nowadays, 32 years after its original release, it sells around half a million copies a year in the US alone! "Dark Side Of The Moon" was a concept album about the different pressures of modern life; "Money" spoke about money, "The Great Gig In The Sky" touched death and religion, "Us And Them" was on violent conflicts within societies and "Brain Damage" on insanity and neurosis. The album is also regarded to have set new standards of sound engineering, credited to its engineer Alan Parsons. "Wish You Were Here" released in 1975 was themed around absence and included the classic title track and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (a tribute to former frontman Barrett) whereas 1977's "Animals" had songs based around a contemporary society were dogs, pigs and sheep were used as metaphors. This album also marked the start of tensions between Waters and Wright. The WallMatching "Dark Side Of The Moon" would seem an impossible task for many but not for Pink Floyd. 1979's Waters conceived double-album rock opera "The Wall" spent 15 weeks at number 1 in US charts and has since been certified 23 times platinum. The album was centered on the material and emotional walls modern humans build around themselves for survival and featured such classics as "Another Brick In The Wall" and "Comfortably Numb". The accompanied tour was a massive multi-million dollar show extravaganza that featured the construction and then demolition of an actual wall during the band's performance! However, during this time Waters increased his leadership within Pink Floyd which led to Wright's dismissal and to tensions with the rest of the band. DisbandingPink Floyd released "The Final Cut" in 1983 that examined many of the themes of the previous album but also the hot events of the time including opposition to Britain's role in the Falklands War ("The Fletcher Memorial Home") and the fear of a nuclear war ("Two Suns In The Sunset"). The album lacked Wright's keyboards and although it was a number 1 hit in the UK crucially the Waters/Gilmour relationship was rumored to have hit rock bottom. Rumors were reinforced when the band announced that the album would not be supported by a tour. Pink Floyd unofficially disbanded the same year. Partial Reunion

© Thomas Zeidler for The Rock RadioIn the years that followed each member had solo careers until 1987 when Gilmour and Mason decided to reassemble to band. However, a fierce legal dispute between them and Waters took place when the former denied they had the right to continue as Pink Floyd without him. The result was that Waters won the rights for many of the band's imagery and songs but that they could continue without him. With the return of Wright, Pink Floyd released the reasonably successful "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" (1987) and the big hit album "The Division Bell" (1994) that topped the charts both sides of the Atlantic. Its accompanied tour was the highest earning in the history of rock music at that time. Since 1994 there has been no other activity with the exception of the release of the usual compilations and DVD's. Live 8Influential activist and Africa campaigner Bob Geldof - who starred in The Wall (the movie) in the early 1980s - did the impossible and managed to persuade Waters and Gilmour to reunite after 24 years for the London Live 8 concert. Although both were very skeptical initially, they eventually gave in - much to the amusement of their millions of fans worldwide many of whom were not even born when they last played together at Earl's Court in London in 1981.Pink Floyd performed a four-song set comprising of "Breath/Breath Reprise", "Money", "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". 200,000 music fans at Hyde Park and billions watching on TV were left with the bitter taste of wanting more.
"Money, It's a crime, Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie, Money, So they say, Is the root of all evil today, But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away..."Pink Floyd - 1973