Pink Floyd

I have been a Pink Floyd fan for a long time. I cannot sing or i do not remeber the lyrics like others except for a line or two here and there. But off late i have been listening to them day in day out. So i decided that i should make a small compilation on the bands story. So i started researching them on net and compiled this.

One of the most popular and successful rock bands of all time, linking three different eras in history. The '60s Floyd, led by singer/songwriter Syd Barrett, was a pioneering psychedelic band from Cambridge, England. The '70s Floyd, led by bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour, recorded the high-tech art-rock classics Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Since Waters split bitterly in the early '80s, Pink Floyd has carried on as an oldies act, occasionally releasing new albums that nobody listens to.

Origin
The band originated in 1965 in Cambridge, England. Originally the band was formed by Roger Waters, Richard Wrights and Nick Mason. The band was originally named "Sigma 6". Not making any progress or success the band changed the name to "T-Sets". A few others joined the band on in 1965 and the band again re-branded itself as The "Abdads" and then again to "The Screaming abdads" and "The architectural abdads". Later the "Abdads" band split and it was again the "Sigma 6". Then Roger Syd Barret joined the band in 1966 and the band was christened "The Pink Floyd Sound" and later changed to "Pink Floyd".

Origin of the Name
The name Pink Floyd was coined from the combination of the names of American blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

Original Members
The band’s original members were

Syd Barrett - guitar, vocals
Roger Waters - bass, guitar, vocals
Bob Close - guitar
Rick Wright - keyboards, wind instruments
Nick Mason - drums

In the year 1966 Bob Close left the band. The band recorded their first single "Arnold Layne", song about a transvestite who steals women’s cloths. The first album released was the "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". They were scheduled for the tour of U.S.A., but Syd got very sick from being blasted on LSD (better know as acid). His LSD addiction helped his imagination to write songs, but around the time of "A Saucerful Of Secrets", his drug habits were out of control. By the end of 1967, They got a replacement for Syd in David Gilmour, an old friend of Roger and Syd's. David was recruited to cover for Syd on stage. If Syd were to make a mistake, David would fill the gap, and fix it which didn't work out well. They tried as hard as they could to keep Syd in the band, but his acid addiction took control of him and he went crazy. The band part syd and he was institutionalized for drug abuse in 1974. In 1968, the band continued on without Syd. During the time that Floyd was making Obscured By Clouds, they had written over 45-minute of songs that they played live, This was called Eclipse. It was mainly focused on society and how it alienates, controls, and destroys daily life. They turned it into an album in 1973, called Dark Side Of The Moon. It is the second highest selling rock record in history. To follow up the success of Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd released "Wish You Were Here" which was dedicated to original lyricist and guitar player Syd Barret.
During the recording of the album, Syd actually came to congratulate them on their success with Dark Side Of The Moon. At first they didn't recognize him because he had gained a lot of weight. After the success of Wish You Were Here, their new album Animals was release almost a year and half later. The album was based on the aristocratic and communist lifestyles in the world. Each type of person was loosely based on an animal. Dogs were the creepy rulers of industry, Pigs were the communist tyrants, Sheep were the common folk, always being brainlessly led by the Dogs and Pigs, and Pigs On The Wing was a love song that Roger wrote to his new wife, Carolyn, the niece of the Duke of York. In late 1978, a new project was released The Wall. November 30, 1979, The Wall is released in the UK, and the fans love it. December 5, 1979, The Wall is released in the US, and again, the fans love it. In 1982, Rick Wright left the band for good. Roger had plans to tour for the new album in November 1983, but because of tensions between each member, those plans were cancelled, and changed the name of the album to The Final Cut. In 1984, the band went their own seperate ways. In 1986, David Gilmour talked to Nick Mason about getting the band back together. This caused a major law suit. Roger Waters, sued David and Nick for the rights to the music, and the band name itself. Roger lost the case because Pink Floyd was never anything put into writing, but Roger was given the rights to perform Pink Floyd music at his concerts and was given ownership of The Wall and The Final Cut. In later 1986, Dave and Nick set made the new album, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. Pink Floyd started recording in 1993 for their new album, The Division Bell. Richard Wright was finally back fully with the band. The band toured for 6 months. Pink Floyd released a live album and video on their Division Bell tour, both featured with live Dark Side Of The Moon. The band was successful once more.In 1996, Pink Floyd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Gilmour, Wright, and Mason performed Wish You Were Here with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. Floyd has done no concerts since then, but made a new live album in 2000. The band made this live album from many different recordings from The Wall Shows of 1980 and 1981 in London's Earls Court and Los Angeles, with Roger Waters. In Late 2001, Pink Floyd including Roger Waters and Syd Barrett, with producer James Guthrie, made a new compilation album called Echoes. Although Floyd never did well with Compilations or greatest hits albums, this album was remastered as one continuous song like Dark Side Of The Moon, and did well in the charts.

Chronologically
September 6, 1944:	Roger Waters of Pink Floyd is born.
January 27, 1945:	Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is born.
July 28, 1945:	Rick Wright of Pink Floyd is born.
January 6, 1946:	Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd is born.
March 6, 1946:	Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is born.
February 27, 1967:	Pink Floyd record their first single, "Arnold Layne" at Sound Techniques Studio in London. It reaches #20 on the British singles chart.
April 5, 1967:	"Piper at the Gates of Dawn," the debut album by "Pink Floyd" and the only one to feature Syd Barrett as bandleader—is released.
May 23, 1967:	"See Emily Play," Pink Floyd"s enchanting second single, is recorded. It reaches #6 on the British charts.
January 7, 1968:	David Gilmour is asked to join Pink Floyd, briefly making them a five-piece band.
April 6, 1968:	Syd Barrett"s departure from Pink Floyd is announced via press release.
October 24, 1970:	Pink Floyd"s "Atom Heart Mother" tops the UK chart. It reaches #55 in America and sets the stage for the breakthrough album "Meddle, Obscured by Clouds" and, of course, "Dark Side of the Moon."
February 17, 1972:	Pink Floyd premieres a new piece of music entitled "Eclipse" at London"s Rainbow Theater. It will evolve into the album "Dark Side of the Moon."
March 13, 1973:	"Dark Side of the Moon," by Pink Floyd, is released. It will reach #1 on April 28, log a record-breaking 741 weeks on Billboard"s Top 200 album chart, and sell more than 15 million copies in the US alone.
April 28, 1973:	Pink Floyd"s "Dark Side of the Moon" hits #1 in the US during a record-breaking 741-week US chart stretch.
September 12, 1975:	"Wish You Were Here," Pink Floyd"s long-awaited follow-up to "Dark Side of the Moon," is released. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a side-long epic about their troubled ex-leader Syd Barrett, is its centerpiece.
January 23, 1977:	Pink Floyd releases "Animals," a bleak concept album that appears to have drawn on author George Orwell"s "Animal Farm" for inspiration.
December 15, 1979:	Pink Floyd releases their double-album epic, "The Wall." It stays at #1 for 15 weeks and has to date been certified 23 times platinum (signifying one million copies) in the US, making it the third best-selling album of all time.
March 22, 1980:	"Another Brick in the Wall," by Pink Floyd, tops the singles charts for the first of four weeks. It is their second and final Top Forty single in the US.
December 12, 1985:	Roger Waters formally notify Columbia and EMI Records that he is no longer a member of Pink Floyd.
October 31, 1986:	Roger Waters files suit to formally dissolve Pink Floyd, a legal battle that will drag on for years without deterring David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright from recording as Pink Floyd.
September 19, 1987:	A reunited Pink Floyd, minus Roger Waters, releases "A Momentary Lapse of Reason," their first studio album since 1984"s "The Final Cut."
April 23, 1994:	Pink Floyd release "The Division Bell," the fourth #1 album of their career. The ensuing live album "Pulse," which appears a year later, will become the fifth.
January 16, 1996:	Pink Floyd is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the eleventh annual induction dinner.
April 18, 2000:	The Wall Live: 1980-81," culled from Pink Floyd"s London performances of their all-time favorite work, is released.
July 7, 2006:	Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd passes away.

Compiled from :
http://classicrock.about.com
http://www.pinkfloydonline.com

Cheers,
Aj.