The 1960s marked the beginning of a change for the whole world. Especially the newly established groups in the music world clearly showed that this market would never be the same again. One of them is the Pink Floyd group. Founded by a few young musicians in the UK, Pink Floyd rose quickly and has become a legend with countless fans today.
The rise of the Pink Floyd group has been swift, just as befits them. So much so that when we came to the 1970s, they had already become a legend. Especially their performances in live concerts accelerated this magical rise. The departure of team members one by one caused this rise to slow down at some point. Let’s take a closer look at some interesting information about Pink Floyd, some of which you will hear for the first time.
Interesting facts about Pink Floyd, some of which even the most die-hard fans will hear for the first time:
- When the band was first formed, it had a completely different understanding of music.
- The name Pink Floyd comes from blues musicians.
- Barrett left the band and then music.
- The group began their journey to the top with the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
- They broke their own record with The Dark Side of the Moon.
- Their most famous song, Another Brick Wall, Part 2 is a small part of the story of the album.
- The Animals album was inspired by George Orwell’s novel.
- If you ask if Pink Floyd disbanded, the answer is a bit complicated.
When the group was first formed, it had a completely different understanding of music:
Pink Floyd was founded in 1965 in London, the capital of England. The original founding staff of the band consisted of Syd Barrett (guitar and vocals), Nick Mason (drummer), Roger Waters (bass guitar and vocals), and Richard Wright (keyboardist). The band called themselves The Sea Set at the time and mostly played R&B covers. The change in their understanding of music made the name of the band change as well.
The name Pink Floyd comes from blues musicians:
As the band members played together, they decided to turn to another style and add genres such as blues and jazz to their music. They combined the first names of Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, one of the legendary names of the blues world, and changed the name of the band to Pink Floyd. The person who suggested this name was Syd Barrett. The band, who called themselves The Abdabs for a while, loved the name Pink Floyd and decided to continue like this.
Barett left the band and then the music:
Syd Barrett, one of the founders of Pink Floyd, was both the main vocalist and the main songwriter of the group. However, he had psychological problems. As the group gained recognition, these problems increased and he left Pink Floyd in 1968. Continuing his solo career for a while and making new albums, Syd Barrett left music completely in 1972 and devoted himself to painting. He died in 2006 due to pancreatic cancer.
With the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group began their journey to the top:
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the first album of Pink Floyd released in 1967, made the band enter the music world like a bombshell. In an unbelievably short time, the album exploded. Especially Astronomy Domine, the opening track of the album, literally shook the music world. The rhythms, guitar intros and vocals, as well as the lyrics of the song, were unique in that they contained surreal elements. The recording technique of the album is also among the features that make it unique.
They broke their own record with The Dark Side of the Moon:
When the album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn exploded, Pink Floyd became a rock band that is known almost all over the world. The album where they saw the peak literally was The Dark Side of the Moon. Released in 1973, the album broke a record by finding a place for itself on the Billboard 200 list for 937 weeks, or 15 years. In other words, this album, which includes iconic songs such as Money and Time, was bought by one of every 14 people living in the USA. A figure we cannot even imagine today.
The cover image of The Dark Side of the Moon album has a completely different story. The team went to the design company called Hipgnosis for the album cover and interviewed Storm Thorgerson, a young designer at the time. They only asked him to make a simple and bold design. After this two-word request, the image of a prism refracting the light in the form of a rainbow, which has become a legend today, emerged.
Their most famous song, Another Brick Wall, Part 2 is a small part of the album’s story:
We’re sure you’ve heard of Pink Floyd, called Another Brick Wall, Part 2, even if you’re not a big fan. Because this song is the most famous song of the group. This is because the song has a familiar yet distinctive melody. Another Brick Wall, Part 2, which was the top song of the radio for many years, is a part of the album The Wall, which tells the story of the fall of a rock star. If you think the song is great, listen to the album because it’s a big story.
Of course, this story did not go unnoticed by filmmakers, and the story told in the album The Wall was adapted into a movie by Alan Parker in 1982 under the name Pink Floyd: The Wall. The movie, which tells about a rock star named Pink, played by Bob Geldof, has already received great acclaim for its stunning animated sequences as well as having a magnificent story.
The Animals album was inspired by George Orwell’s novel:
The album Animals, released by Pink Floyd in 1977, draws attention with its harsh political criticism and comments on social inequality. When you listen to the songs named Dogs and Pigs in the album, the inspiration for the album is more or less understood. The novel Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a social criticism based on this kind of animal story. The narrative of this allegorical work written by Orwell was adapted to the modern world by Pink Floyd. And listen with this eye.
If you ask if Pink Floyd disbanded, the answer is a bit complicated:
Changing team members is like a tradition in rock bands. This tradition continued with Pink Floyd. Before Syd Barrett left the band, and David Gilmour joined in the meantime. In the following years, first Richard Wright and then Roger Waters left the band. For a while, Gilmour and Mason went by the name Pink Floyd. Wright later rejoined and they held a series of concerts in 1994.
After long quarrels, Gilmour, Wright, and Mason reunited for Live 8 in 2005. After Wright passed away in 2008, the 2014 album The Endless River was recorded without him. Gilmour and Mason to protest the Ukraine-Russia War in 2022 Hey, Hey, Rise Up! they did the song. Pink Floyd was honored by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame.
We talked about interesting information about the legendary rock band Pink Floyd, some of which you have heard for the first time. The fact that we still embrace the songs of the 60s with such joy while the music world has undergone such a big change may be the subject of a completely different sociological research.