The Wall

Published on

September 4, 2018

On July 21st 1990, Roger Waters’ The Wall took place in Potzdamer Platz, Berlin at the site of Berlin Wall, which had been torn down only 8 months previously. Over 350,000 people attended the event which was also broadcast live to fifty-two countries throughout the world.

Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Carrack, Sinead O’Connor, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band, Marianne Faithfull, Thomas Dolby and The Scorpions, all took part.

Nobody had really expected the Berlin Wall to come down in 1989, and the speed with which it did so caught many by surprise. Roger Waters had once made a promise never to perform The Wall again after the 1981 tour until the bricks fell in Berlin, so when they did, he had the opportunity to make good on his promise. The Wall became a star-studded megaconcert to benefit the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief, started by World War II bomber pilot Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, a holder of the Victoria Cross and latterly a tireless worker for charity.

This had resonance for Roger Waters, since his father, a former conscientious objector who then volunteered for the front ranks in World War II, was killed at the Anzio beachhead in Southern Italy in 1944, when Roger was only 5 months old.

The Wall album, meanwhile, is possibly the most successful rock album concept of all time, and its stage presentation one of the most forward-looking and influential. The album tells the story of the protagonist Pink, often in flashback, and the dramatic concept is the ‘wall’ he erects to isolate himself from the world and its eventual demolition. Created by Roger Waters, the story is semi-autobiographical, dealing as it does with a central figure whose father died in World War II and who is a touring rock star. However many of the events and figures are overstated for effect and not intended to directly reflect Waters’ own family or experiences.

The double album, released in December 1979, was an instant hit, propelled by the worldwide Number 1 single ‘Another Brick In The Wall Part 2’. It remains hugely popular, and is still the third largest grossing album in the US, behind Thriller and Eagles’ Greatest Hits.

It was the stage show, though, which helped to create the legend of The Wall. A monumental production, presented only in Los Angeles, New York and London in 1980, and then restaged in 1981 for the purposes of filming in only London, and Dortmund, West Germany, the show started with a wall half built across the entire stage, and ended the first half with the performers completely isolated from the audience. Some creative tableaux saw songs performed within, in front of, and in the case of “Comfortably Numb”, on top of the wall, before at the show’s climax the entire edifice was brought crashing down in an avalanche of cardboard bricks. Anyone lucky enough to have seen the original production said that it was the best rock concert they had ever seen.

So it was a second chance to stage the production with larger bricks, bigger inflatable puppets, and a larger audience than any of the original Pink Floyd shows, plus a worldwide TV audience, that prompted the 1990 show. A sell-out crowd of over 250,000 people attended, joined just before the performance by a further 100,000 spectators when the gates were opened. The massive 550 foot (170 metre) long and 82 foot (25 metre) high wall was built in close to the Brandenburg Gate, right on Potsdamer Platz, the no man’s land between East and West Germany, and the production team didn’t know if the area might still be riddled with mines. In fact no-one did, so before setting up they did a sweep of the area and found a cache of munitions and a previously unknown SS regiment bunker.

Available on VHS at the time, the concert was reissued on DVD in 2006 – check it out, and in particular the performance of someone who has plainly not forgotten the occasion: Van Morrison. Perhaps a surprising choice of guest, Van nonetheless turned in a fantastic version of “Comfortably Numb”. Returning to it recently, Van has included it in his live sets, and allowed its use in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, so for Van, as for all of us, the answer to the question “Is There Anybody Out There?” is:

“There sure is!”

Important Dates In The Life Of Pink Floyd:

On this day in music

8 Apr 2022 Pink Floyd reunited to record their first new material in 28 years, a protest song against the Ukraine war. 'Hey Hey, Rise Up!' featured David Gilmour and Nick Mason alongside long-time Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards. The song is built around a refrain from Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the band Boombox. Gilmour was inspired after being shown Khlyvnyuk's Instagram feed showing footage of himself in Kyiv's Sofiyskaya Square, fully armed and ready to fight the Russian invasion.
23 Jun 2021 British engineer and composer Peter Zinovieff died age 88. In the late 1960s, his company, Electronic Music Studios (EMS), made the VCS3, a synthesizer used by many early progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd and Krautrock groups as well as more pop-orientated artists, including Todd Rundgren and David Bowie.
12 Feb 2021 Rupert Neve died at 94 years old due to pneumonia and heart failure. Neve was a pioneering designer of professional audio recording equipment. Regarded as the father of modern studio recording, his equipment became industry standard and influenced the sound of countless musicians including Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, The Who, Pink Floyd and many more. Nirvana even recorded their iconic album Nevermind on a mixing console at Sound City Studios designed by Neve.
12 Jul 2020 English singer-songwriter Judy Dyble died age 71. She was a founding member of Fairport Convention and Trader Horne. In addition, she and multi-instrumental Ian McDonald joined and recorded several tracks with Giles, Giles and Fripp, who later became King Crimson. During Fairport's early live shows in London in the late 1960s Dyble shared stages with acts such as Jimi Hendrix, and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Famously, she sat on the front of the stage at the Speakeasy Club knitting, while Hendrix and Fairport Convention guitarist Richard Thompson jammed.
18 Jun 2020 English singer, songwriter and entertainer Vera Lynn died at her home in East Sussex aged 103. She was popular during the Second World War and was widely referred to as the "Forces' Sweetheart" giving outdoor concerts for the British troops overseas. The songs most associated with her are 'We'll Meet Again', and '(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover'. On their 1979 album The Wall, Pink Floyd released a song titled "Vera", referencing Vera Lynn and the song 'We'll Meet Again'.
20 Jun 2019 David Gilmour’s guitar collection set several auction records when nearly 130 instruments went up for bid at Christie’s in New York. The former Pink Floyd frontman’s most iconic instrument, the so-called Black Strat, fetched $3,975,000. Other items sold included a 1954 Fender Stratocaster with the serial number 0001, which was used on the recording of 'Another Brick in the Wall Part 2' went for over $1.8 million, a 1958 Gretsch White Penguin went for $447,000, and a 1955 Gibson Goldtop Les Paul, also used on 'Another Brick' sold for $447,000. Christie’s declared all to be world auction records.
ADVERTISEMENT
26 May 2016 A set of stamps celebrating 50 years of Pink Floyd were unveiled by the Royal Mail. The ten stamps which would be available the following month marked five decades since the band turned professional. The collection included the band's most famous album covers as well as live performance shots.
4 Jun 2015 According to the BPI's Music Market 2015 report British acts accounted for 1 in 7 albums sold worldwide. With 13.7% of worldwide sales, it's the highest British share since the BPI began recording figures in 2000. Albums by One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Sam Smith and Pink Floyd all made the top ten list of the world's biggest-sellers of 2014.
7 Dec 2014 Pink Floyd's classic album, The Dark Side Of The Moon made a surprise return to the Billboard chart when it landed at No.13, thanks to ultra-cheap pricing in the Google Play store where the album was discounted to 99-cents. Although it held the No.1 spot in the US for only a week when released in 1973, it remained in the Billboard album chart for 741 weeks.
21 Aug 2014 Sir Paul McCartney topped a list of the richest bassists in the world with estimated wealth of $1.2 billion according to the website www.therichest.com. Coming in at No.2 were Sting and Gene Simmons, both with a net worth of $300 million, followed by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, U2's Adam Clayton and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
9 Jan 2014 Rolling Stone magazine published their Readers Poll: The 10 Greatest Double Albums of All Time. The top 5 were: Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti, Bruce Springsteen, The River, The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street, Pink Floyd, The Wall, and winning the poll was The Beatles, with their ninth studio album and only double album released in November 1968 The White Album.
1 May 2013 A Minnesota man was accused of pretending to be a member of Pink Floyd at a US hospital racked up as much as $100,000 in unpaid medical bills. Phillip Michael Schaeffer, 53, went for treatment April 20 and claimed he was Pink Floyd singer-guitarist David Gilmour and that he didn't have health insurance. The man was treated and released from the St. Cloud Hospital, Minnesota, but not before he signed an autograph for an employee’s son.
ADVERTISEMENT
18 Apr 2013 Storm Thorgerson, whose album cover artwork includes Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon died aged 69. A childhood friend of the founding members of the band, he became their designer-in-chief. His credits also include albums by Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and Muse. In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke, from which he recovered. He was later diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, which he battled for several years.
2 Apr 2013 Coldplay beat the likes of Pink Floyd and The Beatles to the top of a BBC Radio 2 poll to find listeners' favourite album of all time. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, came top of the list. Keane's Hopes And Fears took second place, with Duran Duran's Rio in third. Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon came fourth, while The Beatles' 1967 classic Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band could only manage eighth place. The poll was held to tie in with the recent BBC season The Golden Age of the Album.
21 Mar 2013 Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon was set to seal its place in history at the US Library of Congress as part of its National Recording Registry. The recording that received the highest number of public nominations for this year's registry was Dark Side, Floyd's groundbreaking 1973 album.
19 Dec 2012 Nick Mason stepped in to help save Foote's, the historic London music shop where he bought his first ever drum kit. The Pink Floyd drummer, along with the store's sales director, Rob Wilson, were buying the business (which will now re-open in a new location at 41 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London) from the family who has owned it since the '30s.
20 Sep 2012 The former north London home of the original band members of Pink Floyd was bought by a Singaporean developer. Sham Masterman, who admitted not being a big fan of the rock band, bought the Highgate house and the one next door for £1.2m each. Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright and Syd Barrett had all lived in the house in the 1960s. The previous owner, lighting technician Mike Leonard, was landlord and friend to the band and even inspired their earliest name, Leonard's Lodgers.
13 Jul 2012 Roger Waters' tour The Wall Live, topped worldwide concert ticket sales for the first half of 2012. The show based Pink Floyd's hit 1970s album, took $158.1m (£102.3m) beating Bruce Springsteen and Madonna. Waters sold 1.4 million tickets according to Pollstar magazine, which tracks the live concert business.
ADVERTISEMENT
12 Jul 2012 Pollstar magazine announced that former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters had grossed up $158.1 million in concert ticket sales worldwide so far this year with The Wall Live show. Bruce Springsteen came in second place with $79.9 million.
22 Jan 2012 Adele broke an American chart record that has stood for years after being set by The Beatles and Pink Floyd. The singers second album 21 clocked up 16 weeks at No.1 on the US chart matching the success of the Titanic original soundtrack. 21, released last January had now beaten The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's and Pink Floyd's The Wall which had previously held the accolade with runs of 15 weeks at No.1.
11 Jun 2011 Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon, re-entered the Billboard Album chart at No. 47, and reached the milestone of 1,000 weeks on Billboard's charts. The album which was released in 1973 has done consistently well reaching No.1 on more than one occasion.
13 Apr 2011 A portrait of Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett was returned to the London art gallery it had been stolen from the previous week. The late singer's former girlfriend, Libby Gausden, pleaded for its safe return and offered a reward of £2,000, and following an appeal, the image was returned undamaged and intact to the gallery by post.
15 Dec 2010 Various Pink Floyd items were sold at an Entertainment Memorabilia auction by Bonhams in Knightsbridge London. A demo pressing of the single 'Point Me To The Sky/Careful With That Axe Eugene' sold for £720. Pink Floyd signatures, in various blue marker pens on four separate pieces of paper mounted and framed together with a copy of The Dark Side Of The Moon sold for £624.00 and a demo pressing of the single by Syd Barrett 'Octopus' / 'Golden Hair' from 1969, misspelt 'Barratt' corrected in ink on A-side, sold for £300.
10 Mar 2010 Pink Floyd won a court battle with EMI that prevented the record company from selling single downloads and ringtones on the Internet from the group's albums. Pink Floyd's back catalogue was second only in sales to The Beatles.
ADVERTISEMENT
17 Aug 2009 A thief in New Zealand took the unusual step of leaving his contact details at the site of his crime. The man reserved a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall at a record shop in Christchurch, leaving his name and phone number, before robbing the till. He was a regular customer at the shop and already had several records on order.
27 Sep 2008 Pink Floyd's manager Bryan Morrison died after spending over two years in a coma. Morrison suffered severe brain injuries in a polo accident at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, England in 2006, and never recovered. He also managed The Pretty Things and was a music publisher for Syd Barrett, The Bee Gees, Elton John, The Jam T-Rex and Wham!
15 Sep 2008 Pink Floyd keyboard player and founder member Richard Wright died aged 65 from cancer. Wright appeared on the group's first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, in 1967 alongside Syd Barrett, Roger Waters and Nick Mason. David Gilmour who joined the band at the start of 1968 said: "He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him." In 2005, the full band reunited - for the first time in 24 years - for the Live 8 concert in London's Hyde Park. Wright had also contributed vocals and keyboards to Gilmour's 2006 solo album On An Island.
30 Nov 2007 During a Christies Rock & Roll auction held the Rockefeller Plaza, New York City a collection of 276 ticket stubs compiled by a rock journalist who covered many rock concerts at New York City venues sold for $2,000. The tickets included concerts by: Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen.
18 Jan 2007 Islington Green School in North London was fighting plans to turn it into an academy. The school, which found fame when some of its pupils sang on Pink Floyd's hit 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' wrote a new version of the song to sing outside Islington Town Hall as part of their protest. They hoped lyrics such as 'We don't need no business control' and 'Hey bankers leave our kids alone' could persuade authorities to reject the proposal.
19 Dec 2006 Two giant eyeballs donated by Pink Floyd raised £16,500 for the homeless charity Crisis. The 6ft-high props, made to promote the Pulse DVD, were on the auction site eBay for a week and attracted 46 bids. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, a vice-president of Crisis, said extra help was needed in the winter months.
ADVERTISEMENT
30 Nov 2006 The sale of Syd Barrett's final belongings were sold by Cheffins auctioneers in Cambridge, England. The sale of the 77 items raised £119,890 ($233,786). Ten paintings alone raised over £55,000 and two bicycles over £10,000. The sale included such things as the armchair he used to sit in, his home-made bread bin, tools, notebooks and binders and books. The sale catalogue described Barrett - who quit Pink Floyd in 1968 - as a man with a "total disinterest in materialism."
7 Jul 2006 Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The singer, songwriter, guitarist was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, active as a rock musician for only about seven years before he went into seclusion. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965 but left three years later after one album. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.
12 Mar 2006 Former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his third solo album On An Island. In 2009 UK radio station Planet Rock held a poll asking listeners to name the 'Greatest Solo Album Written By A Former Band Member'. David Gilmour was voted into first place with On An Island.
28 Dec 2005 Pink Floyd were voted the greatest rock stars ever in a survey of 58,000 listeners from UK radio station Planet Rock. Led Zeppelin were voted into second place, 3rd was The Rolling Stones, 4th The Who, 5th, AC/DC, 6th, U2, 7th, Guns N’ Roses, 8th, Nirvana, 9th, Bon Jovi and in 10th place Jimi Hendrix. Listeners also named the 1970s as the golden age of rock, followed by the 1960’s.
5 Jul 2005 Pink Floyd's David Gilmour said artists who had seen album sales soar after the Live 8 concerts should donate their profits to charity, saying: "This is money that should be used to save lives." UK sales figures released two days after the London concert showed Pink Floyd's Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd had risen by 1343%, The Who - Then and Now by 863% and Annie Lennox - Eurythmics Greatest Hits by 500%.
2 Jul 2005 The world's biggest music stars united in concerts around the world to put pressure on political leaders ahead of the G8 summit to tackle poverty in Africa. Concerts in 10 cities, including London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow played to hundreds of thousands of people. A TV audience of several hundred million watched the gigs. In London Pink Floyd, The Who, Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sting, The Scissor Sisters, Keane, and Paul McCartney performed. Philadelphia saw, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z and Bon Jovi, Canada, Bryan Adams and Neil Young headlined, Bjork headlined in Tokyo and Green Day played in Berlin.
ADVERTISEMENT
12 Jun 2005 Pink Floyd announced they would reunite with former bassist Roger Waters, who left the band in 1985, on July 2 for the Live 8 London concert. This would be the first time the band had played together as a quartet since The Wall tour in 1981.
8 Jul 2004 Mark Purseglove known as the world's ‘biggest bootlegger’ was sentenced to 3 years 6 months jail by Blackfriars Crown Court. Purseglove had built up a £15 million pirate CD empire by bootlegging live concerts of some of the world's biggest stars including The Beatles, David Bowie and Pink Floyd
16 Feb 2004 US singer Doris Troy died. She had been a session singer with Dionne Warwick, sang on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and released an album on The Beatles Apple label. She had a 1964 UK No.37 single 'Whatcha Gonna Do About It' and a 1963 US No. 10 hit 'Just One Look'. She sang backup for many acts including The Rolling Stones, (‘You Can't Always Get What You Want’), Carly Simon's ('You're So Vain'), George Harrison, (‘My Sweet Lord’).
18 Nov 2003 American composer and orchestral arranger Michael Kamen died of a heart attack in London aged 55. Worked with Pink Floyd, Queen, Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Eurythmics, Queensryche, Rush, Metallica, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Sting, and Kate Bush. Kamen co-wrote the Bryan Adams' ballad ‘(Everything I Do), I Do It for You.’
30 Oct 2003 Steve O'Rourke suffered a stroke and died in Miami, Florida. O'Rourke had managed Pink Floyd since 1968, and was the executive producer for their 1982 film The Wall.
13 Jun 2003 The elder statesman of music were rewarded in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours list for their services to music. Sting was awarded a CBE, Gerry Marsden an MBE, Errol Brown (Hot Chocolate) an MBE and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour a CBE.
ADVERTISEMENT
6 Jan 2001 Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour won the right to his dot com name. Dave took legal action in his battle to reclaim davidgilmour.com from Andrew Herman who had registered the URL and was selling Pink Floyd merchandise through the site.
17 Aug 1999 Led Zeppelin topped a chart of Britain's most bootlegged musicians, compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), after identifying 384 bootleg titles featuring Led Zeppelin performances. The bootleg chart was complied from the BPI's archive of some 10,000 recordings seized over the past 25 years. The Beatles came in second with 320 entries, other acts listed included The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd.
28 Jun 1997 The Pink Floyd album The Dark Side Of The Moon spent its 1056th week on the US album chart. It was rumoured at the time that if the album was played while watching The Wizard of Oz movie, and started exactly when the MGM lion roared the third time during the movie's intro, very interesting connections could be made between the two.
10 Sep 1996 Music journalist Ray Coleman died of cancer. Coleman had worked with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and had been the editor of the UK music weekly Melody Maker throughout the heyday of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones into the era of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
17 Jan 1996 David Bowie Tom Donahue, The Jefferson Airplane, Gladys Knight And The Pips, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger, The Shirelles and The Velvet Underground were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
12 Oct 1994 Pink Floyd played the first of a 15-night run at Earls Court, London, England. Less than a minute after the band had started playing 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a scaffolding stand holding 1200 fans, collapsed, throwing hundreds of people 20 feet to the ground. It took over an hour to free everyone from the twisted wreckage, ninety-six people were injured, with 36 needing hospital treatment. Six were detained overnight with back, neck and rib injuries. Pink Floyd sent a free T-shirt and a note of apology to all the fans who had been seated in the stand that collapsed. The show was immediately cancelled and re-scheduled.
ADVERTISEMENT
23 Apr 1994 Pink Floyd were at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth UK No.1 album.
17 Apr 1994 Pink Floyd started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth No.1 album.
8 Apr 1994 The Recording Industry Association of America announced that Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon had become the fourth biggest-selling album in US history and had passed the 13 million mark in sales. The album has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
15 Jul 1989 Pink Floyd appeared in Canal di San Marco, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy on a floating stage. Over 200,000 people attended the gig (almost double the number authorities had planned for) causing damage to buildings and bridges. The cleaning of the area after the concert was said to be around £25,000 and the concert was broadcast live on TV to over 20 countries with an estimated audience of almost 100 million. Two Venice councillors were later ordered to stand trial for the costs incurred by the concert.
16 Jan 1989 Michael Jackson played the first of five nights at the Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. These were the last shows on the singers Bad World Tour (which had Sheryl Crow as a backing singer). The 123-show world tour began on September 12, 1987 in Japan and was sponsored by soft drink manufacturer Pepsi. It grossed a total of $125 million, making it the second highest-grossing tour of the 1980s after Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason tour. Jackson donated more than $1m of the final concert's takings to an organisation fighting child cruelty.
26 Nov 1988 Russian cosmonauts aboard Soyuz 7 took into space a cassette copy (minus the cassette box for weight reasons) of the latest Pink Floyd album Delicate Sound Of Thunder and played it in orbit, making Pink Floyd the first rock band to be played in space. David Gilmour and Nick Mason both attended the launch of the spacecraft.
ADVERTISEMENT
8 Oct 1988 Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon finally left Billboard's Hot 200 Album Chart after a record breaking 741 weeks.
1 Dec 1987 A Kentucky teacher lost her appeal in the US Supreme Court over her sacking after showing Pink Floyd's film The Wall to her class. The court decided that the film was not suitable for minors with its bad language and sexual content.
29 Sep 1987 Pink Floyd's thirteenth studio album A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was on the UK chart. The shoot for the album cover involved dragging 800 hospital beds onto Saunton Sands in Devon, but rain interrupted the session and they had to repeat the exercise two weeks later. A hang glider can be seen in the sky, a possible reference to the track 'Learning to Fly'. Photographer Robert Dowling won a gold award at the Association of Photographers' Awards for the image, which took about two weeks to create.
14 Jun 1987 30 hired hands moved 800 rented NHS beds onto Saunton Sands in North Devon for Storm Thorgerson to shoot what would be the cover of the forthcoming Pink Floyd album 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason'. Rain interrupted the shoot and the team were forced to repeat the exercise two weeks later.
6 Apr 1987 Roger Waters' lawyers issued a statement that Roger believed himself to be the creative driving force behind Pink Floyd and therefore he would contest the use of the name by anyone else and any former members of Pink Floyd.
11 Nov 1986 Pink Floyd issued a press statement stating that they intend to continue using the name without Roger Waters and were recording their next album.
ADVERTISEMENT
31 Oct 1986 Roger Waters went to the high court to try and stop David Gilmour and Nick Mason from using the name 'Pink Floyd', for future touring and recording.
29 Oct 1983 Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon marked its 491st week on the Billboard album chart in the US, surpassing the previous record holder, 'Johnny's Greatest Hits' by Johnny Mathis. When it finally fell off of list in October 1988, 'Dark Side' had set a record of 741 weeks on the chart.
6 Aug 1982 Pink Floyd's The Wall starring Bob Geldof opened in movie theatres in New York. The film was conceived alongside the double album by Pink Floyd's, Roger Waters.
14 Jul 1982 The movie premier for Pink Floyd's The Wall was held at The Empire, Leicester Square, London, England. The film which centers around a confined rocker named Floyd "Pink" Pinkerton earned $22 million in its first year and won two British Academy Awards.
4 Oct 1980 Winners in the Melody Makers readers poll included, Kate Bush who won Best female singer, Peter Gabriel won Best male singer, Best guitarist went to Ritchie Blackmore, Phil Collins won Best drummer, Genesis won Band of the year, Best single went to Pink Floyd for 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' and Saxon won brightest hope.
9 Aug 1980 Ten original Gerald Scarfe drawings for Pink Floyd's album The Wall were stolen from the foyer of Earls Court, London, England where they were being exhibited.
1 May 1980 The South African government banned Pink Floyd's single 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' after black children adopted the song as their anthem in protest against inferior education.
29 Mar 1980 Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon album spent its 303rd week on the US album chart, beating the record set by Carole King's 1971 No.1 album Tapestry. The album remained in the US Billboard charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in chart history. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006.
22 Mar 1980 Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart. The track, which was the group’s only US chart topper, was also a No.1 in the UK, Germany, Australia, Italy and in many other countries around the world. Pink Floyd received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group for the song, but lost to Bob Seger's 'Against The Wind.'
24 Jan 1980 A billboard was erected on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, California to promote Pink Floyd's new album The Wall. A blank wall was pasted up and each day a brick was ‘removed’ to slowly reveal the inside spread and title of the album.
19 Jan 1980 Pink Floyd's The Wall started a 15-week run at No.1 on the US album chart. The group’s third US No.1, it went on to sell over 23 million copies in the US alone. The Wall is still the third largest grossing album in the US, behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Eagles’ 'Greatest Hits'.
7 Jan 1980 Pink Floyd released 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' in the US. The single peaked at No.1 on both the US and UK charts, giving Pink Floyd their first and only No.1 hit single. The single went to No.1 in many other countries, including Australia, Germany and Italy.
26 Dec 1979 Pink Floyd’s The Wall was at No.1 on the US album chart. (The album spent a total of 15 weeks at No.1 during a 35-week stay on the chart). The Wall also spent a total of 5 weeks at No.1 on the UK chart.
15 Dec 1979 Pink Floyd started a five week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' their only UK chart topper. The song, which was also the final No.1 single of the 1970s, received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group, but Floyd lost to Bob Seger's Against the Wind.
23 Nov 1979 Pink Floyd released 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' in the UK. The song rapidly topped the charts in the UK, followed by the US and a further 9 countries. Featuring children from Islington Green School in North London, close to Floyd's Britannia Row Studios, it was the group’s first UK single since Point Me At The Sky in 1968, and their first chart hit since See Emily Play in 1967.
19 Oct 1979 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their third album Damn the Torpedoes. It built on his two previous albums' commercial success and critical acclaim and reached No.2 on the Billboard album chart, (kept from No.1 by Pink Floyd's The Wall). The album featured the two hit singles 'Don't Do Me Like That (US No. 10) and 'Refugee' (US No. 15).
12 Feb 1977 Pink Floyd released their tenth studio album Animals in the US, where it reached No.3 in the charts. The album's cover image, a pig floating between two chimneys on Battersea Power Station, was conceived by bassist Roger Waters and realised by long-time design and photographic collaborators Hipgnosis.
28 Jan 1977 Pink Floyd's tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at No.2. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.
3 Dec 1976 A giant 40ft inflatable pig could be seen floating above London, England after breaking free from its moorings. The pig, nicknamed Algie, was being photographed for the forthcoming Pink Floyd Animals album cover. The Civil Aviation Authority issued a warning to all pilots that a flying pig was on the run, and the pig eventually crashed into a barn in Godmersham, Kent, where the farmer complained of his cows being scared by the incident.
2 Dec 1976 The first day of the photo shoot for the forthcoming Pink Floyd Animals album cover took place at Battersea Power Station in London, England with a giant inflatable pig lashed between two of the structure's tall towers. A trained marksman was hired ready to fire if the inflatable escaped, but was not needed on this, the first day. Unfortunately the following day the marksman hadn't been rebooked, so when the inflatable broke free from its moorings, it was able to float away, eventually landing in Kent where it was recovered by a local farmer, reportedly furious that it had ‘scared his cows.’
1 Sep 1976 Wish You Were Here was close to spending one year on the UK chart. Pink Floyd’s ninth studio had been premiered at Knebworth in July 1975, and was released in September that year. It was an instant success, with record company EMI unable to press enough copies to satisfy demand. The artwork for the album package was once again created by the Hipgnosis team, who created a series of tableaux based on ‘absence’, including the empty gesture of a handshake between two US business men (one of whom is on fire), a diver that causes no ripples, and a piece of gauze floating in the wind, photographed somewhere in Norfolk, UK.
2 Aug 1976 Peter "Puddy" Watts, road manager with Pink Floyd died of a heroin overdose. Watts supplied the crazed laughter on the groups The Dark Side Of The Moon album.
15 Jan 1976 Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was on the UK album chart. The album's packaging, designed by Storm Thorgerson, featured an opaque black sleeve inside which was hidden the album artwork. Thorgerson had noted that, in the US, Roxy Music's Country Life was sold in an opaque green cellophane sleeve - censoring the cover image - and he adopted the idea, concealing the artwork for Wish You Were Here in a dark-coloured shrink-wrap (making the album art 'absent').
4 Oct 1975 Pink Floyd went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Wish You Were Here. The album featured a tribute to ex band member Syd Barrett, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. Also No.1 in the US. For one of the shots on the album's cover, two stuntmen were used, Danny Rogers and Ronnie Rondell, who was dressed in a fire-retardant suit covered by a business suit. Initially the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, and the flames were forced into Rondell's face, burning his moustache. The two stuntmen changed positions, and the image was later reversed.
12 Sep 1975 Pink Floyd released their ninth studio album Wish You Were Here in the UK. The album which explores themes of absence, the music business, and former band-mate Syd Barrett's mental decline peaked at No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic and went on to spend a total of 84 weeks on the chart.
5 Jul 1975 Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Steve Miller and Roy Harper all appeared at The Knebworth Festival, England, tickets cost £3.50. Pink Floyd premiered their new album Wish You Were Here with the help of Spitfires, pyrotechnics and an exploding plane which flies into the stage.
5 Jun 1975 During recording sessions for Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, Syd Barrett turned up out of the blue as Pink Floyd were listening to playbacks of Shine On You Crazy Diamond — a song that happened to be about Barrett. By that time, the 29-year-old Barrett had shaved off all of his hair (including his eyebrows), become overweight, and his ex-bandmates did not at first recognise him. Barrett eventually left without saying goodbye, and none of the band members ever saw him again.
11 Jan 1975 The Alan Freeman BBC Radio 1 show broadcast a Pink Floyd show recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, England on 16th Nov 1974. The band had played four nights at Wembley on their The Dark Side Of The Moon tour and tapes from these shows have been remixed.
6 Jan 1975 Pink Floyd started sessions start at Abbey Road Studios London for their next album Wish You Were Here. Their ninth studio album was released on 12 September 1975 and features 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' a tribute to Syd Barrett whose mental breakdown had forced him to leave the group seven years earlier.
19 Oct 1973 David Bowie released his seventh album Pin Ups. The album, which features supermodel Twiggy on the front cover, is a collection of cover versions of some of the singer’s favourite songs, including tracks by Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks.
28 May 1973 Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon was on both the UK and US album charts. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. (After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006).
28 Apr 1973 Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon went to No.1 in the US. The album went on to enjoy a record-breaking 741 discontinuous weeks on the Billboard chart, and has now sold over 45 million copies world-wide. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks there, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006.
17 Apr 1973 Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side Of The Moon went gold in the US. The LP went on to stay in the US chart for more than ten years and became the longest charting rock record of all time.
1 Mar 1973 Pink Floyd released their eighth studio album The Dark Side Of The Moon in the US. It remained in the US charts for 741 discontinuous weeks from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. After moving to the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Chart, the album notched up a further 759 weeks, and had reached a total of over 1,500 weeks on the combined charts by May 2006. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.
2 Jun 1972 Pink Floyd released "Obscured By Clouds" in the UK. The album, which was recorded in Paris in less than two weeks, peaked at No.6 on the UK chart and No.46 on the US chart.
21 May 1972 The Doors, Pink Floyd, the Faces, Family, Curved Air, Atomic Rooster, The Kinks, Rory Gallagher, Uriah Heep, Country Joe McDonald, Buddy Miles, Status Quo, Brinsley Schwarz, Spencer Davis, The Strawbs and Humble Pie all appeared at the 2nd British Rock Meeting, Insel Grun, Germersheim, West Germany. The festival was due to take place in Mannheim, West Germany, but after protests from the locals, the concert actually took place in nearby Germersheim.
16 Apr 1972 Pink Floyd appeared at the Township Auditorium, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. A typical set list on this The Dark Side of The Moon tour was: The Dark Side of the Moon (entire album), One of These Days, Careful with that Axe Eugene, Echoes, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.
21 Jan 1972 Pink Floyd appeared at The Guildhall, Portsmouth, England. This was the first time that they were able to perform the whole of what became The Dark Side Of The Moon album in its entirety, the previous night's performance in Brighton having been halted for technical reasons.
20 Jan 1972 On the first date of a UK tour at The Dome, Brighton, England, Pink Floyd attempted to premiere their new album The Dark Side Of The Moon but due to technical problems this was abandoned after a performance of the track 'Money'.
3 Jan 1972 Two weeks of rehearsals for Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon tour began at the Bermondsey in London, England, (the venue was owned by The Rolling Stones).
30 Oct 1971 Pink Floyd released their sixth studio album Meddle in the US. The album features 'One Of These Days' and the 23-minute track 'Echoes' which took up all of side 2 on the vinyl record. The cover image was photographed by Bob Dowling. The image represents an ear, underwater, collecting waves of sound, represented by ripples in the water.
13 Aug 1971 Pink Floyd played their first ever Australian date when they appeared at the Festival Hall in Melbourne. The group, who were on an Asia Pacific tour, played just one other date in Australia - Sydney, two nights later.
7 May 1971 'Moonage Daydream' was released as a single by Arnold Corns, a band, formed by David Bowie the name of which was inspired by the Pink Floyd song 'Arnold Layne'. This was one of Bowie’s side projects and something of a dry run for Ziggy Stardust. The song later reappeared on Ziggy Stardust in a new version with updated lyrics.
13 Nov 1970 Syd Barrett released his second solo album Barrett only 10 months after his debut The Madcap Laughs. David Gilmour produced the whole album, which also featured performances by Pink Floyd's Richard Wright on keyboards. The album has since been reissued in remastered form with extra tracks from the sessions.
24 Oct 1970 Pink Floyd were at No.1 on the UK album chart with the 'Atom Heart Mother', the group's first No.1. The album cover shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text nor any other clue as to what might be on the record.
2 Oct 1970 Pink Floyd released their fifth, and first UK No.1 album Atom Heart Mother in the UK. The original album cover shows a cow standing in a pasture with no text, nor any other clue as to what might be on the record. Storm Thorgerson, inspired by Andy Warhol's famous ‘cow wallpaper,’ has said that he simply drove out into a rural area near Potters Bar, England and photographed the first cow he saw. The cow's owner identified her name as ‘Lulubelle III’.
14 Aug 1970 The first day of the three day UK Yorkshire Folk, Blues & Jazz Festival at Krumlin, Yorkshire took place featuring Atomic Rooster, Pink Floyd, (who didn't appear after being fog bound at Paris Airport), The Kinks, Elton John, Mungo Jerry, Yes, Alan Price, Georgie Fame, Juicy Lucy, Pretty Things and The Groundhogs. Weekend tickets, £3.
18 Jul 1970 Pink Floyd, Roy Harper, Kevin Ayers, and the Edgar Broughton Band, all appeared at a free concert held in Hyde Park, London, England.
16 Jul 1970 Pink Floyd recorded a show at the BBC Paris Cinema, in London, England for broadcast on the John Peel Sunday Concert, on BBC Radio 1 (broadcast 19 July of this year.)
27 Jun 1970 The 3-day Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in Bath, England took place. The line-up included, Santana, The Flock, Led Zeppelin (headlining act), Hot Tuna, Country Joe McDonald, Colosseum, Jefferson Airplane (set aborted), The Byrds (acoustic set), Dr. John, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat, It's a Beautiful Day, Steppenwolf, Johnny Winter, John Mayall with Peter Green, Pink Floyd, (who premiered their new suite, "Atom Heart Mother", which at that time was announced as the "Amazing Pudding"), Pentangle, Fairport Convention, and Keef Hartley.
6 Jun 1970 Syd Barrett played his first gig since leaving Pink Floyd at the Extravaganza 70, at London's Olympia Hall, England, backed by a band that included his old friend Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Barrett baffled the audience (and his musicians) when he abruptly took off his guitar during the fourth number and walked off stage.
10 Oct 1969 King Crimson released their debut studio album In the Court of the Crimson King on Island Records in England and Atlantic Records in America. Rolling Stone named In the Court of the Crimson King the second greatest progressive rock album of all time, behind Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.
13 Sep 1969 The first day of the 3 day Rugby Bag Blues Festival in Warwickshire, England with Pink Floyd, The Nice, Taste, Free, Third Ear Band, Ralph McTell, Roy Harper, King Crimson, The Strawbs, Edgar Broughton, Spirit of John Morganand John Martyn, tickets from 12/6.
2 May 1969 Pink Floyd appeared at Manchester Chamber Of Commerce, England. The show was recorded for the forthcoming album 'Ummagumma'.
27 Apr 1969 Pink Floyd appeared at Mothers Club in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Radio 1 DJ John Peel reviewed the gig as '...sounding like dying galaxies lost in sheer corridors of time and space'. Recordings from this show were included in the group’s 1969 album Ummagumma.
25 Jan 1969 Pink Floyd appeared at the Sixty Nine Club, Royal York Hotel, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England. Support band was The Cherokees, who had had a minor hit single in 1964 with Seven Golden Daffodils produced by Mickie Most. They later changed their name to New York Public Library.
28 Dec 1968 Pink Floyd appeared at the two day festival Flight To Lowlands Paradise II, Margriethal-Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, The Netherlands, (replacing The Jimi Hendrix Experience). Other acts appearing included Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck, The Pretty Things and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
4 Oct 1968 On the first night of a UK club tour Led Zeppelin (billed as The Yardbirds featuring Jimmy Page) appeared at the Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, supported by Terry Reid's Fantasia, tickets cost 10/6. The Mayfair was a regular venue for up and coming acts, Pink Floyd Mott the Hoople, Def Leppard and AC/DC had all appeared at the club which was demolished in 2000.
27 Sep 1968 Pink Floyd appeared at the Queen's Hall in Dunoon, Scotland. Due to bad weather, all the ferries to Dunoon were cancelled, so Pink Floyd hired their own boat from Gourock and risked the rough seas to make the crossing, eventually appearing in front of 400 fans.
19 Jul 1968 Pink Floyd played the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in January 1967 as a psychedelic club, many many famous artists, including Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The J. Geils Band, Frank Zappa, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jeff Beck, The Who, Santana, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After and Sly & the Family Stone all appeared.
8 Jul 1968 Pink Floyd kicked off their first 20-date North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. The club became a driving force in the music business, hosting famous rock acts such as The Doors, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Byrds, Janis Joplin, The Mothers of Invention, Grateful Dead, MC5, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Fleetwood Mac, Muddy Waters, Vanilla Fudge and Jefferson Airplane.
29 Jun 1968 A free concert was held in London's Hyde Park with Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Roy Harper. This afternoon concert was the first free festival to be held in Hyde Park. The concert was held to coincide with the release of Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets.
28 Jun 1968 Pink Floyd released their second album A Saucerful Of Secrets in the UK. It is both the last Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett would appear and the only studio album to which all five band members contributed. The album sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis, a new company formed by the band's friends Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey 'Po' Powell, who were paid £110 for their efforts.
21 Jun 1968 Pink Floyd played two shows in one day: the first at the Commemoration Ball, Balliol College, Oxford, and then at Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London. The club was notable for several drug raids by the police, during which underage revellers were arrested; on one occasion a machine called the 'Trip Machine' was dismantled and taken away by the police.
26 May 1968 Pink Floyd, Blonde On Blonde and The Pretty Things all appeared at the OZ magazine benefit at the Middle Earth Club, Covent Garden, London, England. OZ was a satirical humour magazine, founded by Richard Neville and based in Sydney, Australia from 1963. In its second and better-known incarnation it became a counter-culture magazine, based in London from 1967 to 1973.
12 Apr 1968 Pink Floyd released their fourth UK single 'It Would Be So Nice', written by Richard Wright with Roger Waters' 'Julia Dream' on the B-side. Pink Floyd were on tour in Europe on this day, and played their second night at the Piper Club, in Rome, Italy.
6 Apr 1968 Pink Floyd announced founder Syd Barrett had officially left the group. Barrett was suffering from psychiatric disorders compounded by drug use.
28 Mar 1968 Pink Floyd recorded a performance for the BBC 2 TV Omnibus - The Sound of Change show from Barnes Common, London, England. The special, which was produced by Tony Palmer, also featured performances by The Who, Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The show was later broadcast in September of this year.
8 Feb 1968 The Band Of Joy, featuring John Bonham and Robert Plant, made their first London appearance, supporting Edwin Starr at the The Marquee Club in London, England. The Marquee was witness to the London scene of the late 60s, represented at the club by bands like the Move, The Syn, Pink Floyd, (who played the club many times), Neat Change, The In Crowd, Soft Machine and Arthur Brown.
26 Jan 1968 Pink Floyd played their first gig without Syd Barrett at Southampton University. They were supported by Tyrannosaurus Rex, (later to be renamed T Rex) featuring Marc Bolan and percussionist Steve Peregrine Took.
22 Dec 1967 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Who, Keith West and Tomorrow, Eric Burdon & The Animals, 1984 (featuring future Queen guitarist Brian May) and Soft Machine all appeared at The Olympia, London at an all night festival 'Christmas On Earth Continued'. The DJ was John Peel plus the venue featured a paddling pool, light shows and a movie theatre, tickets £1.
21 Dec 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at the Speakeasy Club, London, England. Situated at 48 Margaret Street in the centre of London, the Speakeasy was a late-night haunt for the music industry from 1966 right up to to the late 1970s. It was managed by Laurie O'Leary (a lifelong friend of the Kray twins) from 1968 to 1977 and Roy Flynn, who was also the first manager of Yes
5 Dec 1967 This was the final night of a 16-date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, The Outer Limits, The Erie Apparent and Amen Corner at Green's Playhouse, Glasgow. All performances had two shows per night, in this case at 6.15pm, with the second at 8.45pm. Jimi Hendrix had the curtains closed on him halfway through his set, after the management at the venue regarded his movements with his guitar as having sexual overtones.
4 Dec 1967 This was the penultimate night of a 16-date UK package tour, on which Pink Floyd joined The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Move, The Nice, The Eire Apparent, The Outer Limits and Amen Corner to play at the City Hall, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Jimi Hendrix was having equipment problems and in his frustration rammed his Gibson Flying V into his speaker cabinets. Like an enormous arrow, the guitar became stuck in the amplifier, which the audience greeted as all was part of the act.
1 Dec 1967 Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, Nice, Outer Limits and Amen Corner played at the Central Hall, Chatham. The Chatham Standard later reported: ‘Hendrix opened his act with the Beatles’ number Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the three-piece group made as much of an impression as a studio full of musicians. He did several of his own numbers, including unfaultable versions of 'Hey Joe' and 'Purple Haze' and The Troggs 'Wild Thing'.
27 Nov 1967 The 16-date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, The Outer Limits, The Eire Apparent and Amen Corner travelled to Belfast to appear for two shows at the Whitla Hall, Queens College. It was Jimi's 25th birthday and before the shows, the guitarist was given a birthday cake by the promoters This was to be the only concert that The Jimi Hendrix Experience ever played in Ireland.
26 Nov 1967 This was the 10th date on a 16-date UK package tour that Pink Floyd played alongside The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Move, The Nice, The Eire Apparent, The Outer Limits and Amen Corner. Tonight's date was at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, and as with all of the dates, there were two shows per night.
23 Nov 1967 A 16 date UK package tour played its 7th night at the Sophia Gardens Pavilion, Cardiff. Featuring The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, The Outer Limits, The Eire Apparent and Amen Corner, the entourage performed twice nightly. In 1974, Pink Floyd returned to the venue, which has since been demolished, to be replaced by the 'Really Welsh Pavilion'.
17 Nov 1967 A 16 date UK package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice and Amen Corner played at the City Hall, Sheffield. A review in the Sheffield Star noted: 'Like an electrified golliwog, Jimi Hendrix threw himself into a live-wire act that featured his intricate guitar interpretation. Quite an Experience'. Pink Floyd also released their third single Apples And Oranges today in the UK.
14 Nov 1967 Pink Floyd were added to a 16-date UK tour with Jimi Hendrix, The Move, The Nice, Amen Corner, The Outer Limits and The Eire Apparent. It kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall, London. The headlining Hendrix was allotted exactly 40 minutes; The Move, who preceded him onstage, had just half an hour, and Pink Floyd, who appeared between after The Outer Limits, were allowed between 15 and 20 minutes per show.
4 Nov 1967 Pink Floyd made their US live debut when they appeared at the Winterland Auditorium, San Francisco, California. Floyd shared the bill with local group Big Brother & The Holding Company, featuring singer Janis Joplin and singer / songwriter Richie Havens.
6 Oct 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at the Miss Teenage Brighton Contest, Top Rank Suite, Brighton, England, playing the musical interlude during the contest.
1 Oct 1967 The first edition of UK BBC Radio 1's 'Top Gear' was aired. Presented by John Peel and Pete Drummond they featured The Move, Traffic, Pink Floyd, Tim Rose and Tomorrow featuring Keith West.
26 Sep 1967 Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in the US.
13 Aug 1967 Fleetwood Mac made their live debut when they appeared at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor. Also on the bill Jeff Beck, Cream, Small Faces, The Move, The Pink Floyd, Donovan and Chicken Shack.
11 Aug 1967 Small Faces, The Move, Marmalade, Paul Jones, Pink Floyd, Amen Corner, Donovan, Zoot Money, Cream, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown all appeared at this years UK Reading festival. An advance 3 day ticket cost £2. Arthur Brown's trademark flaming helmet burnt out of control and organiser Harold Pendleton's father-in-law had to douse the flames with a pint of beer.
4 Aug 1967 Pink Floyd released their debut album The Piper At the Gates of Dawn on which most songs were penned by Syd Barrett. In subsequent years, the record has been recognised as one of the seminal psychedelic rock albums of the 1960s. When reviewed, by the two main UK music papers in the UK, Record Mirror and NME both gave the album four stars out of five. The album which was recorded at Abbey Road studios, London during the same time that The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper peaked at No.6 on the UK album chart and failed to chart in the US.
29 Jul 1967 The International Love-In Festival took place at Alexandra Palace London with Pink Floyd, Brian Auger Trinity with Julie Driscoll, The Animals, Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Tomorrow, Blossom Toes, Creation, The Nervous System and Apostolic Intervention.
22 Jul 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at The Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland. The venue is home to one of Scotland's finest dance floors - famous for its bounce - which floats on fixed steel springs. During the 1960s The Beatles (in 1963), Small Faces and Cream all appeared at the Beach.
13 Jul 1967 Pink Floyd made their second appearance on BBC Top Of The Pops to promote their new single 'See Emily Play' which was hosted by Pete Murray. The single went on to peak at No.6 on the UK chart.
6 Jul 1967 Pink Floyd made their first appearance on BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops to promote their new single 'See Emily Play'. A badly damaged home video recording recovered by the British Film Institute of this show was given a public screening in London on 9th January 2010 at an event called "Missing Believed Wiped" devoted to recovered TV shows. It was the first time any footage was seen of the performance since its original broadcast.
16 Jun 1967 Pink Floyd released their second single 'See Emily Play' which was written by original frontman Syd Barrett. The slide guitar work on the song was done by Barrett using a plastic ruler.
9 Jun 1967 Pink Floyd played two gigs in one day, the first at the College of Commerce in Hull, and then the UFO at The Blarney Club, Tottenham Court Road, London, England.
29 May 1967 The Move, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, Zoot Money, Geno Washington and The Ram Jam Band all appeared at the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall in Spalding, Lincoln, England. Pink Floyd were only a support band and played in a corner of the shed with a white sheet behind them with the coloured oil shining onto it. Tickets cost £1 ($1.70). The poster advertising the show promised a 'Knockout Atmosphere'.
25 May 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at the Gwent Constabulary ('A' Division) Spring Holiday Barn Dance, held at The Barn, Grosmont Wood Farm in Cross Ash, Wales, UK.
18 May 1967 Pink Floyd started recording their forthcoming single 'See Emily Play' at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London. Syd Barrett was inspired to write See Emily Play, by the ‘looning about’ of the early Pink Floyd fan Emily Young, (who is now a renowned sculptor). Guitarist David Gilmour, playing gigs in France with his own band in that period, visited Floyd in the studio during a trip to London.
12 May 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, giving a special concert Games For May - Space Age Relaxation For The Climate Of Spring. This was reportedly the first show to include loudspeakers placed at the back of the hall to give a 'sound in the round', ie quadraphonic, effect. The sound system, developed by EMI technicians, was stolen after the show and not recovered for some years.
7 May 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at The Mojo Club, Tollbar, Sheffield, England, opened and owned by Peter Stringfellow. Acts who have also appeared at the club include Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker, Rod Stewart, Ike and Tina Turner, The Who, Small Faces and Jimi Hendrix.
3 May 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at The Moulin Rouge, Ainsdale, Southport, England. The promotion flyers for the club said: 'The Moulin Rouge night club. Wine, Dine, Dance! And have a gay time'.
29 Apr 1967 The 14 hour Technicolour Dream benefit party for The International Times was held at Alexandra Palace in London. Seeing the event mentioned on TV, John Lennon called his driver and went to the show. Coincidentally, Yoko Ono was one of the performers. Other acts to appear included The Flies, Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown, The Move and Suzie Cream cheese.
25 Mar 1967 Pink Floyd played three gigs in 24 hours. The appeared at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England, then the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon and then played at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis (in the early hours 26 March).
9 Mar 1967 Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at The Marquee Club London, England. The Marquee club has often been defined as 'the most important venue in the history of pop music', not only for having been the scene of the development of modern music culture in London, but also for having been an essential meeting point for some of the most important artists in rock music.
5 Mar 1967 Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, The Ryan Brothers and Lee Dorsey all appeared at the Saville Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, England. Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles leased the theatre in 1965, presenting both plays and music shows. The venue became notorious for its Sunday night concerts.
27 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd continued working on their debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn at Abbey Road Studios, London. With the exception of two group-composed instrumentals and one Roger Waters song, the album was written entirely by Syd Barrett.
25 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd appeared at the Ricky Tick Club, Hounslow, England. The Yardbirds were filmed performing in a re-creation of the club built at MGM Studios in Borehamwood for Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup.
22 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd continued working on their debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn at Abbey Road Studios, London. The Beatles were also working at Abbey Road, recording the giant piano chord for the end of 'A Day In The Life' for their Sgt. Pepper's album.
21 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd started their first sessions at the EMI Studios, St. John's Wood, London on their debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, working on the song 'Matilda Mother'. While Pink Floyd were recording their album with former Beatles engineer Norman Smith, The Beatles themselves were working in the studio next door, recording 'Fixing A Hole' for their Sgt. Pepper album. Micky Dolenz from The Monkees attended the mixing session during the day.
6 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd were photographed for the weekly British girls magazine Jackie. The magazine was the best-selling teen magazine in Britain for ten years. The best-ever selling issue was the 1972 special edition to coincide with the UK tour of American singer David Cassidy.
1 Feb 1967 Pink Floyd spent the day recording parts for the Syd Barrett songs 'Arnold Layne' and 'Candy And A Current Bun' at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London. Floyd also turned professional on this day after signing a deal with EMI Records.
24 Jan 1967 Pink Floyd spent the second of three days recording the Syd Barrett songs 'Arnold Layne' and 'Candy And A Current Bun' at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London. 'Candy And A Current Bun' was first known as 'Let's Roll Another One' and contained the line 'I'm high - Don't try to spoil my fun', but it was decided that Syd Barrett should rewrite it without the drug references.
23 Jan 1967 Pink Floyd spent the first of three days recording the Syd Barrett songs Arnold Layne and Candy And A Current Bun at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London. According to Roger Waters, Arnold Layne was based on a real person - a transvestite whose primary pastime was stealing women's clothes and undergarments from washing lines in Cambridge.
19 Jan 1967 Pink Floyd and Marmalade played at The Marquee Club, London, England. Marmalade went on to score a No.1 UK hit with their version of The Beatles' Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da in 1968.
5 Jan 1967 Pink Floyd and Eyes of Blue appeared at The Marquee Club London, England. Queen magazine said: "The two guitarists looked moody, the drummer thrashed wildly about and the lights kept flashing. After about twenty minutes it became very boring and after half an hour I left."
30 Dec 1966 Pink Floyd and Soft Machine appeared at the UFO presents Night Tripper at the Blarney Club, London, England.
12 Nov 1966 Pink Floyd appeared at the Corn Exchange, Bedford, England. The set list for these early Floyd shows included: 'Let's Roll Another One', 'Gimme A Break', 'Interstellar Overdrive', 'Astronomy Domine' and 'Stoned Alone'. 'Stoned Alone' was also known as 'I Get Stoned', and was possibly the first song Syd Barrett wrote for Pink Floyd.
15 Oct 1966 Pink Floyd (who were paid £15 for the gig), The Move, Denny Laine, Soft Machine, Yoko Ono and a West Indian steel band all appeared at the launch for the International Times (which became the first and longest running British hippy paper), at London's Roundhouse. Beatle Paul McCartney attended the event in Arabian dress. The flyers for the evening stated: 'Bring your own poison, bring flowers & gass (sic), filled balloons'. Admission was 10 shillings (50p) on the door.
14 Oct 1966 Pink Floyd played their first ever "underground" set when they appeared at All Saints Hall, Notting Hill, London, UK.
12 Jun 1966 Pink Floyd appeared at The Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, England. It was at this show that future co-manager Peter Jenner saw the band live for the first time. Floyd went on to sign a management contract with Peter Jenner and Andrew King on 31st Oct of this year.
13 Mar 1966 Pink Floyd appeared for the first time at The The Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, England. The Marquee became the most important venue for the emerging British scene and witnessed the rise of some of the most important artists in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Manfred Mann, The Who, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Genesis.
1 Dec 1964 The Who played the first of 22 consecutive Tuesday night gigs at The Marquee Club in London, the band were paid £50 for each gig. The Marquee Club saw the rise of some of the most important British artists in the 60s such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Cream, Manfred Mann, The Nice, Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, King Crimson and many others who all appeared at the club.
5 Jan 1964 The Rolling Stones performed at the Ricky Tick club at the Olympia Ballroom in Reading, England. During the 1960s, the club was host to many important acts such as The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Cream. The Yardbirds were filmed performing in a recreation of the club built at MGM Studios in Borehamwood for Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blow-Up.
31 Jul 1963 The Rolling Stones performed at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, Middlesex. The island was the site of the Eel Pie Hotel on the River Thames, where many up and coming acts appeared including: The Who, The Yardbirds, Pink Floyd, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and David Bowie .
21 Jun 1963 The Rolling Stones played at Ricky Tick Club, Star and Garter Hotel, Windsor, Berks. The influential 1960s rhythm & blues club in Windsor, Berkshire, was the host to many important acts such as The Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Cream.
5 Aug 1957 American Bandstand first aired on US TV. Dick Clark had replaced Bob Horn the previous year when the show was still called Bandstand, Clark went on to host the show until 1989. Countless acts appeared on the show over the years, including ABBA, The Doors, Talking Heads, Madonna, Otis Redding, R.E.M. and Pink Floyd.

Click to comment

The Wall

Important Dates In The Life Of Pink Floyd:

Leave a Reply