Pink Floyd Online

More than four decades since their first album, and 35 years after the release of their mind-boggling masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd continues to inspire and mystify rock fans around the world. From the warped pop of their early days to the cynical psychedelia of their classic period, Pink Floyd has expanded the possibilities of modern sound like no other group before or since. Now in Pink Floyd FAQ, pop culture author Stuart Shea delivers the inside scoop on Floydā€™s particular brand of genius.

Pink Floyd FAQ takes a lively and unusual approach to telling the bandā€™s story. Brief chapters explore different aspects of Pink Floyd history, revealing the secrets behind the bandā€™s astonishing studio sounds, massive tours, iconic album covers, cutting-edge gear, and more.

Chapters include:
ā€¢ How did the U.S. discover Pink Floyd?
ā€¢ What notable guests played on Pink Floyd records?
ā€¢ What were the bandā€™s most memorable gigs?
ā€¢ What are their greatest moments on record, as a group and individually?
ā€¢ What are the notable misstepsā€”and how did the band recover?
ā€¢ Are the seemingly confessional songs trueā€”or should we be skeptical?
ā€¢ What records influenced them, and which performers follow in their wake?
ā€¢ What was it like to be at a Pink Floyd show in 1967, in 1973, in 1980?

With more than 300 pages of stories, history, observation, opinion, reminiscences from those who were there, and photos, Pink Floyd FAQ tells the bandā€™s story, dissects their most popular work and obscure forgotten gems, and provides a wealth of little-known facts, all adding up to a provocative must-read for fans.

Stuart Shea is the coauthor of Fab Four FAQ and an associate editor of The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. A cultural historian, musician, and occasional club DJ, Shea also penned Wrigley Field: An Unauthorized Biography. He lives and works in Chicago.

Bonus Pictures: From the Book

Nick Mason in 1970. He chose a double-bass-drum setup after seeing the one used by Creamā€™s Ginger Baker. Credit: Jorgen Angel/Redferns

Roger Waters at the UFO Club, London, 1966. He was among the first notable musicians to use the Rickenbacker bass, appearing in public with it even before Paul McCartney. Credit: Adam Ritchie/Redferns

Considering some of the ensembles the Floyd wore in the 1970s, this is a relatively dapper picture of the group. Credit: Photofest

With this look, one would imagine the 1970 Pink Floyd as a grungy hard-rock band rather than sonic explorers. Credit: Photofest

Bonus Excerpt: Ten Little-Known Facts About Pink Floyd

1. Pink Floydā€™s first two LPs, 1967ā€™s Piper at the Gates of Dawn and 1968ā€™s Saucerful of Secrets, were available in monaural mixes that the record label deleted by 1969. So even if you own those albums, you donā€™t really know ā€?em without having heard the mono versions.
2. The signature riff to the Floydā€™s 1967 space-rock instrumental ā€?Interstellar Overdrive,ā€¯ written by Syd Barrett, resembles both a Burt Bacharach song and the theme to a British sitcom.
3. An uncredited Pink Floyd are featured on ā€?Give Birth to a Smile,ā€¯ the final number on Roger Watersā€™ 1970 solo album Music from the Body.
4. Looking for inspiration in their attempt to follow-up the mega-seller Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd attempted to record songs using only household objects as instruments.
5. Pink Floydā€™s faces were so obscure that, even in their days of fame in the mid-1970s, the band members were able to walk through crowds at their own shows and not be recognized.
6. Toni Tennille, of ā€?The Captain &,ā€¯ appeared as a backing vocalist on Pink Floydā€™s 1979 double-album hit The Wall.
7. The Wallā€™s hit single, ā€?Another Brick in the Wall Part II,ā€¯ was partially influenced by the mid-tempo disco beat of Chicā€™s ā€?Le Freakā€¯ and ā€?Dance, Dance, Dance.ā€¯
8. Although keyboardist Rick Wright was kicked out of the band in 1979, the rock press was kept in the dark about this fact until the groupā€™s next album, The Final Cut, was released in 1983.
9. Roger Waters asserted in a 1992 interview with Q magazine that Andrew Lloyd Webber ripped off Pink Floydā€™s 1971 epic ā€?Echoesā€¯ in writing the theme of Phantom of the Opera.
10. A 1989 Pink Floyd concert in Venice went badly enoughā€”the bandā€™s volume damaged buildings and loiterers vandalized the cityā€”that the entire city government resigned in shame.

Ā© 2009 Stuart Shea, Read these stories, and more, in Pink Floyd FAQ, written by Stuart Shea and published by Backbeat Books.

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