"LIGHT SHOW"

1965 - In the beginning of the Underground era, the students Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass/vocals) and Richard Wright (keyboards/vocals) grounded Sigma 6. Later they took into the group fellow student Syd Barrett (singer/guitarist), and Pink Floyd was born.

The band was named after Barrett's Georgia-blues guitar heroes Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
In 1966 Pink Floyd played at London's Marquee, UFO and Roundhouse. Inspired by the visions of Syd Barrett (who used LSD heavily and often stayed on the stage playing only one chord), the band presented an hallucinatory show of lights and sonic explorations. It was pure psychedelia - the British press coined the term "underground rock". Syd Barrett provided Pink Floyd the early material, and songs like "See Emily Play" (#6 English hit) and "Arnold Layne" (#2 English hit) set the band further apart from most bands of the time. With the release of Pink Floyd's first album in 1967, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, began Britain's "Summer of Love".

During the making of their second A Saucerful Of Secrets, Syd Barrett's childhood friend Dave Gilmour (vocals/guitar) was drafted into the Pink Floyd and for a brief time they existed as a 5-piece. Soon, however, rumours circulated that the charismatic frontman Syd would be taking on a "Brian Wilson" role, writing and recording material "behind the scenes". Only one of his songs - "Jugband Blues" - was used on A Saucerful of Secrets. At first he was replaced by Dave Gilmour only in live performances, but his mental condition rapidly declined due to massive abuse of LSD and his departure was announced the following April. Syd subsequently followed a captivating, but short-lived, solo career. (His departure inspired "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" from Wish You Were Here in 1975).

"I was in a pub when in walked Dave Gilmour saying 'I've just got the gig with Floyd and I'm getting £325 a week!' I thought, Enjoy it while you can, because without Syd that band's going nowhere . . . "
(John Etheridge)

The same day A Saucerful of Secrets was released, Pink Floyd (Syd-less) performed a free concert in Hyde Park to promote the new album. Being the first rock concert held in a park, the event co-ordinator, Blackhill Enterprises, made miracles of persuasion on the Bailiff of the Royal Parks to allow it to occur.

The impressive performance at the Hyde Park silenced the critics who claimed that the band was dead without Barrett. Bassist Roger Waters took over the primary songwriting duties, and under the influence of Gilmour, the sound of P.F. lost the "cosmic" darkness gaining more liricity.

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Pink Floyd's highly recommended albums: 
 
Atom Heart Mother
Dark Side of the Moon
Wish You Were Here
Animals
The Wall
A Collection Of Great Dance Songs (with a new version of "Money")
Relics
The Final Cut
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason (first P.F.'s work after the departure of Waters)
The Division Bell (including the wonderful "High Hopes")
Echoes