Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, extended compositions and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and musically influential groups in the history of popular music.

Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. They gained popularity performing in London's underground music scene during the late 1960s, and under Barrett's leadership released two charting singles and a successful debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967). David Gilmour joined as a fifth member in December 1967; Barrett left the band in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health. Waters became the band's primary lyricist and, by the mid-1970s, their dominant songwriter, devising the concepts behind their critically and commercially successful albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983). The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall became two of the best-selling albums of all time.

Interstellar Overdrive

"Interstellar Overdrive" is a psychedelic instrumental composition written by Pink Floyd in 1966, which appears on their 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn at almost ten minutes in length. The song came about when guitarist Syd Barrett heard the band's manager Peter Jenner humming a song, which Barrett tried to interpret by playing it on his guitar. Musically sharing the same theme with "Astronomy Domine", the piece was recorded in several takes between March and April 1967. An earlier, longer recording of the song can be heard on the soundtrack to the film Tonite Let's All Make Love in London, which was recorded at Sound Technique Studios in early 1967, and was released in the same year. Other versions of the track appear on various bootleg recordings. The piece has been covered by acts such as T. Rex, Pearl Jam, Hawkwind, the Melvins, and Spiral Realms.

Composition and music

"Interstellar Overdrive" was one of the first very psychedelic instrumental improvisations recorded by a rock band. It was seen as Pink Floyd's first foray into space rock (along with "Astronomy Domine"), although band members would later disparage this term. "Interstellar Overdrive" originated when early Pink Floyd manager Peter Jenner was trying to hum a song he could not remember the name of (most commonly identified as Love's cover of "My Little Red Book"). Guitarist and vocalist Syd Barrett followed Jenner's humming with his guitar and used it as the basis for the principal melody of "Interstellar Overdrive". Bassist Roger Waters once told Barrett that the song's riff reminded him of the theme tune from Steptoe and Son (by Ron Grainer). Around the time the song was written, Barrett was also inspired by AMM and its guitarist Keith Rowe, who had a pattern of moving pieces of metal along his guitar's fretboard. The free-form section (and also, "Pow R. Toc H.") was inspired by Frank Zappa's free-form freak-outs and The Byrds' "Eight Miles High".

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock n' roll, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the more than sixty albums he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers.

Zappa was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often difficult to categorize. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern, along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; later switching to electric guitar. His 1966 debut album with the Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. He continued this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was rock, jazz or classical.

Pink

Pink is a pale red color, which takes its name from the flower of the same name. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with love, beauty, charm, politeness, sensitivity, tenderness, sweetness, childhood, femininity, and the romantic. When combined with violet or black, it is associated with eroticism and seduction.

Pink was first used as a color name in the late 17th century.

In nature and culture

The color pink takes its name from the flowers called pinks, members of the genus Dianthus.

The color pink takes its name from the flowers called pinks, members of the genus Dianthus.

In most European languages, pink is called rose or rosa, after the rose flower.

In most European languages, pink is called rose or rosa, after the rose flower.

Cherry blossoms in Senai, Miyagi, Japan. The Japanese language has different words for the pink of cherry blossoms (sakura-iro), and peach blossoms (momo-iro). Recently the word pinku has also become popular.

Syd Barrett

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English musician, composer, singer, songwriter, and painter. Best known as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd, Barrett was the lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter in its early years and is credited with naming the band. Barrett was excluded from Pink Floyd in April 1968 after David Gilmour took over as their new guitarist, and was briefly hospitalized amid speculation of mental illness.

Barrett was musically active for less than ten years. With Pink Floyd, he recorded four singles, their debut album (and contributed to the second one), and several unreleased songs. Barrett began his solo career in 1969 with the single "Octopus" from his first solo album, The Madcap Laughs (1970). The album was recorded over the course of a year with five different producers (Peter Jenner, Malcolm Jones, David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Barrett himself). Nearly two months after Madcap was released, Barrett began working on his second and final album, Barrett (1970), produced by Gilmour and featuring contributions from Richard Wright. He went into self-imposed seclusion until his death in 2006. In 1988, an album of unreleased tracks and outtakes, Opel, was released by EMI with Barrett's approval.