​I admit that I am in a quandary about this era of Pink Floyd. The story is that bandleader Syd Barrett became uncontrollable due to excess use of psychedelics, so the rest of the band had to let him go, which meant that they had to fend for themselves.

Well, up to this point, the post-Syd albums of Pink Floyd were, in my opinion, incredibly spotty and humorless. Yes, they started a new style that was distinctly their own, but the element of fun and the playful, childlike spirit of Syd was totally absent from their work without him. In 1970, bandmembers (primarily David Gilmour) reached out to help Syd record a solo record, and that album, “The Madcap Laughs”, was featured as episode 7 as a website only entry in our “How Music Changed” series.

​This show is intended to display the blatant difference between Syd’s perspective and that of the band without him. Granted, Syd’s albums were virtually ignored by the record-buying public and Pink Floyd were slowly becoming a ‘mainstream’ band, which at this point, in retrospect, blows my mind because in this episode, I cover the BEST bits from two consecutive Pink Floyd albums, with the balance of this show filled out with the best bits from Syd’s second solo LP, simply called “Barrett”. 

I admit that I have a huge prejudice toward Syd’s output at this point in time, but the fact is that, regardless of my own taste, Syd literally vanished from music at this point, while Pink Floyd are now headed toward being one of the most remarkable bands in the history of rock and roll…but not yet. At this point, we’re comparing “Apples and Oranges.”

Featured tracks:

Crumbling Land

Baby Lemonade – Syd Barrett

Love Song – Syd Barrett

Rats – Syd Barrett

Gigolo Aunt – Syd Barrett

Waving My Arms in the Air – Syd Barrett

Wined and Dined – Syd Barrett

Effervescing Elephant – Syd Barrett

If

Summer ‘68