Funny, but I've been thinking of Syd a lot recently, hearing his name everywhere, and then this today: the BBC OMNIBUS documentary; the revival in interest in The Floyd, post-LIVE 8; the references to him throughout Tom Stoppard's new play ROCK'N'ROLL; David Bowie showing up a couple of weeks ago at a David Gilmour concert singing Arnold Layne.
In the pantheon of rock, there were no sadder myths than that of Syd Barrett. He was its Icarus, then its Fisher King. I hope his later years, spent free of the black dog that is the music industry, painting and gardening, were peaceful ones. Let's all adjourn and listen to THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN and THE MADCAP LAUGHS, and remember him as the wellspring of inspiration that created an entire branch of rock music.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Wish You Were Here
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7 comments:
A flawed genius and a crazy diamond. May the legacy continue.
Oh lordy. I'd been striving like mad to avoid the whole "crazy diamond" reference (was it ever in good taste to refer to a guy with obvious mental illnesses as crazy?), then BAMMM! There it is!
Yes, it's quite possibly in bad taste, but I'm sure Gilmour, Waters et al had good intentions behind it. At least there haven't been any references to "the great gig in the sky".
Oh God, no. It's only a matter of time, though. Probably some twat on Radio 2 will play it and dedicate it to Syd.
The Twat Award goes to Johnnie Walker, Radio 2, Wednesday 12 July, at about 7.45am. He introduced, 'Shine On...' with mention of Syd having gone to the "great gig .. " etc. How prescient of the bleedin' tedious.
It's a gift. I tend to just expect the worst, and I'm rarely let down.
It's not like anyone at Radio 2 would have the balls to play any of Barrett's own music (except Radcliffe), so they'd always choose to play something much more agreeably easy listening instead. Something without Syd actually playing on it.
jonathan woss would likely play some syd stuff surely. an under-rated dj by the way... or am i just that much older now?
my fave radio2 dj? suzi q of course ;-)
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