Pink Floyd 201 - Introductory Headcanon
This is going to be a post rich in music-nerding, and not at all vital to interacting with Pink. But I wanted somewhere to get these ideas out and in the open.
Pink and his band, obviously, are based heavily on the real life Pink Floyd. Pink himself is an amalgam of two of the band's members -- the original front man, Syd Barrett, and the bassist and writer of The Wall, Roger Waters. He is, essentially, Waters' ego and issues, combined with Barrett's temper, sense of humour and drug use. A combination that makes for a very... difficult person, let's say.
1965-1968
Pink's early life is based heavily on Roger Waters', as the movie implies. He acquired the nickname Pink Floyd some time in secondary school or early university, and the band acquired the name not long after he joined it and becomes the lead guitarist and vocalist, and main songwriter. (The question of who the band's bassist was while Pink was doing all of this is an excellent one.) The band's sound started out doing R&B covers, then going psychedelic, basically the IRL Pink Floyd.
The band's fame grew too much, too fast for Pink, he started to struggle with it all. Perhaps he still would have had difficulty otherwise, he was tipped over the edge when his mother, whom he'd always had a very strong dependency on and who had never approved of the band, died. He turned to drugs -- hallucinogens, sedatives, stimulants -- and became incredibly unmanageable and uncooperative during performances and interviews.
This was 1968.
The band decided that something needed to be done, that they couldn't go on like this. They picked up David Gilmour, and developed the plan that he would perform with them as guitarist and vocalist, and Pink would continue to do writing and studio work -- in essence, the "Beach Boys" solution that was briefly floated IRL. Here, unlike IRL, it worked out. (Well. To a degree. Pink's reaction to the news of being 'replaced' was far from pleasant, and he got into at least one physical altercation with Dave during the recording of A Saucerful of Secrets.)
Time away from the crowds, time to adjust to the concept of being an actual, famous musician, and the encouragement/intervention of Judy (a childhood friend and soon girlfriend... and eventually wife), and soon he felt not just able, but wanting to rejoin the touring band. Dave was pretty solidly established in his role at this time, and Pink had to settle for acting as bassist, though he continued to be a strong creative contributor.
Band & Discography
After this, the band proceeded much as in real life, with the lineup as follows:
There are at least two differences in the discography of Pink's band and our own Pink Floyd. Instead of the ninth album, Wish You Were Here (inspired heavily by Barrett's breakdown), there is an album called The Machine, a more general and explicit attack on the record industry. (Inspired at least in part by, in games where they have an established history, Ziggy Stardust's death, and similar fates of other musical artists.) Instead of the tenth album, Animals, there is an album (suggested by scenes in the movie that display an album cover with a screaming face) called Scream Thy Last Scream. The earlier albums may also differ in content somewhat, but retain the same titles, for simplicity's sake.
Pink and his band, obviously, are based heavily on the real life Pink Floyd. Pink himself is an amalgam of two of the band's members -- the original front man, Syd Barrett, and the bassist and writer of The Wall, Roger Waters. He is, essentially, Waters' ego and issues, combined with Barrett's temper, sense of humour and drug use. A combination that makes for a very... difficult person, let's say.
1965-1968
Pink's early life is based heavily on Roger Waters', as the movie implies. He acquired the nickname Pink Floyd some time in secondary school or early university, and the band acquired the name not long after he joined it and becomes the lead guitarist and vocalist, and main songwriter. (The question of who the band's bassist was while Pink was doing all of this is an excellent one.) The band's sound started out doing R&B covers, then going psychedelic, basically the IRL Pink Floyd.
The band's fame grew too much, too fast for Pink, he started to struggle with it all. Perhaps he still would have had difficulty otherwise, he was tipped over the edge when his mother, whom he'd always had a very strong dependency on and who had never approved of the band, died. He turned to drugs -- hallucinogens, sedatives, stimulants -- and became incredibly unmanageable and uncooperative during performances and interviews.
This was 1968.
The band decided that something needed to be done, that they couldn't go on like this. They picked up David Gilmour, and developed the plan that he would perform with them as guitarist and vocalist, and Pink would continue to do writing and studio work -- in essence, the "Beach Boys" solution that was briefly floated IRL. Here, unlike IRL, it worked out. (Well. To a degree. Pink's reaction to the news of being 'replaced' was far from pleasant, and he got into at least one physical altercation with Dave during the recording of A Saucerful of Secrets.)
Time away from the crowds, time to adjust to the concept of being an actual, famous musician, and the encouragement/intervention of Judy (a childhood friend and soon girlfriend... and eventually wife), and soon he felt not just able, but wanting to rejoin the touring band. Dave was pretty solidly established in his role at this time, and Pink had to settle for acting as bassist, though he continued to be a strong creative contributor.
Band & Discography
After this, the band proceeded much as in real life, with the lineup as follows:
- David Gilmour: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Pink Floyd: Bass, Vocals, Gong
- Rick Wright: Keyboard
- Nick Mason: Drums
There are at least two differences in the discography of Pink's band and our own Pink Floyd. Instead of the ninth album, Wish You Were Here (inspired heavily by Barrett's breakdown), there is an album called The Machine, a more general and explicit attack on the record industry. (Inspired at least in part by, in games where they have an established history, Ziggy Stardust's death, and similar fates of other musical artists.) Instead of the tenth album, Animals, there is an album (suggested by scenes in the movie that display an album cover with a screaming face) called Scream Thy Last Scream. The earlier albums may also differ in content somewhat, but retain the same titles, for simplicity's sake.
