When I was a 9-10 year-old child, just starting to explore Pink Floyd beyond "The Division Bell" (the only record of theirs my father listened to), I used to believe many absurd things about their history:
I used to think Syd Barrett left the group, after which David Gilmour was brought in as their bass player and second vocalist, of all things! Roger Waters switched to guitar and bore the brunt of Syd's departure by writing "The Wall", which explained why he sang nearly everything on it; it also explained why Gilmour's vocals on "The Show Must Go On" and "Waiting for the Worms" are often interjected with backing vocals - this was a way to bully the newcomer.
After a few years and a few records more, Gilmour started to assert himself better, which led to a far higher vocal presence on "The Dark Side of the Moon", their second hit. I never gave a thought as to where "Wish You Were Here" fit in all of this.
With the group getting tired of the arrogant personality of Waters, he came at loggerheads with Gilmour, who by now coveted the position of guitarist and single vocalist, so the former was expelled from Pink Floyd; but not before Waters had a short stint as the keyboard player - period which is documented in the "Pulse" release. That Richard Wright existed also never crossed my mind; but even when I learned of him and he became my favourite member then, I still would only later learn that Waters was never not the bass player!
Yes, I was a much too imaginative autistic child, but, not so recently, I happened to read "The Big Midweek", Steve Hanley's story of his period in The Fall, and, in one of the chapters, he tells of an episode where he argued with guitarist Craig Scanlon, because the latter wouldn't budge in his belief that David Gilmour was the bass player for Pink Floyd (I mean, he technically was a few times, as we know; but that's not the point) - so I guess I wasn't the only weirdo alone to make that assumption.
Thinking about this last night, I was wondering: what are some beliefs you once had about Pink Floyd that turned out to be so wrong, you could only ever wonder to yourself how you ever came to hold them, in the first place?
I used to think Syd Barrett left the group, after which David Gilmour was brought in as their bass player and second vocalist, of all things! Roger Waters switched to guitar and bore the brunt of Syd's departure by writing "The Wall", which explained why he sang nearly everything on it; it also explained why Gilmour's vocals on "The Show Must Go On" and "Waiting for the Worms" are often interjected with backing vocals - this was a way to bully the newcomer.
After a few years and a few records more, Gilmour started to assert himself better, which led to a far higher vocal presence on "The Dark Side of the Moon", their second hit. I never gave a thought as to where "Wish You Were Here" fit in all of this.
With the group getting tired of the arrogant personality of Waters, he came at loggerheads with Gilmour, who by now coveted the position of guitarist and single vocalist, so the former was expelled from Pink Floyd; but not before Waters had a short stint as the keyboard player - period which is documented in the "Pulse" release. That Richard Wright existed also never crossed my mind; but even when I learned of him and he became my favourite member then, I still would only later learn that Waters was never not the bass player!
Yes, I was a much too imaginative autistic child, but, not so recently, I happened to read "The Big Midweek", Steve Hanley's story of his period in The Fall, and, in one of the chapters, he tells of an episode where he argued with guitarist Craig Scanlon, because the latter wouldn't budge in his belief that David Gilmour was the bass player for Pink Floyd (I mean, he technically was a few times, as we know; but that's not the point) - so I guess I wasn't the only weirdo alone to make that assumption.
Thinking about this last night, I was wondering: what are some beliefs you once had about Pink Floyd that turned out to be so wrong, you could only ever wonder to yourself how you ever came to hold them, in the first place?
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