Pink Floyd

1965 was the founding year for the London band called today knowns as Pink Floyd. Members Roger Waters and Nick Mason met at Regent Street Polytechnic while studying architecture. Soon entered Richard Wright who was also a student at the time. They formed a band and called themselves Sigma 6. Rogers and Mason moved into a flat owned by tutor from their aforementioned school. After losing a couple roommates in walked Syd Barrett. Barrett was a childhood friend of Waters. He was studying art at a nearby college. They rehearsed in a tearoom of Regent Street Polytechnic. They were a rudimentary band who changed their name to The Tea Set. They recorded their first demo which included four songs. They were the resident band at the Countdown Club where they played three 90-minute sets. During these long sets the band learned that the could extend songs to have long drawn out solos. Barrett came to realize that their band name was already being used by another band playing at the same gig. He came up with a spur of the moment new band name he called,  The Pink Floyd Sound. Over the next few years they signed with EMI records and released an album. During this period, Barrett became exhausted as well as drug addict. He was using LSD constantly and forcing the band to cancel shows. Barrett refused treatment for his problems. They had no other choice but to hire a replacement. They agreed on David Gilmour as they were already acquainted with him through college. Since this time, Pink Floyd has sold over 200 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. It is now 2012 and Pink Floyd is on yet another worldwide tour.