by Nick Mason
And if you are wondering why this piece is at the end of the book instead of appearing as the usual foreword, preface or introduction, well, it is called Inside Out…
THANKS
First, thanks to David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Richard Wright. Then, for accessing their memories for me and giving encouragement: Douglas Adams, Chris Adamson, Peter Barnes, Joe Boyd, Marc Brickman, Lindsay Corner, Jon Corpe, Nigel Eastaway, Bob Ezrin, Jenny Fabian, Mark Fenwick, Mark Fisher, Peter Gabriel, Ron Geesin, A.A. Gill, Nick Griffiths, James Guthrie, Tony Howard, Andy Jackson, Peter Jenner, Howard Jones, Andrew King, Bob Klose, Mick Kluczynski, Norman Lawrence, Mike Leonard, Lindy Mason, Lise Mayer, Clive Metcalf, Dave Mills, Bryan Morrison, Steve O’Rourke, Alan Parker, Alan Parsons, Guy Pratt, Gerald Scarfe, Nick Sedgwick, Norman Smith, Tony Smith, Phil Taylor, Chris Thomas, Vernon Thompson, Storm Thorgerson, Judy Trim, Snowy White, Robbie Williams, Peter Wynne Willson and Juliette Wright.
For helping the book to become a reality, thanks, first and foremost, to Philip Dodd, editor, amanuensis and compulsive coffee maker, who has seen this through since the really early days, and sometimes been required to get out and push when it seemed all was lost. Also Michael Dover at Weidenfeld & Nicolson whose enthusiasm for the book ensured it got finished, and all the publishing team, including Jennie Condell, Kirsty Dunseath, Justin Hunt, Jenny Page, David Rowley, Mark Rusher and Mark Stay; picture researcher Emily Hedges; and David Eldridge and Two Associates.
For their help along the way: archivist and keeper of the artefacts Stephanie Roberts; researchers Silvia Balducci, Jan Hogevold, Jane Jackson, Lidia Rosolia, Jane Sen and Madelaine Smith; the Ten Tenths team of Julia Grinter, Stella Jackson, Michelle Stranis-Oppler and Paula Webb; Jonathan Green for allowing me to use his own research; and for other assistance and favours Elina Arapoglu, Jane Caporal, Paul Du Noyer, Vernon Fitch, Matt Johns, Suzenna Kredenser, Chris Leith, Ray Mudie, Olympus Cameras, Tom O’Rourke, Shuki Sen, Rob Shreeve, Di Skinner, Paul Trynka, Sarah Wallace and Alan Williams.
Throughout the book I have been very sparing with name checks. Given that literally hundreds of people have worked with and for us over the years (we had a crew of more than 200 on the last tour) it became impossible to credit or mention everyone. Profuse apologies to all unnamed heroes or heroines.
This book is for Annette,
co-pilot, co-driver and when required perfect rock wife,
and also for the children, primarily Chloe, Holly, Guy and Cary,
but also for all the long-suffering offspring of the band,
management and crew.
CHRONOLOGY
NB Release dates refer to UK releases
A Miscellany of Dates & Occurrences
1943
28 July 1943
Rick Wright born
6 September 1943
Roger Waters born
1944
27 January 1944
Nick Mason born
18 February 1944
Eric Fletcher Waters dies at Anzio
1945
8 May 1945
VE Day – the end of the Second World War in Europe
6 August 1945
Atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima
1946
6 January 1946
Syd Barrett born
6 March 1946
David Gilmour born
31 May 1946
London’s Heathrow airport opens
1947
14 October 1947
Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier in the X-1
1948
1948
First 33 1/3 long-playing records released by Columbia Record Co.
30 January 1948
Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
1949
2 March 1949
First non-stop around-the-world flight by Capt. James Gallagher in a Boeing B-50A
1950
1 October 1950
First credit card issued, by Diners Club
1951
May 1951
The Royal Festival Hall, London, is opened as part of the Festival of Britain
July 1951
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye published
1952
15 June 1952
Publication of The Diary Of A Young Girl, by Anne Frank
1953
5 February 1953
Sweets rationing ends in the UK
April 1953
Brigitte Bardot makes a stunning impact at the Cannes Film Festival
29 May 1953
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing conquer Everest
2 June 1953
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
December 1953
First issue of Playboy published
1954
6 May 1954
Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute-mile barrier
1955
17 July 1955
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California
30 September 1955
James Dean dies in a car crash four weeks before the release of Rebel Without A Cause
1956
31 January 1956
John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten born
October 1956
Elvis Presley’s Rock’n’Roll album released.
Tommy Steele’s ‘Rock With The Caveman’ hits the UK charts
1957
February 1957
Bill Haley and the Comets’ tour of the UK, the first by a rock’n’roll act
5 September 1957
On The Road by Jack Kerouac published
4 October 1957
Sputnik I, first satellite in space, launched
1958
1958
First stereo recordings released
February 1958
CND, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, founded in London
March 1958
The first march from Aldermaston to London in support of CND
25 March 1958
Elvis Presley inducted into the US Army
16 August 1958
Madonna Ciccone born
29 August 1958
Michael Jackson born
1959
3 February 1959
Buddy Holly dies
26 August 1959
Alec Issigonis’s Mini car launched
November 1959
The M1, Britain’s first motorway, opens, running between St Albans and Birmingham
1960
1 May 1960
U-2 spy plane piloted by Gary Powers brought down by Soviet Union
6 August 1960
Chubby Checker debuts the Twist on the Dick Clark Show
1961
1961
Nick Mason passes driving test
April 1961
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space
August 1961
The Berlin Wall is erected
1962
10 July 1962
Telstar communications satellite launched
5 August 1962
Marilyn Monroe found dead
September 1962
Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason start their architecture course at the Regent Street Polytechnic
October 1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis
5 October 1962
First Bond movie, Dr. No, premieres
1963
4 June 1963
John Profumo, Conservative minister, resigns over a call-girl scandal
8 August 1963
The Great Train Robbery
9 August 1963
First broadcast of Ready
Steady Go! on ITV
7 October 1963
First flight of the Learjet 23
22 November 1963
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
21 December 1963
First appearance of the Daleks on Doctor Who
1964
1 January 1964
; First broadcast of Top Of The Pops on BBC TV
May 1964
Mods and Rockers battle in Brighton
Easter 1964
Offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline starts broadcasting
October 1964
Harold Wilson’s Labour government comes to power
1965
March 1965
First US combat troops sent to Vietnam
29 July 1965
The Beatles film Help! released
August 1965
First outdoor Notting Hill Carnival in London
15 August 1965
The Beatles perform at Shea Stadium to a then-record audience of over 55,000 fans
October 1965
Tea Set play at Libby and Rosie January’s birthday party
25 October 1965
The Beatles receive their MBEs from the Queen
1 November 1965
First concert at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
1966
17 January 1966
Simon and Garfunkel release Sounds Of Silence
March 1966
Pink Floyd play at the Marquee Club’s Spontaneous Underground event
29 June 1966
First British credit card, the Barclaycard, is issued
30 July 1966
England win the football World Cup
8 September 1966
First telecast of Star Trek
30 September 1966
First Pink Floyd gig at All Saints Church Hall, Powis Gardens, London
15 October 1966
IT launch party at the Roundhouse
31 October 1966
Blackhill Enterprises set up with Peter Jenner and Andrew King
4 November 1966
John Lennon says the Beatles are ‘more popular than Jesus Christ right now’
29 November 1966
Last appearance at All Saints Church Hall
3 December 1966
‘Psychodelphia vs Ian Smith’ event at the Roundhouse
12 December 1966
‘You’re Joking’ event at the Royal Albert Hall
23 December 1966
UFO club opening night
26 December 1966
Cultural Revolution declared in China
1967
6 January 1967
‘Freak Out Ethel’ event at Seymour Hall, London
11–12 January 1967
Recording session at Sound Techniques Studio in Chelsea includes ‘Arnold Layne’
17 January 1967
Commonwealth Institute show
12 February 1967
Keith Richards’ home at Redlands in Sussex raided by police
1 March 1967
Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London, opened
11 March 1967
‘Arnold Layne’ released
17 March 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience’s ‘Purple Haze’ released
1 April 1967
EMI press launch
29–30 April 1967
The ‘14-Hour Technicolour Dream’ free speech festival at Alexandra Palace, London
May 1967
Procul Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ enters the UK singles charts
12 May 1967
‘Games For May’ at the Queen Elizabeth Hall
June 1967
The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band released
16 June 1967
‘See Emily Play’ released
16–18 June 1967
Monterey International Pop Music Festival takes place
27 June 1967
First automated cash machine installed at Barclays Bank, Enfield
6 July 1967
First Top Of The Pops appearance, performing ‘See Emily Play’
28 July 1967
Last UFO show at the original Tottenham Court Road location
5 August 1967
THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN released
12 August 1967
7th National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor
30 September 1967
The BBC launches Radio 1. The first track played (by DJ Tony Blackburn) is The Move’s ‘Flowers In The Rain’
3 October 1967
Chuck Yeager sets new air speed record of Mach 6.7 in the X-15
9 October 1967
Che Guevara shot dead by Bolivian government troops
3 November 1967
First tour of the USA opens at the Winterland, San Francisco
9 November 1967
First issue of Rolling Stone magazine published
3 December 1967
First successful heart transplant carried out by Dr Christian Barnard
14 December 1967
Start of the Jimi Hendrix tour, at the Royal Albert Hall
18 December 1967
‘Apples And Oranges’ released
22 December 1967
‘Christmas On Earth Continued’ event at Olympia Exhibition Hall, London
24 December 1967
Apollo 8 enters moon orbit. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Williams Anders become the first humans to see the dark side of the moon
1968
12 January 1968
First appearance of Pink Floyd as a five-piece with David Gilmour
4 April 1968
Martin Luther King assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
6 April 1968
Syd’s departure officially announced
12 April 1968
‘It Would Be So Nice’ released
29 April 1968
The Broadway premiere of Hair
May 1968
Student-led riots in Paris
28 May 1968
Kylie Minogue born
5 June 1968
Robert Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles, California
29 June 1968
A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS released. Hyde Park free concert
8 July 1968
Second tour of the USA starts
15–17 August 1968
Scene Club, New York City
20 August 1968
Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia to end the ‘Prague Spring’
27 October 1968
Anti-Vietnam war demonstration outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, broken up by police
26 November 1968
Cream’s farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall
17 December 1968
‘Point Me At The Sky’ released
1969
2 January 1969
Nick Mason marries Lindy Rutter
9 February 1969
Boeing 747 makes maiden flight
2 March 1969
Concorde makes maiden flight
14 April 1969
‘More Furious Madness From The Massed Gadgets of Auximenes’ event at the Royal Festival Hall, London
13 May 1969
Premiere of More at Cannes Film Festival
26 June 1969
Royal Albert Hall, London, final show of first major UK tour for two years
5 July 1969
The Rolling Stones play in Hyde Park, dedicating their performance to Brian Jones
21 July 1969
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men to walk on the moon – BBC use Floyd music for moon landing
15–17 August 1969
The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival
29–31 August 1969
The Isle of Wight Festival
5 October 1969
First BBC broadcast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus
25 October 1969
UMMAGUMMA released
6 December 1969
The Rolling Stones appear at the Altamont Speedway, California
1970
3 January 1970
Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs released
5 February 1970
Zabriskie Point premieres
10 April 1970
16 April 1970
Apollo 13 returns safely to earth
4 May 1970
Four anti-Vietnam War protestors shot dead during demonstrations on the campus at Kent State University, Ohio
27 June 1970
Pink Floyd appear at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music
18 July 1970
Second Hyde Park free concert
26 July 1970
Start of Riviera mini-tour at the Festival International Jazz d’Antibes
27 July 1970
Kenneth Tynan’s Oh, Calcutta! revue opens in London
18 September 1970
Jimi Hendrix dies
19–20 September 1970
The first Glastonbury Festival (then known as the Pilton Festival) is held
October 1970
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar album released
4 October 1970
Janis Joplin dies
10 October 1970
ATOM HEART MOTHER released
14 November 1970
Syd Barrett’s Barrett released
1971
15 February 1971
Britain changes to a decimal currency
2 April 1971
Chloe Mason born
8 May 1971
Arsenal win their first ever double as FA Cup and League Champions
12 May 1971
Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Moreno de Macias
14 May 1971
RELICS released
15 May 1971
Crystal Palace, London, garden party
20 May 1971
Philips release first video cassette recorder
2 June 1971
Oz obscenity trial opens
3 July 1971
Jim Morrison dies
1 August 1971
Concert For Bangladesh in New York, organised by George Harrison
6–7 August 1971
Hakone Festival, Japan
13 August 1971
First Australian tour begins
4–7 October 1971
Filming for Live At Pompeii
10 October 1971
Reconstructed London Bridge opened in Lake Havasu City, Arizona
5 November 1971
MEDDLE released
1972
24 January 1972
Second World War finally ends for Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi, after 27 years in hiding on Guam island
17 February 1972
Rainbow Theatre, London, press premiere of The Dark Side Of The Moon