20 September 2006 Pink Floyd: The Ultimate Rock Enigma? Rough Guide explores Rock’s most mysterious legends “If ever there was a band that resisted biography, it is Pink Floyd. They have sold around 200 million records, and their album sleeves are iconic and instantly recognisable. Yet the band can walk through the crowds at their own concerts unmolested”, says Toby Manning, author of The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd who goes on to say: “This anonymity enigma, has been, to an extent, deliberate.” “One in five UK households possesses a copy of Dark Side of the Moon” says Manning. And yet Pink Floyd remain as they always were: a mood, an idea, a folk memory, fascinating but elusive. Until now. The new Rough Guide to Pink Floyd provides an indepth and fully comprehensive account of the band that changed the sound and scale of music forever, from the early days in the psychedelic 60s through to their shock reunion at Live 8. With interest at a new high due to fresh Floyd activity, including a surprise number one solo album for David Gilmour, and major 2006 tours for Gilmour and Roger Waters, the new guide acts as a timely exploration of Rock’s most mysterious legends. “This anonymity enigma, has been, to an extent, deliberate.” Author Toby Manning has interviewed band members, people from the Floyd entourage and collaborators, and rummaged through musical archives to put the record straight on what has often been wrongly reported, from Roger Waters’ date of birth to precisely when Syd Barrett left the band. Complete with album commentary, an assessment of which solo projects best carry the Floyd torch, and a survey of their collaborations (many not well known) with artists from Kate Bush to The Damned, the book looks at their influence on progressive rock through punk and grunge to Britpop and beyond. With the death of recluse Syd Barrett, the band’s first leader and the centre of a personality cult, Floyd are headline material once again. What’s in the book? The Story From Cambridge beginnings and how they got their name through to the acrimonious eighties, nineties and today, the book seeks to clarify fact from fiction to provide a complete picture of what went on and when. The Music Explaining how More post-dated Ummagumma but was released before it, the book provides a comprehensive album anthology in career and peer context, from The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn to Atom Heart Mother and Wish You Were Here to Pulse (Live), including soundtracks, compilations, bootlegs and Floyd’s Finest 50 songs, complete with commentary on the iconic sounds of the band and accounts of their solo projects. Floyd on film: the movies and film soundtracks, TV appearances and videos – from The Wall and More to Zabriskie Point and Pink Floyd at Pompeii. Floydology: from cover versions by the Scissor Sisters’ and Wyclef Jean to tribute bands, rarities, DVDs, books and websites. NOTES FOR EDITORS The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd in square-format adds to an already impressive musical line-up from Rough Guides. Already published: Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Elvis and Frank Sinatra, including a number of music genre titles. Forthcoming: Blues. Rough Guides published the Rough Guide to Greece in 1982 and now publishes 300 travel titles and 60 reference books on subjects ranging from Classical Music to Climate Change and from iPods to MySpace. The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd Author: Toby Manning Price: £9.99 Format: Square, 177mm x 177mm, fully illustrated. ISBN: 1-84353-575-0 Toby Manning Toby Manning grew up in North Wales and Manchester, before regressing to adolescence in London. He has written for Q, NME, The New Statesman, Arena, The Guardian, Select and The Word, and now also manages and produces the band The Idle Lovers. More info on http://www.roughguides.com Rough Guides on your iPod - Download FREE! http://www.roughguides.com/podscrolls/