Pink Floyd: Shine On
★★★★
Mark Blake
NEW MODERN. £25
The whole brilliant, sorry saga rendered through an echo chamber of voices.
From bohemian sons of liberal mothers and absent fathers to feuding grandees who’ve recently divested themselves of their catalogue – from the heart of the sun to the dark side of the moon – what a long, strange, and rather sad trip it’s been. Rock historian and MOJO writer Blake has interviewed band members alongside associates and chums, representing Syd with a rare interview with his youngest sister Rosemary Breen and his letters to early girlfriend Jenny Spires. The breadth of interviewees is impressive, the power struggles endless, and the anecdotes frequently telling. Psychedelic Floyd are recalled as an experience you could “only writhe to” while Nick Mason casually reveals that when Roger Waters staged The Wall in Berlin in 1990 he didn’t invite any of his former bandmates but all their ex-wives.