Incredibly it's more than 40 years since Pink Floyd - the hippy-trippy underground band who went on to become one of the biggest brand names in music - released their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This documentary traces the band's formative years, shedding light on their original frontman - the late, great Syd Barrett - what happened to him, how he was levered out of the line-up and how the band moved on, slowly progressing under different leaders.
Fascinating for old and new fans alike, the programme has plenty of rare archive footage, plus interviews with the four surviving members of Pink Floyd - Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright (pictured). And the programme's title? It refers to a question asked by a dumb American music executive, and was also a slogan used on T-shirts by Roger Waters in the late 80s to promote his own tour.
Worth a look, although it doesn't add that much to previous Floyd documentaries, despite the Barrett and Live 8 updates.
This programme (shown last year on BBC One) is part of a Pink Floyd night on BBC Four. It's followed by the Classic Albums programme on the making of The Dark Side of the Moon album, and the Omnibus documentary on Syd Barrett. Inevitably there is some overlap between the various programmes, with some shared footage.
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