To mark the 50th anniversary of the five-piece Pink Floyd concert held in the Sussex town of Lewes, online community radio station Radio Lewes will be airing a show next month featuring people who had involvement at the time.
As most of you will be aware, there were a handful of shows undertaken in January 1968, after David Gilmour had joined, and before the departure of Syd Barrett from the band. Pink Floyd appeared in the town, appearing twice on January 19th. Jenny Spires, Barrett's girlfriend, will be a guest on the programme, talking about him and her recollections of Pink Floyd. The broadcast will also include people who promoted or attended the concert and the memories of that night from the original support band, Granny's Intentions. It will be available from January 12th and for at least a month afterwards at RadioLewes.org.uk.
The anniversary of the concert will also be marked by an exhibition at Lewes Town Hall from January 15th featuring exclusive photographs of Syd Barrett from the Barrett family, and other memorabilia associated with Pink Floyd and David Gilmour. Our thanks to Lee McLoughlin for letting us know about this.
Back in October, Nick Mason was the guest for one of the regular "An Evening With..." talks at the China Exchange in London. Hear Nick discuss the history of Pink Floyd, his cars, and more, at ChinaExchange.uk or by watching the video below:
As we've mentioned in previous years, in the Netherlands, the public station Radio 2 has a very popular yearly countdown (from Christmas Day until New Year's Eve) of the 2000 best songs. Pink Floyd features heavily in the latest countdown, as they have done in previous years, with no less than thirteen songs included, of which one is in the top 10.
Below are the Floyd tracks, along with how they've moved in the chart since last year. The poll itself is compiled from some 3 million voters across the Netherlands - about 20% of the population.
No. 7: Wish You Were Here (up 2 places)
No. 12: Comfortably Numb (up 4)
No. 22: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (down 2)
No. 90: Another Brick In The Wall (down 24)
No. 212: Echoes (up 3)
No. 369: Time (up 13)
No. 402: Money (up 14)
No. 408: The Great Gig In The Sky (down 5)
No. 547: High Hopes (up 134)
No. 616: Us and Them (up 133)
No. 783: One Of These Days (up 87)
No. 1859: See Emily Play (up 126)
No. 1945: Arnold Layne (re-entry)
The chart itself is unsurprisingly topped by Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), followed by Hotel California (The Eagles) and Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin), all keeping their positions from last year's chart. Our thanks to Willy Willemse, and Gerald, for their help with this information.
To be published on February 15th, 2018, is another book about the band; Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon, by Bill Kopp. The book will focus on how Pink Floyd developed following the 1968 departure of Syd Barrett.
Reinventing Pink Floyd will follow the path taken by the remaining band members to
establish a musical identity, develop a songwriting style, and create a new template
for the manner in which albums are made and even enjoyed by listeners. Veteran
music journalist Bill Kopp investigates how that path was filled with failed experiments, creative blind alleys, one-off musical excursions, abortive collaborations, a general restlessness and a dedicated search for a distinctive musical personality.
With a focus on the works of 1968 through 1973, drawing on new interviews with key personalities as well as archival interviews, it's currently available for pre-order on Amazon, but buying direct from the publisher instead at ReinventingPinkFloyd.com will save 30% off the list price.
Currently running (until January 21st 2018) at London's House of Illustration is "Scarfe Stage & Screen" - an exhibition about Gerald Scarfe's varied work for stage and screen.
It's a rare opportunity to explore the extensive but little-known production designs by the celebrated political cartoonist. Storyboards, costumes and props are on display from Pink Floyd's The Wall, Disney's Hercules and English National Ballet's The Nutcracker.
We understand that there is a fair amount of Floyd-related material on display amongst his work for other projects, so should definitely be worth a visit next time you are in London. More details, and to book tickets, visit HouseOfIllustration.org.uk. The venue is open 10am - 6pm Tuesday through to Sunday, and is just around the corner from King's Cross railway station.
The House of Illustration is a registered charity. As well as putting on 10 exhibitions a year, it works with schools across London on projects with young people that inspire creativity and enable them to communicate visually, overcoming barriers such as language, literacy levels and special educational needs. It is the only UK gallery commissioning new illustration work for public display and runs the only residency for illustrators and graphic artists, supporting artists at every stage of their career.
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As we've mentioned in previous years, in the Netherlands, the public station 
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