October 9th, 2025, sees the publication of what sounds like another fascinating and essential book from acclaimed author Mark Blake. Blake is best known in the Floyd community for his excellent book, Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (known as Comfortably Numb in the US) which originally came out in 2007, and subsequently updated. Other books worth searching out by Blake include titles covering Queen and Freddie Mercury, Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's manager) and The Who.

Pink Floyd Shine On: The Definitive Oral History, which will be available as a hardback (with HMV - link below - having signed copies) or in Amazon's Kindle format, should be well worth getting your hands on. Here's how the publishers have described it: "The definitive oral history of Pink Floyd as told by friends, associates, family members and the band themselves through exclusive, never before published interviews.

"Bestselling music author Mark Blake has been an associate and collaborator of Pink Floyd for over thirty years. Shine On takes on the behemoth task of capturing the most comprehensive history of the band ever compiled, drawing on huge amounts of new, archive and unpublished interview material with Gilmour, Waters, Mason and Wright. No other writer has interviewed the members of Pink Floyd as often nor as thoroughly, which is candidly apparent in this textured, gripping and consistently surprising biography. For the first time, the band's story is told as an oral history with each chapter presented through the words of the band, their friends, contemporaries and supporting musicians. The accessible structure and high level of detail means that the narrative is both approachable to casual readers and magnetic to the committed.

"Shine On is comprised of a significant amount of previously unpublished material, including a rare interview with Rosemary Breen lamenting that her younger brother Roger, aka Syd Barrett, should have never become a musician as well as exclusive new interviews with Pink Floyd's Nick Mason and Guy Pratt, reflecting on their enduring legacy and rather more complicated recent twists and turns in the bands story.

"Shine On is a forensic retelling of one of the most turbulent and enduring groups in rock music history, a complex history that only someone as skilled and insightful as Blake can navigate."

The publishers are suggesting it will run to some 400 pages, but with Mark still working on the book, that might change slightly. Those who have read Pigs Might Fly will know that Mark's new book should be another fascinating, accessible and in-depth look at the band.

ORDERING INFO:
As we participate in their affiliate programme, ordering any item after entering Amazon through our links helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it. You can order the book - either as a hardback, or in Kindle format - from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Not all stores are showing it yet at time of posting this, so please keep trying until they do!

You can also order it from HMV.com which has a limited number of copies signed by the author, and has free delivery (to the UK).

Incredibly, as we've only just entered June, it seems that it's time of year again...now available to buy is the Official Pink Floyd 2026 Calendar! As before, it covers sixteen months, running from September 2025 through to December 2026.

It's a perennial Floyd fan favourite - particularly as a gift at Christmas time. An item which has been produced for many years now, and designed for use hanging on walls, the standardised format is roughly the same size as a vinyl album - roughly 12" (or 30cm) square, with the calendar opening up to have a double page spread per month.

The calendar this year is a celebration of the band's post 1987 period, via various images, record sleeves, and suchlike.

The calendar each year is often squirrelled away as a collectable for the years to come, and earlier examples are now quite sought after.

ORDERING INFO:
As we participate in their affiliate programme, ordering any item after entering Amazon through our links helps with BD's ongoing running costs, and we really appreciate it. You can order the calendar from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Not all stores are showing it at time of posting this, so please keep trying until they do!

Just announced is the long-awaited release of Roger Waters This Is Not A Drill Live In Prague, which had a live cinema broadcast around the world on May 25th, 2023.

With the production captured by multiple cameras, it was an easy guess that it would receive a home release at some point, and that is coming on August 1st, 2025, when it will be available to buy in a special 4LP vinyl package, on a double CD, on Blu-ray and on DVD. It will also be available via the normal digital services too.

To mark the release, there will be another chance to relive the Prague performance in cinemas, as Trafalgar is extending the cinematic experience with additional dates. For information and tickets - which go on sale on June 12th - visit RogerWaters.film or participating cinemas.

ORDERING INFORMATION:
For ease, we've listed the various editions below. With Amazon's pre-order price guarantee, you should be automatically charged the lowest amount between the time you ordered the album, and release. All purchases made after using one of our links make a small but vital contribution toward the site running costs, at no extra cost to yourself, and we really appreciate it! This is because we participate in the Amazon Affiliate program. Some items are currently still being added so please keep trying your preferred store.

Finally, here's a first taster from Live From Prague:

For our magazine aficionados out there - and we know a good number of you collect this branch of printed media if there's any mentions of Pink Floyd - there's a couple of magazines currently on sale in Germany which may be of interest to you.

The first of these is the May 2025, 130 page edition of the suitably titled Eclipsed. It includes a multiple page look at the new Live at Pompeii release, with plenty of information and pictures. Elsewhere in the magazine there's a large feature on the 40th anniversary of Dire Straits's Brothers In Arms. You can order this online through Eclipsed.de.

The other May 2025 issue of interest is the German edition of Classic Rock. We suspect much of it is a straight translation from the UK edition which appeared at the end of March/start of April. In that, they looked back at the making of Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii, with recollections from drummer Nick Mason, director Adrian Maben and more. The German edition can be ordered from ClassicRock.net.

Our thanks to Michael Nickel for the information.