Want to explore more? Here are some of the websites, resources and references used in creating this site. You might call this my bibliography. This list is not complete and will be updated as needed.
Although some of these sites haven’t been updated in a while, they are included here because the information they contain is still valid or useful. Some of the html is really old and may display junk in modern browsers, but the content is still there and readable.
Some of these links are Amazon Affiliate links. Using these links helps to offset the cost of hosting this website.
Did I miss one? Let me know in the comments below.
Last checked and updated: 16 November 2022
Books
Comfortably Numb – A History of “The Wall” – Pink Floyd 1978-1981
by Vernon Fitch and Richard Mahon (Book, published 2006) – An essential read for Pink Floyd fans. The book features an insider’s look at the making of The Wall album, insights into the Pink Floyd recording process, a song by song analysis of The Wall album, a technical overview of The Wall stage shows, a pictorial on The Wall live in concert, a glimpse into each of the 31 Wall live concerts, and an examination of the making of The Wall Live album.
Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains, V&A Publishing (Book, published 2017). The catalogue of the outstanding exhibition on display at London’s V&A Museum in 2017. Written by by friends of the band, critics, scholars, and curators of the V&A Museum, the book is a broad, often insightful, visual record of the 50 years of Pink Floyd. Because of its access to materials from those in the band’s inner circle as well as the band itself, it’s a unique, accurate and welcome book that is an important contribution to the written history of Pink Floyd. At just over 300 pages, most of them photographs, there’s plenty here for all types of Pink Floyd fans to get excited about.
Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason (Book, published 2011) – Here, for the first time, is the story of Pink Floyd from the inside out. With 116 million albums sold worldwide and 25 years on the pop charts to their credit, Pink Floyd is one of the most successful rock groups in history, yet their story until now is one of the least known. The only continuous member of the band through its entire 40-year history, Nick Mason has witnessed every twist, turn, and sommersault from behind his drum kit. The journey begins with the band’s origins as the darlings of London’s late 1960s underground and the creation of the classic Pink Floyd sound, all the way through to The Wall and those legendary stadium shows.
The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall by Gerald Scarfe (Book, published 2010) – Here, for the first time, Scarfe shares his experiences with the band and reveals the inside story behind The Wall’s development in the studio, on the stage, in front of the camera, and for the 2010 tour. Beautifully illustrated, The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall contains hundreds of unseen photos as well as exclusive interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and more. The result is a book Waters calls “brilliant” and “absolutely amazing.” I think this book is excellent and reveals Scarfe’s insider viewpoint and stories from his own experiences helping to build The Wall album, stage show, and film. Lots of cool stuff in this book.
The Complete Pink Floyd: The Ultimate Reference by Glenn Povey (Book, published 2016) – An essential book for all Pink Floyd fans: the most amazingly comprehensive guide to the band’s entire career, complete with rare and never-before-seen photographs plus key memorabilia. Representing years of painstaking research by Floyd expert and documentarian Glenn Povey, it covers every event of note, and includes a full record of concerts, rehearsals, recordings, releases (vinyl and otherwise), interviews, set lists, and new material about the Abbey Road recording sessions. The Complete Pink Floyd is simply an unequalled look at one of rock and roll’s most innovative groups from its beginnings to the present. This book exhaustively covers nearly anything there is to cover about Pink Floyd.
Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake (Book, 2013 edition). This excellent book follows Pink Floyd from the early psychedelic nights at UFO, to the stadium-rock and concept-album zenith of the seventies, to the acrimonious schisms of the late ’80s and ’90s. It’s long and detailed with a lot of information that’s told in narrative fashion. An excellent read and resource covering all of Pink Floyd’s career, this updated version includes new interviews to bring the story up to date with the recent appearances of David Gilmour and Nick Mason with Roger Waters at a London date on his The Wall tour. This is the updated version of his previous book, Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd The Music And The Mystery by Andy Mabbett (Book, published 2010) – Written by the publisher of the Pink Floyd fanzine The Amazing Pudding, this book is a thorough, illustrated discography of Pink Floyd, covering everything from their first single to through the album The Division Bell. Also included are separate sections on the work on Roger Waters and Syd Barrett. The book is fairly light on photos, the typesetting is “rudimentary,” and it has not been updated to include 2014’s The Endless River, but Mabbett uncovers some interesting overlooked facts and tidbits which are not often shared about The Wall and the band.
Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey by Nicholas Schaffner (Book, published 1992) – The first in-depth biography of Pink Floyd. In addition to excellent chapters on the making of The Wall album, stage shows, and film, Schaffner also discusses the making of Dark Side of the Moon and Floyd’s other great albums in detail. This excellent book was written before time revised many of the stories and there are great bits of information here that are found nowhere else. This book predates later Pink Floyd albums such as The Division Bell and Is There Anybody Out There?.
Pink Floyd’s the Wall: In the Studio, on Stage and On Screen by Jeff Bench and Daniel O’Brien (Book, published 2004) – Describes the making of The Wall — both the album and the film — and places it in the context of the changes in music and society which the album reflected. The book contains scores of rare color and black-and-white illustrations, including exclusive shots of the 1980 and 1990 live performances. It’s a fast read, but there’s still a lot of great information inside this one. Recommended to get a more complete picture of The Wall.
Uncut the Ultimate Collector’s Edition Pink Floyd (Single Issue Magazine, published 2015) – Not only does this edition tell the story behind all of the albums, it also reprints some of the exclusive Uncut interviews members of Pink Floyd done over the years which are in-depth and worth the read. This edition is well-written and there are a ton of great photos. If you are fairly new to Pink Floyd’s music and want to study up on the band, its history and discography, this is a great resource for a crash course. If you’ve been into the band for a while and thought you’d read everything about them, this is still a worthwhile read and contains a few choice tidbits of info I’d never heard before. Of the “Let’s sell some copies by publishing a Pink Floyd special edition” class of magazines, it’s about the best that I’ve found.
Websites
Pink Floyd | The Official Site – The official website with news, history, discography, and an online store where you can buy official Floyd merch.
The Wall Analysis – The Wall, analyzed track by track for story and insight. Includes some deleted songs as well as tracks from the movie. This site is a definitive work on The Wall.
The Wall Wikipedia Page – Wikipedia is an excellent source of info about all aspects of The Wall (and all things Floyd). Spread across many individual articles are info about the recording and production of the album, the drama going on behind it, the tour, and a track-by-track breakdown of each track.
The Pink Floyd Archives – Vernon Fitch’s extensive archive documenting the history of the band. Includes discographies by country, concert dates, and articles.
Brain Damage, the definitive Pink Floyd radio show – A monthly podcast dedicated to all things Floyd and anything related. Each podcast revolves around a specific theme. Hosted by The Doctor who is an old-school AOR-format DJ smart. He approaches the show with the sensibility of an old-school FM AOR DJ. He’s knowledgeable, has a great radio presence, and programs a great podcast. They’re always a great listen.
Brain Damage (UK) – Not to be confused with The Doctor’s excellent podcast, not only does the site post the latest Floyd news and tour info, it’s also another massive repository for all things Floydian. There’s a lot of unique info here that you will not easily find anywhere else.
Pink Floyd A Fleeting Glimpse | pinkfloydz.com – Established June 1998, AFG features the latest official Pink Floyd and related news, pictures, reviews, interviews, lyrics, and links. The forums, in particular, are fairly active. The Other Exhibits section has perhaps hundreds of “finds” and is not only an excellent resource, but a rabbit hole any Floydian would easily get caught in.
Neptune Pink Floyd – World’s largest Pink Floyd fan site with new and updated tour, album, and general Floydian news. The photos archive has over 10,000 photos. The forums are active as well — I make it a point to check them daily.
The Original Pink Floyd Tour of London – A seven-part tour (plus some supplementary bits) of Europe’s largest city, linking some of the places connected with the hip, cool, trendy and physically stunning combo – Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright – known collectively as Pink Floyd.
Pages & Posts
An Explanation of The Wall: Jim Ladd Interviews Roger Waters about The Wall. One of the earliest track-by-track breakdowns of The Wall — from Roger Waters himself. I was in Los Angeles when this was first broadcast on KMET and it’s an essential interview. I’m glad this has survived over the years. Not only is it a candid snapshot from Waters himself while the album was still fresh, but it’s an interesting starting point that helps illustrate how The Wall has evolved over the years. Along with The Wall Analysis above, it’s an essential read.
A Fleeting Glimpse | BBC One Pink Floyd The Wall Radio Interview with Roger Waters and Tommy Vance. A transcript of the first track-by-track explanation of The Wall, originally broadcast on BBC One on November 30, 1979. Want to hear the interview? An audio version is right here.
Guitar World | Pink Floyd: Goodbye Blue Sky. Originally published in October, 2009, this is one of the most comprehensive articles online about the story of the making of The Wall. Over 6,000 words–most of them the words and recollections from interviews of the four band members as well as co-producers Bob Ezrin and James Guthrie. UPDATE: As of February 2022, the link is no longer live. [Reader JS correctly pointed out in the comments that this is an edited reprint of “Pink Floyd -Troubles Behind The Wall” an article originally published in the December 1999 issue of MOJO magazine. At over 10,000 words, I highly recommend reading the full version of the piece. =M=]
Pink Floyd The Wall: The Making of the Film, Brick By Brick | by Alan Parker. Director Alan Parker’s essay on the making of the Pink Floyd The Wall film. Scans of his hand-typed essay are available on other websites (very cool documents to see as well), but this is a longer, more detailed version of his story behind the film. It contains many more anecdotes and details more of the successes and setbacks throughout production. An excellent read for his unique insights from ‘behind The Wall.’
Brain Damage UK | Unspoken Bricks – an in-depth analysis. Christian Diemoz’ excellent in-depth look at recording The Wall, with James Guthrie and Bob Ezrin interviews. Originally published on the Italian fan site HeYou.it, this story is now archived on Brain Damage UK.
Brain Damage UK | The Wall recording and mastering sessions in detail. Recording of The Wall began in April 1979 at Superbear in France, later at CBS Studios in New York, Cherokee Studios and finally Producers Workshop in Los Angeles. Here is a detailed breakdown of the final sessions from early September, 1979 leading up to the release of the album at the end of 1979 — including the fabled Beach Boys/Floyd vocal collaboration that was cancelled on the day of the recording.
Scribd | Uncut The Ultimate Music Guide – Pink Floyd One of those band retrospective magazines that imprints will trot out every few years. This is one of the best ones. The entire issue — all 148 pages — is available online to read. You should own a copy of this publication — the interviews alone are worth it. If you can’t find one, this is the next best thing.
Spare Bricks’ 4-part song-by-song look at Under Construction. Rick Karhu’s exhaustive and outstanding look at the Under Construction ROIO, the widely circulated early recordings of The Wall. Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
The Reconstructor | Pink Floyd – Spare Bricks (1982). “All I do here is to try to create alternate versions of released albums, or re-create unreleased LPs by the artists I love.” Because of copyrights, there are no links to download, but the real value of this website is in the thorough, well-written articles about the reconstructions and the historical perspective of the album within the artist’s catalog. One of the albums he “rebuilt” was the unreleased Pink Floyd Spare Bricks. Even if you disagree with some of his track listings, he presents well-thought-out reasoning for his choices.
Palisadian-Post | ‘Lost’ Documentary. The story of Howard Lamden’s “The Lost Documentary” featuring footage from one of The Wall’s London shows. Filmed in and around Earls Court arena, the footage included the two-hour concert as well as the unloading of equipment and mounting of the elaborate production, performed with visual aids projected on huge screens, giant inflatable characters and gigantic foam bricks.
Popdose | The Life and Times of “Comfortably Numb”
Independent Ethos | An in-depth look at Pink Floyd’s ‘the Wall’ Immersion box set
A.V. Club | Pink Floyd’s The Wall Broadly, The Wall is about the disconnection that all people feel toward one another. But it was inspired specifically by Roger Waters no longer relating to his audience.
PopMatters| Review: The Final Cut
Lake Front Row | 5 PINK FLOYD TRACKS IMPROVED BY ALAN PARKER’S ‘THE WALL’
Brain Damage UK | The 1980/81 Wall concert performances in detail
Wikipedia | List of unreleased songs recorded by Pink Floyd
The Guitar World article you’ve linked is actually an edit of the article “Danger! Demolition In Process” published in MOJO in December 1999. The original article is even more comprehensive.
I see Sylvie Simmons is double-dipping there. Thank you for pointing that out.
Here’s a link to the complete article “Danger! Demolition In Process” originally published in MOJO magazine, December 1999. As it’s not available on the MOJO site, I’ve linked to a reprint on Pink Floyd A Fleeting Glimpse (AFG).
http://www.pinkfloydz.com/interviews/pink-floyd-troubles-behind-the-wall-mojo-magazine-december-1999/
Over 10,000 words and well worth the read.