Month: June 2019

Active from 1965 to 1995, Pink Floyd set the standard for pyrotechnics at rock concerts and were pioneers in psychedelic rock. Not for them the ‘silly love songs’ pumped out by pop stars, their lyrics contained wide-ranging social commentary and whimsy. This began with singles such as ‘Arnold Layne’ and ‘See Emily Play’ from 1967 and continued through ‘Money’ (1973), ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)’  (1979) and ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1980), to name but a few.

They have sold more than 250 million copies of their albums, of which the most successful was ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (1973). Their long instrumentals and use of new technology put them in the ‘progressive rock’ camp after the ‘psychedelic’ label went out of fashion in the 1970s. The Pink Floyd lifestyle had included large amounts of psychedelic drugs, but their lead man, Syd Barrett, left the group in 1968 with mental health and drug issues, and changes followed.

The group line-up remained stable for a while, with Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Rick Wright and Dave Gilmour, but there were disagreements, leading eventually to disbandment. However, this early video shows the English madcap youthful humour which first brought them together:-

(Top image: Paul Carless at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The ‘Harry Potter‘ series of seven fantasy novels was written by Joanne Rowling (pen name J.K. Rowling) and has been a phenomenal success worldwide, with many fans still eager to indulge in the many spin-off products. The first novel was published in 1997 and the last in 2007. The series has set a global best-selling record of over 500 million copies, with the final novel achieving a staggering 11 million sales in its first day. It has been translated into 80 languages, including American English.

The concept famously came into its author’s head on a slow train journey in 1990. It combines all the classic features of British young adult literature ~ an orphan hero, a boarding school, dark forests, coming-of-age, romance, death, magic, scary adventures and surprise. It is set in Scotland at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a parallel dimension.

The Harry Potter brand includes ‘loot crates’, clothing, studio tours, a theme park, a play, back-story books, websites, toys, games and films. Rowling became the first billionaire author but she has given a lot to charity. Some literary critics have been somewhat taken aback by her success, but she undoubtedly skilfully gave age-old tropes a fresh, contemporary airing.

(Image: Petra Šolajová at pixabay.com)