Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne

Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne
Authored By Johnny Blogger

Pink Floyd's debut single is a gem. Worth £80 in mint condition, a black and white promotional film was made in late February 1967, directed by Derek Nice and featuring the band dressing up a mannequin before showing it around a beach in East Wittering, West Sussex. This promo, made for £2,000, was meant to be screened on 3 April 1967 for the BBC's Top of the Pops show, but cancelled when the single dropped down the chart. Boo. Another promotional film was recorded, this time filmed on 29 April near St Michael's Church in Highgate. It is the only known footage of Barrett lip-synching to the song and filmed was around the time that his mental deterioration began, poor lad.

The single was released on 10 March 1967 in the UK. The band's management, Blackhill Enterprises, had paid to boost the single's chart position, as manager Andrew King stated: We spent a couple of hundred quid, trying to buy it into the charts. The management did that, not EMI. However, despite reaching number 20 in the UK singles chart, Radio London took against its subject matter and effectively banned it. Oh, how bloody silly.

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