The Piper At The Gates Of D'oh!

Sorry, that was the best of a bad bunch of potential titles.

Anyone else confused by the mass-media hysteria over the death (sorry, the "passing") of Syd?

I love Pink Floyd (hey, I've made harder admissions in my life), and I recognise the importance of Syd Barrett to both the band and British music ever since as huge. But I am perplexed at the level of media interest - front page of the Metro, no less, and prominent mentions in every other major outlet. It's the sort of fervour I thought would be reserved for McCartney, or Keef (the guitarist, not the erstwhile Medwayite) or even Townshend. This man, constant inspiration to the upper eschelons of British musical output though he still is, is surely a blank in most people's mental biographical dictionaries? Or am I being partronising? Certainly the only people in my office who knew who he was were the eldest and, perversely, the youngest members of staff (apart from me, obviously, but I don't count because I understand every reference to everything, ever, naturally).

Still, he wrote one great album and inspired at least one other (including a couple of Floyd mk. II's best songs (c.f. Rufous' blog)), so in no man's terms was his a life without merit. Without him Blur, Supergrass, Ultrasound and any number of other indie admirables would have lacked a certain, definable inspirational enrichment.

I hope he spent the last 30 years enjoying himself, whatever he was up to.