Chapter 2
THE END
D
espite the disparagements of the establishment and often bemused dance hall crowds, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn continued to sell in respectable numbers and the band were also keen to capitalise on a growing following in America; but it was here that disaster struck. In November 1967 Pink Floyd had just released their third single, Apples and Oranges, and it was during North American television appearances to publicise the single on The Pat Boon Show and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand that Syd Barret first began to exhibit the signs of the total mental collapse which would soon engulf him. In the aftermath of a distinctly poor performance Boon’s easy going 37
