The Invasion of Vinnie Vincent [PT1]

With the recent passing of original Kiss guitar player Ace Frehley, I've found myself lamenting the fact that while I saw Ace's band a few years back, I never caught him with Kiss. He had just quit the band before I went to their concert in 1983, supporting the "Creatures of the Night" album. This would be their last tour before removing the trademark make-up [and then putting it back on many years later]. Instead of Ace, there was this small, androgynous looking guy wearing some type of ancient Egyptian themed make-up. This guitar player was, of course, Vincent Caruso, aka Vinnie Vincent.

THE ORIGINAL SIN

[Although Ace is pictured on the cover of the original October 1982 release of "Creatures of the Night", he apparently had very little to due with the album, and was on his way out]

The story of how Vinnie Vincent ended up in Kiss starts with the exit of Ace, who formed a sort of 2 man faction [with Peter] against "the other 2 guys" [Gene/Paul]. Most fans have heard the dramatic tales of tension within the group that began towards the end of the 1970s, but the first major manifestation of this tension seemed to take form of the expulsion of original drummer Peter Criss in 1980. The Gene/Paul explanation involved in large part the idea that Peter couldn't control his drinking and drug use, which compromised his performance and other aspects of the band. Peter's view seems to be that Paul/Gene wanted more artistic/financial control. Whatever the case, the 1978 car accident which left Peter's hand badly injurely was likely a major reason he barely played at all on the albums "Unmasked" and "Dynasty." [This "accident" will be referred to again in part 2]

The departure of Peter Criss in 1980 left Ace "on his own" in dealing with the Paul/Gene faction of the group, which meant he probably wouldn't be sticking around much longer either.

In 1978 Ace Frehley married Jeanette Trerotola. The following year, rumor has it he started dating Robert Plant's former mistress/groupie Audrey Hamilton. In 1980, Ace had a child with the former, while rumors persist that he also fathered a child with Hamilton. Needless to say, Ace's personal life probably contributed to some of the turmoil that lead to his exit from Kiss. [Incidentally, Peter Criss got divorced and re-married around this same time].

Potential personal turmoil aside, the Ace/Peter faction have held over the years that their main gripe was that the band was getting too soft and commercial, and that the Gene/Paul faction was mainly driving that. Based on the music Kiss put out in the late 70s, Ace and Peter certainly had a point. Kiss was getting more commercial and wasn't rocking as hard. But perhaps it wasn't just that Paul and Gene were merely "exerting more control," but that Ace and Peter were exerting less, due to their very real pre-occupations in their personal lives [Gene would follow suit in a way, when he later started getting side-tracked during his failed attempt to make it in the film business].

Before leaving the group, we are told Ace declined a 15 million dollar contract offer with Kiss in 1982, opting instead to quit and accept a share of the band's profits until 1985. While it's hard to believe things got so bad for Ace in the group that he'd turn down a 15 million dollar contract [especially given his "situation" with the ladies in his life and the baby(s)], 3 straight years of income for doing basically nothing wasn't too bad of a severance package. But was there another reason Ace needed to leave the group? One we may not have considered that would have made this 15 million dollar contract offer "unsignable?" We'll come back to that in part 2.

In 1980 Eric Carr [Paul Charles Caravello] officially replaced Peter Criss. It's interesting to note that Eric's "last name" has the word "Car" in it. It was a car that supposedly lead to Peter's injured hand, which arguably lead to his ultimate ejection from Kiss. There is also the curious fact that Eric was the 2nd person named Paul, by birth, to give up their real name in the group, while Stanley [Eisen] would remain the sole member of Kiss allowed to use the apparently coveted stage name of "Paul." [see my video "Paul and the eye of Horus" on Youtube/Rumble]

When Vinnie Vincent replaced Ace in 1982, he also became a father [to twins, birthed by his wife AnneMarie Peters Cusano]. Although brand new to the band, he too refused to sign a contract. Vinnie would later state "I had a family...I had twins that I didn't know I was gonna have, and there was no money to take care of them, and there was no money to buy a home. We were living with relatives..." While $550 per week as a "hired gun" wasn't exactly crazy money in 1982, is wasn't too bad either. $550 in 1982 would be about the equivalant of $1846.50 in 2025 money, adjusted for inflation. That works out to about $88,632 per year. Not too bad for the new guy in a band that was considered somewhat on the decline. But why would he settle for a semi-perminent position in Kiss and a hired gun wage when the opportunity to become a full fledged member was being offered? Perhaps there was something in the fine print rendering the contract unsignable?

[V.V. offers these miniature Jackson Rhoads guitars on his website, signed by himself, for $5500-$8500]

In the same year V.V. joined Kiss, Randy Rhoads died. Randy was known for playing signature Jackson "Rhoads V" style guitars, the first of which was named "The Original Sin." Randy nicknamed this guitar "Concorde," which is a type of supersonic aircraft [Ironically, Rhoads would allegedly be killed in an aircraft accident]. There were a couple prototypes made for Randy which he never got a chance to properly evaluate. These would become the first Jackson guitars offered to the public. Vinnie Vincent was the first professional guitarist to be offered an early Rhoads guitar by Jackson after Rhoads' death, which he used on the Kiss "Creatures of the Night" and "Lick It Up" tours from 1982 until 1984. This created an interesting continuity between Randy and V.V. which we will contemplate further later.

Following his departure from Kiss in mid-1984, Vincent used the money he made from his tenure in the band to take a long vacation, traveling the world for a full year and visiting places like Tahiti, Philippines, Mozambique, India, and Europe, including a visit to the small town of Mora in Dalarna, Sweden. I'm wondering where his wife and twins were at this time? Was he paying alimony? It seems his concerns about money and not getting enough through his contractual offers didn't prevent plenty of it from ending up in his pocket, which was promptly blown on what appears to be an insanely expensive trip! And what was he doing all that time in all of those places?

[Vinnie Vincent Invasion, featuring future members of the band Slaughter]

The story behind the Vinnie Vincent Invasion's rapid rise and fall is rather involved and convoluted, but overall it seems to encapsilate the unfortunate stereotypes typically attributed to Vincent. The band was handed a major record deal by Chrysalis, played all over MTV, toured, sold quite a few albums, then began to self-destruct due to Vinnie's apparent fallout with the record label. As a result, in 1988 Chrysalis Records took the $4 million contract away from Vinnie Vincent for exceeding his credit line with the label, and transferred the contract to former members Slaughter and Strum, who went on to form Slaughter [Slaughter ended up selling millions of albums in the 90s].

Other than filing for bankruptsy in 1989, Vinnie seemed to keep a pretty low profile until 1992, when he was asked by Kiss to participate in the recording of their album “Revenge.” This was quickly followed by another fallout between the 2 camps, with Gene Simmons basically stating that Vinnie went right back to his old tricks [Gene has been quoted stating that V.V. attempted to sue the band at least 14 times, losing 100% of the cases.]

A TRAGEDY FULL OF MYSTERY

[V.V. with first wife AnnMarie Peters Cusano, with whom he had twin daughters]

[V.V.'s twin daughters and AnnMarie]

[V.V. and his 2nd wife, Diane Kero circa 1996]

It's not real clear what went on between V.V. and his first wife AnneMarie, other than the fact they had twin daughters together. Clearly they had broken up by 1995 when he met his 2nd wife, Diane Kero, at a Kiss convention in Chicago.

According to a fan commenting on youtube, Vincent had began promoting an infamous box set at this same event, for which he was charging $120 to PRE-ORDER. According to www.nashvillescene.com, fans who purchased the package have instead received letter upon letter from Metaluna [VV's label] espousing myriad production excuses [for not delivering the product]. Yet while Metaluna had a no-refund policy, the letters did offer other opportunities to purchase Vinnie Vincent keepsakes like signed guitar catalogs ($150), or his "personal favorite [guitar] pick" from the "Creatures" tour ...for $1,000. To this day, this box set has never seen the light of day. Whatever Vinnie does have is currently being sold at OUTRAGEOUS prices on his personal web page as of the day I type this.

[Ace pictured with Diane Kero and a guy named Gordon, circa 1992. Interestingly, Diane Kero was Ace Frehley's girlfriend for a couple years back in the 1970s [and possibly later].

Vincent and Kero were married in 1996, the year after they'd met at the aformentioned Kiss convention. V.V. also released a new recording at this time, which was an EP entitled "Euphoria," simply under the name Vinnie Vincent. It was recorded in the early 1990s with Vincent on guitar and bass, former Vinnie Vincent Invasion vocalist Robert Fleischman [formally of Journey], and drummer Andre LaBelle. These sessions were paid for by Enigma Records who were to release the full record, but Vincent ended up dissatisfied with the final product. For reasons unknown, Vinnie Vincent overdubbed LaBelle's drums with a drum machine before releasing it himself.

[Feb 15, 2003 — In December, a jury convicted [Gregory] McArthur, 43, of felony murder, manslaughter, larceny and kidnapping in [AnnMarie] Cusano's death. On Friday, Superior Court ...]

We're not sure how long V.V. was with his first wife, AnneMarie Peters Cusano, but they did have twins right about the time he joined Kiss in 1982. AnneMarie went missing on January 2nd, 1998. Although it's never explicitly stated anywhere that I could find, we assume the twins stayed with her in Shelton, Connecticut, while Vinnie resided in Tennessee.

There are multiple versions of this story, but court records and mainstream news reports generally say this: The twins, who were 15 at the time, were staying with friends, while AnneMarie, who kept her ex husband's last name, went out to meet a client at 550 Prospect Ave in Hartford. Although she seemed to have a pretty good day job at Executone, she was some sort of call girl by night, a job which she apparenltly began just a few month prior to make some extra cash. We are told her kids knew about it, but few others did.

NOTE: This was 1998, not everyone had cellphones yet. In fact, one news article states that AnneMarie did not respond to her BEEPER when her kids called it. Nobody has beepers anymore because cellphones rendered them obselete. So it is important to remember that anytime calls are made in this story, we're most likely talking about LAND LINES, not cell phones. Beepers/pagers cannot make calls, they can only recieve "beeps" or "pages."

Annemarie went to go meet a client around 11pm. She left all her lights on, left the radio on, left behind a half empty glass of wine, her purse, and generally indicated she'd only gone out to run a quick errand. At least, that was the impression her brother-in-law [Richard Chaco] had when he went to check on the apartment the following morning. How he knew she only had $15 cash in her wallet when she left is never explained, but he is quoted as stating as much in news reports. Some reports even stated that the wallet was left behind along with her purse.

AnneMarie arrived at the client's 550 Prospect Ave unit, which was inside a boarding house, at about 1AM. It's never explained why it took her 2 hours to arrive despite Hartford only being about 55 minutes from her home, but her client, Gregory McArthur was covered in blood when she arrived. This is because he went and tried to steal some drugs just before she got there, and the dealer slashed him with a knife. Instead of going to the ambulance, he stopped off at an aquaintance's house who helped clean him up a bit. But clearly, he was quite a mess and AnneMarie promptly called her "pimp" Richard Gladstone to inform him she was cancelling her appointment and on her way out.

At this point, McArthur, who had only recenlty gotten out of prison, attempted to prevent her from leaving. A struggle ensued, and he got her in a headlock, which he did not release until she stopped breathing. He then put her body in her car, a 1991 Mazda 626, and drove out to 666 Boston Neck Road in Suffield where he disposed of her body. He then went and "rented" the car out to a couple drug dealers in exchange for $50 worth of cocaine [or more likely, crack]. The dealers then drove him out to a "crack house" and were to pick him up in the morning. When they went to pick him up, he was gone. The drug dealers abandoned the car a few days later after catching wind that it belonged to a missing person.

Gregory McArthur was on the run for a couple years until he was arrested in Boston on September 1st, 2000 for a seperate crime. At this point he was questioned regarding the disappearance of AnneMarie Cusano and he confessed to killing her, though he gave at least 4 different accounts of what happened. He did lead investigators to her remains which had gone undiscovered since her initial disappearance back in 1998. The trial revealed that McArthur "stole" an American Express card from AnneMarie Cusano belonging to Vinnie Vincent. Macarthur was sentenced to 60 years in 2002.

The owner of the escort enterprise employing AnneMarie was a man named Richard Gladstone, who we are told was behind one of the biggest trafficking rings in the area for years. AnneMarie was not the first one of his "employees" to disappear and then later turn up dead. He was eventually arrested but fleed before he could be brought in to face jailtime. He was caught a few months later staying under an assumed name in a cheap hotel in Tennessee - the same state Vinnie Vincent was residing at the time.

Now obviously, there are many questions here, but the one I want to focus on is whether Vinnie Vincent had a motive to take his ex wife out. It's a terrible thought, and it may be the furthest thing from the truth. But when it comes to motive, he likely had a pretty strong one: to get out of alimony payments.

[V.V. arrived in a pantsuit, makeup, and wore a wig at some sort of private 2018 event, which can be found on youtube]

V.V. is notorious for claiming everyone is trying to rip him off while constantly tryng to rip everyone off around him! Clearest example would be his compulsive attempts to sue Kiss for "unpaid whatevers" only to fall flat on his ass and create more debt for himself in the process while playing victim. There's also the infamouse box set he never delivered to fans who pre-paid, which he allegedly apologized for while also offering these fans an opportunity to spend hundreds more on signed picks and other novelties.

Then there's the visibly verifiable sex transition V.V. seems to have been quietly undergoing while never verbally addressing or acknowledging it - accept to say that he seemed amused by the mystery it inspired from the fan's perspective. As these types of transitions can be very expensive, this could likely have further contributed to his financial desperation. The thought also occurred to me...was this perhaps part of V.V.'s failed attempt to sort of "disappear" and become unrecognizable - so that he could hide away from fans or whoever else he ripped off?

The fact AnneMarie's murderer [who was convicted by confession and circumstantial evidence only] was in possession of Vinnie Vincent's American express card is an alarming fact that I don't think enough questions are being asked about. For starters, this fact came out during the trial a couple years after AnneMarie's disappearance. Did McArthur still have the card up to the time he was arrested? Was the card still being used? I'm sure these questions have answers, but I've never read a peep about it. Another question is, what was AnneMarie doing with one of V.V.'s American Express cards, presuming she had it at all in the first place? Vinnie Vincent's participation in the investigation of his ex-wife's disappearance is conspicuously absent from all news reports and even court transcripts that are publicly available. That doesn't mean he's guilty of anything, but it just leaves a whole lot of unanswered questions, inviting curiousity and speculation. And rightly so!

The final fact of note is Gladstone's eventual capture in Tennessee, a couple hours drive from where V.V. lived. Could be entirely coincidental, but I wonder if an investigation was ever conducted to see if Gladstone and Vincent had any connections? I imagine this would have come out if so, but who knows?

DEAD DOGS TELL NO TALES

[A May, 2011 TMZ headline read: "Ex-KISS Guitarist — Blood, Cuts, and 4 Dead Dogs."]

From Nashvillescene.com:

...Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, the department sent a tactical team to Cusano's Smyrna residence to arrest him, after his wife Diane showed up at the sheriff's office "covered in blood and possibly intoxicated."...The 44-year-old Mrs. Cusano alleged to Sheriff Robert F. Arnold that her husband had smacked her in the face, grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the floor (four times) and dragged her through a pile of broken glass following an argument over his conversing with another woman...Cusano was arrested and charged with aggravated domestic assault. A subsequent search of the home — secluded at the dead end of a wooded, suburban Middle Tennessee road and confined by a high privacy fence — revealed the bodies of four dead dogs entombed in above-ground containers...Diane told Rutherford County Pet Adoption Welfare Services that one of the couple's "aggressive" dogs killed the entombed canines. PAWS' decision not to pursue an investigation, as well as memorials reportedly inscribed on the unfortunate tail-waggers' makeshift tombs serve to substantiate that claim, which Vincent later underscored in a posting on his YouTube page.

Vincent's other claims about the incident, however, aren't quite as credible. In a follow-up YouTube posting, Cusano said he was "happy to announce that all charges alleged against me were dropped and the case dismissed." He also claimed he'd been exonerated, saying he'd been "falsely charged."

That isn't true. According to a pretrial agreement filed June 13, a Rutherford County judge "retired" Mr. Cusano's case for a year under the condition that he complete eight hours of anger management counseling before a Dec. 5, 2011, scheduled court appearance. According to the agreement, Cusano can eventually petition the court to have the case dismissed.

About 3 years later in January 2014, Rolling Stone reported that V.V.'s wife Diane Cusano passed away due to conditions stemming from chronic alcoholism. She was 47-years-old. There is very little information about this online, but it certainly feeds speculation that something is very wrong with Vinnie Vincent. Sure, bad things happen to all of us, but 2 dead wives?

REAP J LAM

In part 2, I will consider all of the above through the lense of my "Reap J Lam" theory, which basically states that dark occult forces are behind the entertainment industry and that human sacrifices are either written into contracts or are otherwise required as part of "the deal."

Related:

Paul and the Eye of Horus

The Reap J Lam Theory

Sources: Wiki, caselaw.findlaw.com, kissasylum.com, casemine.com, Blabbermouth, Rolling Stone Magazine, TMZ, nashvillescene.com, youtube

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Syd Barrett: Follow the Acid [PT 3]

I'm sure you've heard of Frankenstein and Dracula, the 2 most iconic fictional monsters in cinematic history. But, did you know that the inspiration for both of these characters was drawn from a very specific location on a very specific month?

[The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, notable because Lord Byron rented it and stayed there with Dr. John Polidori in the summer of 1816.]

Lord Byron, one of the great British poets, rented Villa Diodati from 10 June to 1 November in 1816 with his physician John Polidori [author of "The Vampyre"]. One particularly unrelenting rain storm in June kept the 2 of them indoors for 3 days, along with guests Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin [later to be known as Mary Shelley, author of "Frankenstein"], and Mary's stepsister Claire Claremont. At some point the 5 took turns reading scary stories to each other to pass the time, even devising their own - resulting in the creation of Frankenstein and the Vampyre that would inspire Dracula. This was dramatised in the abstract 1986 Ken Russell horror movie, Gothic.

In 1945, famed French artist Balthus moved into the property for a short period with his children, one of which was Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, aka Prince Stash. The same Prince Stash who claims to have partaken in Syd Barrett's "fatal trip" described in part 2. Prince Stash also claims to be a distant relative of Lord Byron, which feeds very well into the idea that this final "fatal Trip" of Syd's was along the lines of Ken Russell's "Gothic." A surreal drug induced recreational adventure among high society artists.

"we all went to spend the new years transition 67 to 68 at the house in the black mountains of Wales belonging to the management of Pink Floyd...and it was so bizarre because he [Syd] never ever came down from that and then the consequences of everything that happened, happened from that moment on"

Exactly what Syd's mental breakdown was and exactly what caused it seems to be the big enduring mystery surrounding his memory. And yet Prince Stash seems to have rather blatantly laid out a claim solving this mystery as far back as 2011 [Ugly Things Magazine]. But has anyone ever questioned this story or asked themselves why Prince Stash would wait so many years before starting to tell it? Did he wait until Syd died out of respect? Did it simply take the media that long to pull it out of a man who obviously has many interesting stories to share? Is there a larger info-operation surrounding the demise of Syd, related to Pink Floyd directly? Let's not worry about the "why" just yet...

TIMELINE

While it's hard to say whether Syd's "breakdown" happened on a specific day in history, it is generally agreed that the big change occurred around May-July of 1967. We have David Gilmour's recollection of Syd during the recording of "See Emily Play" on May 21st where he said Syd "just looked straight through me, barely acknowledged me that I was there...He’d definitely turned a corner into madness...maybe his friends who’d been with him every day didn’t notice, but I saw a tremendous change."

Richard Wright, who we are told was the band member closest to Syd, pinpoints the big change to the time of Floyd's Top of the Pops appearances [July 1967]. "My memory is that we were recording a radio-one show at the BBC, and Syd didn’t turn up...when they found Syd, which I think was a Sunday or Monday, they told us that “well, something has happened to Syd”, and something HAD happened to him- TOTAL difference. Total difference...Huge change, like he’d gone. He was still looking the same, but he was somewhere else."

Let's revisit Prince Stash's quote above, where he stated: "and it was so bizarre because he [Syd] never ever came down from that and then the consequences of everything that happened, happened from that moment on."

There really is no ambiguity in Prince Stash's statement. He's pointing out the MOMENT that Syd was lost, and he tells this story pretty much the same every time that I have found it [which is 3 times]. That doesn't mean he is telling the truth, but he does seem to have the story STRAIGHT in his head over the years. The only problem is, Stash's story does not match the others timeline-wise.

2020:

"I didn’t know him very well, I got to know him very well because we spent that transition...67 to 68 was spent...we were at a house owned by the management of Pink Floyd in the Black Mountains of Wales."

2024:

"We all went to spend the New Years transition 67 to 68 at the house in the Black Mountains of Wales belonging to the management of Pink Floyd"

I'm not sure why Prince Stash prefers this word "transition" when speaking about the New Year, but I suppose it's just a leftover of groovy hippy lingo. The thought occurred to me though, that he might be speaking in more literal terms about Syd. Was this to be his "spiritual transition?" Whatever the case, we are clearly talking about New Years Eve 1967 to New Year's Day 1968. That's a good 5 months after the Floyd's Top of the Pops appearances. Gilmour, Wright, and others are adamant that Syd seemed to change DRASTICALLY well before his permanent vacation to the Black Mountains.

Before stumbling across Prince Stash's story, I had never heard of The Black Mountains or The Black Hill. This is a real place on the Welsh/British border, and probably would have been an ideal location to trip balls - which it sounds like they did. The Black Hill is also known as "cat's back" because it resembles the side profile of a scared/hissing cat with its back arched. I would imagine this cat is also black, since we are talking about the Black Hill. Black cats are associated with bad luck, the occult, and superstition in general. The Black Mountains are also thought to have been a prolific ancient Pagan/Druid ceremonial location. That might make some "acid heads" a little nervous [or excited?], but if a friend has a private cottage there the choice would be easier. And according to Stash, Pink Floyd's management did.

"Blackhill Enterprises was the main agency of the Third Ear Band. Founded in October 1966 by Peter Jenner and Andrew King, taking the name from King's holiday cottage in Wales ("Blackhill Farmhouse")" - https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com

The Pink Floyd were originally managed by 2 men who formed a company called Blackhill Enterprises. Blackhill was initially Peter Jenner, Andrew King, and the 4 members of Pink Floyd, with Syd. That Andrew King had a holiday cottage on the actual Black Hill is not too hard to believe. We've got it from 3rd Ear Band [who were managed by Blackhill] and Stash. King has also mentioned at least one other property his father owned. There's also the connection of the name with Pink Floyd's management company. I suppose the nickname of Blackhill Enterprises could have been Black Cat Enterprizes?

[Nestling under the steep sides of Black Mountains in the Vale of Ewyas is The Vision Farm, the likely inspiration for Bruce Chatwin's book, 'On The Black Hill'.]

In my research, I found there was a book named after the Black Hill called "On the Black Hill" by Bruce Chatwin. The story speaks about a farm called "The Vision." Despite conflicting reports, this is/was an actual farm that the author apparently stayed at, inspiring his novel. Although the book is fictional and does not seem to dwell much on "the occult" or "tripping on acid," I was curious whether this Vision farm was where the Blackhill Cottage was located.

"it was like a nursery. It had padded walls, lined with acetate satin. Bright colors gold and red…And there was bunch of toys…in this VISION room we found ourselves in."

The above is a snippet from Prince Stash's tale of his trip with Syd, where he speaks of a shared hallucination they found themselves in. I thought his use of the phrase VISION ROOM was interesting, considering the VISION farm spoken about in the aformentioned book. This VISION ROOM is where Stash seems to think Syd basically left his body behind, in whole or in part.

"part of Syd’s being remained in that weird room...then he was looking at me and he picked up this acoustic guitar. Somehow he played completely out of tune, very badly. And he sang out of tune, “she loves you yeah yeah yeah!” You know like that."

This is a very bold assertion that nobody seems to think is all that signifficant! I mean, he even describes Syd's sudden inability to sing or play a pleasing tune - which would account for his struggles in recording songs for the solo albums - which are mostly regarded as unfinished because Syd seemed to have lost the ability to record a proper song all the way through at that point [or did he?].

[Is this where Syd took his "fatal dose"?]

"Syd Barrett's first trip" is widely regarded to have been filmed in 1966, by then film student/friend Nigel Lesmoire-Gordon in the Gog-Magog Hills. The title itself would seem to indicate that even if this WASN'T Syd's "first trip," it was likely closer to his first than his LAST. He also looks very young and decidedly non-rockstar, which makes sense because this would have been before Pink Floyd signed their first recording contract. Incidentally, this video is usually tacked on with similarly crappy footage of Pink Floyd walking around EMI Records [Abbey Road Studios] grinning about, apparently having signed their first record deal, which was in 1967. Why has "Syd Barrett's First Trip" been connected to footage of the Floyd's signing with EMI?

NLG: Syd Barrett's first trip yes, that is my world famous video...
Q: When was that made?
NLG: sssssssixty eight.
Q: How did you get involved with this project in the first place?
NLG: Well because I'd made this...film with Syd Barrett in '68 Syd Barrett's first trip...

The above question and answer with Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon was taken from a youtube video which is apparently a promotional interview for the film "Remember a Day,"[2000] which is obviously inspired by Syd and his time with Pink Floyd. The interview seems to be scripted to a degree, which is revealed by it's poor editing. This makes me wonder why NLG states that "Syd Barrett's First Trip" was filmed in '68, which we know it wasn't! NLG says this not once, but TWICE in the short exchange.

[Still image from "Syd Barrett's First Trip"]

[Image of Syd taken from sydbarrett.com, labeled 1968]

Syd played his last show with Pink Floyd in January of 1968, presumably due to his very rapid decline. Needless to say, this would not have been the ideal year to film "Syd Barrett's First Trip," nor would it have made much sense! His hair was also longer and more shaggy in 1968, than it is in the image still above, taken from the NLG film. You can also see that he appears to be slightly younger.

"I met Syd Barrett and at the end of 67 we were invited with Nigel and Jenny Lismore Gordon, this girlfriend of mine gay Karen - we all went to spend the new years transition 67 to 68 at the house in the black mountains of Wales belonging to the management of Pink Floyd"

Recall again the quote by Prince Stash where he states Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon AND his wife were with him and Syd when they went to the Black Mountains on NYE 1967. Now it's possible Stash made this story up, but if he did not that means NLG was there when Syd supposedly fried his brain beyond repair. Now why would he then go ahead and film "Syd Barrett's FIRST Trip" at that point? Sounds like he already witnessed Syd's LAST trip right at the top of '68! What REALLY happened that day, if anything?

David Gilmour has claimed that around this time, Barrett began cross-dressing and pondering whether he was homosexual. He also began reading works by occultist Aleister Crowley. A bit of research into Prince Stash will reveal he is deeply into the occult, so that is worth noting.

At the very least, I think 1968 should stand out firmly in NLG's mind, as it did in most who knew Syd, that it was his post LSD burn out year, NOT the year he was frolicking around the hills of Gog Magog playing around gayly with leaves and mushrooms!

SCREAM THY LAST SCREAM

Given there are few interviews with Syd Barrett where he cohesively gets into his own "breakdown" in any sort of detail, we are left with the lyrics of his last few Pink Floyd songs to ponder over.

With pressure from EMI to put out a new single follow-up to "See Emily Play," Syd came up with "Scream thy Last Scream," which literally sounds like a person losing their mind. It's not hard to see why EMI rejected it, and the follow-up Syd penned tune "Vegetable Man," which also kind of sounds like a guy losing his mind! Don't get me wrong, I love both songs, but the older I get - the more disturbing they sound to me, because you come to hear that this is indeed the sound of a person losing their mind and who needs HELP, which he is not getting. If anything, it seems like something or someone is PUSHING Syd to lose his mind!

Though EMI rejected Syd's newer, demented sounding tunes, it's interesting to ponder just what they were expecting from the Floyd when signing them in early 1967. The first single "Arnold Layne" was not yet released, and so the Floyd was mostly famous at the time for being the best underground band to take drugs to while hanging out at the hip UFO club during an all-night rave. They were known for long jam sessions, and so one wonders who at EMI decided this was a band that was going to produce years and years of digestable pop hits? This paradox seems to get passed off as "well, it was the 60s! Nobody really knew what they were doing!"

Let's not forget that Pink Floyd's first album was recorded just down the hall from the Beatles, while they were recording their most psychedelic work to date, "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." EMI WANTED this kind of music put out, but perhaps Syd just took that aspect further than EMI expected, and so became a liability rather than "the psychedelic golden goose" they tried to mold him into.

It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here
And I’m most obliged to you for making it clear, that I’m not here
And I never knew the moon could be so big
And I never knew the moon could be so blue
And I’m grateful that you threw away my old shoes
And brought me here instead dressed in red
And I’m wondering who could be writing this song

I don’t care if the sun don’t shine
And I don’t care if nothing is mine
And I don’t care if I’m nervous with you
I’ll do my loving in the winter

And the sea isn’t green
And I love the Queen
And what exactly is a dream?
And what exactly is a joke?

The general consensus regarding the above "Jugband Blues" lyrics is that this is as close as Syd gets to telling you exactly what is going on in his world at this crucial time in Floyd history. I tend to agree, and so my big "Syd Theory" is not so different than most. Mine just takes things a few steps further, and it was while watching the promotional video for this song where it really hit me.

The promotional video for the song "Jugband Blues" is one of the great gems of the psychedelic era, if decidedly sad. It was filmed in December of 1967, which was just weeks or perhaps even days before Syd's "fatal trip" with Prince Stash [assuming the story is real, of course]. Everything from the colors, to the lights, the movements, even the expressions on everyone's face...Maybe it's just me, but everyone in the video seems to know what is going on, which is basically some type of energy transition ritual.

We are told the video was actually lost for years, then resurfaced in 1999. It was curiously recorded at The Central Office of Information (COI), a UK government's marketing and communications agency...established in 1946 as the successor to the wartime Ministry of Information, when individual government departments resumed responsibility for information policy. I don't know what this means exactly, that the Jugband Blues promo video was recorded at some sort of Government Intelligence agency, but it certainly doesn't hurt any number of conspiracy theories regarding deep state involvment with manufacturing drug and music culture!

I think it is worth mentioning here as well that there are multiple examples of what I would call possible efforts to control the narrative around Syd and his demise. The implication there being that the truth about Syd has never been fully disclosed, and that some effort has been made by players directly in the know, to mislead the public by exploiting "the legend of Syd." It's also been a brilliant way for Pink Floyd to sell more albums. For example:

1 Pink Floyd's exploitation of Syd's sad story by way of "homage" [Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Wish You Were Here, the character of Pink from the Wall]

2 The general history of the military and intelligence organizations distributing and dosing people both witting, and unwitting for both military and cultural engineering purposes.

3 Prince Stash, and his disturbing tale, seeming to provide the "missing puzzle piece" in the story of Syd's tragic demise. It should be noted that Stash is very interested in the occult and alchemy, which Syd also started getting into around the time of their trip to the Black Mountains - though we know he already had an interest in Eastern Religions.

4 The utter lack of interviews with Syd explaining himself [despite tons of early Floyd footage], the missing Top of the Pops footage [supposedly showing his worst public meltdown], the long missing Jugband Blues promo footage [which took some 30 years to "magically re-appear"], Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon's seemingly intentional mis-dating of the film "Syd Barrett's First Trip."

I'm not going to try really hard to interpret the lyrics to "Jugband Blues," but I think in combination with the video, we can observe some logical generalities...

There is a feeling of not being in control of one's life, situation, or even body. ["And I’m wondering who could be writing this song"] Dissociation. Psychosis. You can see these elements in Syd's facial expressions and movements. These mannerisms might appear common in the eccentric 1980s New Wave era, but here I don't think it's an act.

As far as the rest of the band, I detect a great deal of guilt and sadness in Richard Wright's facial expressions. Almost weeping at moments. Nick Mason plods away in a more tragic sort of dissociated state - like someone chopping a body up and trying to keep from losing their marbles by just plodding robotically along. Whereas Roger seems more determined. "Let's just get this done!"

Then the clunky sounding horns come in, like a sort of nightmare orchestra, providing the soundtrack to some type of terrible inevitability, followed by a fusion of vibrating lights and sound, accompanied with a trance-inducing chant: "la la la la la la la la..."

I don't know if it happened in one terrible moment, in several terrible moments, or if it even happened at all this way - but it seems to me that what is being depicted in the Jugband Blues video is Syd's soul, his ESSENCE, is being robbed of him, and absorbed into the band. This is why Syd's energy continues to haunt the group for so many years after he leaves. This is why all Floyd's future success always seems to have Syd's shadow lurking around it. And this is why Syd looked so bad and hollow for so many years leading up to his death. This would likely involve some sort of Black Magic, and I think a story like Prince Stash's is a subtle admission, which probably leaves a whole lot out.

This very endeavor, to understand Syd, to worship his tragedy, to get sucked into the mystery, it is all part of the same dark spell which sucked him up - and continues to drain the essence of whatever part of his being is left out there in the unverse.

God rest your soul, Roger Keith Barrett.

SOURCES:

Atagong.com
Wikipedia
Youtube
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordan Interview sydbarrett.com
Melody Maker Magazine
Mojo Magazine
New Musical Express/Nick Kent
Joe Boyd Interview
Nick Mason Interview [John Edginton Documentaries]
Rick Wright Interview [John Edginton Documentaries]
"The PINK FLOYD AND SYD BARRETT STORY”
BBC/Radio 1/Top of the Pops
David Gale interview
A Saucerful of Secrets [biography]
Albion Dreaming: A Popular History of LSD in Britain
Prince Stanislas Stash Klossowski De Rola interviews

This blog was researched, written, and continues to be maintained by 1 person. If you enjoyed it and would like to encourage more of them, donations can be made by clicking the button below.

PART 1

PART 2

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Syd Barrett: Follow the Acid [PT 2]

"[Syd] just looked straight through me, barely acknowledged me that I was there...He’d definitely turned a corner into madness...maybe his friends who’d been with him every day didn’t notice, but I saw a tremendous change.” - David Gilmore, recollecting a May 1967 encounter

One of the great difficulties in understanding exactly what caused Syd Barrett's tragic demise is that we don't really have a clear explanation from HIM, in his own words. The paradox in that observation seems to be contained within the assumed "fact" that his diminished mental state would have directly compromised his ability to articulate such things. I would imagine that this widely acknowledged breakdown of his would have resulted in at least a few revealing ramblings which we could today point back towards. Then again, it's probably naive to expect someone's "mental breakdown" to retroactively provide answers we are looking for today.

What we do have is a 1971 interview exerpt from Melody Maker, in which Syd seems to address the issue of his exit from the band in about as much detail as I have found so far:

"...I suppose it was really just a matter of being a little offhand about things. We didn't feel there was one thing which was gonna make the decision at the minute. I mean, we did split up, and there was a lot of trouble. I don't think the Pink Floyd had any trouble, but I had an awful scene, probably self-inflicted, having a mini and going all over England and things. Still...I only know the thing of playing, of being a musician, was very exciting. Obviously, one was better off with a silver guitar with mirrors and things all over it than people who ended up on the floor or anywhere else in London."

As short and vague as the above quote is, it does echo much of the accepted narrative regarding his exit from the group. For example:

The word "offhand" echos Nick Mason's testimony, which states the band would deal with a problem by generally pretending it didn't exist. Until finally, they dealt with the "Syd problem" by not picking him up for practice one day.

Syd seems to put the blame squarly upon his own shoulders through the "self-inflicted" wording. Tying into that is his reference to going around England in a mini [a "mini" is a type of car]. This echoes rumors that he drove around following Pink Floyd to their shows just after being fired, so it sounds like he may be confirming that.

Finally, he sees himself as "only know[ing] the thing of playing, of being a musician," which lines up with the narrative that his "mental breakdown" was at least partially the result of pressure from EMI to put out "hits" and basically have the Floyd behave more like a "commercial" band. Syd's inner artist was, by many accounts, at odds with the rapidly growing commercial interest in the group - although he obviously loved the idea of being a "rock star" initially.

ACID PUSHERS IN BRITAIN

"According to Floyd friend and graphic designer Pearce Marchbank, Britain’s “whole 60s culture” could be traced back to the art schools - “the laboratories that were making rock musicians and designers and painters.” Notting Hill became to London more or less what the Haight was to San Francisco, or the East Village to New York" - Albion Dreaming

It's interesting to note that all members of the Pink Floyd were actually studying to be architects in the 60s. That is, except Syd, who was in art school and was the primary creative force in the group. Following the line of thinking contained within Marchbank's quote above, I'm wondering, was Syd "made in a laboratory" [art school] and put into a musical vehicle, as a sort of continuation of LSD experiements, much like those carried out by British intelligence in other contexts the previous decade? It's a fair question given all of the influencial individuals with all sorts of connections who ran knee deep into London's "Swinging 60s" counterculture movement. Many of whom mingled directly with Syd and company at the infamous 101 Cromwell Road location.

[R.D.Laing, prominent advocate for LSD in pychiatric treatment during London's "Swinging 60s," once recommended to Syd by Roger Waters]

[Michael Hollingshead was a British researcher who studied psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin and LSD, at Harvard University in the mid-20th century.]

According to the book "Albion Dreaming," [A.D.] Ronnie Laing was paid a visit around 1962 by "one of the self-appointed generalissimo-guru-high-priests of the acid revolution". This visitor allegedly revealed a plan to be enacted in America where "a number of people had arranged to distribute 300,000 × 304 μg units of acid (one serious trip) in the form of pills to the 17–20 year olds especially in chosen sections of the Berkley-Bay area" and was sort of pitching the idea to Laing. Meaning: "let's do this in London too!" This visitor is thought to have been Michael Hollingshead. But whoever it was, and given that Laing was working with Tavistock at the time, it seems there was an Intelligence Operation underway to begin dosing the British Public. And while Laing claims he completely declined the proposition, it obviously occured anyway - in the very tangeable form of London's Swinging 60s psychedelic movement.

[Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, friend and associate of Pink Floyd in the 1960s and beyond. He introduced LSD to Cambridge, according to A.D.]

In early 1965 Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon [NLG] entered the London School of Film Technique, and moved into the infamous 101 Cromwell Road flat in West London. This location became one of the early hubs of LSD distribution and consumption by the hip young individuals of the Swinging 60s scene, including Syd Barrett - who frequented there in 1965, moving into the top floor at some point. Some even state the Pink Floyd rehearsed there at times and that other members of the band may also have lived there - which is odd since none of the other members seemed to share Syd's interest in LSD.

The LSD supply which fueled NLG's 101 Cromwell operation seemed to ultimately come from Michael Hollingshead, through a chain of individuals, writer Alexander Trocchi being one of the major distributors in London at the time. The operation to dose the public was officially on, and London's psychedelic underground scene seemed to coincide with it - as did the appearance, and rapid ascent of the Pink Floyd.

[Alexander Trocchi (1925-1984), one of the first major distributors of LSD in Britain]

["Syd Barrett's First Trip," a silent short film by NLG]

The general entheuthiasm at the time to "take LSD" seemed to manifest itself pretty clearly in NLG's highly amateur film, unambiguisly titled "Syd Barrett's First Trip." Also in this video are Storm Thorgerson [designer of Floyd's album covers] and David Gale [playwright, also lived at 101 Cromwell Road for a time]. The 2nd half of the video seems to have been edited in later, and shows Pink Floyd at the EMI Records building just after having signed a deal in 1967.

”LSD came to Cambridge, and it was absolutely imperative that you take it; you had to whether you wanted or not.” David Gale, playwright and friend of Syd

"There is no way that I could play music and take any kind of drug at the same time." - Richard Wright

To say that taking acid was the "hip" thing to do in this new subculture seems like an understatement. Yet Syd seemed to be the only member of the early Pink Floyd partaking somewhat regularly of it, becoming a form of celebrity or symbol of the counterculture movement occuring around it. By extention, that made Pink Floyd an important vehicle in this short but historically significant era, and Syd appeared to be its Captain. At least, that's how it seemed in the beginning.

[Some of the Pink Floyd's earliest recordings are featured in "Tonight Let's all Make Love in London"]

Their earliest recordings seemed to coincide with the sudden influx of LSD and documentary films which were created specifically to capture [or help manufacture] the Swinging 60s: the films "San Francisco," "London '66-'67," and "Tonight Let's all make Love in London."

[Joe Boyd is an American Record Producer who did Pink Floyd's first single]

An American Record producer by the name of Joe Boyd came to London in 1964 to establish Elektra Record's UK wing [The Doors were on Elektra.] He also helped establish the famous UFO club, where Pink Floyd found their audience and made a name for themsleves. Boyd then pitched the group to Elektra, and their first big deal was in the works. Although Boyd produced "Arnold Lane," the band ended up getting snatched up by the UK based EMI records, who ultimately released it. Right about here is where the trouble with Syd begins to start.

MAY DAY

The "Games for May" Festival was Pink Floyd's first major concert. It is also regarded by some to be Syd's last performance before noticeably changing.

"[Syd] just looked straight through me, barely acknowledged me that I was there...He’d definitely turned a corner into madness...maybe his friends who’d been with him every day didn’t notice, but I saw a tremendous change.” - David Gilmore, after visiting Syd in May 1967

"No one can pinpoint exactly when Syd’s personality changed, but people tend to agree it was around April 1967, when Barrett, then with girlfriend Lindsay Corner, moved to 101 Cromwell Road, a large, dilapidated townhouse in Earl’s Court divided into flats" - Mojo

"My memory is that we were recording a radio-one show at the BBC, and Syd didn’t turn up. I think it was a Friday and no-one could find him. So we waited and waited and I think we had to cancel the recording…and then the managers went off trying to find him. And when they found Syd, which I think was a Sunday or Monday, they told us that “well, something has happened to Syd”, and something HAD happened to him- TOTAL difference. Total difference. And the summary is, and I don’t know, that he was living with a whole sort of community of people [101 Cromwell RD] who were very much believing like Timothy Leary, that acid can…get to the truth and all that stuff. And I think he may have been with this group of people and…he took too much. There were other people said, people were spiking his cups of tea…with acid. I do believe that he took a huge overdose. In my memory that- up into that point, he was outgoing, charming, wonderful, friendly, you name it…wonderful man and…for me it was a huge change, seeing him after that. The “lost weekend” where Syd was lost. Huge change, like he’d gone. He was still looking the same, but he was somewhere else…" - Richard Wright

"We couldn't find him...I mean, telling the BBC erm, sorry, we can't find the lead singer? It was unheard of! You can chart his decline through those 3 weeks. The first one he looks loveley, the last one he looks rough." - Joe Boyd, Mojo

Most of you have no doubt heard all or part of the quotes above - which pinpoint Syd's decline to within a pretty narrow window of 1967. While an overdose on LSD is presumed by many to be a key factor, that is disputed even by some close to and within the group. Where everyone is in agreement is that SOMETHING happened around this time, resulting in a major change in Syd's behavior.

[The 1970s film "the Wicker Man" has gained a cult status among fans of horror, depicting a Pagan community who tricks a visitor into playing their sacrificial lamb, in order to bring forth a successful harvest]

Pink Floyd's first major concert occured on May 12th 1967, where they debuted their as-yet unrecorded 2nd single "See Emily Play." Confusingly, the song is also known as "Games for May," which shares the name of the Festival they debuted the song at - highlighting the presumed importance of the title [or rather the season of May?]. This Festival was signifficant for many reasons - besides being Syd's last "sane" concert and Floyd's new single debut, it featured Britain's first Quadrephonic Concert Sound system, designed by EMI.

I think the significance of May is something worth pondering, from a Pagan Spiritualistic point of view. Was there something larger and more spiritual going on with Syd's situation? Was Syd perhaps being LEAD to some inevitable fate, like the character in the Wicker Man, who ends up playing the starring role in the ironic drama of his own demise?

"And I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here..."

[Syd with Pink Floyd on BBC1]

2 days after the Games of May Festival, Pink Floyd appeared on the BBC's "Look of the Week." They perform a song or 2 and are then interviewed briefly. Syd seems perfectly normal and serene.

By July 6th 1967 reports of Syd's off behavior were now well documented, and so the above image still taken from their Top of the Pops appearance that day would seem to be the first video footage of Syd on the decline. To be fair, Syd's displeasure with doing the Top of the Pops is well documented, and so any "off" behavior detected within the above video could easily be attributed to that. However, only the first of these 3 TOTP recordings has seen the light of day, and the July 27th recording is the one we are told Syd did not show up at all to. This seems to be when the problem of Syd's behavior was officially acknowledged by their management. It should also be mentioned that one of these Top of the Pops recordings, I'm guessing the 2nd one on July 13th, was the infamous show where Syd was fed up with his hair and put a ton of hair cream in it, which ended up streaming down his face as he vacantly stared out through the hot lights on stage [The footage showing this is long gone, or othewrwise unavailable as far as I know]. In some versions of this story, Syd is said to have crumbled Mandrax pills into his hair as well - but one begins to wonder where the line between fact and fiction is drawn with these stories, given the passage of time and people's tendency to exagerrate [or forget in some cases].

THE FATAL TRIP

"When he fell off the map, it was as if he committed suicide. Suicides leave waves of guilt behind them…As you can still see I feel guilty about it all to this day. And I’m sure others do too." - Andrew King

"Perhaps he regarded his earlier self as an odd memory, Perhaps he knew it was him and perhaps he knew that if he thought about it too much it made him feel uneasy, which kind of proved it was him…you imagine this rather kind of intimidating figure with a stare. Kind of inhabited by the ghost of his former self, keeping it at bay all the time. Or else you imagine something far sadder and less exciting which is the bloke damaged his brain." - David Gale

There are roughly 2 narratives regarding Syd's mental breakdown/exit from the Floyd:

1 - Syd got too caught up with the LSD crowd at 101 Cromwell Road, and most likely took far too much LSD, either self administered, unwittingly, or both. This either caused perminent mental damage, caused a latent mental condition to manifest itself rapidly, or a combination of the two. An additional addiction to Mandrax, and possibly other drugs, fueled his descent further, even as his former bandmates seemed to try and help him record solo material.

2 - Syd was an artist through and through, and though the idea of being a rockstar/performer appealed to him initially, being locked into a contract with EMI and carrying out the routine of writing hits and touring rock venues nonstop just went against his artistic nature. His rebellion manifested itself in various ways, the most perplexing example being his attempt to show the band a song by the title of "Have You Got it Yet?" This was a song he changed everytime he showed it to the band, and eventually Roger Waters put his bass down and said "yeah. ok I've got it now."

I have a 3rd theory, but will save it for part 3, because it builds off of the last section below.

We are told that the picture on the left above was taken when Syd showed up unannounced to EMI/Abby Road Studios during the recording or mixing of the song "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," which is a song about him. This sad image of Syd partially inspired the character "Pink", in the film "The Wall." What do you suppose is going on in Syd's head in that picture? He looks profoundly lost, as if his soul has been sucked from his body. In fact, we are told it took some time for anyone to recognize him initially. They thought he was some stranger who wandered in, and they were discussing what to do about it just before realizing who he was! Who he...WAS.

[Prince Stanislas Stash Klossowski De Rola – AKA Prince Stash, allegedly accompanied Syd and a few others on his "FATAL" 1967 TRIP]

[Prince Stash, more recently]

I was going to wrap this blog series up here and give my final theory on Syd's demise, until I came across this extraordinary bit of footage of a man I had never heard of before, Prince Stanislas Stash Klossowski De Rola, aka Prince Stash. You can look him up for yourself, and you will find his life history is about as extravagant as his name suggests. I'm going to end part 2 with a story he seemed to begin telling around the year 2011. He has told it at least 2 more times since then, most recently last year [2024].

"I met Syd Barrett at the end of [19]67, we were invited with Nigel and Jenny Lesmoire Gordon, [and] this girlfriend of mine - we all went to spend the new years transition '67 to '68 at the house in the Black Mountains of Wales belonging to the management of Pink Floyd...we decided to take this fatal acid trip. Syd had a girlfriend that happened to be a strange vibe in this group of people."

"At some point Syd and I were jousting…on this trip like medieval knights [laughs] and at one point I remember that I lost my focus within the trip which was very much a magical dimension. We found ourselves in a room…it was like a nursery. It had padded walls, lined with acetate satin. Bright colors gold and red…And there was [a] bunch of toys…in this VISION room we found ourselves in. And I looked over across this nursery. There was this huge life-sized teddybear. And on top of the teddybear was Syd’s head…"

"And then we came out of it, but Syd, part of Syd’s being remained in that weird room. To the point where Syd was suddenly acting...he was looking at me and he picked up this acoustic guitar. Somehow he played completely out of tune, very badly. And he sang out of tune, “she loves you yeah yeah yeah!” You know like that. And was acting really weird and his girlfriend said “what’s the matter with you Syd you look like some wierd big Teddy bear!” And that struck [him] and it was so bizarre because he never ever came down from that and then the consequences of everything that happened, happened from that moment on..."

This blog was researched, written, and continues to be maintained by 1 person. If you enjoyed it and would like to encourage more of them, donations can be made by clicking the button below.

PART 1

Related blogs:

ACID, MUSIC, MINDCRIME

THE REAL SGT PEPPER

THE QUEEN'S REICH

Syd Barrett: Follow the Acid [PT 1]

Most people have heard of Pink Floyd, one of the most popular British rock bands of all time. But fewer are familiar with their early days, which were very much tied to the 1960s underground British psychedelic movement. In contrast to the somewhat faceless monolithic hit making machine we are more familiar with, the early Floyd had a very clear face, personality, frontman/sex symbol: Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett

Syd seemed to achieve mythical Rock Star status in Britain's underground before most people even knew the moon had a side which was always dark. His exit from the group in 1968 due to some kind of personal decline only fed the mystique more, and to this day nobody seems to know exactly what happened to him. The "Syd myth" was further propagated by the band itself over the years following his exit, within songs like "Wish You Were Here," "Shine on you Crazy Diamond," and many aspects of the Rock Opera "The Wall."

In cliche Rock history, our heroes must typically die before we elevate them to a certain legendary status. But in this case, our hero checked out "mentally," yet persisted physically all the way up to the year 2003 - managing to be "dead" to the world in a sense for all those years. It's actually a very sad story, a cautionary tale which is still being pondered, and who's moral probably has yet to be completely discerned.

LSD IN BRITAIN

Most reading this are probably somewhat aware of LSD's prominent role in the 1960s Psychedelic Hippy Movement and San Francisco's "Summer of Love." Some of you might even remember a statement by Acid Guru Timothy Leary:

["I give the CIA a total credit for sponsoring and initiating the entire consciousness movement counterculture events of the 1960s...The CIA funded and supported and encouraged hundreds of young psychiatrists to experiment with this drug..."]

But how many of you knew that LSD was also being used by Britain's military intelligence on both witting and unwitting participants in the 1960s AND EARLIER? A fascinating book called "Albion Dreaming: A Popular History of LSD in Britain" by Andy Roberts sheds light upon this previously murky history, leading up to the 1960s counterculture movement of Britain's underground - where Pink Floyd originally emerged. But before getting into the latter, I wanted to go back in history and attempt to trace Syd's "fatal dose" to its origin.

M.O.D. - The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. - wiki

MOD - Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in late 1950s London and spread throughout Great Britain, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries. - wiki

J.I.B. - A "Joint Intelligence Bureau" (JIB) or "Joint Intelligence Center" (JIC) is a centralized intelligence gathering and analysis unit within a country's military, often operating at the strategic level. - Google

The original motivation behind both the USA and Britain's intelligence services taking an interest in LSD seems to stem from fears regarding Russia's then apparent lead, in using it as some sort of "truth serum" or other military application. LSD needed to be better understood and incorporated into the arsenal so that Russia would not have an "upper hand" militarily speaking, I suppose.

According to Albion Dreaming [AD], the first person to bring LSD into Britain was a psychiatrist named Ronnie Sandison, who worked at Worchester’s Powick Hospital. In September of 1952 he accepted an offer to tour the Swiss Mental Hospital Sandoz, where he discussed with an Albert Hoffman, the results of tests they'd been conducting upon patients there, dosed with LSD. Apparently this was all very exciting breakthrough medicine to Sandison, and upon completion of his 2nd visit a couple months later, Hoffman sent him home with a gift: a box of ampoules, each containing 100 μg of LSD, under the trade name Delysid.

[Ronald Sanison [1916-2010) "Pychiatrist who pioneered the clinical use of LSD in Britain and remained convinced of it's benefits" - The Daily Telegraph]

[Albert Hoffman (1906-2008) "the Father of LSD" - New York Times.]

Around the same time, a colleague of Sandison's named Dr. Joel Elkes was also exploring LSD's potential outside of Powick. In 1951 Elkes founded Birmingham University’s Department of Experimental Psychology and had a special interest in the effects of drugs on consciousness. In 1956 Sandison approached Birmingham University to host/fund a special LSD unit, which they were suspiciously quick to support. Sandison seemed to believe that Dr Elkes was the main reason the LSD unit got such quick and vast funding, though he didn't know what his motives were in supporting it. Unbeknownst to Sandison at the time, Dr Elkes had connections to the M.O.D., who considered Dr Elkes an expert in the field. It seems likely that his motivation in pushing LSD research was probably linked to a covert operation within the M.O.D.

[Dr. Joel Elkes (1913-2015) "A pioneer of neuropsychopharmacology" - The Pharmaceudical Journal]

"A 1956 M.O.D. report titled “Abreactive Drugs”, prepared for the Defence Research Policy Committee, notes LSD first came to the attention of the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) “some 4 years ago. This formal discussion about LSD took place during Professor Henry Beecher’s visit to Britain in the spring of 1952. The Harvard Professor of Anaesthesiology had a controversial involvement with psychedelic drugs, having first been involved in secret CIA mescaline experiments in Germany after World War II. Beecher saw a role for these drugs and wanted to spread the word among the Allied intelligence agencies." -AD

PHASE I: LABORATORY TESTS

Britain's first military LSD tests were carried out at Porton Down, commissioned by the Secret Intelligence Services (SIS) also known as MI6. This facility on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire carried out research into chemical weapons since its founding in 1916. During these LSD trials of 1953-54, Sandoz was the only known manufacturer of the drug, over in Basel, Switzerland. Yes, the same Sandoz who's Dr Albert Hoffman gave Ronnie Sandison a free box of LSD right about that same time - and who continued to donate free LSD to Sandison until he left Powick in 1964.

"We stopped the trials ... when it was reported that in a few people it might produce suicidal tendencies." - Harry Collumbine, Porton Down Scientist

[A nerve agent trial at Porton Down - Historyworkshop.org.uk]

"The whole area of chemical research was an active field in the 1950s. I was co-operating with MI6 in a joint programme to investigate how far the hallucinatory drug LSD could be used in interrogations, and extensive trials took place at Porton. I even volunteered as a guinea pig on one occasion" - Peter Wright, ex-MI5 Operative

Both Collumbine and Dr Elkes were present during a November 23rd 1955 meeting in which Elkes mentions the responses of subjects to 50–100 μg of LSD who were "quite unaware they'd been given anything." A transcript of the meeting states: "Dr. Collumbine was of the opinion that subjects to whom the drug had been administered without their knowledge were affected to the extent that their reactions were beyond their control when subjected to interrogation by a skilled interrogator experienced in the application of this drug." This "minor detail" of subjects who were drugged without being informed beforehand seems to go unmentioned in the Department of Experimental Psychology archives.

A Professor Gaddum stated "a few doses did not cause problems with the testing of human subjects, but repeated doses might produce an IRREVERSABLE EFFECT." This seems to have lead to a brief pause in the LSD experiments, until it was decided to resume in 1961 after subjects had been properly screened ahead of time. The implication being that certain individuals of a certain psychological profile were more prone to adverse reaction to LSD than others. That's funny, don't remember any of my friends mentioning that when I was a young Acid-Head!

Sandison reported in his 1964 paper that: “We have found that about one half of our cases required extensive rehabilitation involving the establishment of a new set of conditioned social responses.” Does this sound like a drug that should be freely given out indiscriminently to the general public?

Many other doctors in Britain were treating their patients with LSD by the mid 50s - like Roffey Park in Surrey, the Marlborough Day Hospital and Guy’s Hospital in London, Netley Hospital in Southampton, Bromley Psychiatric clinic and others.

PHASE II: MILITARY FIELD CONDITIONS

The inital phase of British LSD reseach seemed to be mostly restricted to laboratory environments - where it was determined that the drug could cause people to lose control of their own reactions to stimuli. It was also found that certain individuals suffered IRREVERSABLE effects, and even induced suicidal tendencies in others. Although specific responses seemed to be a bit elusive so far, the drug was clearly an incapacitating agent. So the next step was to observe how it would affect troops out in the field.

[James Ketchum (1931-2019) a psychiatrist and U.S. Army Medical Corps officer who worked for almost a decade (1960–1969) on the U.S. military’s top secret psychochemical warfare program at the Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, which researched chemicals to be used to "incapacitate the minds" of adversaries.]

Between November and December of 1964, Operartion Moneybags took place at Porton Down. 41 Royal Marine Commandos were filmed in order to observe their responses on LSD during field conditions. A psychiatrist named Ketchum saw the footage, and commented: “No doubt about it – LSD could disrupt even the most elite troops…“ [It is worth noting that Ketchum worked at America's Edgewood Arsenal, a chemical warefare facility where Francis Vincent Zappa, father of Frank, also worked for a time.]

Despite the questionable ethics of these trials, Moneybags was considered a success. Operation Recount was then initiated in 1966, the year LSD was made illegal in Britain. And if you are a Beatles fan, this is also about the same time they began pushing drug use in their music. It's also the year "Paul is Dead" rumors began, incidentally.

During Operation Recount, men from the Royal Artillery's 37th Heavy Air Defense Regiment were not told what drug they would be given or what affects it might have upon them. This was done specifically to observe how they would respond to being caught off guard by the drug.

The US Army supplied Porton Down with 20 grams of LSD from December 1965 to June 1966. Since the M.O.D. claims only of handful of individuals were involved, and that these experiments ceased entirely by 1969, A.D. asks the question "what happened to the stockpile of LSD Porton must have held at the end of the Sixties?"

The detrimental effects of these tests upon human subjects seems to have been vastly downplayed, or completely unmentioned in government documents concerning Porton Down's activities during this time frame.

"In 1953 and 1954 the Secret Intelligence Service commissioned Porton Down to conduct tests on military service volunteers, and also on Porton scientists themselves, to examine their reactions to LSD." - Secretary of State for Defence, Jack Straw

The reason we know what we do about these covert tests, and that they even existed at all, is probably due to pressure upon the British Government and British Intelligence entities for more transparency. Operation Antler was initiated to investigate allegations of malfeasance at Porton Down. Though we know much more today than people did many years ago, the full extent of experiments sponsored by the intelligence services in the early Fifties remains cloaked in mystery.

[Ronald David Laing (1927-1989)"The Psychiatrist who wanted to make madness normal" - BBC

PHASE III: THE GENERAL PUBLIC

In 1956, Ronald Laing got a grant to train at the Tavistock Clinic in London, widely known as a centre for the study and practice of psychotherapy (particularly psychoanalysis). He remained at the Tavistock Clinic until 1964. He also spent a couple of years as a psychiatrist in the British Army Psychiatric Unit at Netley.

Laing's time at Tavistock is noteworthy here, as it was (and probably still is) a major think tank that was likely behind the Beatles and "The British Invasion". For more on this, see the book "Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering the Masses," or check out the work of Mike Williams aka "Sage of Quay" on Rumble.com.

In 1960 Laing was given his first dose of LSD by a Dr Richard Gelfer, who believed it mimicked psychosis. Laing was so impressed that he immediately began using it on (and with) his patients, becoming one of the many Doctors utilizing LSD in their therapy sessions (or whatever you want to call them). One patient remarked, "dropping acid with R.D. Laing was both exhilarating and liberating".

R.D. Laing seemed to have become one of the first Doctors in Britain to connect, in a very public way, with the LSD counterculture - even partaking of the Swinging London nightlife and various counter culture events. The hype seemed to peak when he treated the then very famous James Bond actor, Sean Connery.

Given all of the above, the question comes to mind, "was Syd Barrett simply another casualty in the next phase of inhumane LSD experiments upon people?" I've heard theories on his demise approached from just about every angle EXCEPT this one, so we will dive into that in part 2.

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PART 2

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