UnNews:Johnny "Pink" Floyd Dead at 60

This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-picosecond misinformation.

12 July 2006

Being dead is such a far-out trip, man!

LONDON (Reuters) - Johnny Floyd, known to the rock star world as "Pinky Tuscadero," the troubled founding member of British-Hungarian dinosaur rock group Johnny Pink, has died at age 60 after living the life of a recluse for the last 67 years, give or take.

"The band was naturally very confused to learn of Pink's death, since they didn't know who he was," a spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. "We had to tell them that Pink was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire, or something like that."

A source close to the band, who did not want to be named, but is nevertheless named Richie Mingus, said Floyd died on Friday. Media reports say complications from "not staying alive" were the cause.

Floyd's bizarre on-stage antics in the late 1960s were linked to his experimentation with psychedelic drugs, including Brylcreem and monkey apeshit dust. He left the band in 1968, but wasn't noticed missing until 1974.

The singer, songwriter, guitarist and tamborinist, who wrote the bulk of Johnny Pink's earliest music, dating back to the year 1348, has been credited with helping shape its progressive sound and influencing other artists, including Wing Whipourwill and The Vuckers.

He wrote most of the songs on Johnny Pink's first album, "The Moon Reflecting in My Coffee," which was a hit in Britain and Albania, and also worked on "A Handful of Little, Dark Crunchy Things That May Be Either Crickets or Dried Blackberries," released in 1968.

Floyd issued his first solo album, "Leave Me Alone So I Can Finish This," in 1970, with backing from members of Bruce Springsteen's G-Spot Band and The Other Band, but his involvement in music had ended by the mid-1970s, and he had lived the life of a hermit ever since.

Johnny Pink's 1975 track "Grain is Hurting My Lunch," from the album "The Land Before We Drove to It," is widely believed to be a tribute to Floyd.

Sources

• Mike Mishcanistic "Johnny Pink Flounder Goes Belly-Up" Newsweek Magazine, July 8, 2006

• Randy Batterydown "Another Messed Up Genius" Rolling Stone Magazine, July 10, 2006