Why Pink Floyd picked their name from a blues record sleeve

The band originally played under names like Tea Set and Sigma 6, but one night they showed up to a gig and found another band already called The Tea Set. They needed a new name fast. Syd Barrett grabbed a record by blues artists Pink Anderson and Floyd Council and stitched the two first names together.

That spontaneous choice stuck. It had no deep meaning — just a quick fix that sounded right to them. Later members kept it because by then it was already attached to a sound and a whole world.