Hip to be Square

Over the years, I have acquired a few too many Hipgnosis photo books, starting with Storm Thorgerson’s Walk Away Renée and ending with Aubrey Powell’s Hipgnosis Portraits (simply named Hipgnosis in the French edition, which has an extra boobylicious picture because French will be French). I may even have skipped a few, as they all have the same pictures and roughly the same text.

In 2022, Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell wrote an interesting (and funny) autobiography that was reviewed here as well: Through The Prism. (See: Cows, Pigs, Sheep...) This was followed by an ‘authorised story of Hipgnosis’, Us and Them, written by Mark Blake, that gave more saucy details about the Hipgnosis trio. (See: Un Orage Postmoderne) In between those two, a Hipgnosis documentary saw the light of day, Squaring The Circle, by Anton Corbijn. It was shown at a few movie festivals and streamed on several channels, but a physical release could not be found. Until now, although, at the time of writing, it can only be found on Amazon UK, where they have a ‘Collector’s Edition’ version. Probably it’s called that way because it has a DVD and a Blu-ray with the same content.

Squaring the Circle

The movie starts with Po Powell walking through an old cemetery, carrying a huge carton folder on his back. Apparently, it is the same portfolio Hipgnosis used in the sixties. It is a powerful scene, obviously augmented when Shine On You Crazy Diamond chimes in. I know it is a cinematographic trick to make our eyes water, but it is damn effective.

Po sits down, opens the folder, and shows us several iconic images: Peter Gabriel, 10CC, Pink Floyd (three different ones)...

The first talking head is, weirdly enough, the nincompoop known as Noel Gallagher, but it has to be said that his interventions are cool and to the point. He has aged gracefully.

Starting in Cambridge in 1964, Po tells us how he met Storm, who would soon become his blood brother. David Gilmour and Roger Waters comment that Storm was the leader of a bohemian pack of hipsters who listened to jazz, smoking joints.

Storm Thorgerson gets some words in as well, not fully grasping why some people think he has an ego the size of a small planet. These archival snippets have been shown before, in Roddy Bogawa’s Taken By Storm, but more of that if you keep on reading.

Storm teaches Po how to become a photographer, a trade that is, according to Po, close to alchemy.

The documentary jumps to the first Hipgnosis album sleeve, A Saucerful of Secrets. It tries to emulate a space rock kaleidoscopic drug experience of sorts. (Actually, the duo did some book covers before, but that isn’t mentioned.)

The name Hipgnosis came from Syd Barrett, says Po, although other witnesses deny that and give the honour to Dave Henderson or Adrian Haggard. It will be forever shrouded in mystery.

LSD changed a lot, and Po testifies how Syd reacted: "There was a fear that emanated from him." Storm and Po also witnessed the dark side of LSD, and they both needed therapy to get rid of the spectres haunting their brains.

The movie has been going on for about 20 minutes, and all they have been talking about is the Cambridge mafia connection between Hipgnosis and Pink Floyd. But then the subject broadens.

This is a release suited for minors aged 15 and older, and as such, it tends to go soft on certain subjects. An example is the snippet of the archive video of the Edgar Broughton Band slaughterhouse sleeve, which shows more (male) buttocks in the Bogawa documentary than in Corbijn’s version.

There is the anecdote that Jill Furmanovsky was hired by Storm because she had nice tits, and obviously, that doesn’t make the Squaring the Circle final cut either. It was no secret that Storm liked the female body, and several of his Hipgnosis sleeves show that, not always in good taste.

The ‘We piss in the sink’ story does pass the censor; apparently that one was too good not to mention.

The tipping point of Hipgnosis was not Lulubelle the Third — sorry to disappoint you, fellow Pink Floyd fans — but 1971’s Elegy from The Nice. Suddenly, Storm and Po realised you could put a piece of land art on a sleeve and sell it as an album cover. This culminated in 1973 when Hipgnosis became the go-to studio: Band on the Run, Houses of the Holy, and The Dark Side of The Moon.

By the mid-seventies, money is gushing in and Po travels around the world. In a shot that takes a split second, we see some lines of white powder on a mirror. It is the only suggestion that something was going wrong with them.

Peter Christopherson, the third Hipgnosis partner, brought an element of darkness to Hipgnosis. He had a music career as well, joining Throbbing Gristle and starting Coil and Psychic TV. Apart from that, not much is revealed about him in this documentary. Most of it isn’t suited for minors anyway. For one thing, he was aware of the changes in the music industry with punk, après-punk, and the birth of MTV.

In the early eighties, Storm and Peter believe there is no future in record sleeves any more, and they decide to start a music video company (Greenback Films). Po reluctantly joins them. In Po’s words, this made Storm think he was the master of the universe. He was always going over budget, making the company bankrupt in a couple of years.

Po Powell breaks down when he talks about the Hipgnosis collapse and their lost friendship. It is a powerful image, and putting Wish You Were Here on top of that adds to the sentiment. The screen turns black.

After the message that Storm died in 2013, the camera points back to Po, still crying over the death of his friend. In my opinion, Anton Corbijn crosses a voyeuristic line there. Chasing for cheap sentiment.

The epilogue has Po, with the carton portfolio on his back, walking towards the horizon, carrying the weight of the world. One of the best documentaries I have ever seen, with a more than excellent soundtrack.

One point of criticism, though. Squaring The Circle has one of the most underwhelming extras I have ever witnessed, consisting of a superfluous slideshow of merely 20 ‘iconic’ Hipgnosis covers. That's why we will give you a special feature at the bottom of this page.

Taken by Storm

Taken by Storm is a 2015 documentary by Roddy Bogawa. It takes off where Squaring the Circle ended, with Thorgerson’s photoshoot for Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987).

This documentary isn’t as streamlined as the über-slick Squaring the Circle and has a ‘home movie’ vibe all over it. It uses a lot of archival material and impromptu interviews with Storm. The interesting thing is that it also has a healthy interest in Storm’s projects after Hipgnosis, with interviews of musicians of the post-2000 era.

As usual in these documentaries, there are a bunch of talking heads telling us what a genius Storm was. There is diversity among the guests from both documentaries, which is a good thing.

After a 15-minute introduction with Thorgerson’s later work, the documentary jumps to Cambridge in the sixties, with Storm and Roger Waters playing on the same rugby team. It starts the story of Hipgnosis, as told by Storm and Po. This time Po does mention that Hipgnosis started by making pictures for book covers, but of course, it doesn’t take long before he turns to A Saucerful of Secrets. It is noteworthy that Po doesn’t link Syd Barrett with the Hipgnosis name this time. It’s just a name they found on the front door.

Atom Heart Mother gets mentioned, as does Elegy, as a pivotal point in Hipgnosis’ career. Then it’s up to Led Zep and Houses of the Holy. Storm and Po talk about the philosophy behind their record covers while Squaring the Circle is more anecdotal.

The Animals debacle (or publicity triumph, if you will) gets mentioned, this time by Storm. This isn’t a chronological overview. The Dark Side of the Moon gets mentioned after Animals, and it takes them half a minute to get rid of it. Then the documentary wooshes back two years earlier to the Edgar Broughton Band, and this time we do get to see the model’s buttocks.

Storm starts a hypocritical, poor artist’s sermon by saying how he never made money out of his work. From the Mark Blake biography, however, we know that Po bought a villa with a swimming pool and a speedboat in Florida. Storm was not only the last living surrealist, to quote David Gilmour, but he could also be quite surreal in his testimonies before a camera.

The Sex Pistols used to have a rehearsal studio next to the Hipgnosis offices. The long-haired hippies slowly started to understand there was a musical revolution in the air, especially when the Pistols came in wearing their I Hate Pink Floyd t-shirts.

After a sabbatical, a music video company sees the light of day: Greenback. Storm and Po get the chance to make a video for a new artist, whose Wherever I Lay My Hat reaches the top of the charts. Suddenly, they are recognised as the movie company for the stars. Within two years, they turn over 6 million dollars a year, according to Po. Storm has the opposite opinion: "It was totally disastrous" and tries to blame the others.

A Barry Gibb movie (Now Voyager) goes so over budget that it drowns the company. Po and Storm separate and won’t speak to each other for 12 years.

This is where Squaring the Circle stops, but Taken by Storm continues with Thorgerson’s solo adventures. Storm’s initial rescue lies in the fact that Pink Floyd does a Waters-less comeback and they want the Hipgnosis grandeur back. The documentary turns to the many post-Hipgnosis record sleeves and has interviews with collaborators, musicians, and even a psychoanalyst.

In 2003, Storm suffers a stroke in Paris. Nobody admits this happened while supervising a Pink Floyd exhibition. During his recovery, he manages to bring up an idea for a Mars Volta cover that comes out of his situation.

In the last quarter of the documentary, an EMI manager says cover art will be pushed away, not realising that there will be a vinyl renaissance. It’s the proof that record people haven’t got a single idea what they are talking about.

An Epic Epilogue

Squaring the Circle is a film about Hipgnosis, narrated by Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell. Taken by Storm is a film about Thorgerson's magic, narrated by Storm. As such, they are complementary.

One of the things I noted is that people have aged a lot between these two documentaries. It’s the Mortality Sequence all over again. Watch them both, if you can.

Guest List

For those who kick on those things, here is a list of the talking heads in both documentaries. It shows that both have an exclusive list of guests. How many of these people do you know?
TBS = Taken By Storm, STC = Squaring The Circle.

Special feature: Hipgnosis Covers with a Pig

Pictures taken from the (deleted) 'Records My Cat Destroyed' Tumblr. No pigs were harmed during these photo sessions.

Many thanks to: Hipgnosis Covers.
♥ Iggy ♥ Libby ♥

Previous Hipgnosis reviews:
Aubrey Powell: Through the Prism -- Cows, Pigs, Sheep... 
Mark Blake: Us and Them -- Un Orage Postmoderne 

This was originally planned as a sleek introduction for a review of the Syd Barrett documentary Have You Got It Yet? But as it grew into something of a monster, the review will be published in a separate post.

2012: Rumours

On Saturday, May 12, 2012, I sent a message to the Late Night Forum that went like this:

I just heard today of a DVD project with Storm [Thorgerson, FA]; is that the same thing you are referring to, Mark (sorry to be that vague)?

It was the first time I heard of the documentary that we now know as ‘Have You Got It Yet?’. I was informed that Storm Thorgerson was gathering the ladies of Syd’s life, including those who had been silent since the sixties. In another forum post, I blabbered some more:

The rumours that have been more or less agreed on (privately) by LG [Libby Gausden, FA] and JS [Jenny Spires, FA] say that Lindsay Korner and Gayla Pinion were interviewed. This is 'officially' a secret, but it does the rounds.

It is so true what a well-known Facebook group administrator recently said of me: "Er kann doch sein Maul nicht halten." ��

Initially, it was Storm’s idea to make a documentary about the Syd-o-sphere, including the wacky anoraks that group on fora and social media. Mark, from the quote above, was known to fans as Mlucifersam. He archived all known Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd photos on a DVD, aptly titled 'Syd Barrett - Have You Got It Yet? v2.0 Vol 11 - Photo/Info DVD-Rom - Version 11, 14th March 2010'. That's the kind of stuff that makes you famous in the anoraky world of Barrett idolatry.

2013: A Passing Storm

Mlucifersam was very discreet, although he did post a picture later of his encounter with Storm:

This is the documentary I was interviewed for when I met up with Jenny Spires in London in March last year [2012, FA]. She was also interviewed on the same day. It was amazing. Even better was that I had a wander around London afterwards, and while sitting in Soho Square, Joe Boyd walked past!

Unfortunately, Storm passed away in April 2013, and that was that, so we feared.

Matt Johns from Brain Damage, however, who had been one of Storm’s interviewees as well, confirmed in June 2013 that the project was still going on. He quoted StormStudios:

Since the end of 2011 Storm had been very busy filming a documentary with Rupert [Truman, StormStudios director, FA] about Pink Floyd's founder member, Syd Barrett. They filmed many interviews including old school friends, flat mates, girlfriends, fellow musicians and all the surviving members of Pink Floyd. So far it's proved a very enlightening experience. The film itself is at the editing stage right now, and it's a thrill to see it all coming together.

This was June 2013, over a decade ago. Then it all went speculatively silent. I inquired for several years if the film was going to be finished, and every year I got the same message: “It’s going to be released soon."

2015: Bad Mojo

From time to time, we were informed there was still something in the pipeline. Mojo in June 2015: New Film Promises ‘Unique And Intimate’ Syd Barrett Portrait (link no longer active). NME (2015): Syd Barrett documentary film 'Have You Got It?' to be released this summer (link no longer active). Ultimate Classic Rock (2015): New Syd Barrett Documentary Scheduled for 2015 Release.

2016: Slipping and Sliding

Floydian Slip, however, had a slightly more realistic view of the situation. 

The film’s full working title is “Barrett: Have You Got It Yet?” (…/…) and will likely be released in mid-2016. In fact, director Roddy Bogawa recently completed four days of shooting in London, interviewing drummer Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie, who recorded with Barrett after he left Floyd. (…/…)

Our source tells us the filmmakers have also interviewed “former Pink Floyd managers, lighting director, childhood friends, girlfriends, etc.” (…/…) Others interviewed so far include photographer Mick Rock and Julian Palacios, author of “Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd: Dark Globe” (2010).

Syd Barrett - a Celebration

Roddy Bogawa confirmed to me that:

We are hoping the film will be released this year [2016, FA] – it is in the editing stage – and yes, Lindsay and Gayla are interviewed in it as well as Jenny Spires and Libby Gausden… (…/…)

Also Roger, David and Nick appear in new interviews which I think are quite different than most of the ones they've done before, because Storm was present, and he grew up with Syd, David, and Roger.

Elusive Iggy

How about Iggy, I hear you say. She was asked to figure in the documentary as well, as she told us on the 5th June of 2016.

He [Storm Thorgerson, FA] wanted to do it and was setting it up in London. Anyway my lovely Libby [Gausden, FA] offered her beautiful. home for me to be filmed and interviewed... I think Rupert [Truman, FA] was going to to do the interview. with a script.

But the ever so shy Iggy backed up at the last minute and so we will never know what secrets she had to say.

2016: 12 minutes teaser

In 2016, at the Cambridge Film Festival, a twelve minutes teaser of the documentary was shown, although it is not clear if this was the same trailer that was already doing the rounds in… 2013.

2013: Would You Believe?

An early copy of that 2013 teaser was salvaged by Antonio Jesús Reyes from the Spanish Barrett blog ‘Solo En Las Nubes’.

In 2013, the film was still called ‘Wouldn’t You Miss Me?’ and the trailer has some snippets that aren’t in the published documentary from 2023. For instance, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) singing Dark Globe in London in 1991.

We present it here and once again we have to thank Antonio for preserving it for all those years.

Link for recalcitrant browsers: https://youtu.be/5zUXIwuOAvk?si=2oXBhdII0_vwWhzm

Believe Media published the above trailer in 2013, but copies have disappeared from the web. The accompanying text, however, can still be found on the Wayback Machine.

Believe has partnered with Pink Floyd to tell the world what really happened to Syd Barrett. The Believe funded and produced documentary feature calls on the EP’s long history with Pink Floyd through their late, dear friend and longtime collaborator, Storm Thorgerson. Storm was directing the project as he passed away this year, so Believe, Pink Floyd and creative director Aubrey Powell, (Storm’s partner in the art design group, Hygnosis [sic]) are committed to completing the film, posthumously. Currently in production, the film will include interview footage with many of Barrett’s colleagues, friends and family, including the band speaking publicly about Barrett for the first time. Director Michael Apted (up series) completed a cut of the film that expects to be ready for release in 2015.

Michael Apted was an acclaimed British television and film director and producer. Apparently, he was in on this project in 2013 before Roddy Bogawa took over.

For years, the project stayed in development hell, although Roddy kept on claiming it was to be released soon. Roddy Bogawa in February 2017:

The plan is that we finish the film this year. Perhaps already a full cut to screen in a few months.

Roddy Bogawa, January 2020:

Scrolling through photos on my phone and found (…/…) a screenshot I had taken a few weeks back as a note to track down for our Syd Barrett film. Yes, it is almost done.

2022: Signs of Life 

In October 2022, a couple of websites finally came out with some good news. Consequence: “Syd Barrett Documentary Have You Got It Yet? to Explore Pink Floyd’s Troubled Genius.” Roddy Bogawa:

It’s the tragic story of Brian Wilson and Kurt Cobain and many others in music and art whose explosive creative drives often rest on fragile exuberant energy that gets pressure cooked from their success. The film is not only a portrait of one of the most iconic cult figures in music through the lens and memories of his bandmates, lovers, friends, and musicians but also a look back at a group of friends growing up in the mid-sixties and their idealism, ambitions, hopes and dreams during such an amazing cultural moment.

Matthew Carey (deadline.com) in ‘Have You Got It Yet?’ Brilliant, Troubled Pink Floyd Co-Founder Syd Barrett Focus Of New Documentary From Mercury Studios:

The documentary, produced by Believe Media and A Cat Called Rover, features fresh interviews with Pink Floyd band members David Gilmour (Barrett’s childhood friend who joined Pink Floyd in 1967 and essentially filled the void left by Barrett), Nick Mason and Roger Waters, as well as Barrett’s sister Rosemary Breen, Pink Floyd managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King, The Who’s Pete Townshend, Blur’s Graham Coxon, and Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT, playwright Tom Stoppard, and others. (…/…) The film’s soundtrack includes over 50 Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett music tracks.

2023: Learning to Fly 

Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd fans still had to wait a few months, and in April 2023, a new trailer was finally launched.

Link for recalcitrant browsers: https://youtu.be/ALajTTcXwZE?si=Nc_-_HzyCBSiwzl4

After that, it conquered the early Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett worlds as a tsunami on dope. But if you want to know what we think of the documentary, you’ll have to come back another time.

Many thanks to: Alexander, Alien Brain, Antonio Jesús Reyes, Benji, Chapter 24, Ebronte, Eternal Isolation, Göran Nyström, Iggy Rose, Jenny Spires, Libby Gausden, Mark Cobley-Jones, MLuciferSam, Roddy Bogawa, Peudent, Psych62, Sean Beaver, Stanislav, Suzie, SwanLee, Syd Wonder, Wolfpack, Younglight, Zeebo… and those I may have forgotten.
♥ Iggy ♥ Libby ♥