“Yeah, it’s a joke number,” Barrett remarked, “Jokes are good. Everybody likes jokes. The Pink Floyd like jokes.”

“It’s very casual,” he then continued, “If you play it a second time, it might be even more of a joke. Jokes are good. The Pink Floyd like jokes. I think that was a very funny joke.”

Syd then predicted how the general public would react: “I think people will like the bit about it being Monday, when in fact it was Tuesday. Very chirpy, but I don’t think my toes were tapping at all.”

Unfortunately for the man who would later become Ziggy Stardust, the record buying public was, like Syd, unimpressed.

Despite Syd’s indifference, Bowie would remain a massive Barrett fan.

He would later cover the Pink Floyd single ‘See Emily Play’ on 1973 covers album Pin Ups and later team up with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour to perform another Barrett number ‘Arnold Layne’ in 2006.

“Syd was a major inspiration for me,” Bowie shared of Barrett shortly after the former Pink Floyd bandleader’s death in 2006. “He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley, he was the first guy I’d heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed.”