Back to the delightfully random now after being spoilt by so much on-topic news recently. I don’t know about you, but I needed a few days away to recover.

Although I could have sworn that we’ve done this already (maybe in a dream?), today’s musical test of memory concerns songs with colours in the titles and lyrics. Heck, even bands that have taken a colour and made a name for themselves out of it. Think of it as a distraction for those who are already distracted by last-minute transfer dealings on deadline day. (Alexander Hleb to Birmingham City?)

In memory of Birmingham son, Carl Wayne, who died on this day in 2004, this was The Move’s only No.1 single among many a memorable hit – in December 1968.

Perhaps best remembered for his frenzied destruction of stage props during performances, which once included hacking through a Cadillac at London’s Roundhouse whilst strippers did their thing (and resulted in The Move being temporarily banned from every theatre in the UK), Carl Wayne also succeed Allan Clarke as lead vocalist for the Hollies in 2000, found time to act both on stage in the West End (in Blood Brothers – for six years) and on television (including the much-loved British soap opera, Crossroads), and so very admirably ran major marathons to raise funds for research into leukaemia. I think the latter fact alone makes him worthy of your remembrance and respect today.

Here are six songs which have a colour in their title. Can you add to them? There have to be at least a dozen songs for each and every colour in the rainbow – the rainbow as sung by The Dells, preferably. What a performance that is.

- Beatles, ‘Old Brown Shoe’
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, ‘Red Eyes and Tears’
- Leonard Cohen, ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’
- Little Barrie, ‘Green Eyed Fool’
- Joni Mitchell, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Purple Stain’

All that’s left for me to do is remind you that the chatroom will be open tomorrow from 3pm (UK). My apologies again for cancelling yesterday’s chat at short notice; I hope to see you tomorrow instead. Newcomers are very welcome and everything you need to know about the chatroom can be found here, so do drop in.

By the way, I do realise that, scientifically, black isn’t a ‘colour’ as such; colour being the result of the distortion of light and black objects absorb light but cannot reflect it, or something like that. But it still counts as a colour for the purpose of this exercise, as does white, if only because ‘Paint it Black’ and ‘White Rabbit’ are two of the finest songs ever recorded. I mean, who really cares about physics?

I can now provide a much more thorough answer to the sporadic questions concerning The Orb’s new album and David’s involvement in it. I apologise for skirting the issue until now.

David is not working with The Orb on a new album, contrary to some reports, but you may remember that he had been in the studio jamming with Martin “Youth” Glover in recent months, who was at the time working on an ambient mix of the ‘Chicago’ re-recording, which was released to raise awareness of the plight of Gary McKinnon (as confirmed in News: David & Orb Rumours True – Up To A Point, 7 October 2009).

Alex Paterson was not involved in the sole jamming session and the only plan initially was for David to play guitar on that one track – ‘Chicago’.

However, as it turns out and as you can see, the result of that jam session has now been spread across the next Orb album, Metallic Spheres, which will be released as ‘The Orb featuring David Gilmour’.

So there you have it. He was working on an album with The Orb. Sort of.

It will be released in multiple formats worldwide in October this year, date to be confirmed shortly, and all artist royalties will go to helping Gary McKinnon’s campaign against his extradition.

In addition to the standard album, there will be a ‘Deluxe’ double-disc version: the first disc is the same as the standard, the second is a 3D60â„¢ version, which, as the name suggests, allows you to listen in glorious three-dimensional sound.

3D60â„¢ is a new sound production process developed by Youth, Mike Brady (The Jam’s live sound engineer) and Ian Thompson (musician and multimedia producer). You don’t need any special equipment to enjoy 3D60â„¢, by the way; it will sound amazing on any headphones in any format. Have a listen.

As well as the option of downloading the standard album from iTunes, there will also be a vinyl version, exactly the same as the standard CD, but including a download card permitting you to download the full album plus an additional ambient bonus. So that’s something you’ll be familiar with from the various guises of Live in GdaÅ„sk.

You can expect more at Latest News as additional details, including the release date and various extras that are still being worked on, are confirmed.

That’s all the exciting and unusually relevant news out of the way for the time being. We’ll return to random nonsense next time, don’t you worry.

Not that it’s gone quite to schedule, this announcement (well, does anything?), but you probably now know that there is video footage from last month’s charity event benefiting the Hoping Foundation and its surprise reunion – care of Roger Waters’ latest Facebook post.

Please don’t all go rushing over to the Hoping Foundation’s website (the link’s been left out on purpose); the video’s not there yet and, frankly, you’re overwhelming the server. It’s not going to be there until Monday at 5pm (UK). Thank you for your understanding.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the two-minute taster provided by Roger, now also available over on the DavidGilmour.com homepage.

We have David’s wife, Polly, to thank for the video, by the way. She gave it to Hoping for exclusive use on their website with the wish that you lot would perhaps consider making a modest donation in return for viewing it. A donation is not required, but would be much appreciated – as were the donations many of you have made since hearing of David’s involvement with the charity (which stands for ‘Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation’).

There’s no longer any need to check back on Sunday, but I look forward to hearing what you thought of the performance when you see the video proper on Monday.

Here’s something that David has been involved in, following the expected renewed interest in the genius of Syd Barrett since his sad passing in July 2006: an album of 12 of Syd’s songs, including six from Pink Floyd, entitled An Introduction to Syd Barrett.

It’s the first time that any Pink Floyd tracks have been compiled alongside Syd’s own. The Pink Floyd numbers are ‘Arnold Layne’, ‘See Emily Play’, ‘Apples and Oranges’ (in stereo), ‘Matilda Mother’ (remixed), ‘Chapter 24′ and ‘Bike’.

David has been involved in remixing some tracks at Astoria, along with Damon Iddins and Andy Jackson (‘Matilda Mother’, ‘Here I Go’, ‘Octopus’, ‘She Took a Long Cold Look’, ‘Octopus’), and has added bass guitar to ‘Here I Go’, as there was none originally.

Andy Jackson has remastered the others from the original analogue masters.

Of greatest interest to those who need no introduction to Syd, though, is the previously-unreleased 20-minute instrumental, ‘Rhamadan’. This is to be offered as an extra track for download, should you purchase either the CD or iTunes version of the album in its entirety.

The CD will be presented in a smart Digipak sleeve, designed by Storm Thorgerson, with the lyrics included in a 20-page booklet. It is due for release on and around Monday 4 October, depending on where in the world you find yourself, and should now gradually begin to appear on assorted sites available for pre-order.

Track listing as follows:

01. Arnold Layne
02. See Emily Play
03. Apples and Oranges (Stereo)
04. Matilda Mother (2010 Mix)
05. Chapter 24
06. Bike
07. Terrapin
08. Love You
09. Dark Globe
10. Here I Go (2010 Mix)
11. Octopus (2010 Mix)
12. She Took a Long Cool Look (2010 Mix)
13. If It’s In You
14. Baby Lemonade
15. Dominoes (2010 Mix)
16. Gigolo Aunt
17. Effervescing Elephant
18. Bob Dylan Blues

Well spotted, if you did spot it: ‘She Took a Long Cold Look’ is now called ‘She Took a Long Cool Look’.

A good mix of material representing the best possible introduction to Syd’s music for the uninitiated, do you think? And how about that ‘Rhamadan’ rarity finally getting an official release?

Have a good weekend, all. Check back on Sunday, if you can.