Dark Side Breathes

Posted on November 20, 2011 by The Curator

40 years ago today… Was the last night of Pink Floyd’s fifth tour of the United States. It had been a ’27 shows in 37 days’ dash promoting the Meddle album, from the West Coast up to Canada, and across the Northern States to the East Coast.

For the last show the band played at the Taft Auditorium, Cincinnati, Ohio. It had been a hectic schedule, and the next UK Winter Tour was already planned for the New Year. Indeed the band needed or wanted new material to tour with, and here’s evidence that new ideas were jangling around the tour bus.

During a performance of Embryo – intro’ed here by The Doc - is the Breathe riff in its earliest form, during a 15 min 39 sec technical problem mid-song: listen carefully from 46:42 when Rick’s amp cuts out, and the rest of the guys use the time to play around with some ideas they were working on

- the Breathe riff is debuted by David at 48:28, then 50:52, 54:12, 56:03, and 1:00:48.

Subsequently it’s the longest version of Embryo, and it was the last time it was performed live. (My thanks to The Doc for this insight.)

Listen to the time-fill-jam from the Taft Auditorium, Cincinnati, OH – 20th November 1971. Ironically from one of the Floyd’s worst moments is the start of one of their greatest.

Raw, but it is Breathe.

 

Posted in 40 Years Ago Today... | Leave a comment

Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii

Posted on October 9, 2011 by The Curator

40 years ago this week…

Pink Floyd had traveled to Naples by plane to record live footage for Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii. Inspired by Adrian Maben, the first version ran for one hour and was released in September 1972. It was directed by Adrian Maben using studio-quality 24-track recorders. (The tonnes of equipment left 4 days early by truck.) Delays at the start of shooting meant less time for footage, so only 3 tracks were recorded there.

The performances of ‘Echoes’, ‘A Saucerful Of Secrets’ and ‘One Of These Days’ were filmed from 4th to 7th October 1971. Further songs were filmed in a Paris studio late in ’71 and early ’72, with additional front projection footage for insertion into the Pompeii performances, effects and some back-shots.

Adrian Maben proposed to the band to do an “anti-Woodstock” feature of their music, without people and in more atmospheric scenery. He’d visited Pompeii early in the year with his girlfriend and seeing the old amphitheatre, Maben thought this would be the perfect location – in the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Pompeii. The Floyd’s music bringing alive the dramatic history of the location: violence, sex, bustle.

Accustomed to helping on other film soundtracks, Pink Floyd were to record their own: interestingly without a live audience, which was a true divergence performing without any of their usual stage lights or effects for which they were known.

The movie includes some now iconic shots with very slow zooms and horizontal pans past stacks of speakers. At only an hour in length, director Adrian Maben thought more could be done with it and returned to the movie in 1973 to add inter-song snippets of interviews and pretend studio work. This included the now infamous Dark Side studio recordings of ’72 and ’73. Maben’s questions that Roger answers so uncaringly formed the basis of the Dark Side questions on cards during the Abbey Road recording.

But the live performance in Pompeii remains the only official live footage of the band from this time.

Posted in 40 Years Ago Today... | Leave a comment

The Dark Side Of The Moon Immersion Makes UK #11

Posted on October 2, 2011 by The Curator

And did it make it? (drum roll…)

No.

The Dark Side Of The Moon still hasn’t been #1 in the UK. The release this week (on the 26th September 2011) of the Remaster copy, the Experience, and the Immersion was enough to propel the album into 11th spot in the Official UK Chart:

(Some interesting reviews of the Immersion box set on Amazon, where – let’s just say – the music was a clear winner over the extra memorabilia!)

Anyway, looks like we’re back on then: the campaign must continue. If this didn’t do it then it’ll take something special to reach the high spot…

Who’s with us?

Posted in DS UK #1 | Leave a comment

1 Year Til the 30th Birthday Of The CD

Posted on October 1, 2011 by The Curator

The year, 1982.

The first album to be released on CD was Billy Joel’s 52nd Street on October 1, 1982 in Japan, alongside Sony’s CD player CDP-101. 50 CDs were released on this day, with Joel’s nominally number 1, from the the first commercial compact disc pressing plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan – owned by Sony, opened in April 1982.

Earlier in the Summer of ’82, the first test CD was pressed in Langenhagen near Hannover (West Germany), by the Polydor Pressing Operations plant. The disc contained a recording of Richard Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie (in English, An Alpine Symphony), played by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In August 1982 the real pressing was ready to begin in the new factory. The first CD to be manufactured at the new factory was The Visitors (1981) by ABBA (DDD in SPARS code); a first public demonstration of the new discs was on the BBC television program Tomorrow’s World using The Bee Gees’ album Living Eyes.

Early the following year, on 2nd March 1983, CD players and discs (16 titles from CBS Records) were released in the United States and other markets.

Posted in The Early CDs | Leave a comment

Pig Over Battersea On Immersion Day

Posted on September 26, 2011 by The Curator

“Here Piggy Piggy Piggy…”

It was a perfectly grey blotched sky, as per the superimposed album cover, with little breeze at ground level but there was the 30 foot Pig battling winds high up. Held down by, and tethered to, 2 cars it was visited early by the Press (but taken down at 10:40 as it was getting just too much for the ground staff to handle). I was informed by the guys working there that there was no marksman on site, so if it took off then that would be it. Hence they were very careful with it. When the wind dropped it was back up.

I happened to be listening to Show #171 – Animals in France, from 22Feb77 – courtesy of The Doc at the time. Perfect.

This was at the other end of the Station, due to building work. Only a handful of other fans on this side, so this is for the rest. With the wind direction the better angle – chosen by the Press – was from the north bank of the Thames across the river. This one’s looking up:

London airspace reported to be safe. For now.

More on Dark Side Immersion version soon…

Posted in Animals | Leave a comment

Pink Floyd’s First Tour To Japan

Posted on July 31, 2011 by The Curator

40 years ago today…

Fresh from a recording session for Meddle, Pink Floyd leave the UK on their way to Japan, via Hong Kong, on 31 July 1971.

PF took Atom Heart Mother, and an increasingly polished performance of Echoes, to 3 nights in Japan. Their first trip to the country that would embrace the Floyd in a special way – with obis and booklets not released in other countries, and with the release of their first material on CD, that being some 11 years later.

Japan was followed by the first group trip to Australia, for 2 shows, before returning to the UK on 19th August 1971.

Posted in 40 Years Ago Today... | Leave a comment

Dark Side 1000 Weeks On Billboard Chart

Posted on June 8, 2011 by The Curator

The Dark Side Of The Moon has officially spent 1000 weeks on the Billboard charts, as of this week 11th June 2011 – http://www.billboard.com/#/album/pink-floyd/the-the-dark-side-of-the-moon/61357, which currently shows “-,1000,1″ for “placing last week, weeks on charts, highest position(US)” respectively. Go there after this week and expect the 1000 to still be climbing.

It’s there, it’s done it. More than any other album by quite some distance. It re-entered the Billboard Catalog Album chart at number 47, reaching in the process the very special milestone of 1000 weeks on Billboard’s charts. It provides us with a strap line to our campaign to take “Dark Side from 1000 (weeks) to #1″ in the UK (finally) – The Dark Side Of The Moon, with all its popularity, all its longevity, all its Britishness, still hasn’t been #1 in the UK up to this date – but we mean to change that.

Got me wondering though, as it was 1,500 weeks in the charts a few years ago, and has been flagged as over 2250 weeks on Billboard: another stat on another page. It’s great to rejoice, but I’m not convinced by the metrics, and the way sales are logged to charts – different charts, changes over the years, and more recently complications over digital sales.

I’ve emailed Billboard to ask them for the official version, but as yet no response – I’ll post it if/when I get it. Plus, there didn’t seem to be any official news release by Billboard with the story, it’s been left to Floyd sites and keen observers.

1000 more?…

Posted in DS UK #1 | Leave a comment

EMI’s First CD Plant In The UK, Swindon 1986

Posted on May 15, 2011 by The Curator

On this day 25 years ago… 15th May 1986, EMI opened its first UK CD pressing plant in Swindon, in Penny Lane Greenbridge Industrial Estate. Interesting of itself? Well, perhaps if you live in Swindon, or the UK. But there’s more, a DS connection…

The first CD made at the Swindon plant was The Dark Side Of The Moon, using the (first and) new EMI (version 0) mastering – see Vernon’s great information on this.

And when the plant closed 16 years later in 2002, the last CD pressed was TDSOTM ‘The First And Last’, commemorated as such.

Prior to this EMI had other companies manufacture CDs on its behalf, with the EMI name only added to labels, with the ensuing interest around other companies and masterings.

The Swindon plant was not the first in the UK. This distinction goes to the Nimbus CD plant in Monmouth, opened in August 1984.

Posted in The Early CDs | Leave a comment

Roger Waters The Wall, with David Gilmour

Posted on May 13, 2011 by The Curator

We were lucky enough to be at The O2 tonight for Roger’s The Wall with Dave:

The O2 is a great venue, and with the whole of the stage end covered by The Wall and with the sound effects from each corner, the place was set for a magnificent show. We’d seen Polly Samson’s Tweet the night before, but hadn’t seen the Gilmour blog earlier in the evening saying “Yes, it’s tonight”. And wow, what a night.

The show was stunning, great sound, incredible visuals. Roger’s show a masterpiece, carefully crafted quality producing an amazing show. And to witness Dave’s (unannounced by Roger) appearance on top of The Wall for Comfortably Numb, well… you listen to the crowd’s reaction when they recognise Gilmour. Even Roger is smiling.

Note 1: Rog turns to the wall and looks in the wrong place at first, as in the normal set the chorus is sung (by Robbie Wyckoff) in the middle of the wall, before the guitar solo (by Dave Kilminster) further along, where Dave is. So Rog forgot Dave would appear a little way along the wall too! (Edited out of the official video at 1:28.)

Note 2: (rusty and nervous) Dave gets the lyrics wrong at 3:45 (!). Repeat of “Now I’ve got that feeling once again, I can’t explain you would not understand, This is not how I am” instead of “I turned to look but it was gone, I cannot put my finger on it now, The child is grown, The dream is gone”. (But I think we’ll forgive him.)

Note 3: Incredible effects get even more incredible at 5:30

Note 4: Roger looks happy (throughout!)

Note 5: And with Nick Mason on stage for Outside The Wall at the end of the show (see Roger’s Facebook page again for footage), an unforgettable gig.

Up to this point I’ve said Radio KAOS was my favourite live show. I think it just got beat.

Thank you Roger. Thank you David. Thank you band.

Posted in The Wall | Leave a comment

The Doctor and Floydpodcast.com

Posted on May 12, 2011 by The Curator

I was a fit and healthy Floyd fan from a young age. I remember vividly the clear vinyl copy of TDSOTM my Sister had in late 70s (but didn’t know at the time it was a French import). Whilst older than the classic, I was very young when it was released in 1973. A big Floyd fan through school in the ’80s, I had a better diet than my peers’ choice of U2 and The Cure. I watched the legal battles of the fighting Floyd, as they toured competitively, catching KAOS live in ’87 and the new-PF tour a few times around that period. Yes I dallied with Genesis and Marillion, as you did, but a solid Floyd diet was all natural.

Then, complacency set in. I took my eye off the ball with travelling and working, and then family. Still went to the shows and listened, but other priorities arose; I was lazy and didn’t put any effort into my Floyd work-out routine, and took it for granted. I spent time listening to Radiohead and Tragically Hip, other distractions. I always knew the nutritional value I was missing, but lost my way and it started to show, flabby round the edges, misdirected. Not enough Floyd. Too quiet, I wasn’t Raving and Drooling.

Until, using the power of the ‘Net and surfing, I was looking for information on the famous “Spitting Incident”, and I found the Docs’ podcasts. I hadn’t realised how much I’d strayed, but wealth – and health – of the Floyd material there was re-energising. Podcast #50 being special (Roger’s “Oh for…”). A gold mine: lots of live material (afterall the Floyd were originally more of a live band) with access to additional material, delivered in a professional yet familiar way, in bite sized handy podcasts! Doc, you should have your own infomercial to tell the world how good your ‘casts are.

The Doctor saved me, and now I’m a Floyd gym junky again. The right Floyd diet and Floyd routine, from the expert practitioner, a prescription for the Floyd-Diet. Thanks for all Doc – and for easing the train commute into London.

Posted in About | Leave a comment