My most vivid memory of listening to Pink Floyd was sitting in the back of my brother Robert's car with my best friend Jennie in 8th grade listening to "The Wall". It scared Jennie. "This music is really creepy..." she said as she laughed and cowered in her seat. I didn't think it was scary, just a tad boring. (Now I'll duck as all die-hard Pink Floyd fans throw garbage at me.)
So, thankfully, John opened my eyes to the difference that is Pink Floyd in the Syd Barrett era. According to some 'Teen mags I have from the 60's, they were known as 'The' Pink Floyd. And to me, I think that's how it should be.
I can also honestly say that I'm not a huge psychedelic music fan. My personal tastes are a bit quirky. I like melodic music, but that's not to say a heavy guitar/jumble of sounds track can't spark my interest. In fact, psychedelic music can be a bit quirky in and of itself.
Tonight, my musical journey brings me to...
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moo
Yes, a boot. (Shhhh...)
Track listing:
Side A:
Astronomy Domine
Candy and a Currant Bun
Apples and Oranges
It Would Be So Nice
Intersteller Overdrive
Scream Thy Last Scream
Side B:
Heart Beat, Pig Meat
Crumbling Land
Embryo
Point Me at the Sky
Come in Number 51, Your Time is Up
Mademoiselle Knobs
Just typing some of those song titles had me laughing...ah, sorry.
Anyway, back to the show.
I think this album is....ok. I'm not that well versed in Pink Floyd, so I'm sure that someone who is would have much more interesting things to say about the production of these songs and maybe even the stories behind them. So, I won't burden anyone with my analysis because I'm sure it would be entirely off-base. I did enjoy "Apples and Oranges", "It Would Be So Nice", "Crumbling Land", and really liked "Point Me at the Sky" (which really quite rocks). They have a bit of that British melodic touch that I do enjoy. I just can't get with the whole, "Let's go on for quite some time and not really go anywhere" type song. Maybe I have a short attention span when it comes to music, but then again, that's just personal preference rearing it's head again.
I give it two stars.
Yo, John...
Where did you buy this record and when?
(First, I have to show you this:)
(Cool, huh? Occasionally, when I'm rooting through John's music or books, I'll come across a receipt from the purchase. I find this both amusing and endearing. Looks like he bought a copy of Goldmine, a Them album, and a Pretty Things album. Interesting that they just listed this as "Records". Oh, and I have to mention, that by 2/25/89, I'd just turned eight. Hehe.)
So it was purchased it Vintage Vinyl in 1989. At 12:27pm.
Do you own it in any other format?
"I have a lot of the early singles on a CD now."
What is your over-all impression of this album?
"You know my feelings about Pink Floyd...I love the Syd Barrett stuff and the pre-Dark Side of the Moon stuff. Just don't get into the dreamy-stoner type stuff."
Favorite Track?
"I love 'Point Me at the Sky', and I like the alternate take of 'Interstellar Overdrive'."
How many stars out of five?
"Five"
interesting entry. i am a floyd fanatic, though they drop almost completely off my radar after "animals." i can (barely) listen to "the final cut," but i completely loathe "the wall." anything post-waters isn't floyd.
ReplyDeletei see what you mean, re the less, uh, structured songs, that's pretty much the kinda thing you either go for or don't go for, though i totally love the dreamy stoner stuff. there's lot of capital-G Great melodic stuff buried on the LPs, more structured-type stuff i would definitely recommend checking out - stuff like "cymbeline" and "green is the colour" from the "more" LP, "grantchester meadows" from "ummagumma," "summer 68" and "fat old sun" from "atom heart mother" and "san tropez" and "a pillow of winds" from "meddle." floyd's stock-in-trade was definitely the dreamy stoner stuff, but there's quite a bit of superb UK psych-pop to explore on those early LPs...
i LOVE that receipt. the other day i drove to work with my CD copy of "buffalo springfield again" - i pulled the booklet out of the case and there's a receipt folded up in there from 9/29/2000, $18.88 for the springfield CD and the first ELO album. i had to buy a replacement copy of "again" cuz my old CD (purchased in the ealry 90s) had a skip on "everydays" (my favorite track).
for what it's worth, on 2/25/1989, i was 19 years old, 9 months out of high school and had just depledged a fraternity. i remember that i was had recently bought the first neil young album (on CD), "pet sounds," and "the low spark of high heeled boys."
Ah, 2/25/89, 'twas just before my 20th birthday, that was the year I went to Yesterday's Books and Records in Montclair (don't bother, it's gone now) and was looking thru the cabinet in the corner that was always FILLED with unsleeved 45s. I found particularly good stuff on this trip around, and jokingly asked Jack, the owner, how much he wanted for everything in the cabinet. He said, "make me an offer", so I jokingly said 10 bucks. He said, "Sold!" I lugged about 4,000 45s home that day. Thought my parents were going to have a heart attack.
ReplyDeleteMY favorite Pink Floyd tracks are "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" from "A Saucerful Of Secrets", and "One Of These Days" from "Meddle"
Just listening to this as I type, totally agree on the different take of "Interstellar Overdrive," Astronomy Domine pretty standard, what gets me is the quality of this "boot." It sounds really good, as if someone had access to the master tapes. Sure "Scream Thy Last Scream" may be an acquired taste, and a tad muffled. (Side One is obviously with Barrett and Side Two sans). Apparently sold 15 000 copies and generally gets 8/10 from fans. I'd recommend it to anyone as a great place to most of the rare early singles together & alt versions, of early Floyd up to 1971. Actually if you combine this LP with "Pink Floyd Masters of Rock" you can cover Arnold Lane, Paintbox, See Emily Play, Julia Dream, (which is the original mono mix which is significantly different from, and longer than the Relics stereo mix). Plus more tracks off Piper At The Gates.
ReplyDeleteMany of the tracks on this LP were otherwise difficult to obtain at the time this bootleg appeared. Some were singles, others outtakes. One grey day in High school I rode my bike dodging snowpiles to the small record store in someone's house called The Record Managerie. It was here I would purchase bootlegs whenever I had $20 saved up (1983 money) This record was one of my purchases and probably the first time I had heard Point Me At the Sky and a couple others. Pre-Internet you had to do what you could to survive.
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