Today is the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd’s release of arguably their greatest album ever: “The Dark Side of the Moon”. As my own personal tribute to them, as well as a gnawing need to write, I thought I’d share how I came to love them. And love music in general.
A Road Trip Before Personal Electronic Devices
I can’t recall exactly how old I was, but I’m pretty sure I was in my very early teen years. 12 or 13. Maybe 14.
I was spending the summer with my dad, stepmom, and stepsister (who will henceforth be “my sister”) were going to a road trip from Woodbury, MN to Ann Arbor, MI. As this was 30 years ago, there were no smartphones, no tablets. There weren’t portable DVD players. There weren’t even DVDs yet, I don’t think.
On a trip to the mall, we stopped off at the music store (back when they still existed) because my sister wanted to. At that point, music wasn’t remotely an interest of mine. But I had a walkman (if you don’t know what that is, look it up) with a couple of cassette tapes I liked.
I had never heard Pink Floyd before and my only knowledge of them was a poster of “The Wall” my sister had on the wall in her room. I can’t recall the conversation, but I know she recommended “The Final Cut” to me to buy and listen to. I didn’t know anything about them, but because I thought my she was so cool, I accepted the recommendation. I listened to it pretty much on repeat the whole way to Ann Arbor.
I didn’t know then that “The Final Cut” not the album with which one should start their Pink Floyd journey. Still, I liked it enough to want to hear more.
So my love of Pink Floyd began, but it would be a few more years until it grew into an obsession.
A Concert Leads to New Revelations
I can’t tell you now what it was about them that I loved so much. But I did.
It was around this same time that CDs became mainstream. I got a portable CD player for my Bar Mitzvah and started collecting CDs (weirdly, my very first album on CD wasn’t Pink Floyd, but rather “Graceland” by Paul Simon). But it wasn’t until I got my first job a few years later that I had money to spend on music. And boy did I.
Aside from photography stuffs (another hobby that would persist), I spent A LOT of money on music. All through high school and college, a sizable percentage of my money went to the building of a music collection that would eventually grow to hundreds of albums.
So, it was in high school that my obsession really took off.
What I think pushed me over the edge, though I was pretty obsessed at that point already, was the release of “Division Bell” in 1994. And their accompanying concert tour.
I made my best friend sit out in the cold waiting with me to buy tickets. The internet was still new and you couldn’t do anything online at that point. I relish the memory of sitting through the night to get tickets. And though our seats ended up not being great, it still remains one of my all-time favorite concert experiences.
An Obsession Grew
With Pink Floyd’s visit to Kansas City and the fact that their last album had been released nearly seven years before, the paper ran a huge cover story on the pending concert. And on the band. The headline article, laminated, still hangs in my childhood bedroom.
It talked about the evolution of their music and the history of the band. That’s when I learned about Syd Barrett and “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” their very first album.
Immediately, I went out and bought the album. All the others soon followed. I read magazine articles about the band. I bought books revealing Pink Floyd’s history and the meaning behind many of their songs and albums.
I poured over song lyrics, determined to memorize them all.
I started looking for more rare albums. Like “Ummagumma,” “Atom Heart Mother,” and “A Saucerful of Secrets”.
I wrote school papers about them. Did photography and other art projects (I took a lot of art classes in high school) based on their album covers and music.
If there was a fact about Pink Floyd, I wanted to know it.
I’ve watched “The Wizard of Oz” to “The Dark Side of the Moon”.
I’ve seen (and own) the movie “The Wall”. The movie soundtrack is better than the studio album, by the way.
And (aside from The Beatles, because, ya know) I’ve argued Pink Floyd is the greatest band of all time.
The Dark Side of the Moon & Beyond
I quite simply love them. And while I struggle with my own preference between “Dark Side” and “Wish You Were Here,” its hard to deny that “The Dark Side of the Moon” is far and away their masterpiece. Even the cover art is simplistic greatness. Iconic.
It remains the 4th best-selling album of all time. “Dark Side” also holds the Guinness World Record for the longest time on the Billboard Top 200 at 937 weeks (18 years and a week).
Without my sister’s suggestion, or my admiration of her. Without my high school obsession with Pink Floyd and their many great albums, my love of music might not have developed at all. Music helps me focus and makes me smile. Or cry. It can help burn off angry energy. And music can dredge up memories, both good and bad, in a way that nothing else does.
There is no denying “The Dark Side of the Moon” is a musical masterpiece to behold. Take some time this week to listen to it. I’m going to.