News

Win: David Gilmour-produced Unicorn CDs

Posted December 9, 2009 by Floydian Slip

unicorn cds Enter now to win copies of Unicorn‘s “Too Many Crooks” (1976) and “Blue Pine Trees” (1974) — both produced by Floyd’s David Gilmour and newly reissued by Renaissance Records.

Gilmour discovered the country-rock group while attending a friend’s wedding. He went on to produce and play with the band, as well as cover chief songwriter Ken Baker’s “There’s No Way Out of Here” on his ’78 eponymous solo album.

Gilmour plays steel pedal guitar on both albums, which were remastered for CD by longtime Floyd sound engineer Andy Jackson aboard Gilmour’s houseboat studio Astoria. (Read our 2001 interview with Andy Jackson.)

Unicorn is country-rock in a similar vein as Firefall, Pure Prairie League, American Flyer and Poco. Good stuff.

Contrary to the buzz created by the label and its public relations firm, these two albums are far from “lost” works by Gilmour. Pat Martin, Unicorn’s bassist, tells us the titles are new to the Renaissance label, but were available for sale before that through It’s All About Music.

Either way, thanks to William James at Glass Onyon for providing the prizes.

Enter to win now.

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Syd Barrett event coming to London?

Posted December 7, 2009 by Floydian Slip

city awakes logo The city of London might see a tribute event in 2010 devoted to Syd Barrett similar to the one that took place in Cambridge in ’08.

Escape Artists, the firm that manages The Syd Barrett Fund and presented the first such event, The City Awakes, in Cambridge last year, says it’s eying London for a second event.

“This project is still in the very early stages, with nothing guaranteed as yet since we still need to secure funding for the project,” the company released in a statement today.

“However, if successful, we hope to present another multi-arts tribute to Syd Barrett (towards the end of 2010).”

More information about The City Awakes is at the event’s Web site.

Escape Artists is a U.K.-based arts and mental health charity and professional production house. It strives to improve quality of life, health and social welfare, by recognizing the importance of creativity to people’s well-being.

Posted in Events, Personnel, Syd Barrett | No comments

“Wall” anniversary contest winners

Posted December 7, 2009 by Floydian Slip

wall prizes Congratulations to all the winners of our “The Wall” 30th anniversary contest:

Michael Barton, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chris Clements, Media, Pa.
Daryosh Djavanzad, Brighton, East Sussex, U.K.
Jason Grable, Hilliard, Ohio
Jim Gurney, Atlanta, Ga.
Richard Peter Hermann, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Christopher Hughes, Westbrook, Australia
Nicholas Ihley, Plainfield, Vt.
Crystal Newman, Delburne, Alberta, Canada
Jason Nisiewicz, Syracuse, N.Y.
Susan van der Rassel, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Maria Smith, North Andover, Mass.
Warren Warshaw, Staten Island, N.Y.

Thanks to those who supplied the prizes:

Capital/EMI (Copies of “The Wall” on CD)
Classic Rock Magazine (Copies of Issue #139 … in 3D)
Mojo (Copies of their December and January issues, including a complete re-recording of “The Wall” by various artists)

Posted in Contests | 2 comments

Floydian Slip songlist #713

Posted December 6, 2009 by Floydian Slip

record “The Wall” 30th Anniversary Special (Part 2)

Hey You
The Wall (1979)
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Wall (1979)
Nobody Home
The Wall (1979)
Vera
The Wall (1979)
Bring the Boys Back Home
The Wall (1979)
Comfortably Numb (Demo)
Unreleased David Gilmour recording
Comfortably Numb
The Wall (1979)
The Show Must Go On
The Wall (1979)
In the Flesh
The Wall (1979)
Run Like Hell
The Wall (1979)
Waiting for the Worms
The Wall (1979)
Stop
The Wall (1979)
The Trial
The Wall (1979)
Outside the Wall
The Wall (1979)

Posted in Radio show, Songlists | No comments

Actor from film within “Wall” film dies

Posted December 4, 2009 by Floydian Slip

Actor Richard Todd has died of cancer at age 90. He died in his sleep at his home in Grantham, England, yesterday.

Todd appeared in more than 70 films and TV episodes from 1937 to 2007, but he’s probably best know as Royal Air Force pilot Guy Gibson in the film “The Dam Busters.”

It’s this 1955 movie that’s playing on Pink’s TV in scenes from “Pink Floyd The Wall” (1982).

Todd was a real-life veteran who fought with the British 6th Airborne Division and took part in the D-Day landings of 1944.

He also starred in “The Longest Day” (1962), which re-enacts the D-Day landings.

Todd was Ian Fleming‘s first choice to play the role of James Bond in the first Bond film “Dr. No.” Scheduling conflicts meantÂ he had to pass up the role, which went to Sean Connery.

Posted in Passings | No comments

Floydian Slip preview #713

Posted December 4, 2009 by Floydian Slip

speaker Join us for a special show this weekend, as we feature “The Wall” following its 30th anniversary.

We’ll be listening to the second album of that two-disc set — along with an unreleased demo thrown in for good measure.

Hear it:

Saturdays

10-11 p.m., WBKM
11 p.m.-midnight, ErrorFM Channel 1 “Personality Radio”

Sundays

1-2 p.m. (NEW TIME), ErrorFM Channel 1 “Personality Radio”
8-9 p.m., WIZN 106.7 FM, Burlington, Vt.

Posted in Radio show, Show preview | No comments

Eric Woolfson dead at 64

Posted December 3, 2009 by Floydian Slip

Eric Woolfson, co-founder of The Alan Parsons Project, has died of cancer in London. He was 64.

Parsons was perhaps best known as the engineer of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” when he started his collaboration with Woolfson in the early-’70s.

The two went on to record 10 albums together.

Read the BBC’s story about him.

Posted in Passings | 2 comments

“Dark Side” returns to Billboard 200

Posted December 3, 2009 by Floydian Slip

billboard chart As we predicted a few weeks ago, Pink Floyd’s venerable “Dark Side of the Moon” album returned to the Billboard 200 chart this week, after a change in the magazine’s methodology forced it off the list in 1988.

“Dark Side” returned for its 742nd week on the chart, appearing at #189. Its last week on the chart was Oct. 8, 1988.

Billboard recently began basing its chart on Nielsen SoundScan sales data, an all-inclusive list that disregards release date. This change was responsible for the album’s return. (Read more about the change in our previous post.)

The album, which debuted on the chart March 17, 1973, is the longest charting album in Billboard history — by far:

“Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd (1973), 742 weeks
“Johnny’s Greatest Hits,” Johnny Mathis (1958), 490 weeks
“My Fair Lady,” Original Cast (1956), 480 weeks
“Highlights From the Phantom of the Opera,” Original Cast (1990), 331 weeks
“Tapestry,” Carole King (1971), 302 weeks

Posted in Misc | 2 comments

Flaming Lips to do “Dark Side” live

Posted December 2, 2009 by Floydian Slip

flaming lips poster Oklahoma prog-psych rockers The Flaming Lips will perform Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety.

The show will take place New Year’s Eve at Oklahoma City’s Cox Center beginning at midnight.

Stardeath and White Dwarfs, a band that features Lips frontman Wayne Coyne‘s nephew, is also on the bill.

The Flaming Lips have recorded a cover of the entire “Dark Side” album, which will be released on iTunes and the like soon.

Posted in Events | No comments

Rare Pink Floyd TV footage discovered

Posted December 2, 2009 by Floydian Slip

video reel Rare footage of Pink Floyd performing during a 1967 TV broadcast of “Top of the Pops” has recently been discovered in an anonymous collector’s stash by archivist Bill Harrison.

The heavily damaged one-inch reel-to-reel tape is from the July 6 and 27, 1967, broadcasts of the British television show. It shows the band, with Syd Barrett, performing “See Emily Play.”

The tape has been restored and will be shown at the British Film Institute (BFI) South Bank’s “Missing Believed Wiped” event to be held Jan. 9 in London. The performance hasn’t been seen since its original broadcast more than 40 years ago.

BFI’s Dick Fiddy told Mojo magazine, ”We gave the tape to the archive boffins. It was in a dreadful condition, with the oxide falling off. The best possible picture quality was recovered.”

BFI curator Steve Bryant said, “This is an enormously significant discovery that will generate huge interest amongst music fans all over the world, even though the surviving material is in poor condition.

“Footage of Pink Floyd from this era is extremely rare.”

BBC footage from the 1960s and ’70s is hard to find because the network often recorded over old tape or simply threw it out.

Posted in Misc | No comments