News

On March 24, Warner Music/Sony Music will release Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon” as a deluxe box set to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The boxset will include a CD and gatefold vinyl edition of a new 2023 remastered studio album; and Blu-Ray and DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The set will also include an additional new Blu-ray disc of an “Atmos” mix, plus a CD and LP of “The Dark Side of the Moon — Live at Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974.”

They will also issue the live Wembley performance as a stand-alone CD and vinyl release. That performance was recorded in November 1974 as part of the band’s winter tour. This is the first time it will be available as a stand-alone album, with artwork featuring an original 1973 line-drawn cover by original sleeve artist George Hardie.

The album was partly developed during live performances. The band premiered an early version of the suite at London’s Rainbow Theatre several months before recording began. “Dark Side” is the eighth studio album by Floyd, originally released in the U.S. on March 1, 1973, and then in the UK on March 16. The material was recorded in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London.

Animation competition

The 50th anniversary will also be celebrated as Floyd invite animators to enter a competition to create music videos for any of the 10 songs from the album. Animators can enter up to 10 videos, one per song on the album. A winner will be selected from a panel of experts that includes drummer Nick Mason, Floyd creative director Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell,  and the British Film Institute. Deadline for submissions is Nov. 30, 2023. To enter and for more information go to https://www.pinkfloyd.com/competition/.

Planetarium shows

On Feb. 27, 1973, EMI Records held a press conference for the debut of “Dark Side” at the London Planetarium. Now an official full-dome experience with visuals of the solar system and beyond displayed during 42 minutes of “Dark Side” will be released in planetariums around the world in March.

The show will be divided among the 10 tracks of the album, in chronological order, each with a different theme: some looking forward and some a retro acknowledgment of Floyd’s visual history, all relating to time and space.

Companion book

Thames & Hudson will publish the book “Pink Floyd — The Dark Side of the Moon: 50th Anniversary” to coincide with the boxset release. Curated by photographer Jill Furmanovsky and art directed by Powell, the LP-sized volume will showcase rare and previously-unseen photographs taken during the “Dark Side” tours of 1972-1975. It has been created with the involvement of the band members.

Boxset contents

CD1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Remastered 2023 by James Guthrie in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet

CD2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974
Mixed by Andy Jackson in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet

LP1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Remastered original studio album in gatefold, with original posters and stickers

LP2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974
in gatefold, with 2 posters

BLU-RAY 1 (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes, in dedicated wallet:

1. 5.1 Surround Mix – 24bit/96kHz Uncompressed
2. Stereo Mix – 24bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. 5.1 Surround Mix – dts-HD MA
4. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

BLU-RAY 2 (AUDIO)
Original album Atmos and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes, in dedicated wallet.

1. Dolby Atmos Mix
2. Stereo Mix – 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

DVD (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and remastered stereo mixes, in dedicated wallet:

1. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @448 kbps
2. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @640 kbps
3. Stereo Mix (LPCM) – 24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed

160-PAGE THAMES & HUDSON HARDBACK BOOK
with rare black and white photographs from the 1972-1975 tours of the U.K. and the U.S. taken by Furmanovsky, Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell, and Storm Thorgerson

76-PAGE MUSIC BOOK
of original album

MEMORABILIA:
REPLICAS OF 2×7” SINGLES
in Harvest bags:
7″ Single 1 Money/Any Colour You Like
7″ Single 2 Us And Them/Time

REPLICA OF EMI PAMPHLET AND INVITE TO THE PREVIEW OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AT THE LONDON PLANETARIUM ON FEBRUARY, 27 1973

Pre-order here

Join us this week for Floydian Slip #1385:

It’s our annual Halloween special: “Scream Thy Last Scream.” Join us for an hour on the creepy side of the moon.

“Floydian Slip” is heard across the 110 stations of our Random Precision Radio Network. Learn where and when to listen.

Ed Lopez-Reyes has launched PubliusEnigma.co.uk, a website focused on Pink Floyd’s post-1983 work, along with solo work from the band’s alumni.

He describes the project as an academic approach to understanding the music in the era that began with The Final Cut. “The idea is to provide a resource that spans Pink Floyd’s ‘David Gilmour era’, from the departure of Roger Waters through today,” he says.

“This period set the stage for the longest era in the band’s history and for each band member’s most prolific work outside the band itself.”

Lopez-Reyes was a contributor and editor of Martin Popoff’s 2018 book “Pink Floyd: Album by Album.” His writing’s been published on Floyd fan website Brain Damage UK, as well as right here on the “Floydian Slip” news feed.

The site includes new interviews with Floyd background vocalists The McBroom Sisters; Bjørn Riis, vocalist/guitarist for Norwegian band Airbag and publisher of Gimourish.com; Floyd saxophonist and rhythm guitar player Scott Page; and Floyd collaborator Jon Carin.

Lopez-Reyes has created a presence for the site on social media platforms as well, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@publiusenigmauk).

Publius Enigma is a donated Wolf & King Media project under the direction of Lopez-Reyes. The site features photography by Marie Lopez and artwork by Ahmed Emad Eldin, designer of the album cover for Pink Floyd’s The Endless River.

Register now to win a copy of the new autobiography of Pink Floyd illustrator Gerald Scarfe: “Long Drawn Out Trip.”

Prizes courtesy of Little, Brown Book Group.

Register now. Deadline to enter, end of day Sunday, Jan. 12.

“Floydian Slip” will begin airing on WMEQ 92.1 FM In Eau Claire, Wisc., starting Saturday, Oct. 19. The station will carry the show Saturday mornings at 9 CT.

“Classic Rock 92.1” is a 17,500-watt classic rock station owned by iHeartMedia Inc. and serving west-central Wisconsin. iHeartMedia owns more than 800 radio stations, but WMEQ is only the second station in the company’s fleet to ever have carried “Floydian Slip.”

Our show is also heard in Eau Claire on WDRK 99.9 FM. Thanks to WDRK and WMEQ for allowing us to eschew our standard market exclusivity clause to bring you twice as much Floyd.

WMEQ is the latest station to join the Random Precision Radio Network, a collection of more than 100 broadcasters that air “Floydian Slip,” produced in our Shelburne, Vt., studio.

Shine on, Eau Claire!

Congratulations to our winners to see “Roger Waters Us+ Them” at Palace 9 Cinemas in South Burlington, Vt., tonight:

• Michael Camp, Burlington
• Rudy Chase, Craftsbury
• Deb Hartshorn, Shelburne
• Jared Pendak, Bradford
• Tony Tanneberger, St. Albans Bay

The answer to the contest trivia question: “Who joined Roger Waters in answering questions submitted by fans in ‘The Simple Truth,’ a featurette that accompanied the 2015 film ‘Roger Waters’ The Wall?'” That was drummer Nick Mason.

Thanks to Palace Cinema 9 for the prizes.