Pink Floyd Stream Wembley November 1974 Concert; Release Early “Dark Side” Mix, Rare Cuts; Fly Pig In London; Plan “Lost Syd” Releases – Plus, Jimmy Fallon Tributes

“There are a couple of things [by Syd Barrett] that weren’t released; they were sort of bootlegged, and they are occasionally available on illegal downloads, but there were a couple of songs that were never finished –- “Vegetable Man,” “Old Woman With a Casket,” all that kind of stuff. It would be better if we did it ourselves, master it as well as we can, rather than leave it lurking around. Also, if we do something like an “Immersion” version of the earlier stuff, there’s some demo stuff from ’66, late ’65, even. So there are a couple of nice Syd Barrett songs that would be fun to put out.”
-Nick Mason told Guitar World

On September 26th Pink Floyd launched Why Pink Floyd? – a series of reissues and rare recordings (demos, live cuts etc) – re-releasing their entire studio catalog and issuing an expanded Dark Side of the Moon box (including a pre-master “working mix”).  As first explained last May, EMI is undergoing a three-tiered reissue campaign for Floyd’s entire back catalog to target every level of fan – from the new (Discovery) to the old (Experience) to the obsessed (Immersion).  The Discovery editions for each of the band’s 14 LPs are out now, as are the Dark Side andWish You Were Here Experience and vinyl reissue editions.  So far only one other  Experience reissues has been announced:  The Wall (February 27, 2012).   Dates are forthcoming for Immersion editions set to include 5-7 discs each with DVDs and/or Blu-rays.  Many of these reissues can be won from various websites.  See the bottom of this post for contest information.  Nick Mason has also suggested a Syd Barrett box featuring unheard songs by the group’s legendary original leader is coming in 2012 (more on that below). 

To kick-off the years-long reissue campaign, the band flew their 30 foot by 15 foot inflatable pig over London the morning of September 26th, by the chimneys at Battersea Power Station – recreating Roger Waters and Hipgnosis’ iconic image on Animals’ cover.  Additionally, youtube/OfficialPinkFloyd streamed The Greatest Gig in the Sky (every hour, on the hour) - a “once-in-a-lifetime streaming event” mixing original touring film, exclusive video footage and a previously unissued soundboard recordings of Floyd playing Dark Side of the Moon at Empire Pool (now Wembley Arena) on November 15 and 16th, 1974. 

Although youtube/OfficialPinkFloyd‘s ”Greatest Gig in the Sky” stream has ended, you can still watch the entire video at the top of this page.  Click here to download the complete, unedited Wembley show from the 16th – plus other 70′s Floyd bootlegs (including the very first time they played Dark Side in January 1972, with a transcript of NME’s original review of that concert).  Finally, see Floyd’s pig fly below, followed by “the full walkthrough detailing all the exciting contents of the new remastered Dark Side Of The Moon Immersion box… available to pre-order now & released on September 26.”

wired ”Evidently, EMI feels that Generation Xbox needs to be reminded who exactly it was that triumphantly championed multimedia musical freakouts.”

“It’s a testament to not only the music but also the work of Hipgnosis and Storm Thorgerson who devised the album covers. These things have been there to both interest and puzzle people.”
-Nick Mason on his band’s long-lasting appeal

As part of a massive YouTube push, the band has also uploaded a series of short clips of Floyd images (i.e. the cow from Atom Heart Mother, the prism form Dark Side, the pig from Animals) in a variety of famous global locations (watch a few examples throughout the rest of this page).  Most bizarre is Nick Mason’s favorite youtube video playlist - which might surprise fans with choices like A Ha’s “Take On Me”. 

As part of Jimmy Fallon's "Pink Floyd Week", MGMT will be performing the early Pink Floyd classic "Lucifer Sam" (cont) tl.gd/d892v2—
MGMT Forum (@mgmtforum) September 22, 2011

Also tieing into the Why Pink Floyd? launch, Jimmy Fallon hosted a week of tributes from The Shins (Monday, September 26th, covering “Breathe”), Roger Waters with Foo Fighters (“In The Flesh” on Tuesday), MGMT (“Lucifer Sam” on Wednesday – dressed in psychedelic yellow suits and surrounded by smoke, bubbles and Bradford Cox), Dierks Bentley (“Wish You Were Here” on Thursday) and finally – the group that upon Fallon’s September 22nd announcement of the tribute week got the most reaction from the audience (and from Jimmy himself) - Pearl Jam ended the week with “Mother.”  Watch Fallon clips here.

Fav Pink Floyd song? Bike? Lucifer Sam? #Syd #PinkFloydWeek—
jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) September 27, 2011

Nick Mason recently revealed to Uncut magazine the band is also digging through the vaults for material – including never released Syd Barrett tracks – recorded circa the band’s first two albums, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets.  Said Mason, “I would love that. If we did a (re-released) version of the early stuff, we could have all those (Barrett songs), and then we’ve got some demos that were made really early on, which I think are just charming.”

Mason - who predicts the project with unheard Syd Barrett songs will be available by 2012 – commented to wired, “The feeling is rather than wait for the bootleg, it’s far better to do it properly and on our own terms.” 

According to Ultimateclassicrock, on September 7th“the first new songs from Pink Floyd‘s massive upcoming ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ box set… hit the radio airwaves, including live versions of five songs from a 1974 London concert and a previously unreleased demo version of ‘Money.’  The concert versions of ‘Breathe,’ ‘Time,’ ‘Money,’ ‘Brain Damage/Eclipse’ and ‘Us and Them’ show the band stretching the boundaries of their then just-released and impeccably crafted studio masterpiece into a (very slightly) rougher live presentation. The extended breakdown section of ‘Money,’ featuring the expected excellent guitar work from David Gilmour, is a particular highlight.
Hearing Roger Waters pluck out a brief solo rendition of ‘Money’ on acoustic guitar offers another tantalizing hint of the treasures to come on the massive six-disc ‘Immersion’ edition of ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ The box set is an early highlight of the band’s massive re-issue campaign, which will feature single-disc editions of every Pink Floyd album, as well as two-disc and box set versions of ‘Dark Side,’ ‘Wish You Were Here’ and ‘The Wall.’… Be sure to listen to your local classic rock station…  for your first chance to hear these new Pink Floyd songs.”

There are numerous contests promoting Why Pink Floyd…
   ….among them:

• Enter your e-mail address at ultimateclassicrock.com for a chance to win Wish You Were Here Experience Edition. Contest ends November 24, 2011. Click here for official rules.
• Click the picture at facebook.com/urpmd and write-in your favorite Wish You Were Here track to win the 2011 vinyl master edition of that album. Contest ends November 8th.
• Subscribe and comment at superdeluxeedition.com to win Wish You Were Here Immersion Box Set.  Contest ends November 21, 2011.
• Sign up at inthestudio.net to win Wish You Were Here Immersion Box Set.
• As of November 7th, follow both Consequence of Sound and Cluster 1 on Facebook (CoS, C1) and Twitter (CoS, C1) and look for a post with a secret answer.  Reply with the right question and you could win Pink Floyd’s entire catalog...
• bumpershine.com is also giving away all 14 remastered Pink Floyd studio albums Discovery editions. Contest ends on November 15th.
• Click on the graphic below to “Like” facebook.com/TouchTunes and win the “Ultimate Pink Floyd Prize Pack”

Wired, Stereogum, and livemusicblog.com also ran similar contests in September/ October…but they are now expired…

Follow “Why Pink Floyd?” updates, contests, tributes to the band, and unreleased Syd @FutureHeartDay