As I have said before, I’m not a huge fan of current musical trends. Call me old and crotchety, but I prefer music with some depth to it and, as far as I’m concerned, there is not much of that to be found today, in any  genre. So why not explore one of the greatest and most influential recordings of all time? I’m referring, of course, to Pink Floyd’s 1973 release, “The Dark Side of the Moon”.

Rather than boring you with an exhaustive dive into the ground-breaking engineering and inspired writing that went into the production and composition of the recording, I present 10 pieces of trivia of which most people are probably unaware:

1. This was the first Pink Floyd album with Roger Waters as the sole lyricist – He had been contributing lyrics since 1968’s “A Saucerful of Secrets”, but Dark Side was the first album where he wrote the words to every song.
2. The album was nearly released under a different name -“Dark Side” was the name the band originally intended to use-the title referring to lunacy, not outer space as many assume- but the British heavy rock band Medicine Head released an album of that name in 1972, so the band changed the name to “Eclipse”. When the other band’s album failed commercially, Pink Floyd returned to their original title
3. Pink Floyd performed the entire album in concert almost a full year before its release –The band performed it-in its entirety and using the same order as the eventual release- January 20, 1972 at the Brighton Dome and included it in the rest of their 1972 tour dates
4. The original live arrangement of “On the Run” sounded nothing like the album version – Of all the songs performed live by the band on its 1972 tour, “On the Run” was most transformed in the studio prior to the album’s release. It was originally a guitar-driven jam, but received a major rework, with the assistance of, among other things,  an EMS Synthi AKS synthesizer
5. “Money” was influenced by the American band Booker T and the MGs – Arguably the most well known track on the album, David Gilmour was a huge fan of Booker T, having played the band’s hit “Green Onion” on stage in his previous group. The song is the most recognizable on the album, with its 7/4 time signature, Water’s fantastic bass riff, Gilmour’s inspired guitar lead and Dick Parry’s saxophone solo. And who can forget the sound of ringing cash registers and rattling coins that make up the opening bars?
6. Paul and Linda McCartney contributed to the album – The Abbey Road staff, road crew members and anyone else working in the studio at the time were recorded, all responding to the same series of questions. Their answers did not make it onto the album, as Roger Waters felt they were trying too hard to be comical, rather than simply providing honest answers to the questions asked
7. “Us and Them” was a reject from the film “Zabriskie Point” – The song was written as a piano and bass instrumental for that film, but the director felt it didn’t fit
8. The Silver Surfer was considered for the album cover – The band members were all fans of Marvel Comics and toyed with the idea of using the comic hero but thought they would never get permission. When they saw the prism as part of a package of ideas presented by the album cover designer, they immediately agreed, without dissent, on using it
9. “Dark Side of the Moon” was the first Pink Floyd album to break into the US top 40 – The band’s previous seven albums didn’t get very far; their biggest hit, “Obscured by Clouds”, reaching number 46 on the Billboard 200 in the summer of 1972. “Dark Side”, however, was a massive hit. Although it spent only one week in the number one spot, the album spent an incredible 736 non-consecutive weeks in the Billboard 200 chart. As of April 2013, the album had sold 9,502,000 copies in the US since 1991, when Neilson SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard. One in every fourteen people in the US under the age of 50 is estimated to either own, or have owned, a copy. The album is certified 15x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album continues to be a huge seller; on a “slow week”, between 8,000 and 9,000 copies are sold!
10. Proceeds from the Album helped fund “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” – The band members often spent their free time watching “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” on BBC2. When the British comedy troupe had trouble raising money for their film, Pink Floyd-flush with cash from sales of “Dark Side”- were happy to contribute 10% of the £200,000 budget.

One additional piece of trivia, and a vitally important contribution to the final version of the album, was the engineer, one Alan Parsons, who garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, the album’s only entry. Before starting The Alan Parsons Project, he worked as a sound engineer at EMI Studios, original name of the studio the Beatles recorded in. Mr. Parsons also worked on “Abbey Road”(1969) and “Let it Be”(1970).

I have loved this album since first hearing it as a pimply-faced teenager. Depending on my mood at the time, I consider either “Dark Side” or “Wish You Were Here” their finest albums. I don’t mind “The Wall”, but to me it sounds too commercial, whereas their earlier releases are edgy and thought-provoking. No matter how many times I listen to either, but especially “Dark Side”, something catches my ear. Listen to “Meddle”, or “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” and compare them to “The Wall” or even “Momentary Lapse of Reason”. To me, their later offerings can’t hold a candle.