The following article was kindly written by Charles Beterams, a self-confessed Pink Floyd addict and owner of FloydStuff.com, an online store stuffed full of PF goodies. Charles supplied the pictures (below) from the opening event as well. He's also the man behind a range of excellent books about the band, with the latest book - Any Colour You Like: The Dark Side Of The Moon On Vinyl - the result of Stefano Tarquini's lifelong quest and gathers together the 700 currently known variations of Pink Floyd's masterpiece on record.

The Groninger Museum in the northern city of Groningen has become somewhat of a centre for interesting musical exhibitions. Following on from the highly successful David Bowie exhibition and a recent one on the Rolling Stones (which will see a reprise later this year) the museum - lead by director Andreas Blühm - was nominated for hosting the Their Mortal Remains exhibition. Despite the museum's spacious rooms the exhibit didn't fit in terms of size and especially height.

Following discussions with Aubrey 'Po' Powell who curated the Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains in London and subsequent cities across the globe, a plan was raised to focus on the visual side of things and create a new exhibition on Hipgnosis. The result of that can be seen (or absorbed) until 14 May in no less than eight rooms in the Mendini Pavillion of the museum.

The opening event to place in the presence of Aubrey Powell, Peter Curzon and Pink Floyd's curator Paula Webb Stainton and also attracted people like photographer Claude Vanheye who took the famous 1968 shots of the band during their visit to Amsterdam. Director Andreas Blühm introduced Aubrey Powell who discussed the hard work it was to get all those sleeves done in an pre-digital era but with enormous budgets on the other hand.

With the close connection between the band and Hipgnosis showed in the large presence of Pink Floyd in the exhibition with the largest room fully dedicated to The Dark Side Of The Moon, but also highlighting Wish You Were Here, Animals and two beautiful walls with front of house and backstage photos. Other artists featured in the exhibition include Paul McCartney, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and 10CC.

Both the city of Groningen and the exhibition are well worth a visit. Details and directions can be found at groningermuseum.nl

 

 

 

 

Very sad news late last night - the legendary David Crosby has died. He was 81. In recent years, Crosby collaborated with David Gilmour, singing on Gilmour's solo albums On An Island and Rattle That Lock, and joining Gilmour on tour as well in selected venues alongside Graham Nash.

Crosby had a long career in music; he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with both bands albums selling over 35 million copies, but also had a successful solo career. David Gilmour's Remember That Night live DVD captures Crosby in fine form - as he was on the other shows he joined Gilmour in. Last night, Gilmour posted his own tribute to Crosby:

Following on from this week's teaser videos, and whispers and rumours abounding, the official announcement has been made today for Pink Floyd's celebration of the 50 years since the release of The Dark Side Of The Moon.

Apart from a deluxe box set, which is released on March 24th, 2023, there are also standalone releases, Planetarium presentations of the album, and a competition aimed at animators. Rest assured, we have all the details for you here. First, the box set:

As you might be able to determine from the picture, the new deluxe box set includes a CD and gatefold vinyl of the new 2023 remastered studio album, and Blu-Ray and DVD audio discs featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The set also includes an additional Blu-ray disc of the new Atmos mix plus a CD and vinyl (for the first time) of The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. There's also a 76-page music book, replicas of two 7" singles, posters, stickers, a replica invite to the press preview of the album at London Planetarium in February 1973, and Thames & Hudson's 160-page hardback book with rare and previously unseen photographs from the 1972-1975 tours taken by Jill Furmanovsky, Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell, and Storm Thorgerson. For full details - and ordering details - please see below.

On the same day, 24th March, the CD and LP of The Dark Side Of The Moon - Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 will be released separately from the box set. It was originally recorded in November 1974 as part of the band's winter tour and this is the first time it will be available as a stand-alone album, with artwork featuring an original 1973 line-drawn cover by George Hardie.

The book Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon: 50th Anniversary (which we talked about here on 14th October 2022) will also be published separately by Thames & Hudson on 24th March 2023 to coincide with the box set release (which includes it). Curated by photographer Jill Furmanovsky and art directed by Hipgnosis co-founder Aubrey Powell, this LP-sized volume showcases rare and previously unseen photographs taken during The Dark Side Of The Moon tours of 1972-1975 and was created with the involvement of the band members.

The 50th Anniversary release will also be celebrated as Pink Floyd have invited a new generation of animators to enter a competition to create music videos for any of the 10 songs on the iconic 1973 album. Pink Floyd has a rich history of collaborating with animators from the beginnings of the band (Ian Emes, Gerald Scarfe etc.), and in some cases the visuals that accompany the songs have become synonymous with the music itself. The 50th Anniversary will be no exception.

Just appeared this afternoon: a very short, intriguing teaser for the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd's iconic album, The Dark Side Of The Moon. With its release in March 1973, it is clear that this momentous anniversary is not to go unmarked. As teasers go, it is probably one of the least revealing ever! Should there be more, we will update this story...

Update: a second one was added on Tuesday, and gives a date of March 2023. Will there be more information, or another teaser, today? We shall have to wait and see...

Update: yes - another teaser and seems to be the final one, as retailers look to be starting to list products. We'll have full details later today!