The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
and published on Wednesday the 20th of February 1974.
Pink Floyd
A Nice Pair
At No.21, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, are Pink Floyd with A Nice Pair.
An unexpected,..
…but welcome surprise greets me as I reach the last position before entering into the Top 20.
A convergence of two historical albums, cashing in nicely on the success of Pink Floyd’s new release which is still showing healthy chart presence; this archival package focuses on the past life of this intriguing band, with their first albums getting a dust down to give their current audience something that can really blow their minds.
First up,..
…is The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
Syd’s absolute tour de force. Recorded across the studio at the exact same time as The Beatles were recording Sgt Pepper, and this is where I’m going to get a little controversial, as I that Pink Floyd’s album is the more natural successor to anything the Beatles were trying to achieve next door, and I’ll explain why I think this.
At the point where The Beatles previous album Revolver ended, with the listener paralysed, “Tomorrow Never Knows” faded out, and sitting there stunned to the spot and thinking ‘What the hell was that!”, for me, this is the Pink Floyd grabbing the concept of that track, flying with it, sending it hurtling out into the stars, past the gas giants, and exploding it into kaleidoscopic fragments, which even to this day, continue to rain down.
It has been noted that they were invited to sit in on the recording of Lovely Rita. In my opinion, it should have been the Beatles visiting them as well, and witnessing this masterpiece being crafted together. Syd’s absolute exhaustive work which I feel towers over anything else of that era. No wonder it put such a strain on him.
To me, if you’re listening to both The Beatles and Pink Floyd at around this time, it would flow naturally, if following this album, you’d then go back in The Beatles’ single “Strawberry Fields Forever” / “Penny Lane“, then the Sgt Pepper album, before progressing to Pink Floyd’s second effort.
Now heading to their follow-up album,..
…and if Piper is the concept reaching the outer planets, then A Saucerful Of Secrets witnesses the journey back and its self-destruction; literally setting the controls for the heart of the sun and plunging into be vapourized by it.
The welcome helping move to bring in David, to help carry a load which had undoubtably crushed Syd irrepairably by now, although seemingly showing faint glimmers of hope that the rest of the band were desperatly clinging on to. It begins promisingly with a bassline from Roger continuing the journey he set out on Interstellar Overdrive, but it soon becomes apparent that something isn’t quite the same as before. The band were doing their best to fill in the huge fissures which had appeared and were doing their valiant best to fill them. Although I do think Rick’s vocal does scarily have faint echoes of Syd’s own traits.
To me,..
…I see it as, with Syd’s efforts having been absolutely exhausted, it’s almost like his fate is reenacted from the pages of Arthur C. Clarke‘s novelisation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Syd himself looking upon Iapetus and falling into the abyss full of stars which will ultimately transcend him; played out by the title track of the album.
His words dying off at the end of side two are such a seemingly heartbreaking epitaph for a moment on the previous album where he’d become so spectacular, it seemed to outshine anything else surrounding it at that moment, but at a cost which, when witnessed by us mortal humans who could never begin to possibly understand the outer perimeters which Syd had experienced in his own mind, had ultimately sacrificed its own seemingly all powerful, heavily relied upon, but in reality all-too-delicate creator.
And what we are left with are two hugely important albums which bear witness to that journey. Sentinels which deserve to stand for eternity.
I like to imagine that,..
…with the discovery many years later, of diamonds which rain down on those outer gaseous planets, they are a result of that which happened and created by Syd, before the moons of Saturn consumed him, and where he became the ultimate psychedelic musical Star-Child.
I like to think that he’s still out there, but now just beyond our reach, marshaling his thoughts and brooding over his untested powers, still not quite sure what he’s going to do next. But as this world, his musical toy, continues to spin, there is absolutely no doubt in the universe that he’ll think of something.
For me, there can be no bigger fitting epitaph to his exceptionally magnificent and majestic but flawed genius than that.
The album…
…had first entered the chart last month in mid-January, but at that point, had only stayed for a fortnight.
It returned with more purpose at the beginning of this month of February, and was now climbing higher than before, with this week witnessing its highest peak so far.
From here,..
…the album will drop quite significantly, but manage to stay within the confines of the Top 40 for the early spring, until it slips once more and falls away after the 20th of April.
It will return for the first three weeks of May, almost reaching the same heights as this week, but then depart once again.
There will be the odd week during the summer months, where the album will return, like four irregular heartbeats in the next four months; but it will fall away for good after the last day of August.
Record 1 / Side 1
Record 1 / Side 2
Record 2 / Side 3
Record 2 / Side 4
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these tracks, so that together we can experience all four sides of this album release, as it was intended, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Socials
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