Dark Side of the Moon Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Released in March of 1973, Pink Floyd's masterpiece, The Dark Side of the Moon, turns 40 years old this month.

It stayed on the charts for approximately 5,762 weeks.

Well, close enough.

It did in fact remain on the charts for 741 weeks, from 1973 to 1988.

I remember it well, because I went through two schools and nine moves by the time it ended it's run (yes, there is gypsy blood in me somewhere).

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Dark Side has been called one of the greatest albums of all time.

Who doesn't like a good musical odyssey about greed, conflict, time, money, death and mental illness? :-D

Apparently, the band found a break from all the depressing stuff they were writing about by watching the hilarious skits of the one and only Monty Python.

According to an article about the album, engineer Alan Parsons:

credits the band’s addiction to Monty Python’s Flying Circus for his ability to work in his ideas while they were distracted. “Very often, they'd stop for Monty Python and leave me to do a rough mix,” Parsons told Rolling Stone. “That was quite fulfilling for me. I got to put my own mark on it.”

Also according to inforoo.com, "the band members swear they never watched or even thought about The Wizard of Oz while making the album."

I think we need to get Jesse Ventura on that one.