Picture this. It’s mid-nineties, yours truly is browsing the vinyl selection at Record Reunion….then some guy (who looks like Jay or Silent Bob with long hair and resplendent backwards baseball cap) strikes up a random conversation.
Unidentified Dude: Hey, dude, did you hear about that new Pink Floyd thing?
Author: Ummm….no?
UD.: Dude, where have you been? It’s all over the news!
Author: What is?
UD: Get this…Dark Side of the Moon, man….it’s a secret soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz!
Author: Yeah, right – – and the album Wish You Were Here is one for Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
UD: (staring coldly) Whoa….seriously??
Smart ass comment aside, there really was an urban legend that surfaced about syncing The Floyd’s epic, mega-platinum-album and the film with the flying monkeys. Supposedly, you started the album at the MGM lion’s third roar and there were all of these crazy coincidences that took place between the music and the movie. I watched about 20 minutes of this today (thanks, COVID!) and was pretty underwhelmed. Maybe being sober while watching it was my mistake.
It’s a pretty wild idea. Apparently a newspaper writer in Indiana gets credit for this urban legend. Supposedly the song “Brain Damage” goes nicely with Dorothy’s chance meeting with the Scarecrow.
According to Wikipedia, this Floyd-Oz sync is referred to as “Dark Side of the Rainbow – also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd.” The whole idea is kind of crazy if you ask me, but that’s what makes it an interesting topic of discussion. Apparently, a guy named Griffin McElRoy spoofed the whole thing by supposedly doing a sync between the album and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. Give the guy some credit!
Oz or no-Oz, my favorite cut on Dark Side of the Moon is “Time.” I think the lyrics are great and the guitar playing of David Gilmour is great. The bass intro is fantastic as well. It’s epic.
I think the alarm clock beginning to the song is pretty clever/unique, but it seems to overshadow the song itself. One time I heard a guitar player say “That’s a special effects song”. Is it, really? I think an acoustic or more stripped down version would still work.
Back to the whole Oz thing…is this what happens when your art reaches THAT LEVEL of mainstream popularity? If that’s the case, then the Paul Blart guy may be onto something. How come none of the five-thousand Star Wars films have made the list? Surely, Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” has to sync with Princess Leia and Han Solo, right? Or what about Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara? I’d like to say more, but I’ve got to sync The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” with Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!
Mojo Horizon 
I have heard this for a long time. I wonder after this rumor came out if some band REALLY did do it…or try it.
Pink Floyd was probably a band that would have tried something like that…I guess that made it plausible.
When I was watching that video…it did look like some fit lol…and I’m not wasted.
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There’s a quote from Alan Parsons who says the whole idea is basically rubbish. The Wikipedia entry mentions other supposed examples of albums that go with films.
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