The Dark Side of the Moo

Not to be confused with The Dark Side of the Moon.

The Dark Side of the Moo
Compilation album (bootleg) by Pink Floyd
Recorded	1967-1971
Genre	Psychedelic rock Progressive rock
Length	44:23
Label	Trixie Records
Producer	Norman Smith Pink Floyd

The Dark Side of the Moo is an early bootleg recording of the English progressive rock group Pink Floyd, featuring recordings not available on albums released in the US. Technically speaking, it is actually a pirate recording as it contains copyrighted recordings that had at least one commercial release.

The name is an obvious pun on The Dark Side of the Moon, the band's most commercially successful album, and the front cover of Atom Heart Mother, which featured a cow.

Background

The album was created by an anonymous label known as "Trixie Records" by a bootlegger known as "Richard", and to avoid detection by authorities, used an early name for the group, "The Screaming Abdabs" on the record label. "Richard" created the bootleg because he was frustrated at the amount of material that had been released by the band, but had not found its way onto any widely available album, even compilations such as Relics, or even seen a US release. He admitted, though, that a key motivation for creating it was for the cover, for which he created his own photograph of a cow in a field.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Reviewing the bootleg, Ritchie Unterberger recommended it for fans trying to complete a collection of Floyd recordings, saying "If you're not inclined to spend an additional 50 dollars or so tracking these down, it certainly makes sense to spring for this, if you can find it." The record was alleged to have sold 15,000 copies, and was praised for its high fidelity. "Richard" claimed it was the best selling bootleg out of several he produced, and was still selling it in the mid-nineties, years after its release.

Although some of the tracks are now more widely available than when the bootleg was first issued, some, such as "Point Me at the Sky", have still not been released on a regular album (in 1992, "Point Me at the Sky" was issued as part of the bonus disc 'The Early Singles' on the 'Shine On' box set).

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original release	Length
1.	"Astronomy Domine"	Syd Barrett	UK release of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Unreleased in the US	4:08
2.	"Candy and a Currant Bun"	Barrett	B-side of "Arnold Layne"	2:43
3.	"Apples and Oranges"	Barrett	Single	3:01
4.	"It Would Be So Nice"	Richard Wright	Single	3:41
5.	"Interstellar Overdrive"	Barrett, Roger Waters, Wright, Nick Mason	Soundtrack recording from the film Tonite Lets All Make Love in London	3:04
6.	"Scream Thy Last Scream"	Barrett	Unreleased	4:44

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original release	Length
7.	"Heart Beat, Pig Meat"	Waters, Wright, David Gilmour, Mason	Soundtrack recording from the film Zabriskie Point	3:09
8.	"Crumbling Land"	Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason	Soundtrack recording from the film Zabriskie Point	4:12
9.	"Embryo"	Waters	From Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air. Later released in the US on Works	4:39
10.	"Point Me at the Sky"	Waters, Gilmour	Single	3:27
11.	"Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up"	Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason	Soundtrack recording from the film Zabriskie Point	4:57
12.	"Mademoiselle Nobs"	Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason	Soundtrack recording from the film Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii	1:50

External links

• The Dark Side of the Moo at Discogs