The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Monday April 21st is Record Store Day here in the UK so there's a special post today.

This album, Piper At The Gates of Dawn, goes back a good while with me buying my first copy in March of 1981 from Mike Lloyd Records Newcastle under Lyme branch but that copy left the collection in the late 1980's.

There is something else though that made today's release special, namely that that copy I originally had was in stereo but this is in Mono.

The packaging is a bit weird in that the actual record in its sleeve goes in this special envelope that also contains a poster  

Yip, rather like that with a period poster included to no doubt to tempt record buyers and collectors to pick it up.

Record company and distribution changes can be hard to keep track of but the original lp was made by an EMI company in the UK called Columbia not to be confused with Columbia Records in America who became part of the Sony Music Group in 1991 and who now have the rights to the Magic Notes logo.

In 2013 EMI was split up after making losses with most of it going to Universal Music Group and this might of been heading that way except for Pink Floyd having the rights and licensing them to Warner Music in the UK and Europe and Sony Music in North America.

They managed to make arrangements so the historic Magic Notes Logo could be used for this issue although the original label was Black with a blue background on the Logo and "Columbia"

The reason I wanted this was because the mono mix was more complete with organ underdubs on Interstellar Overdrive a  eleven and a bit minute instrumental that I heard in junior school when it was played to us in 1974 when our teacher had taped it from his mono lp and other mix  differences abound.

There had been a mono cd reissue in 1997 but while welcome it was made louder overal than it should plus sounding a bit harsh.

This record version is much better.

In many respects the main lyricist was in a very child-like frame of mind writing this with some tracks being more like lullabies, children's stories and in the case of Astronomy Dominé, virtually a list of space systems recanted to music.