The only Pink Floyd song to go to number one
In their time, Pink Floyd have achieved artistic feats that are the stuff of legend. Whether it be conceiving some of the wildest psychedelia of the 1960s during their Syd Barrett-fronted period or mastering the concept album with the likes of 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon, the band have a distinct career arc. It’s arguably the second greatest in music after The Beatles. Accordingly, there is much excitement found in their oeuvre.
Pushing themselves, the studio and the live setting to its limits, Pink Floyd’s secret weapon was always their desire to keep moving. This saw them segue from the freak-out bursts of the Barrett era to the refinement of the Roger Waters-directed chapter in the blink of an eye. Between the pinnacles of both periods, each release strengthened and offered a more robust account of the group’s combined power.
Naturally, the debate over their best album has been raging for decades, with the usual suspects being The Piper, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. I’ve always thought 1971’s Meddle is an underrated moment, a bridge between their early period and the cerebral brilliance of what was to come.
Regardless, it’s a testament to Pink Floyd’s efforts that they have so many moments of note outside of their most famous ones. A widely influential band, cited as heroes by a range of artists such as Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie and Queen, it seems unfathomable that they’ve only had one song go to number one, despite their experimental angle. Alas, it is true.
Unsurprisingly, the disco-inflected ‘Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2’ holds the accolade. Arriving with a timeless guitar line, funky bassline and hooky chorus, it had all the ingredients to top the singles charts in fourteen countries, including the US and UK. It has sold over four million copies worldwide to this day.
Displaying how the band always had their finger on the pulse – which led to them enjoying greater longevity than many of their peers from the 1960s – it was producer Bob Ezrin who suggested that they flirt with elements of disco in the track, a popular genre at the time. Sensing he wa s onto something, they heeded his advice.
Gilmour recalled: “[Ezrin] said to me, ‘Go to a couple of clubs and listen to what’s happening with disco music,’ so I forced myself out and listened to loud, four-to-the-bar bass drums and stuff and thought, ‘Gawd, awful!’ Then we went back and tried to turn one of the parts into one of those so it would be catchy.”
Listen to the track below.
