1981 greatest hits album by Pink Floyd

A Collection of Great Dance Songs is a compilation album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 23 November 1981 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records and in the United States by Columbia Records.

Content

The album contains alternative mixes of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (comprised parts 1, 2, 4 and 7) and "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)".

"Money" was entirely re-recorded, as Capitol Records refused to license the track to Columbia/CBS Records. David Gilmour re-recorded the track himself, playing most of the instruments, and co-produced the song with James Guthrie. Dick Parry reprised his saxophone parts on the track.

Title and packaging

House in Dungeness, where the photo for the cover was allegedly taken[1].

The ironic title was a reference to the disco rhythms of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", as well as Nick Mason`s joke that the band`s U.S. label "probably thought they were a dance band".[2] The album art featured a photograph of ballroom dancers anchored to the ground so they cannot move. The inner sleeve had pictures of dancers on either a white (UK) or black (US) background.

Release and reception

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on 29 January 1982 and Platinum on 6 July 1989 and Double Platinum in August 2001. The album reached number 37 on the United Kingdom charts and number 31 in the United States. Columbia issued the remastered CD in 1997 in the US and most of the world save Europe. Then a 1997 remastered CD was re-released in 2000 on Capitol Records in the US and EMI for the rest of the world including Europe. The album was released once again in 2016 under the band`s Pink Floyd Records imprint, distributed by Sony Music internationally and by Warner Music in Europe, and was released on LP as well as CD.

Reviewing in Christgau`s Record Guide: The `80s (1990), Robert Christgau said of the album: "With the rerecorded `Money` sporting a livelier bottom to protect them from truth-in-titling and felonious injury charges, this gathers up their tuneful moments, which have always been far between – so far between, in fact, that even the unconverted may miss the ersatz symphonic structures in which they`re properly embedded."[4] Rob Sheffield was less enthusiastic in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), writing that both this compilation and the next, 1983`s Works, are "pointless `hits` collections from a band that disdained hits".[8]

Track listing

Original LP

All tracks written or co-written by Roger Waters, co-writers listed below.

8-track cartridge

Program 1

1. "One of These Days"
2. "Wish You Were Here"

Program 2

3. "Sheep"

Program 3

4. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (Edit)

Program 4

5. "Money" (1981 re-recording)
6. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" (Edit)

Personnel

Pink Floyd

• Roger Waters – bass (except on "Money" and "Sheep"), lead vocals on "Sheep", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II", backing vocals, rhythm guitar on "Sheep"
• Richard Wright – keyboards and synthesizers (except on "Money"), backing vocals
• David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitars, lead vocals on "Wish You Were Here", "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" and "Money", bass on "One of These Days", "Money" and "Sheep", keyboards on "Money", drums on "Money", backing vocals
• Nick Mason – drums (except on "Money"), vocal phrase on "One of These Days"

Additional personnel

• James Guthrie – remastering production
• The Islington Green School – vocals on "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II"
• Dick Parry – saxophone on "Money"
• Doug Sax – mastering and remastering
• TCP (pseudonym for Hipgnosis) – sleeve design and photos (Storm Thorgerson, Peter Christopherson, and Aubrey "Po" Powell)

Charts

Weekly chart performance for A Collection of Great Dance Songs

Certifications

Certifications and sales for A Collection of Great Dance Songs