''A Collection of Great Dance Songs'' is a compilation album by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

. It was released on 23 November 1981 in the United Kingdom by

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

and in the United States by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

Content

The album contains alternative mixes of "

Shine On You Crazy Diamond "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. It appeared on Pink Floyd's 1975 concept album '' Wish You Were Here''. The song is written about and dedicated to Sy ...

" (comprised parts 1, 2, 4 and 7) and "

Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera '' The Wall,'' written by bassist Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment, and rigid and abusive schooling, features a chil ...

". "

Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

" was entirely re-recorded, as Capitol Records refused to license the track to Columbia/CBS Records. David Gilmour re-recorded the track himself, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar and vocals and co-producing the song with James Guthrie.

Dick Parry Richard Parry (born 22 December 1942) is an English saxophonist. He has appeared as a session musician on various albums, most notably in solo parts on the Pink Floyd songs "Money", " Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and " Wearing the ...

reprised his saxophone role on the track. There are some differences between the re-recorded version and the original; mainly in the saxophone and guitar solos and the overall use of reverb and Gilmour repeating "away" at the end instead of the high pitch scat singing on the original. The drumming is noticeably different from

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...

's, especially during the guitar solo, with very little of the

tom-tom A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as l ...

fills heard on the original. All songs featured in this collection are also represented (albeit not in the same mixed form) on the later collection, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''.

Title and packaging

The ironic title was a reference to the disco rhythms of "

", as well as

's joke that the band's U.S. label "probably thought they were a dance band". The album art featured a photograph of ballroom dancers anchored to the ground so they cannot move. The inner sleeve had pictures of dancers in either a white (UK) or black (US) background.

Release and reception

The album was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

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 Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

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."

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...

was less enthusiastic in ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004), writing that both this compilation and the next, 1983's ''

Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...

'', are "pointless 'hits' collections from a band that disdained hits".

Track listing

Original LP

8-track cartridge

;Program 1 ;Program 2 ;Program 3 ;Program 4

Personnel

;Pink Floyd *

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

(except on "Money" and "Sheep"),

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

on "Sheep", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II",

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guita ...

on "Sheep" * Richard Wright – keyboards and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

s (except on "Money"), backing vocals * David Gilmour –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

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", backing vocals *

– drums, vocal phrase on "One of These Days" ;Additional personnel * James Guthrie –

remastering Remaster refers to quality enhancement of sound and/or picture of a previously existing recording. Remastering may also refer to: *Software remastering Software remastering is software development that recreates system software and software appl ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

*The

Islington Green School City of London Academy Islington (COLAI, formerly Islington Green School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Islington, Greater London, England. It was established in 1966 and adopted its present name a ...

– vocals on "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" *

–

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

on "Money" *

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

– mastering and remastering *TCP (pseudonym for

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black Sabbath, UFO, 10cc, ...

) – sleeve design and photos (

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other ar ...

, Peter Christopherson, and Aubrey "Po" Powell)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Album trivia and quotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collection Of Great Dance Songs 1981 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Bob Ezrin Albums produced by David Gilmour Albums produced by Nick Mason Albums produced by Richard Wright (musician) Albums produced by Roger Waters Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson Pink Floyd compilation albums Capitol Records compilation albums Columbia Records compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums Harvest Records compilation albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios