Wrestling and the IRS
The earliest memory I have of Pink Floyd also links back to one of my earliest memories of pro wrestling. If you were not aware, pro wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation (Entertainment) dominated my high school years. The starting point happened on a Saturday in 1994.
As I was channel surfing (physically hitting the up button on the cable box), I saw a muscular man fighting what appeared to be a Mountie (Canadian police). I stopped on this channel. Indeed, WWF Superstars was showing a recap of Lex Luger fighting Quebecer Jacque. He knocked him clean out with his forearm (he had a metal enforcement from a previous injury). This was very interesting to me and kept watching.
I wasn’t able to finish the show because my family had an appointment with HR Block. It was a short drive uptown and during that drive, I heard “High Hopes” from Pink Floyd’s Division Bell album. It will forever be linked in my memory to professional wrestling.
Hells Bells
My mother was a big-time Pentecostal. This was problematic for me as a youth. We could not watch MTV. My dad was immune from the filtering – so I was able to hear good music around him.
Not only was I forbid to listen to rock, but it was also perceived as the devil’s music. I was forced to go to church at least three times a week. One of these sessions included a youth group – in which other fanatical members of the church tried to scare the living shit out of you.
One of these sessions played the VHS Hells Bells. They blasted all music. Everything was fueled by satan. The Beatles were devil worshippers. Of course, Black Sabbath were murderers. Even Pink Floyd were possessed.
I remember the images from The Wall and the commentary that the children in the video were all being taken over by demons. As ridiculous as it sounds, young-adults and teens were brainwashed by this obvious propaganda.
Dark Side of Oz
One of the coolest finds and urban legends, the album Dark Side of the Moon and the movie Wizard of Oz sync up perfectly. In high school, my friends and I found out about this. Luckily, we had both the VHS and the CD at my house.
This was early high school, so I’m not sure if there were any alcohol or drugs involved, but I remember getting everything set up like a movie debut. On the third lion’s roar (MGM opening) we started the music. Sure enough, it had real moments where things worked masterfully. At that moment (true or not), I thought Pink Floyd were geniuses.
