I synchronized the "Dark Side of the Moon" album with 1978 movie, "The Wiz", so you don’t have to. You know the old wive’s tale where you synchronize "The Wizard of Oz" with "Dark Side" and they actually are kind of synchronized with a few lyrics matching here and a few camera cuts there when the guitar solo starts? Well, I wanted to do that, but bring some flare into the mix by doing it with a movie starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and some other greats of the time. It’s basically Motown’s version of "The Wizard of Oz".
My copy of "Dark Side" is a re-issue, which came with some cool posters and was pressed on 180 gram vinyl. After lighting Tibetan amber incense, which basically makes your apartment smell like your local record store, and starting the album and the movie at the exact same moment with a couple of my buddies, we were ready for a synchronized fun-filled time.
My experiment of mixing this record and a movie half-worked or half didn’t work. It really depends on what kind of water drinker you are. The beginning of the movie lags for the most part and is slow to get Dorothy to Oz. I had to stop the movie to flip the record when she met the munchkins or "graffitians" or whatever, and the album was over by the time the movie was done introducing Michael Jackson… er… or… the scarecrow.
The movie itself was weird to look at, and the album’s psychedelic journey takes you on match well at times, but we ran into the problem of there being far more movie than there was album. So my experiment failed and, at one point, I considered throwing on "The Wall" or even a Cream album to see if anything would happen.
What this means is I’ll just have to go back to my laboratory, uhm, I mean my record collection, and find a movie that will match with the record. I’m sure there is one out there. Maybe "Led Zeppelin III" is synchronized to "The Longest Day" or "The Wall" is mysteriously synched to that movie the Wall. We’ll never know unless you, yes, you, the reader, picks up some of the slack.
So, grab a few of your friends, your favorite record and movie and synchronize the two. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t work. But by the end of the day, you sat with some friends and listened to a record. Does that sound so bad?
Tweet or email me your experiences about synchronizing an album and movie of your choice and you’ll be featured here. Yes, you. Or, you. Maybe even you, way over there!
Reach the writer for suggestions, comments, or angry lofty demands via twitter @jesse_millard or at jamillar@asu.edu.
Jesse Millard, junior, is a journalism major at the school where everyone wears gold “a bit too much.” He spends his time going to class, drinking coffee, listening to records, reading, writing, etc. Also, he finds himself writing quick 2-3 sentence long bios in the third person, more often than not.
