Bruce Springsteen - The River; Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life; Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Derek & The Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
I’ve listened to that song ever since it debuted and never once did the term “disco” pop into my mind. ...Update: I got quite a response to my brief off the cuff comment, so here’s my wider take on the song…yes, Another Brick in the Wall can be interpreted as disco in the broad technical sense with its 103 bpm 1/4 note kick drum throughout, as does most if not all disco songs, and Gilmours guitar rhythm was probably influenced by the sound of the late 70`s [maybe on purpose tongue in cheek], but for me that`s where it ends. Music is so much deeper than the technical. Disco as a genre is about simple dance, party, get laid, etc repeat. Pink Floyd songs when viewed in the context of their albums [as they are meant to be] take on a greater meaning. I see Brick more as a March, reminiscent of soldiers in WWII. I don`t feel a dance party vibe to this song when I view the lyrics and context of the album. I owned the vinyl record in my younger years and as was typical of the late 70`s and early 80`s, listened to it cover to cover looking for the full meaning of the song and album. That`s why the term ‘disco’ never entered my mind. It`s also why I appreciate the Professors deep dive into the song in this video. Getting the background context of how the song came about and other history is greatly appreciated.
@@ProfessorofRockyes, the kick drum is doing the straight four on the floor beat but the Bass offsets it nicely with a funky syncopation, which I suppose is my particular focus and the fact that Floyd wasn’t a disco band is the reason I never considered the disco angle. It’s all subjective of course and bands of any given era are influenced by the surrounding music culture. I must say you did a bang up job on researching the album. I love your work. You remind me so much of the late great Casey Kasem.
The Wall is one of those rare albums that takes you into an audio journey of emotions and inner reflection. Every song is a layer over layer of raw confessions of what trauma can do to someone. How your psyche breaks and and how that truly feels. This isn’t an album that you skip to your favorite song. This is an album to sit back and listen for a while.
@ProfessorofRock I was bartenders and often we would have bull sessions after closing. The question came up, what band would you most want to join us here. Unanimously Pink Floyd was our choice. Could you imagine sitting around with Pink Floyd having coffee and talking till the wee hours of the morning?
I too had a controlling mother and for many years I listened to this album, seemingly unaffected. Had a lot of trouble at school...this was an era that no one listened. I saw it at the movie theater, with my mother and my sister. I had to get up and move to sit by myself at one point. It hit so close. I went to see the stage version when Roger Waters went on tour with it about ten years ago...I started to weep early on and when that piercing scream came (you all know the one I'm talking about), I screamed as loud as I ever have in my entire life, until not another sound could come out. Couldn't talk for a whole day afterwards and people turned to look from two sections over. It was like 40 years of anger and feeling powerless all spilled out into that amphitheater, For a moment I felt levity...but I was liberated forever. Things changed. I'm now taking care of her because she has dementia and our "relationship" is more professional than familial because the old harpy has always been incapable of feeling or expressing love, kindness and respect, opting to be horrible. But I can deal with her better now because I'm the grownup of the two of us...and I often think of how fortunate she is that I don't have any speck of her in my personality, I cannot bring myself to be mean and nasty, and I seriously doubt she is aware that the movie she complained about and told me I was an idiot for wanting to see had some turn in the fact that she isn't sitting in a nursing home right now. If you have a loving, good mother...go tell her right now you love and appreciate her. Anyway, excellent episode, Professor! I'd love to see you do an exclusive 27 Club special!
Thank god my mom is still with me. She’s a parent advocate who works with children with disabilities in grades K-12. I am grateful for what she does for us every day.
I had some issues with my mother and had to work through them after her passing. What helped me heal was forgiving her, not always because she deserved it, but because I did. Also, try to remember how people used to be raised 70 or 80 years ago. It was usually a lot of "spare the whip, spoil the child". Your mom likely went through a lot of trauma herself. Understanding that can help you put it in context and move on and not repeat the patterns in your own life. Be well.
My favorite part of the album is the ultimate admission that our emotional defenses developed in childhood will even push away those trying to love us or help us. “All alone, or in two's The ones who really love you Walk up and down outside the wall Some hand in hand And some gathered together in bands The bleeding hearts and the artists Make their stand And when they've given you their all Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall”
I was a junior in HS when this was released. It instantly became our schools 'song'. Most of the teachers liked it also. And it was played at my graduation, with everyone in attendance signing it. Everyone knew what it meant and almost everyone agreed.
Cool! I was in grade 9 at the time. We had an assembly and the grade 10s set up a screen in the gym and they played this. We all sang along, but what I loved the most was some of the teachers singing along too. Fondly stuck in my memory
I was introduced to The Wall my freshman year of high school in ‘79. That was also my first exposure to Pink Floyd. That changed my life! I am not kidding. They have become my favorite band. (Not many bands can repeatedly bring you to tears due to their music and lyrics. it pierced my soul.) All credit goes to Mark Whipple, who was a senior in architecture class my freshman year, who told me I needed to listen to that album. I have never been the same. God bless you for creating this channel!
Goes to show how Pink Floyd, especially in what could be considered their prime, were such a versatile band. Legendary for all reasons, and prog would certainly not be the same without them.
For having random kids from a struggling school, those kids sounded spot on. It always amazes me how those in the music industry can put together something that is just an idea into something that we can’t stop listening to. Pink will always be my favourite band just for how it transformed my thinking about music and how it hasn’t lost its impact over my 30 years of listening to it. I loved it when I was partying and I love it even more now that I’m sober. Not many bands can be that transitional with the same music. Just mind blowing is what Pink Floyd is.
This is a most welcome upload. As a drummer, RUSH is my favorite band, but as a person, Pink Floyd has no rival. Where I grew up, it was a right of passage to drop acid and go see Pink Floyd - The Wall at the midnight movies. (How I miss the midnight movies! Every Friday and Saturday nights all doors to the Malls were locked except those serving the movie theatres. The choices were always the same: Pink Floyd - The Wall, Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same, Heavy Metal, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) To have been in high-school while the anthem "We don't need no education" was regular radio play was a time like no other. This album was the background music of some of the greatest parties I ever attended. I simply cannot imagine navigating life without Pink Floyd.
Everything you said except “ as a drummer “ should read, “ as a guitarist “ ….. is ME. Are you my lost twin 😄 I can completely relate to all of that 👍🏻
Australian Pink Floyd show is also really good and the crowd sang it at the overzealous ushers quite a few times. Seeing Britt Floyd again in a month so in LA Looking forward to it. Sure it’s not the actual band but it’s a lot of fun.
“It freaked me out” is exactly how I felt. I was very young and I loved this album but felt disturbed by it at the same time. My father was an abusive alcoholic with superb taste in music. Much of my favorite music is influenced by the soundtrack of my dad’s music and a traumatic childhood of my own. Pink Floyd was mesmerizing. As a powerless child, hearing those children shouting, “We don’t need no education! We don’t need no thought control! Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!” was most likely what started me on my way to questioning unjust rules and authority figures in my life who hadn’t earned my respect. Thank you for featuring this song.
How rock and roll is that! To sneak that children's choir out of school to make this smash hit especially saying we don't need no education, a classic double negative! I remember when I was in high school someone sneaking a copy of the wall in the office and playing it over the pa system throughout the school for a couple minutes before they heard the needle scratch across the vinyl, lol. Pink Floyd episodes are always great because they are so deep with everything that went on. Great episode professor!!
@@ProfessorofRock I grew up in the era when teachers could physically punish you and many of them took full advantage of it. Not saying I may have done things right but I have been paddled for things as small as not doing a homework assignment and leaving my seat without permission. Some of those teachers could really swat too
I had never thought about it before but it turns out I was the same age as those kids that recorded those iconic background vocals. The Wall was already my favorite Pink Floyd album but now you've given me a bit of info that makes it an even stronger favorite. I loved the story how the music teacher took them out of class without permission. It reminded me of School of Rock!
When I went to see The Wall when it premiered at the theater, there was a line of people waiting to get in, all chatting and laughing. When the movie was over, nobody was saying a word as we all walked out, shell-shocked.
I remember the usher having to come out after the movie and tell us it was over and it was time to leave. It was such a mesmerizing film.... And I wasn't even high.....
So I am one of the biggest fans of Pink Floyd who's ever existed. The album The Wall, and Pink Floyd's music in general, changed my life forever, when I was 15 years old. I am dyslexic and disgraphic. Throughout my childhood, my home family situation, and school was an absolute nightmare for me. When I heard The Wall, it was like someone actually understood what I was going through inside. It helped me to open up about things, and to cope with my own trauma and rage within, in ways that I don't think any counseling ever could have accomplished. That being said... stories about The Wall, and even about Pink Floyd in general, are a bit warn out... HOWEVER... THIS is one of the VERY BEST break downs of the album The Wall, that I have ever heard! This video you've created, is a MUST SEE for anyone who's ever been a fan of The Wall, and or of Pink Floyd... and even for people who have never before heard the album! I'm so happy I took the time to watch this! Your videos are always wonderful, and you always put so much thought and research and understanding into your videos, but this one really is next level. You're an amazing human being, and an amazing RUclipsr! Thank you Adam, AKA Professor of Rock!
I was in my early twenties when this slapped us in the face. With the Bob Geldof movie it was a double hit. How great life was... All the Pink Floyd concerts I attended including "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals", this one was literally jaw dropping. And I know how to use the word "literally", my friend reached over and closed my mouth a couple of times! And the cop whom I thought came over to take my joint away, ended up sitting next to me on the stairs and took a hit and gave it back! The Floyd got him...😁
Remember lying down beside the speakers countless times, listening to the sound of the helicopter the happiest days of our lives and then the ultimate burst of ABITW part 2, forty years later I still get chills listening to it. Three of greatest albums that has stayed with me until 62 years of age alternates between The Wall, Dark Side of The Moon and Wish U were Here
I was 6, I can still remember what the pizzeria looked like in Kirkland WA. I got to pick a song from a jukebox and I liked the title. When the bass hits that funk sound I danced openly. In 1979 funk was my favorite. That’s the first memory I have of the song 😁
Thank you. I love disco, too. I used to wear a Saturday Night Fever t-shirt. It's so refreshing to hear from another disco lover. There's no reason you can't be open-minded with diverse tastes and love both.
@@ProfessorofRockwas going but it was the same night I was flying out to Corfu. But luck would have it as it was the end of the Cold War, new flight paths opened and we flew over Berlin and the stage and concert area was that big you could see it from 30,000 feet!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 it’s on dvd and YT. Believe me it’s the biggest concert you’ll ever see. Even had stretch limos and military trucks driving across the stage!
I was SO looking forward to seeing it when I got it on VHS and I still have it! I must say though it was kind of a let down for me. I expected it to be better.
No joke - this song is one of my 80 year old mother's favorites. She remembered hearing it when The Wall came out, as my older brother played it constantly on the family stereo back then. She liked the beat, and eventually the message of the song. What made it funny to her was the children's chorus. She said: "Where did they get the kids to sing the song? They must've been troublemakers!" LOL - she was right! Thanks for explaining the history behind this fantastic song. Cheers Professor of Rock!
I recently bought my 80 year old father a shirt that says "Beware old people who listen to Pink Floyd". Its interesting how the grandparents of people my age listened to Lawrence Well while our children's grandparents listened to Zepplin, the Stones and Floyd.
The wall was being played on the radio at my friend's house and when we heard the part "we don't need no education”, his grandmother shouted"oh yes you do¡”
All I know in Chicago radio stations none of the black R&B stations played this song but played the Stones & Queen disco hit. Even Eagles ONE OF THESE NIGHTS.
This album has Probably my favorite vocal performance of all time . Waters is more then just a singer on this album , but an actor as well . As a kid I couldn’t believe it was mostly one guy doing all these songs , my dad played this album a lot . I knew it word for word by the time I was like 8 . Watching the movie also lit in perspective what the album was about ( I was a kid so a lot wnet over my head ) . Truly an epic album
I remember The Stones catching flack for Hot Stuff I liked it. Ocassionaly, I play it on the TouchTunes jukebox if it has a killer sound system. Some people say i haven't heard this since the 70s. The younger crowd says, Who the eff is this?"
My grandmother used to child mind Roger while his mother was work so my mum and her brother knew him quite well as a kid. Who knew who he'd grow up to be. This was before he attended the grammar school which shaped this album. My first experience of Pink Floyd is when my sister brought home copy of the film and showed it to me when I was 10. Been in love with their music ever since.
Pink Floyd is one of the very few bands where each generation that experiences their music will come to the same conclusion: Pink Floyd’s music is ahead of its time!
I have been a huge fan of this album ever since it came out. I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've listened to the whole album. I have respect for Disco too. I had never thought of this song as being Disco at all.
"You can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat." I have no idea how many times I've said that at the dinner table to my young children, and my wife too; even when we're not eating meat, and there's no pudding. 😂 Such a great line! Classic! I was a senior in high school when this was released, I can remember being at school, in the weight room, working out with others, and this song came on, we all got the biggest smiles. 😁
That's a great story and yes, a cool teacher, indeed. I was in 7th grade in 1979 but knew little about Floyd until my first year in college. Then I really got into the prog rock that I'd never heard before. I only had top 40 stations in my area at that time.
If only we could take the Wall to heart. I don't think Roger Waters even comprehends the message. We're in the age of industrial education, pervasive thought control through all the forms of electronic media. Real individual creative expression through music is, by necessity now, cloak and dagger. Peace to all in your path of life.🙏
I was lucky to have an 7 years older brother to introduce me to such great albums as Who By Numbers, Physical Graffiti, Toys In The Attic, The Wall and a host of guitar slingers, such as Steve Mariott, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman & Billy Gibbons, who have laid down the soundtrack of my life. I really enjoy listening to your history lessons... they bring back many fond memories. ✌️😎
I get chills listening to someone talk about this Concert , I was there in Los Angeles for it , what a performance ! I never saw anything so astounding ! I've had the sincere pleasure of seeing Pink Floyd 3 times , Dark Side of the Moon , Animals and the Wall and wow 😨 I hope that I never forget it ! Thank You , to the Band and all of it's members and people that put it together !
Did you get to see Roger Waters touring The Wall about a decade ago? He took all the Gerald Scarfe graphics, animations, and designs and multiplied them. He got kids from local schools in each city he played, and he coached them onstage himself. He had an incredibly sophisticated projection system and sound system, and his voice sounded fantastic! (And that's not easy music to sing!) Gilmour even did a cameo in London, doing his thing on top of the wall during Comfortably Numb - surely the last time they'll share the stage. (You saw the 3 tours for my 3 favorite Floyd albums!)
I only saw it when it 1st Premiered with entire, Pink Floyd Band . They only put the show on in 3 Cities, New York, Chicago and LA because it was so expensive to move ! My sister was living in LA and managed to score 5 tickets , it was such a Blast ! I will always be indebted to her for that . She just recently got out of the Hospital , she was at Deaths door . I need to remind her of how much it meant to me to have been there !
The song applies to today more than it did in the past. We don’t need no education. (Indoctrination) Teachers leave those kids alone. I find myself singing this song frequently today, as stress relief. Always loved it but it means more to me today than when I was in school, all those many years ago.
I’m 52 and millennials and Z’s have no idea just how great it was to have the musical soundtrack to grow up with that we and the two prior generations had! It was a major part of most of our lives! I believe we were the better for it…
I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Germany with the Canadian Air Force when the Berlin wall came down in the fall of 1989. When Roger Waters announced he was re-staging "The Wall" outdoors in Berlin in July of 1990, a group of us jumped at the chance to see it. Yes, I know it wasn't Pink Floyd, just Roger and a bunch of high-priced help (The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, et al), but it was still an experience. After seeing the effects of the Cold War and the Berlin wall on East Berlin (which looked like it was stuck in the late 1960s), being part of a crowd of more than 300,000 people, all chanting "Tear down the wall!" at the end was a definite goosebumps moment.
Thank You Adam!!! I remember when Pink Floyd The Wall album was released. I was in 6th Gr. attending a Catholic school and it was the end of the school year we were allowed to bring records to play in class. Someone brought this album and the entire class sang "Brick in the Wall" song. On the 3rd go we sang so loud we actually scared the teachers because 2 other classes joined in. It was great because those 6th Gr. teachers really were very demoralizing. Some of the 8th Grade teachers were laughing. Cheers from NYC!!!
@@ProfessorofRock Don’t know if I can count that high :). Between watching on t.v, vhs, dvd and various streaming platforms over the years, to many to count
I remember the disco era,but in my mind as an 11 year old in 79 it was on its way out.The 80s hit an boom it was like the creative juices were flowing like a summer rain storm.So many great bands were working on new progressive rock music.It was like a giant bag of skittles hit the ground and all the flavors were fresh new and delicious to the ears and eyes with MTV promoting them.A great time to be a rock music fan.
Recently, scientists reconstructed Another Brick in the Wall by listening to brain waves, which makes it the first recognizable song to be decoded like that. Pretty cool!
(Beth's mom) One of my favorites, both the movie and the album. Waaay back in the 80's, I hosted a radio show on a small college station. On nights that I really had to get some studying done, I'd put on Foghat "Slow Ride" or "The Wall". I'd have people calling in to ask what i was on, and could they get some? Fun times!
I was a junior in high school when this came out in our PE class was taking rollerskating at the rink a block away from the high school. This song was playing every day as we rollerskate around the rink. I didn’t consider a disco at the time, but it did have a good beat. One of the highlights was singing, the chorus to our draft teacher in drafting class. He just stood there in his white shirt and black tie and smiled. RIP, Mr. Spinks.
"Another Brick Pt II" played its part in helping me to embrace (what we now call) Progressive Rock andto enjoy the music of acts like Pink Floyd. I was always into disco, but my teenage self struggled with Prog Rock. Hearing this song was pivotal in helping ease me into the field and to realize I could get into it. One bandleader put "Another Brick Pt III" into our repertoire briefly. She didn't approve of the opening line from Pt II", taking "We don't need no education" too literally. I wish I had tried to explain it wasn't half as much about education as it is about administrative authoritarianism. I only hope she's "seen the light" in the time since.
1980 I was a freshman in high school. I had grown up listening to the greatest decade of music ever. I'll argue that with anyone. I would listen to my radio (like most of my peers) waiting to hit Record when that perfect song came on. I was in class (don't ask me which one. I don't remember and don't care), when the teacher, a female version of the teacher in The Wall, left the room. I took the opportunity to turn on my portable radio and caught this song just as it was starting. We all listened mesmerized. We'd never heard anything like it. And that's what led me down the Floyd rabbit hole.
The guitar work on The Wall part 1 is very underrated. It's not flashy like Money or Comfortably Numb but it's subtle and very artistic. Ezrin's idea to lengthen the song out was brilliant. He knew it had a lot of potential.
This song, album and movie were so impactful. I was in the sixth grade when it started being played on the radio by the time I was able to buy the album I was in the 7th grade and when the movie came out I was right around 16 or 17 and we would got to the midnight movie showing (by that time Rocky horror and Heavy Metal were in rotation and they started adding The wall) so this was part of my life for years, some albums come out and make a splash and disappear but this stayed in the public spotlight for years. in my senior yearbook I listed “The Wall” as my favorite album, my first year in the military I bought it on cassette to make sure I had a copy I could bring with me everywhere I went.
I was blown away and eternally impacted by The Wall as a young man growing up in the 80s. We watched it over and over again and I still find it so moving and emotional. What an absolute masterpiece, and yet so musically simple too. Some of those songs are so moving I can hardly listen to them... Goodbye, Cruel World. Mother. Waiting for the Worms! They don't make music like this anymore. I will say this though, the hardening of the heart that this journey describes is something I never want or wish on anyone. So to Mr. Pink I say, tear down that wall!
From rock operas like 'JC Superstar' and 'Tommy' to the pop-ish sounds of Styx's 'Kilroy was Here' or Janet Jackson's 'Control', I loved concept or thematic albums. No thematic album was greater than 'The Wall'. The double album is a complex story, but many of the tracks tell compelling stories or paint vivid scenes on their own. Another Brick in the Wall made you want to stand up to the system even if you weren't feeling particularly oppressed by it.
I think one of the best thematic albums or 'rock operas', I believe the first one made, was in 1968 by The Pretty Things called 'S.F. Sorrow'. That's a great album too.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was 14 when The Wall came out, and the musical, political, and social influences that were going on at the time were instrumental in forming my young mind. I bought my first album (The Sweet) when I was 9 (1974) and I've really been into music since then. The Wall was the perfect album for the time (taking in all of the things that were happening) - the themes and struggles have remained so, even to today's woke society and what group think allows and what is frowned upon, I've secretly been wanting you to do The Wall for quite a while, and it's finally here. It takes you on a journey of self-reflection and hits you between the eyes.
Minus the father dying, this is my story, and I am positive many other's story as well. It showed me there is a way out of our self torture due to what was self perceived as failure.
Nothing in this song is Disco in my mind. I don’t ever remember this song being played in a Disco. Love the song and Pink Floyd. Saw them in Boston in the 70’s, most memorable concert.
When The Wall came out, we had a crazy science teacher in middle school who would end every class by saying, "Kids, you are just another brick in my wall" and then play the song.
Professor! I spend a lot of time, hours really, running or walking outside. I used to listen to music but discovered if you subscribe to RUclips, you can listen to videos with your screen off on your phone. Once I figured that out, it all POR all the time... well, mostly. I'm afraid I'm going to run through your catalog one of these days but that's ok, as I've already listened to many of them several times. Redux is my favorite series but they're all good. THANK YOU!!!
Don't know how many conforming 'Dorks' LOVED THIS SONG; but I was one. It was released in the first year of undergrad and it began my late-blooming rebellion which blew my Mom away as 'REBELLION BECAME MY MIDDLE NAME' which is pretty sad since I had NOTHING to rebel about. At the time, 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Good-bye Yellow Brick Road' were my favorite double albums. Now, hands down... Pink Floyd. LOVE just tuning-in and letting it flow over, around and through the atomic anatomy and let it reverb among the elements in the surrounding environment on the road and off. SUBLIME!!!
This song helped me start to transition to the Top40 genre. From the last half of the 70's I listened to Country music but did like some disco songs those last couple years. Growing up in Erie I watched a lot of Canadian TV on cable (such as CKOC ch13) so I I found a nice portable radio at a yard sale that had not only AM but FM1, FM2, SW1, SW2 & Weather Band. This radio was amazing and I was able to pick up a radio station in Kitchener Ontario CKOC (1360AM) that played rock in 1979 and I got hooked. _Another Brick_ and *Pat Benatar* - _We Live For Love_ were the highlights of that time frame. Then I found Canadian radio station broadcasting from Detroit Michigan, CKLW 800AM and that got me solidly on rock. By 1981 I was ready to go back to the local Erie rock/Top40 stations and start recording my radio mix tapes.
I was 15, in grade 10, when The Wall came out. Another Brick in the Wall, Part II really resonated with the feelings most of us have toward school and authority at that age. The song was my gateway into the album, and the rest of Pink Floyd’s music. Early in the video when you talked about the themes of the album with The Best Days of Our Lives and Another Brick in the Wall, Part II reflecitng Waters school experience, I got thinking about Supertramp’s The Logical Song, which was released earlier in 1979, drawing on Roger Hodgson’s similar experiences. I would love to see you do a breakdown of the Logical Song. You could even pair it with School as a running theme for Supertramp.
Another Brick in the Wall was the first song I heard from Pink Floyd. One of my classmates had a boombox and played it very loud during our lunch recess. And it was played almost every day.
I was a senior in high school when this song came out. I always wanted to play it on the school intercom for all to see. I also remember going to the theater and watching the movie. One of my all time favorites.
when I was in high school, the album rock station would play entire albums starting at 11 pm. I got home from a track meet one night and had to write a paper for the next day. The Wall was the backdrop to one of my better efforts that year 😎. Finished the paper at 3 am. Slept a couple hours. Went to school late. Got an "A"🤓
@tracy2762 You'll get a whole lot of disagreement from rock music purists and musicians. I'd say it is absolutely disco! But I liked it anyway, because I am not snobbish about music. Regardless of genre, I either like a song, or I do not.
Professor!!!!! I Love your channel! You keep the music of the 70's and 80's alive. Maybe it transcends more decades than those? But still You're keeping "Classical Music" Alive.
For months every day at least once I would sit on the floor in my room with headsets hooked to my stereo listening to The Wall. The only days it didnt happen were those glorious few hours if my parents went shopping on the weekend and left me home. This was when I would bring my album to the living room to play it on our wall length sound system and crank it up loud enough to shake the paintings on the walls. Eventually a neighbor let my Mom know how it got very loud at our house sometimes, it was worth every one of the extra chores :)
My first memory of Pink Floyd was my dad treasuring his 'The Wall'album and listening to it over 1970s style stereo headphones. Another Brick in the Wall - we don't need no education. There was no way I was forgetting that! That sticks in a kids mind like Schools Out for the Summer.
I've heard this song since I was 13 on half days my mom would bring me to the mall food court, she'd buy me lunch, then she'd buy me something at a store like a video game, or a CD or 2. The 1 half day of the month we'd have at the beginning Wednesday of every month. She died 22 yrs ago when I was 20 but she left me with memories on the way to the mall listening to this tape in the 80s and 90s. I never saw this as Disco.
This album by far affected me for a large part of my life. I would listen to it over and over again. When I was feeling down and discouraged. It got me through a lot of stuff. Excellent review! Love your channel.
The Wall dominated a very unfocused 1980. One of the reasons I liked this year of the old clashing with the new. Pink Floyd's chart run in the U.K. is strange, with The Final Cut and "Atom Heart Mother" hitting no.1, but The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon failing to do so.
@@ProfessorofRock In the case of Dark side Floyd may have been in decline there, as they were rising here. In the late seventies they faced a backlash from the punk obsessed media. The Wall isn't as revered there as it is here. Can't explain the final cut.
This song is memorable because at the time I was 13 going to predominantly white school when Rap,Rock and Black and other ethnic colors were ckashing about idealogy and culture and music.....it was a crossroads for me.....I was already the weird nerdy black kid who loved Kiss and EWF and I was never into Pink Floyd until this album....I always cinsidered it if its good music who cares who listens ti it....the fact that it is good we ALL should listen.......
In jr high, I listened to this cassette so much I wore out 2 copies, then finally bought it on vinyl (which I still own)and then just kept making copies on cassette...now, of course, I have the CD...it was great music to go to sleep to, although it did make for some strange dreams...
Poll: What is your pick for the GREATEST Double album of the rock era?
Frampton Comes Alive
I'll nominate The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album).
Bob Seger's "Nine Tonight"
Bruce Springsteen - The River;
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life;
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road;
Derek & The Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
UFO - Strangers In The Night
I’ve listened to that song ever since it debuted and never once did the term “disco” pop into my mind. ...Update: I got quite a response to my brief off the cuff comment, so here’s my wider take on the song…yes, Another Brick in the Wall can be interpreted as disco in the broad technical sense with its 103 bpm 1/4 note kick drum throughout, as does most if not all disco songs, and Gilmours guitar rhythm was probably influenced by the sound of the late 70`s [maybe on purpose tongue in cheek], but for me that`s where it ends. Music is so much deeper than the technical. Disco as a genre is about simple dance, party, get laid, etc repeat. Pink Floyd songs when viewed in the context of their albums [as they are meant to be] take on a greater meaning. I see Brick more as a March, reminiscent of soldiers in WWII. I don`t feel a dance party vibe to this song when I view the lyrics and context of the album. I owned the vinyl record in my younger years and as was typical of the late 70`s and early 80`s, listened to it cover to cover looking for the full meaning of the song and album. That`s why the term ‘disco’ never entered my mind. It`s also why I appreciate the Professors deep dive into the song in this video. Getting the background context of how the song came about and other history is greatly appreciated.
Listen closely!
"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" actually did make the Disco/Dance chart in Billboard, so there's that.
Agreed, I've also been listening to this album since '79, never once thought this song sounded at all like disco.. still don't! ;) I'm not hearing it.
@@ProfessorofRockyes, the kick drum is doing the straight four on the floor beat but the Bass offsets it nicely with a funky syncopation, which I suppose is my particular focus and the fact that Floyd wasn’t a disco band is the reason I never considered the disco angle. It’s all subjective of course and bands of any given era are influenced by the surrounding music culture. I must say you did a bang up job on researching the album. I love your work. You remind me so much of the late great Casey Kasem.
I agree - I think it’s an incredible stretch to call it disco.
The Wall is one of those rare albums that takes you into an audio journey of emotions and inner reflection. Every song is a layer over layer of raw confessions of what trauma can do to someone. How your psyche breaks and and how that truly feels. This isn’t an album that you skip to your favorite song. This is an album to sit back and listen for a while.
I return to it again and again! Thanks for watching!
One of my very favorite albums and I've probably watched the movie a hundred times...
@@pattonmoore Same here!!
@ProfessorofRock I was bartenders and often we would have bull sessions after closing. The question came up, what band would you most want to join us here. Unanimously Pink Floyd was our choice. Could you imagine sitting around with Pink Floyd having coffee and talking till the wee hours of the morning?
Roger Waters would likely monopolize the conversation.
I too had a controlling mother and for many years I listened to this album, seemingly unaffected. Had a lot of trouble at school...this was an era that no one listened. I saw it at the movie theater, with my mother and my sister. I had to get up and move to sit by myself at one point. It hit so close. I went to see the stage version when Roger Waters went on tour with it about ten years ago...I started to weep early on and when that piercing scream came (you all know the one I'm talking about), I screamed as loud as I ever have in my entire life, until not another sound could come out. Couldn't talk for a whole day afterwards and people turned to look from two sections over. It was like 40 years of anger and feeling powerless all spilled out into that amphitheater, For a moment I felt levity...but I was liberated forever. Things changed. I'm now taking care of her because she has dementia and our "relationship" is more professional than familial because the old harpy has always been incapable of feeling or expressing love, kindness and respect, opting to be horrible. But I can deal with her better now because I'm the grownup of the two of us...and I often think of how fortunate she is that I don't have any speck of her in my personality, I cannot bring myself to be mean and nasty, and I seriously doubt she is aware that the movie she complained about and told me I was an idiot for wanting to see had some turn in the fact that she isn't sitting in a nursing home right now. If you have a loving, good mother...go tell her right now you love and appreciate her.
Anyway, excellent episode, Professor! I'd love to see you do an exclusive 27 Club special!
I hope that you have found some peace.
Thank god my mom is still with me. She’s a parent advocate who works with children with disabilities in grades K-12. I am grateful for what she does for us every day.
I had some issues with my mother and had to work through them after her passing. What helped me heal was forgiving her, not always because she deserved it, but because I did. Also, try to remember how people used to be raised 70 or 80 years ago. It was usually a lot of "spare the whip, spoil the child". Your mom likely went through a lot of trauma herself. Understanding that can help you put it in context and move on and not repeat the patterns in your own life. Be well.
Good for you I to made the decision to not be like my cold distant father. I helped him when his health went bad and am the better for it. So are you.
My favorite part of the album is the ultimate admission that our emotional defenses developed in childhood will even push away those trying to love us or help us.
“All alone, or in two's
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands
The bleeding hearts and the artists
Make their stand
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall”
I’ve felt that too. Inadvertently pushed people away because they thought my actions were “too weird.”
I was a junior in HS when this was released. It instantly became our schools 'song'. Most of the teachers liked it also. And it was played at my graduation, with everyone in attendance signing it. Everyone knew what it meant and almost everyone agreed.
Cool! I was in grade 9 at the time.
We had an assembly and the grade 10s set up a screen in the gym and they played this.
We all sang along, but what I loved the most was some of the teachers singing along too.
Fondly stuck in my memory
But was it called disco?
@@ricogomez4020 Oh heck no. We never would have played that garbage. 🙂
@@CoffeeTroll Awesome memories from that time period, or sure.
So why does the professor say this song was disco?@@kinjunranger140
I was introduced to The Wall my freshman year of high school in ‘79. That was also my first exposure to Pink Floyd. That changed my life! I am not kidding. They have become my favorite band. (Not many bands can repeatedly bring you to tears due to their music and lyrics. it pierced my soul.) All credit goes to Mark Whipple, who was a senior in architecture class my freshman year, who told me I needed to listen to that album. I have never been the same. God bless you for creating this channel!
It was "Dark Side Of The Moon" for me!! It's true, they change you!
I agree the wall and quadrophenia both did that to me because I could see myself in both stories.
Pink Floyd know how to create the perfect mood music.
Did anybody call it disco in 1979? Nobody in 1979 called this disco in my high school.
I never heard it called disco. It just floored all of us.
Goes to show how Pink Floyd, especially in what could be considered their prime, were such a versatile band. Legendary for all reasons, and prog would certainly not be the same without them.
No question. Thanks RC32. Have a great weekend!
@@ProfessorofRock Likewise!
One of the top 10 greatest bands ever.
I never thought of Another Brick in the Wall as disco.
That’s because it’s not.
Because is wasn't and still isn't.
ruclips.net/video/U13xOvDa19U/видео.html
I never think of The Wall as a disco song
Me neither.
Not once.
Never ever. The Professor is off his rocker.
Cause it isn't.
That's cause The Wall isn't a song
For having random kids from a struggling school, those kids sounded spot on. It always amazes me how those in the music industry can put together something that is just an idea into something that we can’t stop listening to.
Pink will always be my favourite band just for how it transformed my thinking about music and how it hasn’t lost its impact over my 30 years of listening to it.
I loved it when I was partying and I love it even more now that I’m sober. Not many bands can be that transitional with the same music. Just mind blowing is what Pink Floyd is.
This is a most welcome upload. As a drummer, RUSH is my favorite band, but as a person, Pink Floyd has no rival. Where I grew up, it was a right of passage to drop acid and go see Pink Floyd - The Wall at the midnight movies. (How I miss the midnight movies! Every Friday and Saturday nights all doors to the Malls were locked except those serving the movie theatres. The choices were always the same: Pink Floyd - The Wall, Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same, Heavy Metal, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.) To have been in high-school while the anthem "We don't need no education" was regular radio play was a time like no other. This album was the background music of some of the greatest parties I ever attended. I simply cannot imagine navigating life without Pink Floyd.
I can imagine high school seniors used this as their graduation rallying cry back then.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 yep that was very very common :D
Try Bridge Across Forever by Transatlantic if you like drums. Or anything Porcupine Tree.
Everything you said except “ as a drummer “ should read, “ as a guitarist “ ….. is ME. Are you my lost twin 😄
I can completely relate to all of that 👍🏻
I went to a Brit Floyd concert a few months ago, the crowd screamed “Teacher leave them kids alone” at the top of their lungs when they played this!
Wow! Awesome!
Australian Pink Floyd show is also really good and the crowd sang it at the overzealous ushers quite a few times.
Seeing Britt Floyd again in a month so in LA
Looking forward to it. Sure it’s not the actual band but it’s a lot of fun.
Teachers, leave Those kids alone!
It’s LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE, not leave our kids alone!🤪🤪🤪
@@RayLeejr corrected! LOL, that’s what happens when you get old 😂
“It freaked me out” is exactly how I felt. I was very young and I loved this album but felt disturbed by it at the same time. My father was an abusive alcoholic with superb taste in music. Much of my favorite music is influenced by the soundtrack of my dad’s music and a traumatic childhood of my own. Pink Floyd was mesmerizing. As a powerless child, hearing those children shouting, “We don’t need no education! We don’t need no thought control! Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone!” was most likely what started me on my way to questioning unjust rules and authority figures in my life who hadn’t earned my respect. Thank you for featuring this song.
How rock and roll is that! To sneak that children's choir out of school to make this smash hit especially saying we don't need no education, a classic double negative! I remember when I was in high school someone sneaking a copy of the wall in the office and playing it over the pa system throughout the school for a couple minutes before they heard the needle scratch across the vinyl, lol. Pink Floyd episodes are always great because they are so deep with everything that went on. Great episode professor!!
This song is no joke! Thanks My Name!
@@ProfessorofRock I grew up in the era when teachers could physically punish you and many of them took full advantage of it. Not saying I may have done things right but I have been paddled for things as small as not doing a homework assignment and leaving my seat without permission. Some of those teachers could really swat too
I want to sing in a choir on a popular hit single sometime in the future.
Wow, I have to admit I never thought of Another Brick as a Disco song.😂
Me neither.
It isn't
I had never thought about it before but it turns out I was the same age as those kids that recorded those iconic background vocals. The Wall was already my favorite Pink Floyd album but now you've given me a bit of info that makes it an even stronger favorite. I loved the story how the music teacher took them out of class without permission. It reminded me of School of Rock!
When I went to see The Wall when it premiered at the theater, there was a line of people waiting to get in, all chatting and laughing. When the movie was over, nobody was saying a word as we all walked out, shell-shocked.
I remember the usher having to come out after the movie and tell us it was over and it was time to leave. It was such a mesmerizing film.... And I wasn't even high.....
So I am one of the biggest fans of Pink Floyd who's ever existed. The album The Wall, and Pink Floyd's music in general, changed my life forever, when I was 15 years old.
I am dyslexic and disgraphic. Throughout my childhood, my home family situation, and school was an absolute nightmare for me. When I heard The Wall, it was like someone actually understood what I was going through inside. It helped me to open up about things, and to cope with my own trauma and rage within, in ways that I don't think any counseling ever could have accomplished.
That being said... stories about The Wall, and even about Pink Floyd in general, are a bit warn out... HOWEVER... THIS is one of the VERY BEST break downs of the album The Wall, that I have ever heard!
This video you've created, is a MUST SEE for anyone who's ever been a fan of The Wall, and or of Pink Floyd... and even for people who have never before heard the album!
I'm so happy I took the time to watch this!
Your videos are always wonderful, and you always put so much thought and research and understanding into your videos, but this one really is next level. You're an amazing human being, and an amazing RUclipsr! Thank you Adam, AKA Professor of Rock!
I’m autistic, and The Wall has helped me understand myself a lot more too.
Hey Professor, I remember going to see "The Wall" at the theater, awesome acoustics, we went several times.😊✌️
It’s a great movie.
I was in my early twenties when this slapped us in the face. With the Bob Geldof movie it was a double hit. How great life was... All the Pink Floyd concerts I attended including "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals", this one was literally jaw dropping. And I know how to use the word "literally", my friend reached over and closed my mouth a couple of times! And the cop whom I thought came over to take my joint away, ended up sitting next to me on the stairs and took a hit and gave it back! The Floyd got him...😁
Remember lying down beside the speakers countless times, listening to the sound of the helicopter the happiest days of our lives and then the ultimate burst of ABITW part 2, forty years later I still get chills listening to it. Three of greatest albums that has stayed with me until 62 years of age alternates between The Wall, Dark Side of The Moon and Wish U were Here
I didn't pay attention to Pink Floyd until fairly recently and didn't realize the genius of the music and lyrics. Trying to make up for it now.
I was 6, I can still remember what the pizzeria looked like in Kirkland WA. I got to pick a song from a jukebox and I liked the title. When the bass hits that funk sound I danced openly. In 1979 funk was my favorite. That’s the first memory I have of the song 😁
I used to wear my “I Love DISCO” button on my overalls next to my Led Zep button. I loved both!!
Thank you. I love disco, too. I used to wear a Saturday Night Fever t-shirt. It's so refreshing to hear from another disco lover. There's no reason you can't be open-minded with diverse tastes and love both.
Always remember the Live in Berlin version with Cindi Lauder singing and Thomas Dolby as the teacher dangling from the wall.
Yes indeed! Have you seen it live in person?
@@ProfessorofRockwas going but it was the same night I was flying out to Corfu. But luck would have it as it was the end of the Cold War, new flight paths opened and we flew over Berlin and the stage and concert area was that big you could see it from 30,000 feet!
Haha, I need to see that!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 it’s on dvd and YT. Believe me it’s the biggest concert you’ll ever see. Even had stretch limos and military trucks driving across the stage!
I was SO looking forward to seeing it when I got it on VHS and I still have it! I must say though it was kind of a let down for me. I expected it to be better.
It never occurred to my mind that "Another Brick In The Wall" was disco-themed since I could not dance when it's played
Interesting isn't it?
Rather, silently tap my foot.
@@ProfessorofRock Because it wasn't disco and still isn't.
No joke - this song is one of my 80 year old mother's favorites. She remembered hearing it when The Wall came out, as my older brother played it constantly on the family stereo back then. She liked the beat, and eventually the message of the song. What made it funny to her was the children's chorus. She said: "Where did they get the kids to sing the song? They must've been troublemakers!" LOL - she was right!
Thanks for explaining the history behind this fantastic song. Cheers Professor of Rock!
I recently bought my 80 year old father a shirt that says "Beware old people who listen to Pink Floyd". Its interesting how the grandparents of people my age listened to Lawrence Well while our children's grandparents listened to Zepplin, the Stones and Floyd.
The wall was being played on the radio at my friend's house and when we heard the part "we don't need no education”, his grandmother shouted"oh yes you do¡”
😆 Grammy was based!
Thank goodness for a voice of reason 😂
😆
Hands down without question an awesome timeless classic whatever your favourite genre or era of music.
I agree!
All I know in Chicago radio stations none of the black R&B stations played this song but played the Stones & Queen disco hit. Even Eagles ONE OF THESE NIGHTS.
This album has Probably my favorite vocal performance of all time . Waters is more then just a singer on this album , but an actor as well . As a kid I couldn’t believe it was mostly one guy doing all these songs , my dad played this album a lot . I knew it word for word by the time I was like 8 . Watching the movie also lit in perspective what the album was about ( I was a kid so a lot wnet over my head ) . Truly an epic album
I remember The Stones catching flack for Hot Stuff
I liked it. Ocassionaly, I play it on the TouchTunes jukebox if it has a killer sound system.
Some people say i haven't heard this since the 70s. The younger crowd says, Who the eff is this?"
Sometimes you have to shake things up. I’m glad that some musicians were confident and very talented to bridge trends when required.
Me too. They tried new things, and I appreciate them for that.
Disco did shake a lot of things up. Many of it for the worse...
Some good stuff came out of it tho. Like the roller rink and the stars on 45.
My grandmother used to child mind Roger while his mother was work so my mum and her brother knew him quite well as a kid. Who knew who he'd grow up to be. This was before he attended the grammar school which shaped this album.
My first experience of Pink Floyd is when my sister brought home copy of the film and showed it to me when I was 10. Been in love with their music ever since.
This is so interesting! It must be strange to take care of a child and then watch them become a star.
Pink Floyd is one of the very few bands where each generation that experiences their music will come to the same conclusion: Pink Floyd’s music is ahead of its time!
I have been a huge fan of this album ever since it came out. I couldn't begin to guess how many times I've listened to the whole album. I have respect for Disco too. I had never thought of this song as being Disco at all.
"You can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat." I have no idea how many times I've said that at the dinner table to my young children, and my wife too; even when we're not eating meat, and there's no pudding. 😂 Such a great line! Classic! I was a senior in high school when this was released, I can remember being at school, in the weight room, working out with others, and this song came on, we all got the biggest smiles. 😁
My 5th grade teacher let us listen to this record in class near the end of the school year in ‘79. Coolest teacher ever.
That's a great story and yes, a cool teacher, indeed.
I was in 7th grade in 1979 but knew little about Floyd until my first year in college. Then I really got into the prog rock that I'd never heard before. I only had top 40 stations in my area at that time.
If only we could take the Wall to heart. I don't think Roger Waters even comprehends the message. We're in the age of industrial education, pervasive thought control through all the forms of electronic media. Real individual creative expression through music is, by necessity now, cloak and dagger. Peace to all in your path of life.🙏
Peace!
That’s right. Let’s get through these times together.
I was lucky to have an 7 years older brother to introduce me to such great albums as Who By Numbers, Physical Graffiti, Toys In The Attic, The Wall and a host of guitar slingers, such as Steve Mariott, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman & Billy Gibbons, who have laid down the soundtrack of my life. I really enjoy listening to your history lessons... they bring back many fond memories. ✌️😎
I get chills listening to someone talk about this Concert , I was there in Los Angeles for it , what a performance ! I never saw anything so astounding ! I've had the sincere pleasure of seeing Pink Floyd 3 times , Dark Side of the Moon , Animals and the Wall and wow 😨 I hope that I never forget it ! Thank You , to the Band and all of it's members and people that put it together !
Did you get to see Roger Waters touring The Wall about a decade ago? He took all the Gerald Scarfe graphics, animations, and designs and multiplied them. He got kids from local schools in each city he played, and he coached them onstage himself. He had an incredibly sophisticated projection system and sound system, and his voice sounded fantastic! (And that's not easy music to sing!) Gilmour even did a cameo in London, doing his thing on top of the wall during Comfortably Numb - surely the last time they'll share the stage.
(You saw the 3 tours for my 3 favorite Floyd albums!)
I only saw it when it 1st Premiered with entire, Pink Floyd Band . They only put the show on in 3 Cities, New York, Chicago and LA because it was so expensive to move ! My sister was living in LA and managed to score 5 tickets , it was such a Blast ! I will always be indebted to her for that . She just recently got out of the Hospital , she was at Deaths door . I need to remind her of how much it meant to me to have been there !
The song applies to today more than it did in the past. We don’t need no education. (Indoctrination) Teachers leave those kids alone. I find myself singing this song frequently today, as stress relief. Always loved it but it means more to me today than when I was in school, all those many years ago.
get real
@@VibeagainThis person's comment is real.😉
@jimmymelendez1836 no it's not. It's colored with his lens of Ed = indoctrination, and teachers are somehow oppressors. Get real
I look forward to the background info the prof provides.
We may not have liner notes anymore but we have the Professor.
I do too. Just wish they hadn't mess this one up so bad with a bizarre attempt to label the song a disco track.
I’m 52 and millennials and Z’s have no idea just how great it was to have the musical soundtrack to grow up with that we and the two prior generations had! It was a major part of most of our lives! I believe we were the better for it…
I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Germany with the Canadian Air Force when the Berlin wall came down in the fall of 1989. When Roger Waters announced he was re-staging "The Wall" outdoors in Berlin in July of 1990, a group of us jumped at the chance to see it. Yes, I know it wasn't Pink Floyd, just Roger and a bunch of high-priced help (The Scorpions, Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, et al), but it was still an experience. After seeing the effects of the Cold War and the Berlin wall on East Berlin (which looked like it was stuck in the late 1960s), being part of a crowd of more than 300,000 people, all chanting "Tear down the wall!" at the end was a definite goosebumps moment.
Complete the wall. The only solo that eclipsed the one on 'The Wall' was the one on 'Time'
Thank You Adam!!! I remember when Pink Floyd The Wall album was released. I was in 6th Gr. attending a Catholic school and it was the end of the school year we were allowed to bring records to play in class. Someone brought this album and the entire class sang "Brick in the Wall" song. On the 3rd go we sang so loud we actually scared the teachers because 2 other classes joined in. It was great because those 6th Gr. teachers really were very demoralizing. Some of the 8th Grade teachers were laughing. Cheers from NYC!!!
The album is great. I still remember when I found out the movie actually had extras on it like “What shall we do now” that made it even better
That's right! How many times have you seen it?
@@ProfessorofRock Don’t know if I can count that high :). Between watching on t.v, vhs, dvd and various streaming platforms over the years, to many to count
@@ProfessorofRockon acid or not? Serious question
4 in Theaters, plus the DVD. Just blast it through the stereo. The extra songs with the orchestra? So powerful.
@@celticc9580 Once. First time. Near Cleveland. Because Cleveland Rocks
I remember the disco era,but in my mind as an 11 year old in 79 it was on its way out.The 80s hit an boom it was like the creative juices were flowing like a summer rain storm.So many great bands were working on new progressive rock music.It was like a giant bag of skittles hit the ground and all the flavors were fresh new and delicious to the ears and eyes with MTV promoting them.A great time to be a rock music fan.
Recently, scientists reconstructed Another Brick in the Wall by listening to brain waves, which makes it the first recognizable song to be decoded like that. Pretty cool!
Please elaborate!
I actually heard that audio clip and it was so creepy!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Wasn't it just? I heard it too! Freaky.
(Beth's mom) One of my favorites, both the movie and the album. Waaay back in the 80's, I hosted a radio show on a small college station. On nights that I really had to get some studying done, I'd put on Foghat "Slow Ride" or "The Wall". I'd have people calling in to ask what i was on, and could they get some? Fun times!
Another Brick In The Wall part 1 and Part 2 should be played back to back on classic rock radio.
Great idea.
I was a junior in high school when this came out in our PE class was taking rollerskating at the rink a block away from the high school. This song was playing every day as we rollerskate around the rink. I didn’t consider a disco at the time, but it did have a good beat.
One of the highlights was singing, the chorus to our draft teacher in drafting class. He just stood there in his white shirt and black tie and smiled. RIP, Mr. Spinks.
"Another Brick Pt II" played its part in helping me to embrace (what we now call) Progressive Rock andto enjoy the music of acts like Pink Floyd. I was always into disco, but my teenage self struggled with Prog Rock. Hearing this song was pivotal in helping ease me into the field and to realize I could get into it.
One bandleader put "Another Brick Pt III" into our repertoire briefly. She didn't approve of the opening line from Pt II", taking "We don't need no education" too literally. I wish I had tried to explain it wasn't half as much about education as it is about administrative authoritarianism. I only hope she's "seen the light" in the time since.
Thanks Eric. Always enjoy your insight!
She probably didn’t know - and that’s okay!
1980 I was a freshman in high school. I had grown up listening to the greatest decade of music ever. I'll argue that with anyone. I would listen to my radio (like most of my peers) waiting to hit Record when that perfect song came on.
I was in class (don't ask me which one. I don't remember and don't care), when the teacher, a female version of the teacher in The Wall, left the room. I took the opportunity to turn on my portable radio and caught this song just as it was starting.
We all listened mesmerized. We'd never heard anything like it.
And that's what led me down the Floyd rabbit hole.
One of Gilmours finest solos ever layed down.
This and Comfortably Numb.
The guitar work on The Wall part 1 is very underrated. It's not flashy like Money or Comfortably Numb but it's subtle and very artistic. Ezrin's idea to lengthen the song out was brilliant. He knew it had a lot of potential.
This song, album and movie were so impactful. I was in the sixth grade when it started being played on the radio by the time I was able to buy the album I was in the 7th grade and when the movie came out I was right around 16 or 17 and we would got to the midnight movie showing (by that time Rocky horror and Heavy Metal were in rotation and they started adding The wall) so this was part of my life for years, some albums come out and make a splash and disappear but this stayed in the public spotlight for years. in my senior yearbook I listed “The Wall” as my favorite album, my first year in the military I bought it on cassette to make sure I had a copy I could bring with me everywhere I went.
Thanks Professor! That was a really nice deep dive. I have an excuse to listen to the album again!🤘🔥
Rock on!
Did you need an excuse? 🤘
@@nedhorner not really 🤘🔥
This song shook me to the bones. It encapsulated everything I was going through at school at the time.
I was blown away and eternally impacted by The Wall as a young man growing up in the 80s. We watched it over and over again and I still find it so moving and emotional. What an absolute masterpiece, and yet so musically simple too. Some of those songs are so moving I can hardly listen to them... Goodbye, Cruel World. Mother. Waiting for the Worms! They don't make music like this anymore. I will say this though, the hardening of the heart that this journey describes is something I never want or wish on anyone. So to Mr. Pink I say, tear down that wall!
From rock operas like 'JC Superstar' and 'Tommy' to the pop-ish sounds of Styx's 'Kilroy was Here' or Janet Jackson's 'Control', I loved concept or thematic albums. No thematic album was greater than 'The Wall'. The double album is a complex story, but many of the tracks tell compelling stories or paint vivid scenes on their own. Another Brick in the Wall made you want to stand up to the system even if you weren't feeling particularly oppressed by it.
I think one of the best thematic albums or 'rock operas', I believe the first one made, was in 1968 by The Pretty Things called 'S.F. Sorrow'. That's a great album too.
Concept albums are always fun listens.
My first real experience with a concept album was Rush's "2112". It was mesmerizing!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was 14 when The Wall came out, and the musical, political, and social influences that were going on at the time were instrumental in forming my young mind.
I bought my first album (The Sweet) when I was 9 (1974) and I've really been into music since then. The Wall was the perfect album for the time (taking in all of the things that were happening) - the themes and struggles have remained so, even to today's woke society and what group think allows and what is frowned upon,
I've secretly been wanting you to do The Wall for quite a while, and it's finally here. It takes you on a journey of self-reflection and hits you between the eyes.
Minus the father dying, this is my story, and I am positive many other's story as well. It showed me there is a way out of our self torture due to what was self perceived as failure.
Learning from mistakes is the key here.
Nothing in this song is Disco in my mind.
I don’t ever remember this song being played in a Disco. Love the song and Pink Floyd. Saw them in Boston in the 70’s, most memorable concert.
When The Wall came out, we had a crazy science teacher in middle school who would end every class by saying, "Kids, you are just another brick in my wall" and then play the song.
Professor! I spend a lot of time, hours really, running or walking outside. I used to listen to music but discovered if you subscribe to RUclips, you can listen to videos with your screen off on your phone. Once I figured that out, it all POR all the time... well, mostly. I'm afraid I'm going to run through your catalog one of these days but that's ok, as I've already listened to many of them several times. Redux is my favorite series but they're all good. THANK YOU!!!
It never occurred to me that The Wall had a disco beat. One of the best albums ever.
Vaguely so.
Back in Black by AC/DC too. Both quite intentional., joining all the ones in the vid
Don't know how many conforming 'Dorks' LOVED THIS SONG; but I was one. It was released in the first year of undergrad and it began my late-blooming rebellion which blew my Mom away as 'REBELLION BECAME MY MIDDLE NAME' which is pretty sad since I had NOTHING to rebel about.
At the time, 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Good-bye Yellow Brick Road' were my favorite double albums. Now, hands down...
Pink Floyd. LOVE just tuning-in and letting it flow over, around and through the atomic anatomy and let it reverb among the elements in the surrounding environment on the road and off. SUBLIME!!!
Roger is a very complicated genius!
So true!
He may be flawed, but he really does know how to write a compelling lyric.
This song helped me start to transition to the Top40 genre. From the last half of the 70's I listened to Country music but did like some disco songs those last couple years. Growing up in Erie I watched a lot of Canadian TV on cable (such as CKOC ch13) so I I found a nice portable radio at a yard sale that had not only AM but FM1, FM2, SW1, SW2 & Weather Band. This radio was amazing and I was able to pick up a radio station in Kitchener Ontario CKOC (1360AM) that played rock in 1979 and I got hooked. _Another Brick_ and *Pat Benatar* - _We Live For Love_ were the highlights of that time frame. Then I found Canadian radio station broadcasting from Detroit Michigan, CKLW 800AM and that got me solidly on rock. By 1981 I was ready to go back to the local Erie rock/Top40 stations and start recording my radio mix tapes.
If you can’t have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat, you will really enjoy this channel’s content!
I was 15, in grade 10, when The Wall came out. Another Brick in the Wall, Part II really resonated with the feelings most of us have toward school and authority at that age. The song was my gateway into the album, and the rest of Pink Floyd’s music.
Early in the video when you talked about the themes of the album with The Best Days of Our Lives and Another Brick in the Wall, Part II reflecitng Waters school experience, I got thinking about Supertramp’s The Logical Song, which was released earlier in 1979, drawing on Roger Hodgson’s similar experiences. I would love to see you do a breakdown of the Logical Song. You could even pair it with School as a running theme for Supertramp.
Another Brick in the Wall was the first song I heard from Pink Floyd. One of my classmates had a boombox and played it very loud during our lunch recess. And it was played almost every day.
Awesome!
He loved it so much!
I was a senior in high school when this song came out. I always wanted to play it on the school intercom for all to see. I also remember going to the theater and watching the movie. One of my all time favorites.
When a song is good, it's good. Whatever the style, whatever it has a disco beat or not. 😉
That’s right. Not everything has to be about disco.
My favorite band yesterday. My second favorite band today. You're on a roll, Professor! Thanks!
Rock on!
Thank you Dave Rick. And Nick
Roger waters the legend 🙌
Waters made the magic.
when I was in high school, the album rock station would play entire albums starting at 11 pm. I got home from a track meet one night and had to write a paper for the next day. The Wall was the backdrop to one of my better efforts that year 😎. Finished the paper at 3 am. Slept a couple hours. Went to school late. Got an "A"🤓
There are only a few disco songs that I like, the WHO's "Emminence Front" is one, and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall" is another.
Love both of them! Should I cover Emminence Front?
@ProfessorofRock
Indeed, you should cover it as that was a big hit song for The WHO, and back then, The WHO were my absolute favorite band.
it was close but i wouldnt call it disco beat..
@tracy2762
You'll get a whole lot of disagreement from rock music purists and musicians. I'd say it is absolutely disco! But I liked it anyway, because I am not snobbish about music. Regardless of genre, I either like a song, or I do not.
@ProfessorofRock Yes, please! That is one of the best songs the who ever did.
Professor!!!!! I Love your channel! You keep the music of the 70's and 80's alive. Maybe it transcends more decades than those? But still You're keeping "Classical Music" Alive.
I remember the music video, especially the teacher pinata. It really traumatised little me! 😱
That music video is so ingrained in my brain.
For months every day at least once I would sit on the floor in my room with headsets hooked to my stereo listening to The Wall. The only days it didnt happen were those glorious few hours if my parents went shopping on the weekend and left me home. This was when I would bring my album to the living room to play it on our wall length sound system and crank it up loud enough to shake the paintings on the walls. Eventually a neighbor let my Mom know how it got very loud at our house sometimes, it was worth every one of the extra chores :)
Thanks for sharing Randy!
The neighbors deserved to hear that sonic bliss!
I was never a Floyd fan, love the song High Hopes, but I do respect their genius and musicianship.
High Hopes is amazing
I love High Hopes too.
Boston's self-titled debut album was released Aug 1976. It did well. The station I listened to didn't play disco. AOR stations were like that.
Empty Spaces and One of My Turns are for my $ the darkest songs on the album, depicting the sad death throes of a failing marriage
You’re right on the money.
My first memory of Pink Floyd was my dad treasuring his 'The Wall'album and listening to it over 1970s style stereo headphones. Another Brick in the Wall - we don't need no education. There was no way I was forgetting that! That sticks in a kids mind like Schools Out for the Summer.
The Wall was so ahead of its time. Playing the music and watching the visuals today is chilling.
It still applies to current events!
I remember us all singing this one out on the bus on school trips trips, '79-'81
"The Wall" is a fantastic album-There's not one bad song on it.
I've heard this song since I was 13 on half days my mom would bring me to the mall food court, she'd buy me lunch, then she'd buy me something at a store like a video game, or a CD or 2. The 1 half day of the month we'd have at the beginning Wednesday of every month. She died 22 yrs ago when I was 20 but she left me with memories on the way to the mall listening to this tape in the 80s and 90s. I never saw this as Disco.
I thought the song " Run like Hell" was a Disco song as well?.
I just relistened to this album for the literal 1000th time, and it still brought tears to my eyes.
This was the first album I ever bought on my own.
Nice!
This album by far affected me for a large part of my life. I would listen to it over and over again. When I was feeling down and discouraged. It got me through a lot of stuff. Excellent review! Love your channel.
The Wall dominated a very unfocused 1980. One of the reasons I liked this year of the old clashing with the new.
Pink Floyd's chart run in the U.K. is strange, with The Final Cut and "Atom Heart Mother" hitting no.1, but The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon failing to do so.
Isn't that insane? How? Why do you think it missed out?
@@ProfessorofRock In the case of Dark side Floyd may have been in decline there, as they were rising here.
In the late seventies they faced a backlash from the punk obsessed media. The Wall isn't as revered there as it is here. Can't explain the final cut.
That is so weird!
Another great episode. enjoyed that😀
One of the best albums ever made
No question!
What's your favorite Floyd album?
💯
gotta be the wall followed by dark side@@ProfessorofRock
This song is memorable because at the time I was 13 going to predominantly white school when Rap,Rock and Black and other ethnic colors were ckashing about idealogy and culture and music.....it was a crossroads for me.....I was already the weird nerdy black kid who loved Kiss and EWF and I was never into Pink Floyd until this album....I always cinsidered it if its good music who cares who listens ti it....the fact that it is good we ALL should listen.......
I’m the exact same type of person.
One of the greatest albums of all time.
💯
In jr high, I listened to this cassette so much I wore out 2 copies, then finally bought it on vinyl (which I still own)and then just kept making copies on cassette...now, of course, I have the CD...it was great music to go to sleep to, although it did make for some strange dreams...