To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Pink Floyd’s debut album ‘The Piper At The Gates of Dawn’, music licensing organisation PPL has revealed a chart of Pink Floyd’s most played tracks on UK radio and TV*. The V&A Museum is currently honouring the band’s five decade career with the ‘Their Mortal Remains’exhibition and according to PPL data, Pink Floyd have now generated 32 million seconds of airplay on UK radio and TV in the 21st century.
‘The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ was released 50 years ago on 5 August. It was their only full album to feature enigmatic frontman Syd Barrett who left the band in 1968 and alongside ‘The Dark Side of The Moon’ and ‘The Wall’, it remains one of their most revered albums amongst fans and critics. It was also influential in terms of its legacy and still serves as a source of inspiration for artists today.
The 1979 UK Number One hit single ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)’ takes the spot as the band’s most played track with ‘Money’ taken from the 1973 multi-platinum album ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ coming in at Number Two and 1975’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ being the third most played song.
Two early Pink Floyd singles that were released in the lead-up to ‘The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn’ in 1967 but not featured on the final album also make an appearance in the Top Ten. ‘See Emily Play’ (released in June 1967) and the band’s debut single ‘Arnold Layne’ (released in March 1967) appear at Number Five and Number Eight, respectively.
Several other tracks from ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ feature prominently including ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ (Number Six), ‘Time’ (Number Seven), ‘Us And Them’ (Number Nine) and ‘Breathe’ (Number 13). The band’s 1975 opus ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’, a tribute to their departed former member Syd Barrett, concludes the Top Ten.
The most played Pink Floyd songs on UK radio and TV
1.) ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)’ (1979)
2.) ‘Money’ (1973)
3.) ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975)
4.) ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1979)
5.) ‘See Emily Play’ (1967)
6.) ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ (1973)
7.) ‘Time’ (1973)
8.) ‘Arnold Layne’ (1967)
9.) ‘Us And Them’ (1973)
10.) ‘Shine On Your Crazy Diamond’ (1975)
11.) ‘Learning To Fly’ (1987)
12.) ‘Have A Cigar’ (1975)
13.) ‘Breathe’ (1973)
14.) ‘One Of These Days’ (1971)
15.) ‘Speak To Me / Breathe’ (1973)
16.) ‘On The Turning Away’ (1987)
17.) ‘Run Like Hell’ (1979)
18.) ‘Sheep’ (1977)
19.) ‘Louder Than Words’ (2014)
20.) ‘High Hopes’ (1994)
*Based on PPL data from 2000 to 2017
