The Pink Floyd Experience, Thursday, February 26

I'm hoping that my loyal readers are also WKRP in Cincinnati devotees. If so, their favorite episode is, no doubt, 1978's "Turkey Drop." That's the one in which a Thanksgiving promotion goes awry when Mr. Carlson drops live turkeys from a helicopter onto a shopping center parking lot.

In the aftermath of splattered turkeys on the pavement and broken windshields, Mr. Carlson says, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Oh, the humanity.

Earlier in the episode, Mr. Carlson enters the booth while Dr. Johnny Fever is playing Pink Floyd's Dogs. Looking at the album jacket, Mr. Carlson says, "Pigs on the Wing, I wonder what that song sounds like?" Johnny dryly says, "I don't do requests."

That may have been the point at which Pink Floyd entered my consciousness and that of mainstream America.

Mainstream? By the time of the WKRP airing, Pink Floyd had released what are arguably its two finest albums, Wish You Were Here (pronounced in parts of Western Kentucky as Wish You Was Here), and the phenomenal Dark Side Of The Moon (below). Dark Side still holds the record for most consecutive weeks on Billboard's Top 200 at 741, which is over 14 years. At $40 million, Dark Side is firmly ensconced between The Bee Gees and Shania Twain on the all-time bestsellers list.

Still, it was 1979's The Wall that brought Pink Floyd broad commercial appeal. The album and its first single, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, both hit No. 1 on their respective Billboard Charts. Recorded as a rock opera, The Wall was performed live with full theatrical effects.

In 1982, The Wall was released as a feature-length film. Those my age in town remember the numerous showings of The Wall at midnight at the Paducah Cinema. We really could've used Maiden Alley Cinema back then for the ultimate Wall experience.

We didn't have MAC then, but luckily we have The Carson Center now — and The Pink Floyd Experience is coming Thursday, February 26. The Pink Floyd Experience is billed as a combination of an intimate experience with the legitimate music, lights and sound of Pink Floyd. It's a multi-sensual treat that only very early Pink Floyd fans could have encountered.

So, if you thought pigs would fly before Pink Floyd would come to Paducah, check out The Carson Center on Thursday. Maybe you'll hear Pigs on the Wing. Just hope that David Boggs won't be dropping them from a helicopter for some BBQ on the River promotion this fall.

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