THE EVOLUTION OF THE DARK SIDE OF OZ.

27

2007 & 2008

2009

THE "DARK SIDE OF OZ" REVEALED:

After the 2 years of screening "The Dark Side of the Rainbow" on The Mystic Theatre's 30'x50' screen for staff and friends, I realized that in order to go further with this urban legend, I would have to reveal all of the synchornistic elements in the only way that I saw possible, make a fully edited live version. After approx 9 months of editing and experimenting the long road led me to the key that unlocked this mother of all syncs, now appropriately named "The Dark Side of Oz." I performed the 1st master sync in 2 parts for free to a very receptive audience on August 12th 2009. I wanted to pay tribute to the Grand Opening of "The Wizard of Oz" at the Oconomawoc Theater in Wisconsin August 12th 1939. This was possibly the 1st live screening ever to displayed all of the dialog and special effects from TWoZ interwoven into the music of Pink Floyd's DSoTM.

2010

"DARK SIDE DUB THE MOON":

Because it takes 2 1/2 repetitions of DSOTM to equal the length of "The Wizard of Oz" it wasn't long before I began to look for other ways that I could vary the grand sync, while still maintaining all of the original synchronistic cues (now well over 100+). It was while I was engineering at The Mystic Theatre that I had the opportunity to work with the reggae band The Easy Star All Star's where I discovered their new album "Dub Side of The Moon." The band knew of the urban legend sync and had timed their album to match! This unlocked another element of the puzzle... variation on a theme and even exposed new characters like The Reggae Lion! I realized that I now had a show on my hands and that it required more staging and preparations to keep it interesting and get it moving forward. It was largely because of staging, concept and copyright concerns, that I adapted some new characters and precautions to protect myself and my DSoOZ performances. I perform the illusion as close to the WoOZ release date of August 12th date so I can refer to it as "A Tribute" I never charge for the class screening and make no profit what so ever. It is a major calling card for me. I perform & teach as a Fake Professor with a D.O.P.E. degree so it is considered an educational experience.

 2011

 "DARK SIDE DUB THE MOONSHINE":

Tribute bands were beginning to become very popular on the club and concert scene in 2011 and a number of bands took good advantage of that trend by exploring their dark side. One of my local favorite bluegrass bands, Poor Man's Whiskey emerged to not only conquer the local scene but the national one as well by retelling Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" in a fun bluegrass vein! Their version was entitled "Dark Side of the Moonshine" and they video recorded their performance at The Mystic Theatre. Oddly I was not there, I was vacationing in Hawaii and wasn't available... a missed opportunity in my book! I decided that since I wasn't at the official recording performance, I would create my own performance and invite the band into it. And so I did... I created what I entitled "Dark Side Dub The Moonshine," a 2 part live mix screening mashup of an evening that included Rock, reggae and bluegrass into one big pot of Sonoma County gold. For the 1st time I added a live band performance to The Dark Side Class. Poor Man's Whisky was featured in full costumes, which featured all of the Wizard of Oz characters. Their performance even included Eli Jedidiah as Dorothy riding a bicycle and performing "On The Run" on the spokes of the bike. I cut sections of their music to fit the movie, the only time I dropped the original cue list to do so and laughed to myself as I watched them watch themselves on the screen! Good press and good bands... my show was building... or was it?

2012 

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - OCCUPY OZ / OZ FEST:

I had a lot on my plate as Chief Sound Engineer & Production Manager at The Mystic, National & International bands coming through daily it seemed. Enough hyper activity around me professionally that I honestly didn't know If I should or could continue with more of my live Dark Side class performances, after all it takes me about 3 months of intense editing to create the mother of all syncs.  I decided that I would do one more performance and to do that I would have to blow up the concept and quit while I was a head, much like a magician performing and then showing you all of his tricks! My concept became clear as the year went on and I had little choice. It was the year of OCCUPY and there were protesters everywhere pitching tents in the name of protesting. I agreed with their voices and spun my own version of occupying and bringing the message forward my own personal way. I established stage rules for this performance!

I placed a triangle pop up tent up rear center stage and then cut the back out of it so the only way to get on and off stage was through the back of the tent itself. The tent was "loaded" with a fog machine, multi-colored spinning lights and video controller and monitor for my show and myself. I ran a 2nd projector on stage that night with a triangle image that I cut that was directed towards the zipper screen of the tent, making it a great place to project imagery of fire smoke and lighting effects. I occupied that tent for most of the day before the show and came out on cue through a haze of lights & fog dressed as Ozzie Osborn to host the show. What no Professor... everyone said! I bumbled around the stage mumbling and hosting the entire event like I had stolen it!

I had so much fun the year before with Poor Man's Whiskey's performance on last years show that I asked my good friends "The Highway Poets" to join me on stage that year and play a short musical segment on the break again. I dubbed the band "The Lollipop Poets" and asked them to sing an acoustic version of  "The Lollipop Guild", with a couple of twists... Since you had to enter and exit through the  rear of the tent center stage, just before the performance I asked the boys to take off their shoes and give them to me. As I was bumbling around and I introducing the The Lollipop Poets, I was placing their shoes in front of the tent in a long line. On cue, I introduced the band and as they came out of the tent on their hands and knees, I asked them to place their knees in their respective shoes... yes Munchkins! The illusion was almost complete until I added the helium balloons to the boys and asked them to inhale and sing a few rousing choruses of... "We Represent the Lollipop Guild." A proud moment for me... a ridiculous moment... and for me personally, the best reward possible!

Not 1 photo exists that I know of... the audience was in a state of slack jawed with awe, even my photographer's missed their opportunity!

2013

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - RECLAIMED:

MYSTIC THEATRE

2014

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - FIELD TRIP!

ZODIACKS

2015

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - SOMEWHERE OVER THE WALL:

AUBERGINE

2016

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - SPECIAL ED CLASS:

PHOENIX THEATER

2017

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - NEVER SAY NEVER:

REDWOOD CAFE

2018

"THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - VOICES ON THE DUB SIDE:

REDWOOD CAFE

2019

NO SHOW - GONE TO BOLLYWOOD

RE4DWOOD CAFE

2021

'THE DARK SIDE OF OZ" - THE 13th CHAPTER.

"VARIATIONS FROM THE DARK SIDE"

ON-LIVE CLASS

THE OFFICIAL VMA / SYNCHRONICITY ARKIVE / STEGOKITTY - SYNC CUE LIST 1995

As the story goes... Set the "Dark Side of The Moon" CD to loop and wait. Start the DVD of "The Wizard of Oz - On the 3rd Lion roar of the MGM opening title start the CD!

Turn volume up on CD player...

and volume off on DVD player!

001 - The 1st indicator that the sync is correct is when the transition from"Speak to Me" to "Breathe"  syncs with the fade in of Producer Mervin LeRoy.

002 - "leave, but don't leave me alone"... Auntie Em appears to say "leave" to Dorothy, and she does.

003 - "look Around"... Dorothy looks around.

004 - "smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry"... 2 farm hands are laughing and the other might cry .

005 - "all you touch"... Dorothy touches the farmhands arm as he hols the bucket.

006 - "when at last the work is done"... 1 farm hard strikes his finger with the hammer. He's done.

007 - "dig that hole"... the farm hand points to the ground.

008 - "don't stand up"... Dorothy climbs on the fence.

009 - "balanced on the biggest wave"... Dorothy balances on the fence.

010 - Song Shift from "Breathe" to "On The Run" signals a scene change as well as a song change.

011 - Auntie Em shows up just as women chats away in the background of DSoTM track.

012 - The sound FX rumbling at the end of "On The Run" and the sound of distant thunder and birds in TWoOZ blends perfectly with the clouds and shafts of light.

013 - The Chimes in "Time" strike just as Elvira Gultch rides up on her bicycle and dismounts. Possible bicycle reference to Syd Barret's "Bike."

014 - Uncle Henry's paint brush seems to be ringing like a bell.

015 - SCENE CHANGE - The 1st bass chord hits as Elvira enters the house.

016 - "Time"... Continues... The score fits beautifully with the mood and tempo of the scene.

017 - Elvira points her finger on the bass chord.

018 - "kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town"... Toto escapes and heads home.

019 - "waiting for someone or something to show you the way"... Dorothy greets Toto, then leaves.

020 - "you are young and life is long"... a possible reference to Dorothy's young age.

021 - "ten years have got behind you"... You see Dorothy's back.

022 - "no one told you where to run"... Dorothy is shown running away from home.

023 - SCENE CHANGE - Guitar solo in "Time" begins on scene change.

024 - During the guitar solo of "Time" the words "Past, Present and Future" are seen on Professor Marvels advertising sign.

025 - "To come up behind you again"... Professor Marvel comes up behind Dorothy.

026 - "but you are older"... possibly referring to the Professor's age.

027 - "half a page of scribbled lines"... Possibly a photo with text that he takes from Dorothy's basket.

028 - "hanging on in quiet desperation"... Dorothy appears to be hanging on every word.

029 - SCENE CHANGE - Dorothy leaves just as "The Great Gig in the Sky" begins and runs through the entire twister scene. The "Twister Scene"one of the strongest scenes in the urban legend. David Gilmour's guitar, sounds almost like a warning siren.

030 - "I'm not frightened of dying" is heard in the background as the twister approaches.

031 - The drums kick in just as a tree gets uprooted and the scene is off...

032 - Clare Torry's wailing, keeps keeps with the mood and intensity of the twister scene and seems to display the emotions of Dorothy perfectly. Other sync cues worth mentioning are Dorothy stomping on the storm shelter doors to get in, the door flying off it's hinges,  pieces of furniture and appliances flying by the window and finally the strike on her head and the "Dream Sequence."

033 - SCENE CHANGE - The cash register sound in "Money"is heard as Dorothy opens the door to Oz, beginning the "Color = Money" metaphor. Clearly Oz is a very affluent place.

034 - "get back"... The Munchkins get back into the bush's.

035 - "don't give me any of that... do goody good bullshit" Glinda the good witch floats down in her big pink bubble.

036 - During the guitar solo of "Money" the Munchkins gather and move to the music. When one of the main Munchkins leaps forward, the music intensity grows and so does the dancing! Watch for the Munchkin who pops up from the man hole!

037 - "share it.. fair it"... One Munchkin shares a bouquet of flowers with Dorothy.

038 - During the beginning of "Us and Them" the organ plays music similar to what might be heard at a funeral as the Munchkin Coroner unrolls the death certificate.

039 - At the very beginning of "Us and Them," various voices can be heard talking to each other, at times it seems like it's the Munchkin conversation.

040 - The Lullaby League Ballerina's enter to vocal line of "us...us... us..."

041 - The Lollipop Guild boys, enter and then jerk and kick to the beat!

042 - "forward he cried"... The Munchkin officials thrusts out their hands and all seem to shout "forward" to Dorothy.

043 - "and the front rank died"... the Munchkin Soldiers rotate in marching rank and then stop.

044 - "moved from side to side"... The Munchkins seem to move from left to right and side to side.

045 - "black and blue"... On "black" the witch appears wearing black and as blue echos, we see Dorothy wearing blue.

046 - "and who knows which is which"... or witch is witch?

047 - "up"... The Witches broom sticks points up

048 - "down, down, down"... The Witches broom stick points down

049 -  "and in the end it's only round and round"... As Glinda points to Dorothy's red slippers they appear to repeat a scene and go round and round.

051 - "have you heard it's a battle of words"... Glinda appears to whisper into Dorothy's ear and then returns to the battle of words with the Wicked Witch.

052 - "listen son, said the man with the gun"... The Wicked Witches hand is in the shape of a gun.

053 - "and out"... Glinda departs in her pink bubble...

054 - On "with"... Dorothy begins walking with Toto in her arms. On "without"... she puts him down.

055 - "out of the way, it's a busy day and I've got things on my mind"... It is a busy day indeed as Dorothy gathers with the Munchkins and dances out of town.

056 - SCENE CHANGE: "Us and Them" into "Any colour You Like"

 

057 - "the lunatic is on the grass"... Well, the scarecrow is made of grass and he's certainly acting like he's smoked it!

058 - "you raised the blade" A toucan in the tree raises his blade like beak.

059 - "thunder in your ear"... the apple trees are certainly yelling at Dorothy.

060 - "all that you touch" once again Dorothy touches a mans arm.

061 - "all that you see"... Dorothy and the Scarecrow both see the oil can.

062 - Dorothy listens for a heart beat from the Tin Mans chest as the end of DSoTM ends and then begins it's 2nd repetition.

063 - In the beginning of the 2nd repetition of DSoTM, the heart beat is heard as the Tin Man sings "If I only had a heart."

064 -

THE AUGUST 1st 1995 FORT WAYNE JOURNAL GAZETTE - DSOTR

Originally published August 1, 1995
Copyright 1995, The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
The Dark Side of the Rainbow:
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The film version of "The Wizard of Oz." Two profoundly successful pieces of pop art you would think are completely unrelated. Yet there exists a connection - no, really a synchronicity - between the two that escapes logic or understanding.

By Charles Savage,
Let lapse, momentarily, your reason and your belief in a sense of order to the universe. (Suspend, too, your belief that we might be doing some very serious drugs.)

Then rent "The Wizard of Oz," turn off your television sound, put Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in your CD player on loop and press play at the exact moment the MGM lion roars for the 3rd time.

The result is astonishing. It's as if the movie were one long art-film music video for the album. Song lyrics and titles match the action and plot. The music swells and falls with character's movements.
Don't expect to be overwhelmed. But do expect to see enough firm coincidences to make you wonder whether the whole thing was planned. And expect to see many more coincidences that would be definite reaches if it weren't for other parts lining up so well.

If you're not really familiar with The Dark Side of the Moon, it will help to have a lyric sheet handy. But always keep an eye to the TV, lest you miss something. (Don't try the pause-play-pause game; being three or four seconds off would really neutralize the effect.)

Half the fun of exploring this marvel is watching with a group of friends and shouting out the correlations as you make connections. So we won't spell out all the details. here, however, are a few major examples just to get you started:

• During "Breathe," Dorothy does a tightrope-like walk along the holding pen to the lyric "and balanced on the biggest wave."
• The line "no one told you when to run" from "Time" is sung just as the scene switches to Dorothy running away from home to save Toto.
• "Home, home again" from the "Breathe" reprise is sung as Dorothy tells Professor Marvel that she's going home.
• "Don't give me that do goody good bullshit" from "Money" comes as Glinda the Good Witch of the North floats in as a bubble.
• "Black... and blue" from "Us and Them" is sung as the Wicked Witch of the West appears dressed in black. That is shortly followed by "and who knows which is which" (witch is witch) as she and Glenda confront each other.
• "Brain Damage" - which begins at almost the same time as the movie's "If I Only Had a Brain" contains the lines "The lunatic is on the grass" and "Got to keep the loonies on the path." This is just as the Scarecrow flops around like a madman on the grass and then on the Yellow Brick Road.

The numerous lyrical coincidences between the movie and the album are only part of the story. Often, the actions seems choreographed to the music.

For example, the wordless moan-singing of "The Great Gig in the Sky" is almost perfectly matched with the tornado scene, rising as the storm gathers, falling to a lullaby when Dorothy is knocked out by the window, rising again as the house spins up in the sky, then falling again as the house returns to earth.

The song begins with the gathering storm and ends just as the house hits the ground. Dorothy gets up in silence, walks through the house, and then just as she opens the door to reveal Technicolor Munchkinland, the opening sound effects of "Money" startle the listener. (Moreover, "Money" was the first song on the LP's second side; Munchkinland is the opening of part two of the film.)
And then there is the clincher: The album's dramatic ending heartbeats sound as Dorothy listens to the Tin Woodsman's empty chest. It's bizarre, uncanny. And it's more than a little puzzling.

There is no obvious reason why a classic art-rock album recorded in 1973 would be even remotely related to the 1939 film, which is based on the story by L. Frank Baum.

After all, it's hard to imagine Roger Waters, Dave Gilmour & Co. painstakingly writing their music to the movie's timing. It's even harder to imagine that a band so gimmickry-minded (it stuck a blinking LED light on the CD packaging of its latest release, PULSE, for example) would keep quiet for 22 years if it had done it purposefully. And at least for now, no one is talking. Several calls and a faxed request to a Pink Floyd publicist at Columbia Records were unanswered.

A slightly less inside source, Fred Meyer, the secretary of the International Wizard of Oz Club, said this: "What? I don't know anything about that." He added that he had never even heard of Pink Floyd.
All of which makes the origin twice as shrouded in mystery. Why would anyone just randomly play the album over the the film, timed with the MGM lion's roar?

In April [1995], someone posted about it on the Internet Pink Floyd newsgroup, saying he or she'd heard about it from "some people down in Los Angeles." Most users told the poster to go back to his drugs. And a recent posting on the alt.music.pink-floyd newsgroup asking for help in the mystery produced no clues to the origin of the oddity.

In the end, the synchronization was either intentional or a cosmic coincidence - the musical equivalent of the "Infinite Monkeys on Infinite Typewriters Eventually Producing the Complete Works of Shakespeare" effect.

Perhaps all it means is that when everything under the sun is in tune, including two pieces of cult-status entertainment seemingly completely separated by time and genre, it will seem as strange as when the sun is eclipsed by a moon.