Pink Floyd pigs
Encyclopedia
Inflatable Pink Floyd
flying pig
s were one of the staple prop
s of their live shows. The first was a sow, but a very obviously male pig appeared in the 1980s. Pigs appeared numerous times in concert
s by the band, promoting concerts and record releases, and on the cover of their 1977 album Animals.
The image rights for the pigs passed to Roger Waters
when he split from the rest of the group, though the pigs continued to be used by both post-Roger Waters Pink Floyd and Roger Waters in their gigs.
with help of Designers team Hipgnosis
, in preparation for shooting the cover of the Animals album. Plans were made to fly the forty-foot, helium
-filled balloon
over Battersea Power Station
on the first day's photo-shoot, with a marksman
prepared to shoot the pig down if it broke free. However, the pig was not launched.
On the second day, the marksman wasn't present because no one had told him to return, and the pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind on the third day, gaining a lot of press coverage. It disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at thirty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport
were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain and out over the English Channel
, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent
that night.
The pig was recovered and repaired for the resumption of photography for the album cover, but unfortunately the sky was cloudless and blue, thus "boring". However, the pictures of the sky from the first day were suitable; eventually, the album cover was created using a composite of photos from the first and third days.
The pig that was originally floated above Battersea Power Station was called "Algie".
, Pink Floyd began their "In the Flesh" tour. During concerts, the pig appeared around the PA
stacks in a cloud of black smoke during performances of "Pigs (Three Different Ones)
".
The pig also went astray whilst suspended from the ceiling of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
in Baton Rouge Louisiana
in 1977. It ran back and forth over the audience during the performance on some sort of track, and at the end of its travels across the arena struck a fan in the head as it turned to go back toward the stage.
concerts, black instead of pink, with a crossed hammers logo on its side. Waters would occasionally refer to it directly before "Run Like Hell
" (the pig appeared during the end of the previous song, "In the Flesh"). A short speech in reference to either the pig or the song was given in every show, with each speech being different; this oddity is used by bootleggers
to identify which date a recording of the Wall tour was made on. At the Berlin concert, it was only the head and it had fangs and red eyes.
has said this was an attempt to get round Roger Waters having the image rights for the pig
Pink Floyd added a 'deflated' pig to Roger Waters's auction of animation art from the film The Wall at Christies London on 21/9/1990, the lot was withdrawn before the auction started.
During the 1994 tour, two warthog
-like pigs with protruding tongues were shown at the top of the stage side's speaker towers, sometimes just deflated, sometimes dropped on the ground after "One of These Days".
The pig made another appearance before the release of Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
, when Capitol Records
flew a replica of the original pig from Animals over the Capitol Records Tower
in Hollywood, California
.
One damaged inflatable pig, believed to be from the 1988 Pink Floyd
tour, was repaired by Nga Keith and flown again over a concert by the band The String Cheese Incident in Austin, Texas on September 20, 2003. Reportedly purchased by The String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba from a former Pink Floyd stagehand, the 40-foot pig flew again over the Austin City Limits Music Festival
audience during a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall
(Part II)".
During their Live 8
reunion with Waters, footage of Algie, over Battersea Power Station, was shown on a giant video screen behind the band.
A replica of Algie was tethered above Battersea Power Station on 26 September 2011 to promote the Why Pink Floyd...?
campaign, involving the reissue of all 14 of the band's studio albums.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
flying pig
Flying pig
The phrase "when will pigs fly" is an adynaton—a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question will never occur.Because of the historical importance of the pig industry to the city, prominent in the local...
s were one of the staple prop
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
s of their live shows. The first was a sow, but a very obviously male pig appeared in the 1980s. Pigs appeared numerous times in concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s by the band, promoting concerts and record releases, and on the cover of their 1977 album Animals.
The image rights for the pigs passed to Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
when he split from the rest of the group, though the pigs continued to be used by both post-Roger Waters Pink Floyd and Roger Waters in their gigs.
Animals
The original Pink Floyd pig was designed by Roger Waters and built in December 1976 by the artist Jeffrey ShawJeffrey Shaw
Jeffrey Shaw is a pioneering new media artist and researcher. From 1965 to 2002 he lived in Milan, London, Amsterdam and Karlsruhe, and returned to Australia in 2003 to assume the Directorship of the iCinema Research Centre at the University of New South Wales...
with help of Designers team Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
, in preparation for shooting the cover of the Animals album. Plans were made to fly the forty-foot, helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
-filled balloon
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
over Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...
on the first day's photo-shoot, with a marksman
Marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision, or a sharpshooter shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at long range targets...
prepared to shoot the pig down if it broke free. However, the pig was not launched.
On the second day, the marksman wasn't present because no one had told him to return, and the pig broke free due to a strong gust of wind on the third day, gaining a lot of press coverage. It disappeared from sight within five minutes, and was spotted by airline pilots at thirty thousand feet in the air. Flights at Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
were cancelled as the huge inflatable pig flew through the path of aircraft, eastwards from Britain and out over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, finally landing on a rural farm in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
that night.
The pig was recovered and repaired for the resumption of photography for the album cover, but unfortunately the sky was cloudless and blue, thus "boring". However, the pictures of the sky from the first day were suitable; eventually, the album cover was created using a composite of photos from the first and third days.
The pig that was originally floated above Battersea Power Station was called "Algie".
In the Flesh
After the album Animals was released in 19771977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
, Pink Floyd began their "In the Flesh" tour. During concerts, the pig appeared around the PA
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
stacks in a cloud of black smoke during performances of "Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
"Pigs " is a song from Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals. In the album's three parts, "Dogs", "Pigs", and "Sheep", pigs represent the people whom Roger Waters considers to be at the top of the social ladder, the ones with wealth and power; they also manipulate the rest of society and encourage them...
".
The pig also went astray whilst suspended from the ceiling of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,472-seat multi-purpose arena in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The arena opened in 1972. It is home to the Louisiana State University Tigers and Lady Tigers basketball teams. It was originally known as the LSU Assembly Center, but was renamed in memory of Pete...
in Baton Rouge Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 1977. It ran back and forth over the audience during the performance on some sort of track, and at the end of its travels across the arena struck a fan in the head as it turned to go back toward the stage.
The Wall
The pig also appeared during each of Pink Floyd's The WallThe Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
concerts, black instead of pink, with a crossed hammers logo on its side. Waters would occasionally refer to it directly before "Run Like Hell
Run Like Hell
"Run Like Hell" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall.-Overview:The song is written from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob...
" (the pig appeared during the end of the previous song, "In the Flesh"). A short speech in reference to either the pig or the song was given in every show, with each speech being different; this oddity is used by bootleggers
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
to identify which date a recording of the Wall tour was made on. At the Berlin concert, it was only the head and it had fangs and red eyes.
Pink Floyd's use of the pig post-Roger Waters
The 1987/88/89 tour, the band added testicles to the pig. David GilmourDavid Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
has said this was an attempt to get round Roger Waters having the image rights for the pig
Pink Floyd added a 'deflated' pig to Roger Waters's auction of animation art from the film The Wall at Christies London on 21/9/1990, the lot was withdrawn before the auction started.
During the 1994 tour, two warthog
Warthog
The Warthog or Common Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in grassland, savanna, and woodland in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the past it was commonly treated as a subspecies of P...
-like pigs with protruding tongues were shown at the top of the stage side's speaker towers, sometimes just deflated, sometimes dropped on the ground after "One of These Days".
The pig made another appearance before the release of Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. It was released by EMI Records in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2001 and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart on 24 November 2001, with sales...
, when Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
flew a replica of the original pig from Animals over the Capitol Records Tower
Capitol Records Building
The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District, located in Hollywood, Los Angeles is a thirteen story tower designed by Welton Becket – and one of the city's landmarks...
in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
One damaged inflatable pig, believed to be from the 1988 Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
tour, was repaired by Nga Keith and flown again over a concert by the band The String Cheese Incident in Austin, Texas on September 20, 2003. Reportedly purchased by The String Cheese Incident manager Mike Luba from a former Pink Floyd stagehand, the 40-foot pig flew again over the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
audience during a cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall
Another Brick in the Wall
"Another Brick in the Wall" is the title of three songs set to variations of the same basic theme, on Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera, The Wall, subtitled Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3...
(Part II)".
During their Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
reunion with Waters, footage of Algie, over Battersea Power Station, was shown on a giant video screen behind the band.
A replica of Algie was tethered above Battersea Power Station on 26 September 2011 to promote the Why Pink Floyd...?
Why Pink Floyd...?
Why Pink Floyd...? is an exhaustive re-release campaign of the entire back catalogue of the English rock group Pink Floyd scheduled for 2011–12. It will entail various incarnations of the band's material in multiple formats. The music will be presented newly remastered, featuring unreleased tracks...
campaign, involving the reissue of all 14 of the band's studio albums.
Roger Waters solo tours
- During a concert in Summerfest 2006, the pig had a message printed on it reading "Impeach BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
" - During Waters' performance at the 2008 Coachella Festival, one of the giant inflatable pigs being used as a prop became untethered and floated away into the California desert. Organizers of the festival have offered a $10,000 reward plus free lifetime tickets to the festival in return for the pig's recovery. The pig was found three days later at a nearby country club.
- Likewise, during the concert in Dallas, TX on May 2, 2008, and Houston, TX on May 4, the pig floated away.
- In a concert in ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
on 2007, a pig flew and ended up on the Río de la PlataRío de la PlataThe Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
.
Other media
- Pink Floyd's inflatable pig can be seen floating above Battersea Power StationBattersea Power StationBattersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...
in the 2010 movie Nanny McPhee Returns as the nanny and children make a motorcycle trip to London to locate the childrens' father. - Pink Floyd's Inflatable pig can also be seen floating outside a building window in the 2006 movie Children Of MenChildren of MenChildren of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
. - Inflatable pigs can sometimes be spotted floating around neighborhoods in 2004 video game The Sims 2The Sims 2The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to the best-selling computer game, The Sims, which debuted on February 4, 2000. It was first released on September 14, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. A port to Apple Mac OS X...
. - In the episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
entitled "HomerpaloozaHomerpalooza"Homerpalooza" is the 24th episode of The Simpsons seventh season and originally aired on May 19, 1996. The plot focuses around Homer's depression about aging and no longer being cool, and his quest to become cool again by joining the "Hullabalooza" music festival as a carnival freak. The episode...
" a cannon fires an inflatable pig at Homer, which was claimed to had been bought at a Pink Floyd yard sale.