"It was quite a shock to be confronted with people down the front all screaming for us." The story of the song that turned Pink Floyd into rock heavyweights - and set the scene for decades of bickering

Pink Floyd in 1973, publicity photo.

There’s the clank of a cash register. A jangle of coins. A tearing of till receipts. A loping bassline, built on just eight notes. And finally, David Gilmour’s opening gambit (‘Money! Get away…’). So begins Pink Floyd’s first true international signature tune and their ticket to the stadium league.

Nobody could have predicted those impending plaudits when Roger Waters arrived at Abbey Road in June 1972 with the bones of the song: an awkward 7/4 composition that tested both Nick Mason and guesting tenor saxophonist Dick Parry.