Flaming Lips releasing 24-hour song in skulls on Halloween

Does the Lips' 24-hour song contain bullhorn?
Does the Lips' 24-hour song contain bullhorn? (Image credit: Amy Harris/Corbis)

Leave it to Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips to go for the gusto. Not content with making way-out films like Christmas On Mars, riding crowds while inside a plastic bubble and covering entire Pink Floyd albums, the band is gunning for the Guinness Book Of World Records by releasing a 24-hour song.

Oh, yes...the track will be recorded on hard drives and inserted in five human skulls. For Halloween, of course.

The skulls are coming via a company called Skulls Unlimited (duh!), which bills itself as "the world's leading supplier of osteological specimens." The track is yet to be recorded, but Coyne has already pre-sold all five skulls for $5,000 each.

Since those babies are already gone, if you have lots of time to kill, you can always check out an upcoming Flaming Lips track called Found A Star On The Ground, a six-hour opus which has been recorded and will be released shortly. Instead of a human skull, Found A Star On The Ground will be encased in a toy called The Strobo Trip. (Curious? Hear 15 minutes of the song above.)

Says Coyne, "The Strobo Trip by itself is fascinating. I wouldn't be a surprised to hear about some people taking LSD or something while listening to Found A Star On The Ground and playing with The Strobo Trip for hours and hours. We hope you'll enjoy them anyway you like."

No word yet whether The Flaming Lips are planning a 24-hour concert, or even a six-hour show. But we wouldn't be surprised if either happens.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.