Let' s Get in the Moog...

It seems it's taken ages to get back into blogland and while a month can go as quick as a nation changes  its leadership, in fact it's been a constant on my mind that I MUST get that next post up..

With no further adue I shift from comfortable radio-friendly and present that strange enigma that is Moog, and some of the varied pathways that it has meandered into since Robert first plugged in that diode..

Everything You Always Wanted to Hear on the Moog*

*but were afraid to ask for

The Mighty Moog (Andrew Kazdin & Thomas Z. Shepard)

CBS - date unknown

It seems inappropriate that the most modern of instruments in the late 20th Century was called upon the most in its earliest appearances to cover the past. The classics must have been a bad shape in the record companies eyes that they required a pre-psychedelic remaking at the fingers of the upcoming electric programmers/musicians.

Switched-On Bach - Walter Carlos with Benjamin Folkman

CBS - post 1965

The Moog Strikes Bach... - Hans Wurman - RCA - 1969

Master Pieces - Apollo 100 (featuring Tom Parker) - Young Blood - 1972

Many have wondered who exactly was Mr 100..

At some stage around the early 60's it became too difficult to distinguish between what had laid in the past and what was soon to overwhelm all. Some continued to evoke the mood of the 50's while others pretended to embrace the now with-it generation that was deconstructing their elders..

Moog Rock - Les Baxter - Calendar Records - date unknown

Manchurian Beat - Wonderful Moog Sound (M. Sato & 1864 Cotton Field Rock Band)

JVC - 1972

Flamenco Moog - Dan Lackman Association with E.M.S. Moog Synthisiser

Carina Records - date unknown

Wheels - Tommy Seebach - Columbia - 1975

Golden Instrumental Hits - The Many Moogs of Killer Watts (Barry Leng, Len Beadle & Derek Scott)

Golden Hour - date unknown

Bob Rowe's Music Box - Bob Rowe & "a plethora of tape decks, mixers, amps and synthesisers, and several pieces of equipment, that are, as yet, unnamed" - DJM Records - 1973

Ticker Tape - Electric Coconut - Axis Records - 1974

Of course the record execs could not pass up a chance to stretch the marvels of the future with dallies into other more traditional sidelines..

Nashville Gold - Switched On Moog (Gil Trythall) - Summit - 1973

Moog Plays Switched-On Bacharach - Dave Mullaney - Music For Pleasure - 1972

Electric Love -The Electric Concept Orchestra (Eddie Higgins) - Limelight - date unknown

But the spirit of the age could not be held back and after successfully covering many rock standards the moogsters finally flipped it's keys and truly Switched On..

Switched-On Rock - The Moog Machine - CBS - date unknown

Moog plays ABBA - Robin Workman et al - Tee-Vee Records - date unknown

Electric Hair - The Electric Hair (Robert Byrne) - Festival Records - date unknown

But possibly the greatest recognised use of the wonder of Moog falls into the laps of the following..

Popcorn - Hot Butter - Interfusion - 1972

and let's not forget Son of Hot Butter..

Popcorn and other switched-on smash hits - Electric Coconut - Axis Records - date unknown

Then there is the dark side, the moog path least travelled.. 

Black Mass - Lucifer (Mort Garson) - MCA Records - date unknown

..now I feel in the moog...