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...

Along The Trainline..

This year's theme for Ironfest was 'Time Travel', and arriving in Lithgow as I have for the past 12 years for this year's event can sometimes be a flashback to another era - where opshops flourished and prices remained below secondhand charges. Having began a lot of my collecting while living in the Blue Mountains during the mid 80's I always journey out to these parts with some expectation that things will be better than in the city on these fronts.. sometimes there are disappointments.. and sometimes the travelling can be worth it.
This time out (apart from an excellent time had at Ironfest over two days) Lithgow, Springwood and Blaxland all gave up some treasures to be sure, mainly in the vinyl department.

On the way up Kaspar and I alighted at Springwood on Fri afternoon to once again confirm that it still only has one opshop. Usually not that productive like it had been in the dim past, but two Scheherazade  additions, a sweet Kaempfert coverpic and an oddball  Scripture in Song with promises to tell us what God says about bad language, witchcraft, temptation amongst other important subjects.

While waiting two and a half hours for the next train to continue on to Lithgow we ambled around, settlling for pie and sausage rolls at the only cafe that wasn't supplying gourmet p&s with salad for $6.50 each. Plus the friendly chinaman supplied tomato sauce in a squeezy for free.. now that's country service. While still ambling around we also found a secondhand bookshop that had the best Michael Moorcock pile I've ever seen on display..

although I didn't buy any..

After a weekend filled with explosive Napoleonics, radiationed steam punks & earth shattering victorian steamrollers, I sent the family home on Sunday afternoon. With a free Monday to casually make my way back to the big burg I firstly hankered down Main Street to The Family Store which gave forth a 'black suit' Spiderman tshirt ($2.50).

Not being too disheartened, I continued down to Vinnies in what is now a 2 opshop town. This presented yet another two Scheherazade LPs ($1 each), and a magnificent foldout Top of The Pops '71($2), along with a handful of Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars and VHS' of Star Wars I & II for Kaspar.

A quick step next door to the Hearts For Animals found me hurriedly skimming thru a vast vinyl stack at the back (finding a sweet narrated Alice in Wonderland) and a couple of more Hot wheels - all for 50c - does it get any better??

from top - yellow car unknown

Ballistic - Hot Wheels -2001

'47 Chevy Fleetlore - Hot Wheels - date unknown

unknown - Hot Wheels - 1989

Jeep Grand Cherokee - Matchbox - 1999

Jet Threat - Hot Wheels - 2008

Love this Jet Car

B35? - Hot Wheels - 1994

Well yeah, it did that day.. 

Along with some cheap (at 20c each the best I come across in many a year) discs, The Cancer opshop in Blaxland, my next port of call, served up a fine selection. This included an antiquated Pirates of Penzance, a sultry Songs and Moods for people Alone Together, a Classic Goon Show and a vibrant covered Peter & the Wolf. I also was willing to part $5 for a fantastic covered (and great sounding) BBC Radiophonic Workshop of Doctor Who The Music, as he was a central theme of this year's Ironfest. Also scored a knitted Egyptian queen wall hanging ($5) for Madame Beth to use in an upcoming Egyptian display at the library.

Under the impression that there were three opshops in Blaxland (alas only 2) I quickly made way down to the Vinnies, which held many a secret stash in it's basement of black gold at $1 each. These included two more Peter & the Wolfs (I see a post developing), The Moog Strikes Bach, Walt Disney's Stories of H. C. Anderson, Hymns by Tennessee Ernie Ford and a corker of a record - It's Cool In The Furnace II - just got to find the first volume to make life complete...

The train was incoming and I ran out of time to photograph the front of the stores, alas.

Here is the full details of platters obtained in this jaunt..

Scheherazade - The Paris Conservatoire Orchestra - World record Club - date unknown

Scheherazade - Leonard Bernstein & The New York Philharmonic 

Music For Pleasure - date unknown

Scheherazade - Vienna State Opera Orchestra - Calendar - date unknown

Scheherazade - London Symphony Orchestra - Victrola - 1962?

The Best of Top of the Pops '71 - Not Original Artists - Hallmark - 1971

Songs and Moods For People Alone Together - Pietro Delmont Orchestra - Rainbow - date unknown

Alice In Wonderland - Joan Greenwood & Stanley Holloway etc - Caedmon - date unknown

Doctor Who The Music - The BBC Radiophonic Workshop - BBC Records - 1983

The Moog Strikes Bach -  Hans Wurman/Sonart Productions - RCA - 1969

The Pirates of Penzance (2nd of 2set) - The D'oyly Carte Opera Company - Decca - date unknown

A New Sound Conquers the World - Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra - Polydor - post 1961

Tennessee Ernie Ford: Hymns - Capital - date unknown

It's Cool In The Furnace II - L. Mayfield & G. Hawthorne - Word Records - 1984

Sing a Song of Scripture - Various Artists - Scripture in Song - date unknown 

(missing 9 feet long wall poster, alas)

Walt Disney presents The Stories of Hans Christian Anderson - Camarata - Disneyland - 1965

Peter And The Wolf - Sir Ralph Richardson/London Symphony Orchestra - Decca - date unknown

Peter And The Wolf - Paul Daneman/The Little Symphony of London - MFP - 1969

A Musical Story of Peter And The Wolf - Peter Pan Symphony Orchestra - ALF - date unknown

Goon Show Classics Vol 7 - P. Sellers, S. Milligan, H. Secombe - BBC Records - 1980