October 2, 2009 Playlist

Electric Hoedown!
Synthesizer records of the 1960's & 1970's
   
"The Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine" by Richard Hayman (1969)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Richard Hayman  "The Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine"  1969 (USA)
In the late 1960's and first half of the 1970's, there was a popular genre of "switched on" records which featured popular songs of the day performed on the moog synthesizer.  The first huge selling example was Walter Carlos' Switched On Bach, and Dick Hyman (not to be confused with Richard Hayman!) was another big name in this genre -- though both had been preceded by Jean Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley with their groundbreaking 1967 album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations.  But one of the most bizarre records of this peculiar subgenre is certainly The Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine:  Persuasive Electronics By Richard Hayman, which comes in a psychedelicly intense shiny red gatefold cover featuring a grooving robot.  Although it's probably mostly famous for the absurd title and album cover, the music contained within is actually some of the more interesting "moog pop" ever made, particularly on the epic lysergic versions of "Windmills of Your Mind" and "I Think I'm Going Out Of My Head" (which never seemed like particularly trippy songs when anyone else did them!)
Since there are no Richard Hayman videos, here's inventor Bob Moog demostrating the synthesizer that bears his name.  And here's The Moog Cookbook, a contemporary group who do (hilarious) "switched on" versions of modern hits like Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun".  And finally, here's the one and only Emerson Lake & Palmer blasting through a moogtastic version of Aaron Copland's "Hoedown".
      
Artist Song Album Year Country
Emerson Lake & Palmer Hoedown (Aaron Copland) Trilogy 1972 UK
Gil Trythall Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) Country Moog - Switched On Nashville
 1970 USA
The Electronic Concept Orchestra Wichita Lineman (Jim Webb / Glen Campbell) Electric Love 1969 USA
Orbit III Mother Nature's Son (Beatles) Orbit III c. 1970 USA
Sear Electronic Music Productions Inc. (Walter Sear) Revolution (Beatles) The Copper Plated Integrated Circuit 1969 USA
The Plastic Cow (Mike Melvoin) The Ballad of John & Yoko (Beatles) The Plastic Cow Goes Moooooog 1969 USA
Dick Hyman The Moog & Me The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman 1969 USA
Richard Hayman Samba de Victoria The Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 1969 USA
 
 
Richard Hayman (I Think I'm) Going Out Of My Head The Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine
 CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 1969 USA
Perrey & Kingsley Mas Que Nada Kaleidescopic Vibrations 1967 France/USA
Les Yper Sound (Pierre Henry) Teen Tonic Too Fortiche EP 1967 France
The Free Pop Electronic Concept Planetary Gospel A New Exciting Experience 1969 Belgium
Ananda Shankar Dance Indra Ananda Shankar 1970 India
Okko Santana Sitar & Electronics 1971 Netherlands
   
 
Bo Hansson The Black Riders And The Flight To The Ford Music Inspired By The Lord Of The Rings 1972 Sweden
Electric Tommy Sparks (The Who) Electric Tommy 1975 USA
Stardrive featuring Robert Mason Air Sauce Stardrive 1974 USA
Tomita Star Wars Main Title (John Williams) Kosmos 1978 Japan
Patrick Gleeson The Death Star (John Williams) Patrick Gleeson's Star Wars 1977 USA
The Electric Moog Orchestra The Throne Room And End Title (John Williams) Music From Star Wars 1977 USA
   
 
Egg A Visit To Newport Hospital The Polite Force 1971 UK
Van der Graaf Generator W B-side single 1972 UK
Curved Air Whose Shoulder Are You Looking Over
   / Over & Out		 Phantasmagoria 1972 UK
Pink Floyd Us & Them
   / Any Colour You Like		 Dark Side Of The Moon 1973 UK
 
 
Cluster Rote Riki Zuckerzeit 1974 Germany
Kraftwerk Kometenmelodie 2 Autobahn 1974 Germany
Cosmic Jokers Tim Bleibt Bei Uns Gilles Zeitschiff 1974 Germany
Vangelis Dervish D Spiral 1977 Greece
 
  
The Monkees Daily Nightly Pisces Aquarius Capricorn & Jones Ltd. 1967 USA/UK
Lothar & The Hand People Milkweed Love Presenting . . . Lothar & The Hand People 1968 USA
Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies Moonsong: Pelog The American Metaphysical Circus 1969 USA
White Noise Your Hidden Dreams An Electric Storm 1969 UK/USA
          
   
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