This Day in History: American engineering physicist and pioneer of electronic music Robert Moog was born on this day in 1934. He was the founder of Moog Music and the inventor of the first commercial synthesizer, the Moog synthesizer, which debuted in 1964. This was followed in 1970 by a more portable model, the Minimoog, described as the most famous and influential synthesizer in history.
The Moog synthesizer was brought to the mainstream by Switched-On Bach (1968), a bestselling album of Bach compositions arranged for Moog synthesizer by Wendy Carlos. In the late 1960s, it was adopted by rock and pop acts including the Doors, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. At its height of popularity, it was a staple of 1970s progressive rock, used by acts including Yes, Tangerine Dream, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With its ability to imitate instruments such as strings and horns, it threatened the jobs of session musicians, and was banned from use in commercial work for a period, and in some places, the ban is still in effect.
Back in 2016, Kraftwerk had to cancel their shows in Buenos Aires because of a city-wide ban on synthesizer-based performances.
Some of the most popular songs featuring synthesizers are:
Jump, by Van Halen
Oxygene Part 4, by Jean Michel Jarre
Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics
Save a Prayer by Duran Duran
Take on Me by A-Ha
The Final Countdown by Europe
Lucky Man by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
and Baba O'Riley - The Who
The History and Mystery of Alchemy is now available on Amazon...and it is only 99 cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment