Kingsley re-issues

FYI - It might be of interest to some here that the Italian label
Dagored re-issued Gershon Kingsley's "Music to Moog By" and "First Moog
Quartet". There's little question "Music to Moog By" has superior
synthesis and production. The latter, the First Moog Quartet was
debatably the first synth band (1970) so as albums go that's it's
Achilles heel. They brought in singers apparently to give a little more
time to re-patch the modular synths each member played and don't
integrate studio effects to any great extent. I'd think it also is
probably funnier in a dated way

"Moog By" includes no album notes though I don't think the original
release had any? Quite the opposite "Moog Quartet" has quite extensive
original notes. So what's very slightly Tomita related and new to me is
that Kingsley created AFAIK an unreleased Moog track for the Kodak
Pavillion at Expo 70. Tomita did orchestral music himself as as far as I
understand it, more of an intentional Hi-Fi extravaganza (in other words
it was the focus of the show rather than part of the show) for the
Toshiba pavillion and as he recounted himself, was given the album
"Switched On Bach" by a friend while visiting Osaka and that inspired
him to get a synth circa 1972. I wonder if Tomita made it to the Kodak
Pavillion? Anyway The First Moog Quartet has quite a different version
of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" a track also covered by
Tomita (Switched On Hit & Rock). Kingsley starts with a long almost
acapella rendition with pretty much only a "wind" patch on the synth
doing FX, then he reprises the whole song as a synth instrumental

"Moog By" includes the original more restrained version of "Popcorn"
(later made into the first Moog hit single by an ex-member of the First
Moog Quartet, Stan Free, who called his act Hot Butter (which got a hard
to find UK re-issue in 2000). In general, Kingsley takes a baroque
approach in doing classical influenced parts of his arrangements - so
that aspect is closer to Carlos than Tomita and of course he and Perrey
did a mostly electronic pop album before the Moog available so he really
was pioneering and not being influenced much by anyone.

The sound quality on these is very good. The highs are pleasant and the
noise is low. I hear some moderate distortion which may or may not be
intentional. Like most of the Moog albums of this era it contains actual
drums, guitar and bass.

nick

 

Now, since we touched on the Popcorn subject, I have always heard rumours
that Jean-Michel Jarre had something to do with that piece. Can anybody shed some
light on whether or not this is true?

 

>
> Now, since we touched on the Popcorn subject, I have always heard rumours that Jean-Michel Jarre had something to do
> with that piece. Can anybody shed some light on whether or not this is true?


He did a cover version of it early in his career. Other people did them
too, it was a sort of EZ listening standard in the early 70s. I think
Jarre's was only on a single. It's among a lot of early pre-Oxygene work
that Jarre went after when he had some sort of agent harrass a lot of
website owners about. I only mention that because they sent me some kind
of legal-ish form letter for no good reason years ago when I mentioned
jarre in historical context.

As mentioned Gershon Kingsley wrote the tune and did the original
version. Ex-member of Kingsley's First Moog Quartet, Stan Free, who's
subsequent band Hot Butter had a high charting U.S. single with it and
is the most often heard. For what it's worth Kingsley did a new version
for "At Home with the Groovebox" (released 2000) a compilation on the
now defunct Grand Royal label

ummm....On the other hand I've always felt that while Jarre plays up the
prestige of studying with Musique Concrete originator Pierre Schaeffer
his music seems much more like taking the work of 1960s electronic pop
pioneers Perrey & Kingsley on to the next level