Joop
Stokkermans / The Magic Of The ARP Synthisiser
Gemini
GM 2017 : 1971
Gemini
were a budget label, and this album was licensed in from Holland where it had
been billed as the first solo synthesiser album in Europe - so it probably came
out there a year or two earlier. Joop typically tackles pop, easy and classical
tunes on his new toy, which is featured on the cover - something many Moog albums
resorted to.
Marty
Gold / Moog Plays The Beatles
Avco
Embassy 6466 001 : 1970
design
: the mixed media machine inc. Probably American
in origin, licensed in for the UK. Gold was assisted by Walter Sear, Moog's assistant
for many years. The album uses conventional electric instruments, with the Moog
played over the top. I wanted to create a musically valid electronic album, he
says on the cover. The great sleeve has two strange clay figures and distorted
lettering, acheived by laying a plastic sheet over the type and photographing
the results.
Claude
Denjean / Moog!
Decca
Phase 4 PFS 4212 : 1971
design
: studio petri. photo : Grundig France. Recorded in Paris and Montreal, Denjean
tries to balance the Moog with an orchestra on his interpretation of hit pop songs.
Aimed at owners of high end stereo decks, the cover uses a montage of space images
alongside the generic Phase 4 layout which the entire series used.
Romantic
Moog
Contour
2870 370 : 1974
design
: Jack Levy. photo : ADA. By this time the Moog
album was fairly passe and this anonymously produced album recycles yet more popular
songs and spices them up with electronic sounds. The abstract cover cries low
budget, and indeed Contour was Polydor's budget off-shoot. 63p new, it sold in
supermarkets.
Click on the sleeves for a larger image
Developed commercially in the late sixties, early models of the Moog synthesiser were seized upon by numerous keyboard players keen to explore and exploit the new sounds. These albums ranged from the genuinely innovative to hackneyed low-budget albums covering well known pop and classical tunes as shown here, while sleeve designers turned to psychedelic or space imagery to convey the music. The real integration of the Moog remained the province of groups like Sun Ra and ELP.
