MOTM

Being a fan of the "bad" Moog record myself, I want to eventually put up on my site a
"discography" of all known bad Moog records, with reviews and cover artwork. By "bad" I mean
everything but WC :)

I would like a huge database, with sound snippets, etc. I'm wondering how to get the cover
artwork: it's the vinyl covers to wide for most scanners?

Just something to think about.......


Paul S.

> Being a fan of the "bad" Moog record myself, I want to eventually put up on my site a
> "discography" of all known bad Moog records, with reviews and cover artwork. By "bad" I mean
> everything but WC :)
>
So you would put Tomita in your 'bad' category?
Jeff

Yeah I think you'd either need to scan in two pieces, or else use a really
good digital camera on an animation/photo stand.

-----Original Message-----
...

I would like a huge database, with sound snippets, etc. I'm wondering how to
get the cover
artwork: it's the vinyl covers to wide for most scanners?

...

> >
> So you would put Tomita in your 'bad' category?

Not unless he made a Christmas album or covered "What's New Pussycat?"

Paul S.

Actually, Carlos did that! (So far not on CD, "Walter (sic) Carlos By
Request".) "What's New Pussycat" was done as a wedding present for some
friends, if I remember correctly.

In general, I assume by "bad Moog music" you meant all those ubiquitous pop
"cash-ins" on the 'Switched-On' idea that came out in the 70's... "The
Country/Western Moog," "Moogified Childrens' Favorites," etc.

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Schreiber [mailto:synth1@...] 
Sent: Tuesday, 02 July, 2002 11:11 AM
To: Jeffrey Pontius
Cc: MOTM listserv; Tkacs, Ken
Subject: Re: [motm] Back-burner Moog record project

> >
> So you would put Tomita in your 'bad' category?

Not unless he made a Christmas album or covered "What's New Pussycat?"

Paul S.

On Tue, 2 Jul 2002, Paul Schreiber wrote:

> > >
> > So you would put Tomita in your 'bad' category?
>
> Not unless he made a Christmas album or covered "What's New Pussycat?"
>
Good choice with What's New... I'm trying to 'hear' Tomita's version :-).
Jeff

> 
> Actually, Carlos did that! (So far not on CD, "Walter (sic) Carlos By
> Request".) "What's New Pussycat" was done as a wedding present for some
> friends, if I remember correctly.

I have 5 records with that song on it :(

> 
> In general, I assume by "bad Moog music" you meant all those ubiquitous pop
> "cash-ins" on the 'Switched-On' idea that came out in the 70's... "The
> Country/Western Moog," "Moogified Childrens' Favorites," etc.


Correct, the cheesier, the better. In fact, I want a rating system of 1 to 5 cheeses!

Paul S.

Thick strings and a lead that sounds like someone whistling!  ;) 


-----Original Message-----

Good choice with What's New... I'm trying to 'hear' Tomita's version :-).

> Correct, the cheesier, the better. In fact, I want a rating system of 1 to 5
> cheeses!

Oh, man. I've got one that's at least blue cheese, if not Limburger: "The
Copper Plated Integrated Circuit" by Walter Sear, 1969. The front cover
describes it as "plugged in pop Presented on the Moog synthesizer and other
Electronic instruments by Sear Electronic Music Productions, Inc."
[capitalization theirs, not mine] Most of the tracks are originals, but
there are covers of "Hey, Jude", "Love Child", "Revolution", and "Where Have
All the Flowers Gone?" As a whole, the album is, um, nearly unlistenable. I
bought it second-hand when I was a teenager and discovering synthesizers.
Fortunately I discovered Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Synergy in
the same second-hand record store.

Walter Sear, whom I believe worked for Moog for awhile, is depicted in a
photograph in front of a double-keyboard modular Moog, with another one to
his left and (I think) a cabinet of two sequencers and some other stuff
between them. He donned a coat and tie for the photo session.

Yes, records are too wide for most scanners. This one would be particularly
difficult because not only is it a gatefold jacket (like a two-record set,
although there's only one disc), but the entire outside is a glossy copper
color that's probably too reflective to scan well.

Needless to say, I treasure this artifact.  :-)

--Adam

Speaking of Walter Sear, I own one of his (R.A. Moog) Minimoogs.  
Interestingly, in between, the keyboard was owned by a blind musician 
who replaced all the round knobs with "chicken-beak" knobs.  

<end of nostalgia>

-Roger

> Oh, man. I've got one that's at least blue cheese, if not Limburger: "The
> Copper Plated Integrated Circuit" by Walter Sear, 1969. 

A true 5 cheese classic. I have 2 copies, one still in the shrink-wrap.

I suggest 5 ratings: stars and cheese. Stars for the good stuff.

Paul S.

--- In motm@y..., "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:
> Being a fan of the "bad" Moog record myself, I want to eventually 
put up on my site a
> "discography" of all known bad Moog records, with reviews and cover 
artwork. By "bad" I mean
> everything but WC :)
> 

This is a great idea!

I've got a "Switched-On Beatles" album that is probably worthy of "5 
cheeses"!

I'd bet that everybody on the list has something equally dank hiding 
in their closets somewhere.

Do any of these cheesy records qualify as guilty pleasures, though? 
To qualify, they have to be truly bad, but still have something in 
them that makes them lovable!

>
> I've got a "Switched-On Beatles" album that is probably worthy of "5
> cheeses"!

There were about 10 of these. I have one that features Howard Leese (sp?) of the group Heart with
a Moog beltbuckle pix. I *think* the inside photo is of a Roland 100! It's out in the shed,
somewhere. With the 8-tracks.

Paul S.

>--- In motm@y..., "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:
>>  Being a fan of the "bad" Moog record myself, I want to eventually
>put up on my site a
>>  "discography" of all known bad Moog records, with reviews and cover
>artwork. By "bad" I mean
>>  everything but WC :)
>>
>
>This is a great idea!
>
>I've got a "Switched-On Beatles" album that is probably worthy of "5
>cheeses"!
>
I have (or had, need to dig through the lp's to make sure) "Switched 
on Bacharach", which has to has to be worth as many cheeses are there 
are on the scale, and then some! I've also got a synth version on the 
music from Star Wars that's pretty execrable, bonus points for having 
some of the worst fuzz guitar sounds ever committed to tape, sounds 
like a bad transistor fuzzbox DI'd to tape, if you could imagine a 
marshall stack, then take the inverse of that. Beautiful stuff, 
indeed...
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Trenkel                                New and Improv Music
http://www.newandimprov.com         improv@...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----

From: Tkacs, Ken <ken.tkacs@...>
> Speaking of Star Wars, somewhere (I haven't seen it in 20 years...must be
> packed away...) I have an LP that has highlights of the now "Episode IV"

not Bruce Baxter's Sonic All-Stars' "The Sound Of Star Wars"..?
Pickwick Records circa 1977..?
probably the first record i ever bought
i think it was all done on minimoogs - though i'd have to check the credits
i've only been meaning to sample it since the mid 80's, i think i gave up
when the Beastie Boys "Hello Nasty" album came out as i'm sure there's a bit
on there from a synth / star wars album that they had to re-record (maybe
just co-incidence)

cheers
paul b / sheffield / uk

On Tue, 2 Jul 2002, elle_webb wrote:

> Paul's got the makings of a great Rhino compilation here!
> 
> Anybody remember the disco synthesizer version of the Close 
> Encounters theme? I can remember thinking that it was cheesy even 
> back then - so it's got to be pretty horrible!

  Well, there were the Meco Monardo albums, a sort of jazz/disco
contemporary ensemble with Suzanne Ciani using Buchla synthesizers for the
electronic stuff.  I think I read somewhere that Meco runs a software 
publishing company now.

Crow
/**/

Paul's got the makings of a great Rhino compilation here!

Anybody remember the disco synthesizer version of the Close 
Encounters theme? I can remember thinking that it was cheesy even 
back then - so it's got to be pretty horrible!

Who made all these crappy "turned-on" records anyway? A lot of the 
one's I have over the years have bogus group names. Was this stuff 
the work of unknown hack synthesists, or did legitimate players do it 
on the side because it paid the bills?

> It was fairly well recorded and the organ was quite impressive sounding,
so
> the big numbers could shake the floor quite well. Some of the more
etherial
> stuff was quite nice as too. The 'Cantina Band' track didn't swing at all,
> though!  ;-)

from what i remember the cantina band from bruce baxter's sonic all-stars
was also pretty bad - file under 'seventies idea of music from the future'
along with anything from buck rogers tv series, battle beyond the stars,
bruno from fame (a little known x file), and incidentally that bad cantina
experience from the last star wars episode, oh yes, and erm, john
carpenter - to be honest the whole genre apalls me (this is growing up in a
scene where one finger was all that was needed to play the required one
note - or as phil okay once said "we wanted to kill off rock & roll") - but
to be fair, i do have a certain affinity to john carpenter's stuff, even the
sound track to the mid 90's "Ghosts Of Mars" which i watched on saturday -
complete with cock-en-ey gangster (oy, mind the claret !)

cheers
paul b
(currently going bananas with oberheim dmx samples & highly predictable tom
rolls)