this is my very favorite MOOG record – The ELECTRIC ECLECTICS of DICK HYMAN (his real name, by the way). stop laughing. i have 3 copies of this (just in case i ever lose one.)
this is actually a really great over-the-top MOOG synthesizer recording done by a guy who is a trained jazz musician. when he got his hands on a moog, he didn’t try to do classically structured music, but sorta went bonkers with the werido sounds moogs can make. the result is a sort of Martin Denny approach with electronic weirdness replacing the bird sounds. basically it’s insane.
this record actually produced a top 40 hit single in 1969, called “The Minotaur” (it was the b-side to a song i prefer, called “The Topless Dancers of Corfu”). either one is well worth a listen (as is the LP). The Minotaur has the distinction of being the very first top 40 hit moog single.
Dick Hyman is an accomplished and well-known jazz pianist with a long history of work in recording, film and television. he has actually played with eubie blake, benny goodman, charlie parker and dizzy gillespie. he was a regular on the old “Sing Along With Mitch” tv show. he was also the guy behind a lot of game show soundtracks like for “Beat the Clock” and “Truth or Consequences”. but, most of you have more likely heard his work in woody allen movies, where he scored the soundtracks for over a dozen of woody’s most famous films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T76S5Qb9dw
