Hittade den :
Popcorn
Hot Butter
Musicor 1972
12" LP
In 1972, the Moog was hot. Gershon Kingsley, who was a pioneer of the instrument, came up with this song "Popcorn." It was dancable, catchy, and featured the Moog. Suprizingly (or maybe not, this was the 1970s,) it became a bit of a hit. So, if you are Musicor records, what are you going to do other than exploit the snot out of it?
The main reason I have included this album is that it is a good example of something which is all but gone today. That is, the album released to cash in on the hit single. One might argue that all I would have to do is look at the top 40 charts to see many a throwaway album. But I'm talking about something a little different here.
For instance, if I want to create a pop band now, I have to have a catchy hit single waiting and a follow up as well as a whole album's worth of material. Back in the day, it was so much easier. Sure we've got the hit single and it's B-side and what I'm guessing was a follow up and it's B-side, but then the rest of the album is covers. And a strange batch at that. "Day by Day" from Godspell was current, so I understand that, but then we get into 60's surf instrumentals ("Pipeline" and "Telestar"), a Neil Hefti tune ("Tomatoes"), and "Amazing Grace." Yes, that "Amazing Grace."
Add to this the fact that the only musician credits on the cover are "Moog-Stan Free" and perhaps you'll see what I mean. At least the modern producers try to make it look like there's a band behind it all, even if everything is being played by session musicians. There are no pictures of people at all on this. Only some janky pictures of popcorn (or I think that's what was there, the art has been "customized" a bit.)
Still, the "original world wide hit single Popcorn by Hot Butter" is an enjoyable piece of fluff. It's odd to think that just the sound of a Moog was enough to sell a record, but unlike many other Moog records this one (at least in the title track)brings a little to the table.
Fun fact: this album had a quadraphonic version released in Japan! The record itself seems to be rare as proverbial hen's teeth, but a DTS encoded version that will play back on a home theater setup is out there. Check it out if you get a chance.