This 7" 33 1/3 record was pressed in order to sell ARP synthesizers to the public. It wouldn't be surprising to me if this were given out for free or for postage, in stores or through mail order.
My copy is a little beaten up, and I bought this in a thrift store in a plain paper sleeve, probably for 25 cents. As I don't have a picture sleeve and there's no date on the record, the best I can date it is to c. 1972 if the statement on the A side that the Who's Next album was "recent" is accurate.
Side A is basic narration by Roger Powell about the ARP instruments and samples of their use. The B side has some music samples from Powell and Dave Fredericks, both of whom had synthesizer records out at the time. The first tracks I would describe as jazz fusion and ambient/easy listening, but the winners for me are the two brief final tracks, which are respectively cosmic experimental '70s bloop-blorp and one of those silly Moog-pop-type songs which sounds like the cartoon theme for an idiot character. I don't know how else to describe it, but it makes me smile despite myself.
We'll be back to some rock in the next post. In the meantime, enjoy this little tutorial that explains in part how the '70s sounded so interstellar, man. Oh, here's a great list of acts that used ARP instruments. It might have been easier to compile a list of who didn't! Also check out this tribute page to the instruments.
Side 1
"The ARP Family of Synthesizers" - Roger Powell
Side 2
"Stinger" - Dave Fredericks
"Queene Efineska" - Roger Powell
"Hermetic Enigma" - Roger Powell (both Powell tracks on the 1973 Cosmic Furnace album)
"Mockingbird Hill" - Dave Fredericks
Bloop-blorp.
This is one of the few items I'll be posting that was purchased on eBay, in this case probably a decade ago. I recall this not being cheap for a single - I'll bet close to $20 with postage.
Here we have one of the many projects of alpine/German-speaking Italy's producer Giorgio Moroder (his official site is down unfortunately), who began producing rock and pop in Europe in the mid-'60s, rode and popularized a number of trends including bubblegum pop, electronic pop and proto-glam, and found huge success as a disco producer (Diana Ross) in the late '70s. He was a big proponent and composer of electronic music, which led to his composition of over 100 film and TV soundtracks. Apparently he's living in Beverly Hills these days, penning tunes for Hollywood's crap factory.
Earlier on the soundtrack work was interesting electronic stuff (Midnight Express), but by the '80s this went pretty mainstream schlock (Top Gun), where things likely sit today. Between 1966-1971 or so there are dozens of singles out there which are his work, mostly pretty cool crazed bubblegum/garage stuff typically with a mangled English lyric. Often the projects are attributed to his first name or are called "Giorgio & The... [pick a band name]." Check out this very detailed discography.
Spinach dates it appears from his Munich producing and composing days, which is a very good thing for us. Side A is a bubblegum piece with a lyric about the stereotypical USA; it sold over 400,000 copies in Japan in the early '70s. (There is a 1973 Japanese LP of this material which is likely not cheap. Anyone heard it?) The B side has more interesting percussion and some of the early synth sound that would come to dominate his work in the coming years.
Noteworthy is the naked woman covered in leaf spinach on the front cover, and a horrid enough view on the back cover of Moroder and his partner in this project, Michael Holm, dressed pretty much as the Festrunk Brothers, the wild'n'crazy guys of early Saturday Night Live fame. It would be wrong of me not to include a photo of that as well. You know they just want to get down and make funky with a couple of swinging American foxes.
This single was purchased at a used bookstore in Rome, Italy, less than 10 minutes' walking distance from Vatican City. From the sacred to the profane, eh?
The hope was that this was some late glam stomper or a "Space Oddity"-type cosmic rock ballad. No such luck; side A is a synthy instrumental probably meant to be played as a disco dance tune, and the flip is a less interesting instrumental synth ballad that at times reminds me of the theme from Last Tango in Paris. I'm not even sure how I recall that, never having seen the movie but having seen the trailer once or twice. I suppose the melody made an impression as images of a chubby, aging Marlon Brando were burned into my brain.
The faster side is interesting enough to merit inclusion on the blog, and might appeal to fans of the less funky tracks of Kraftwerk, or maybe even Depeche Mode. The pic sleeve is a winner, and one wonders which part of speech "Fly" is in this context. Just three posts in and I've already introduced a genre beyond the bounds I laid out for the blog, although in fairness I bought the record hoping for a rock gem and now maybe you won't make the same error if this doesn't float your boat. Once I started playing a side on the wrong speed and it sounded equally interesting and slightly menacing.
This was likely a producer's studio project. No musicians are listed and the composition is by "Ecama", no first name listed. Between that name, the Vogue label apparently being Italian, most of the language on the label and sleeve being Italian and finding the record in Italy I conclude, using my advanced cognitive powers, that this was probably of Italian origin. If someone knows otherwise, do tell.
This is one of a number of singles I picked up at this store at 4-for-10 euros, most of which will eventually end up here.
Blast off to '70s Euro-electronic-discoland here.
