Instrumentally Yours: Popcorn

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At last, we’re back to songs that @porwest will hate when it comes to instrumentals. Here’s another instrumental, as well as one of the “songs you didn’t know were covers, part 3,581.” [em[lol[/em] Here’s today’s song. Popcorn - Hot Butter This song was very instrumental — pardon the pun — in the advent of synthesizers in modern music. Back then (1969), moog synthesizers were rare and cumbersome. Seriously, the photos of songwriter/original performer Gershon Kingsley’s moog setup looks like a switchboard for the entire country. No wonder they weren’t used much in music! However, Kingsley’s First Moog Quartet gave moog/synthesizer music a much wider audience than it had ever known before. This first came to light in 1969, as “Pop Corn,” a play on popcorn meaning pop music that was corny. In 1972, Kingsley and his First Moog Quartet re-recorded this song. One of the band members, Stan Free, then recorded his own version under the moniker “Hot Butter.” That version became an international hit, making the top ten in America and going to #1 in six different countries and selling over four million copies. We really don’t think anything about synthesizers today, because there’s a synthesizer feature in your Garage Band app. When things were different, however, it was a big deal, figuratively and literally. Popcorn Written by Gershon Kingsley Recorded by Hot Butter From Popcorn, 1972 Extra butter, please