Home Page Forums Archives MacMAME OT: Bob Moog, "Father of the synthesizer" May 23, 1934 - August 21, 2005

I don't have to tell this particular group what an enormous impact the synthesizer had on our generation.
Already an avid W. Carlos fan before the release of Tron, I spent the late '70s and early '80s perking up whenever I heard the distinctive sound of the synth.
Unlike many who bemoaned its prevalence in the '80s, I danced a little jig.
While I may have moved on in my musical predilections, the Moog synth still has a special corner of my heart all to itself.

Rest in Peace, Bob.

FYI:

WaPo obit

Family Guestbook

Wendy Carlos\' page (Swithced on Bach, Composer of Clockwork Orange, Tron)

Sorry to hear that. I always liked synths when they were used as synths (as opposed to replacing other instruments). So many cool and unique sounds could only come from them. The early 80's were pretty much defined by those sounds.

(I still think Gary Numan's "Cars" is still one of the best songs of that era.)

Yup. Synths are for kooky wacky noises, not "orchestra-on-the-cheap" stuff. I've got Wendy Carlos' entire "Switched-On Box Set" loaded up in XMMS right now.

One of the few groups I can get away mentioning this on...

My grandfather was a child of the depression as well as a huge audiophile and classical music fan. He turned me on to Weird Al's predecessor, Allan Sherman, doing Peter and the Commisar (parody of Peter and the Wolf) with a full live orchestra. And also of Walter Carlos's Switched on Bach albums.

Later, as a fan of Weird Al, I discovered his recording of Al and one Wendy Carlos doing Peter and the Wolf. (I only have the original cassette of this.) Intrigued (this was before the internet, say, 1988?), we just assumed Wendy must have been Walter's daughter.

Much to my surprise, 3-4 years later, I received a clipping with a somewhat ugly looking woman pictured. It was from my uptight, depression era Grandfather, who somewhat sadly informed me that the article enclosed would explain that that Walter in fact, WAS, Wendy now.

(Maybe it had something to do with the old Clockwork Orange soundtrack?)

Oh well, rest in peace Mr. Moog.

I have the Weird Al/Wendy Carlos Peter and the Wolf on CD. It's been out of print for years (I'm surprised it hasn't shown up on his iTunes page yet). It's pretty good. A nice change of pace from Al's usual fare. (I'm also a fan of Weird Al, although his last album really blew. There just wasn't anything really interesting or funny on it. Eh... maybe next time.)

Also of note on Wendy Carlos' site, is the Rediscovering Lost Soundtracks Vol. 2 disc . It has a few unreleased cuts from Tron on it (one of my favorite soundtracks ). I haven't ordered the "Lost" CD yet, but I plan to.

Thanks for the link Nathan. Wendy Carlos' Tron soundtrack became synonomous with my move away (briefly) from consoles to home computing - ZX Spectrum 48K.

One myth of my childhood has gone....My old CBS vinyl sounds quite sad today....