Respect The Architect

Not one to make mountains out of Mooghills, but I take exception to the New York Times’ obit of the venerable inventor:

“At the height of his synthesizer's popularity… progressive rock bands like Yes, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer built their sounds around … the timbres of Mr. Moog's instruments.”

Can’t let the white boys take the credit for this one. There’s another artist who deserves the accolades for elevating the synthesizer to its full musical potential.

Jon Pareles at least mentions him in his sidebar:

”Soon Moogs were everywhere, making sounds that were as startling as they were unnatural. A Moog was essential to songs like "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles and to albums like Stevie Wonder's "Music of My Mind." In 1977, Bernie Worrell used a Minimoog to play the swampy, viscous bass lines on Parliament hits like "Flash Light": a sound that has been the foundation for countless funk and hip-hop songs.”

But The Beatles and others were just using the synth as an expensive, artificial kazoo. That is until Stevie came out with "Music of My Mind" in 1971. Stevie’s genius was that he played the Moog (and its successor/rival, the Arp) as real musical instruments.

Hear the difference:
The Beatles using the Moog circa 1969
Stevie Wonder using the Moog circa 1971

You feel me?

No dis intended to my favorite band of all time. But Stevie, pardon the pun, had a vision they didn’t.

And remember, he was doing all this at the same time he was bringing modal jazz chords into r&b, creating the fusion that you can hear in almost every r&b song on the radio today. In addition to writing some of the best pop songs ever, burning up the charts, being the coolest mf on the planet with as much if not more bang on the radio and clubs as 50 Cent has today.

(I know this is some geek shit, but hey, if I can’t do this on my own spot, where can I?)

Black genius, as always, showing The Man how to use his own inventions, from the synth to beepers and cellphones.