The MOOG COOKBOOK is based upon a period when synthesizers, as we know them, were new and strange.
This is the brief story of how we get from there to here:
In 1968, the hit album "Switched On Bach" brought forth the keyboard synthesizer as a viable and "hip" musical instrument.To ride the popularity of "Switched On Bach", dozens of records were released featuring the Moog synthesizer, the best-known commercial synthesizer of that period. These records often featured silly, hasty arrangements of popular records (Beatles, Bacharach, Buck Owens).
Many of these records were poorly done, but some had brilliant arrangements and sounds.
At the same time, many universities were buying synthesizers, intended for use by scholarly "composer/technicians" in serious laboratories. On the performance front, Keith Emerson of ELP was touring the world with a huge Moog, crossing the boundaries between traditional musical instrument, sound effects device, and cool-looking visual gimmick (ALWAYS important!) Soon after, (in the early '70's) smaller, more affordable synthesizers ushered in the sounds of progressive rock, jazz/rock fusion, art rock (space rock), and funk. Later on, the synthesizer was a staple of the disco and new-wave scenes.
In the late '80's/early '90's, keyboards and synthesizers were "out"; very uncool and unwanted. Each on his own, Brian and Roger of the Moog Cookbook spent this period buying the keyboards nobody wanted - because they hadn't been able to afford them when they were new and hip...
Roger and Brian met through a classified ad in the local paper. Brian was selling an Optigan (an obsolete, evil instrument). They immediately bonded over their love of Polymoogs, ARP String Ensembles, and Octave CATs (and old "Moog" albums). Roger's longtime girlfriend, Charlotte (also a big synthesizer/Moog album fan) suggested doing a "modern Moog album". Brian often left synth-style instrumental messages on Roger's machine, and Roger proposed doing some modern (guitar-oriented) pop songs using their array of old gear, and The Moog Cookbook project was born....
We recorded the album in Brian's bedroom during a break in Roger's busy schedule. It went well, and fairly quickly. It was released on Restless Records and a video was made for "Black Hole Sun" (filmed at Devo's Mutato Muzika Studio, Hans Zimmer's studio, and Brian's living room) by director Jason Phillips
