What was the first song to use a Moog synthesiser?
Every generation will want to push music forward in their own subtle way. Whether that’s inventing a new genre of music or just twisting the structure of a pop song around, the future is always built on people who were never content to just rest on their laurels and play what everyone expected them to play. That often means going outside of the realm of standard instruments, and Robert Moog was well ahead of the curve when making the Moog synthesiser.
When it first debuted in the late 1960s, no one could have conceived of what they were hearing. It seemed like any old keyboard that could play melodies, but the certain twinkle and electronic sheen that came off of every single note made it feel like music that was either beamed in from another era or the first contact that aliens were making with our reality.
While synthesisers would become far more prominent once the early 1980s rolled around, Moog only needed the right person to make it work, and that man’s name was Paul Beaver. In fact, Moog and Beaver seemed like kindred spirits of the new school of technology, and while Beaver would eventually be making albums that were specifically designed to be played for plants, the idea of him testing the limits of it on The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds was too good an opportunity to pass up.
But what happened in that studio was more than just experimenting and seeing what came out. They were most definitely not thinking in these terms, but both Moog and Beaver were on the cusp of the future of music the minute that the needle in the vinyl was back in 1967.
But what made the Moog synthesiser stand out?
Since The Zodiac was meant to be a conceptual ride through the different phases of the zodiac signs, the first track, ‘Aries: The Fire-Fighter’, is a smorgasbord of everything the Moog had to offer. Although the sounds that are made are a lot more primitive than what we would see later, the intro is the equivalent of a ghost waking from its sleep before it starts sounding like a clavichord if it were being fed through a Nintendo 64.
While the rest of the album is rounded out by studio veterans like Hal Blaine from The Wrecking Crew, this was just the tip of the iceberg for what the instrument could do. And once the rock scene got ahold, most knew they had found their calling by making the most unpredictable sounds that anyone had ever heard.
So, how did the synthesiser translate to rock and roll?
The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds had already begun in the mind of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman, and given that The Doors was the main cash cow of the label, they were itching to try out the synthesiser on Strange Days. As soon as their sophomore release kicks off, the title track is everything that the Moog could take to its more natural conclusion, making the keyboards sound ominous and making Jim Morrison sound like he’s coming from an alternate side of reality.
When it moved across the pond, The Beatles had a field day with it when making Abbey Road, putting on different touches for ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and making ‘Because’ sound even more heavenly by adding those twinkling touches next to the Fab Four’s harmonies. But the craziest part about it is that this scratched the surface. Synthesisers were about to become the sound of music, and while there may have been a fair bit of Moog parts that hadn’t been touched on yet, it was up to the next generation to figure out where to take it afterwards.
