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| Popcorn |
For this week's Reminiscings of Youth, how about a little popcorn? Well, actually I was talking about "Popcorn".
Before Denki Groove（電気グルーヴ）, before Yellow Magic Orchestra and even before Kraftwerk, there was composer and electronic music pioneer Gershon Kingsley who was the champion for the legendary Moog synthesizer. He was the fellow who came up with the instrumental "Popcorn" in 1969. Even hearing this original version in 2023, "Popcorn" still stuns me with its otherworldliness even in a world where synthesizers have become as familiar as the piano in pop music. I can't imagine how listeners fathomed this 54 years earlier. "Popcorn" can be found on Kingsley's "Music to Moog by".
Have a look at this part of a documentary on Kingsley as he talks about how the title for the song came to be. As he himself put it back then, it's not what you think. At about 1:15 in the footage, I may have come across the inspiration for Yellow Magic Orchestra donning the tuxedoes in the music video for "Tong Poo".
Kingsley may have been the original composer for "Popcorn", but the version that I heard as a kid first via those K-Tel compilations had been recorded by the band Hot Butter for release in July 1972 (my other personal experience with the song involved trying to dance to it as an exercise in elementary school, but the less said about that, the better😱). For the lack of a better word, I think this version had a bit more down-to-earth disco and the popping sounds for the main melody did engrave into my head the feeling that this was the melodic version of Jiffy Pop being made.
And for those who may not know what Jiffy Pop is...yep, we had this too in the old days.
Hot Butter's cover of "Popcorn" became an international hit as it reached the top of the charts in several European countries including France and Germany. It didn't too shabbily here in the United States and Canada either as it hit No. 9 and No. 15 respectively. Over the years, it's been covered by various other bands around the world including Japan's own Denki Groove which brought in its own distinctive take via their No. 5-ranking 1993 album "VITAMIN".
Going with Hot Butter's version of "Popcorn", what was also being released in July 1972?
Yumi Arai -- Henji wa Iranai （返事はいらない）
Takuro Yoshida -- Tabi no Yado （旅の宿）
Hideki Saijo -- Koi no Yakusoku（恋の約束）
(karaoke version)
This song was also an inspiration behind Jean-Michel Jarre's 1976 hit Oxygene Pt 4.
ReplyDelete"Oxygene Pt 4" sounds like a more contemplative and laid-back version of "Popcorn".
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