Hot Stuff: The History of Gershon Kingsley's "Popcorn"
As one of the first hit songs to ever use a Moog synthesizer, "Popcorn" was both a sign of its times and a look far ahead into the future of music. Before soft synthesizers were ever a glimmer in an engineer's eye, electronic-music pioneers like "Popcorn" writer Gershon Kingsley were using big, bulky analog units with no presets to create musical magic.
Kingsley, now 95-years-old, began playing the synthesizer in the 1960s, but that’s not where his love of music began. Kingsley had already earned a name for himself in the world of musical theatre, even earning a Tony Nomination in 1958 for his Conducting and Directing. Throughout his lengthy career, he’s arranged music for film and television, Broadway musicals, and many songs for Jewish religious ceremonies, but his most famous work is an instrumental synth-pop song inspired by a salty snack.
Like all things ahead of their time, “Popcorn” took a while to catch on. However, once it did, it became a highly influential dance hit and one of the most frequently covered songs of all time. In the words of Kingsley, “The synthesizer is nothing but a new step in the evolution of musical instruments.”
This is an excerpt from an article I wrote that was originally posted on Vintage King. Find the full version here
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