THE SYNTHESIZER GENERATION:Did it help or hurt the classics?

[Wallingford]

When I say "synthesizer generation," I'm talking mainly that hippie/mellow/acid/ultra-hip group of folks living in the late 60s & early 70s who somehow could coerce mom & dad that this is bona-fide legit stuff. Walter/Wendy Carlos got the ball rolling with "Switched-On Bach" (one of only fewer than five classical discs to sell a million at the time).

Carlos at least stuck with the music at hand; when Isao Tomita appeared on the scene in '74 with "Snowflakes Are Dancing"--his personalized take on Debussy's piano music--here was genuine venturing OUTSIDE Debussy's musical parameters. Some college friends of mine bought these (and....gulp....YES, folks, they were MUSIC MAJORS), and having heard all of Tomita's "Pictures At An Exhibition," I had to ask these acquaintences if it wasn't meant as some kind of comedy record. With straight faces, they said no.

Now, Tomita has vexed me on several occasions. Jared Johnson--rock critic for the DENVER POST--gave a rave of "Snowflakes" on its release, even saying that "it puts Carlos's 'Switched-On' LPs to utter shame." I leave it to you the reader to nod toward the heavens & shake your head in despair.

AND, at time of this album's release, RCA put a massive advertising campaign behind it, with commercials played on all the "progressive rock" FM stations. THe ad ended with this clincher: "IT'S A TRIP-AND-A-HALF."

So, any reformed hippies out there who can relate your own experiences with this stuff?

[karlhenning]

Ars longa, hippies brevis.

[Holden Fourth]

Switched on Bach certainly switched me on to that composer - enough for me to explore the repertoire both listening and playing and I'm listening to Bach as I type this.