First Record Bought

The first record I ever bought with my own money was the early synthpop instrumental “Popcorn” by Hot Butter. A very nerdish choice for a first record. The record came out in 1972. But I believe I bought is a couple years later at the cutout bin at the local Thrifty Drugstore. I have always had in interest in instrumental music as well as electronic music and synthesizers. Early favorites were Wendy Carlos (Switched-On Bach), Pink Floyd, and Yes.

http://youtu.be/YK3ZP6frAMc
The Hot Butter recording peaked at no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 4 on the Easy Listening chart. The composer of this “one-hit wonder” is Gershon Kingsley.

There is an interesting entry in Wikipedia about him:

Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922; Bochum, Germany) a contemporary German American composer, is a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer and founder of the First Moog Quartet, as a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, and writer of rock-inspired compositions for Jewish religious ceremonies. 

Kingsley conducted and arranged many Broadway musicals, and composes for film and for television shows and commercials. Kingsley also composes classical chamber works and his most recent opera, Raoul, was premiered in Bremen in 2008. His compositions are eclectic and vary between avant-garde and pop styles. Kingsley is most famous for his influential electronic instrumental composition "Popcorn". His work garnered recognition with a Tony Award nomination for Best Conductor and Musical Director, two Clio Awards for his work in advertising, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bob Moog Foundation.

The second and third albums were more traditional pop music more associated with a high school student of the time. They were Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.