In 1966, electronic musicians Perrey and Kingsley (Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley) released The In Sound from Way Out! on Vanguard Records (The Beastie Boys took inspiration from the concept and album cover for their 1996 compilation of the same name). Made before the advent of digital technology, alongside Kingsley’s Moog arrangements, Perry made use of hand-spliced tape loops (in the same year, the Beatles apparently used around 30 of them for Revolver). Kingsley’s Moog was still something new – American engineer Robert Moog debuted the instrument only two years earlier. It wasn’t like you could pop down to your local music store and pick one up – by 1970, according to Sophie Weiner, only 28 were owned by musicians.
Fast-forward to 1969 and Gershon Kingsley was ready to unleash his solo album Music to Moog By before going on to form the First Moog Quartet. On that album was the track Popcorn (it also featured some pastoral acid with a trippy version of Scarborough Fair). This version of Popcorn, which has apparently been covered by over 800 artists.
Whilst widely acclaimed as the first electronic hit, some claim this honour should go to Dutch artists Raaijmakers and Dissevelt or Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan. Check out Song of the Second Moon (1957); their 1959 release, The Fascinating World of Electronic Music (Philips), was apparently one of David Bowie’s 25 all-time favourite albums.