By M&C News Oct 5, 2007, 13:23 GMT
“Speaking personally, I believe Bob Moog to be one of the great visionaries of our time. His ideas far transcend use in just music, and to this day continue to have impact in everything from rock to rap to quantum physics. I strongly believe many people all over the world would benefit from being able to interact with the thoughts, ideas, inventions, and life of Dr. Moog, and I would emphasize that America has a long standing history of recognizing its heroes far, far too late. He was an American original, and this is a rare opportunity for any of us in the musical community to contribute a little something towards a history of lasting meaning and import.” - Billy Corgan, October 2007 Before his untimely passing in 2005 at the age of 71, Robert ‘Bob’ Moog pioneered the use of the electronic synthesizer in popular music, helping to not only transform the harmonic landscape, but also what seemed possible in “how” we make sound.
Billy Corgan of the US group Smasing Pumpkins performs at the 'Spring Sound' concert in Barcelona, Spain, 31 May 2007. EPA/ALBERTO ESTEVEZ
Through his successful Moog Music equipment line, he made accessible to the common person electronic synthesis in a myriad of forms. Few could argue against his titanic contributions to music in the 20th and 21st centuries. Inventor, scientist, rogue thinker, philosopher and dreamer par excellence, Bob Moog was all these things, as well as a winner of the Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement (in 1970) and a 2002 Grammy Tech Award.
Now, as the Moog family works to preserve the iconic music pioneer's archives and legacy, they are getting support from the music community, including Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, a longtime Moog enthusiast.
Moog Music Inc. is now a generous supporter of the Bob Moog Foundation, but the two entities are otherwise unrelated. The Bob Moog Foundation, a non-profit, is run by Bob's daughter Michelle Moog-Koussa and Moog Music Inc. continues Bob's tradition of making the finest electronic musical instruments.
In the wake of Bob's passing, his family created the Bob Moog Foundation, whose charter seeks to continue to herald his unique contributions in the form of awareness and scholarship. But now the family, through the Bob Moog Foundation, has taken on a new challenge, The Bob Moog Museum, dedicated to his life and vision in music and music yet to come.
Sadly, Robert Moog left his archives, which would be housed in the museum, in a sad state of affairs in an un-air conditioned warehouse just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Many of his papers and technical schematics are covered in mold, including the original instruction manual of Keith Emerson's famed “Monster Moog.” Prototypes of ground breaking Moog equipment are rusted; early and unreleased experiments in sound electronics on reel-to-reel tapes not restored or transferred. Steps should be taken to preserve this voluminous and historic archive for generations to come.
“I directly appeal to any musician who has been touched by the work of this great man and spirit to help contribute to the foundation, to please help preserve the work and legacy of Dr. Moog before time has taken an irreversible toll on his archives,” says Corgan. “I humbly also ask any fan of electronic music to consider a donation to the foundation, in recognition of his influence on many of your favorite musical artists.”
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