Early Drum Machine (Jun, 1960)
What the heck is a flooglehorn?
You Play it Sweet, Side Man Gives the Beat
SOME oscillating tubes, housed in a cabinet sitting next to your piano, guitar or flooglehorn, can turn you into a one-man orchestra.The cabinet, actually a new electronic instrument called Side Man, produces a variety of instrumental sounds—from bass drum, torn torn and wood block to maracas, brush and cymbal.
The instrument will play in such rhythms as a waltz, cha cha, beguine, tango, march, rumba or 72 variations of a fox trot. Any of the rhythms can be varied from a slow 30 to a fast 195 beats per minute. Side Man (named after the members of a band who accompany the soloist) plugs into any a-c outlet, has three speakers and an 11-watt amplifier. Cost of the unit in a mahogany cabinet is $395. Manufacturer is the Wurlitzer Co., De Kalb, Ill.
Actually, the Wurli Sideman is generally referred to as the first drum machine.
I think they played flooglehorns in Fraggle Rock…
You know, a flooglehorn is what Chuck Mangioone plays.
Holy crap, you’re right. I’ll have to pick one up next time I’m at Mega Lo Mart.
Arrrrggg, now I’m going to have to google “Flooglehorn”. I’ve got some sort of recollection of hearing it, and now I can’t rest until I know what it is. THANKS A LOT!!!!!!
http://www.webster.com/…
Etymology: German, from Flügel wing, flank + Horn horn; from its use to signal the flanking drivers in a battue
: a valved brass instrument resembling a cornet but having a larger bore
Chuck is pretty cool, and talented, I’ll tell you what. One of the first concerts I ever went to was to see him in Dothan, AL several geologic epochs ago. I still remember that his sax player, Chris Vadala, could wail.
My sole memory of Chuck Mangione is his playing O Canada at a World Series game held in the US. They had a 3651987-piece band and choir for the Star Spangled Banner, of course, but they just stuck Chuck out in front of the mic and had him play O Canada, almost as an afterthought.
He messed it up, too. Not as bad as the guy who sung O Canada to the music of O Tannenbaum, but really: could it be possible to be a little less dismissive of an entire country?
Given our current President it’s a miracle he regards Canada as a sovereign nation and not just a U.S. territory. After all it is in North America, right? Wouldn’t call it North America if it wasn’t part of ‘merica.
Actually this was back in 1993, I believe. Maybe 1992.