Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn | The Story Behind The Song

[@teunkoenderink7971]

Rest in peace Gershon Kingsley he died on december 10 2019

[@alysononoahu8702]

He & my mom missed the pandemic...good

[@realtrader450]

may he rest in peace.

[@juliusnepos6013]

R.I.P

[@steelpanther9568]

Gershon Kingsley’s Popcorn, was the world’s first ever electronic dance track single to reaching number 1 in the charts back in 1969, which revolutionised the dance music that we hear in 2022, 🕊🌹 R.I.P Gershon Kingsley 🌹🕊

[@paulk9603]

1969

[@steelpanther9568]

@@paulk9603 , Thanks, I’ve re-edited it, 😎👍🏼

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

He wrote it in 1969, but the big hit version (at least in the US) was by Hot Butter in 1972. I have the original LP. But I also have a tape of him playing it in concert in Chapel Hill around 1972 or 1973 after the record became a hit.

[@johnpresnell]

Years ago I used to go to a diner in midtown Manhattan, and for a while, he would be the person sitting next to me at the counter. Our chats were always pleasant. One time the conversation turned to music, and when he told me he was the composer of “Popcorn,” I was bowled over. I never saw him again after that!

[@jamesportrais3946]

Love the guy - great to see him.

[@jonasduell9953]

Legendary! What a great guy, innovative, creative and humble guy he was.

[@richardfromkennington]

This guy is a pioneer!!

[@MichelLinschoten]

Was,he passed away in 2019

[@incumbentvinyl9291]

Agreed, but Mort Garson is number one on that list as far as I am concerned, regardless of popularity.

[@ronnyvonallmen6892]

First Album I ever bought…And I still have it….

[@marionow6227]

First electronic dance music. Still stands out & still unique!

[@L2K4D44L4R]

Have you ever tried to dance to Popcorn?

[@marionow6227]

@@L2K4D44L4R certainly! I still do every now and then 😀

[@rodantkapoor9721]

There's something hypnotic and ominous about it that I can't put my finger on. Perhaps it was just the reaction of the people dancing to it on the show "The Top of the Pops" that heralded a new type of music about to be unleashed in the world.

[@clausappel8086]

This song was the reason for one of the most embarrassing moments of my life: I was sitting in the local opera house: Carl Orff - Carmina Burana. In one of the pauses between two movements I heard a ringtone: Popcorn. My thoughts in this very moment: - Some idiot has his cellphone with him in the opera. - The idiot's phone has the same ringtone than mine. - Wait a minute: I have programmed this ringtone myself. - Oh shit, the idiot is me!!! I will never forget the way the conductor looked at me. It was like: "If you don't switch off that thing within one millisecond I will stab you with my baton!".

[@dR0L0b]

lmao

[@gabe_s_videos]

At least you got a funny story out of it XD

[@bub966]

An interesting fact about your comment: "Carl Off - Carmina Burana" plays in the first scene of "Alpeis" (2011), a greek film by Yorgos Lanthimos. The last scene ends the movie with "Popcorn" (remixed by Marsheaux).

[@clausappel8086]

@@gabe_s_videos Definetely! And 18 years later I can laugh about it 😁

[@enlacdmx4379]

How many stitches did u have?

[@KGBeast.]

This man was the MASTER who paved the way in the electronic music genre with his revolutionary song Popcorn which is still being covered till this day with 500+ different covers and versions all around the world in different genres and styles

[@mattcorcoran7082]

This might be one of the greatest songs of all time

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

I saw him in person in Chapel Hill with his group called The First Moog Quartet. I recorded the show on my portable cassette tape recorder, and I still have the program. When he was setting up the Moog to play "Popcorn," he was hitting a key while adjusting things until it sounded more like a pop. Then someone in the audience made a similar sound, but off key, and everyone laughed. There were two Moogs, a drum kit, and a vocalist.

[@bluetickbeagles116]

Love this song, TY, kind sir, for making this phantastisch song. ❤

[@pennypackmtb2542]

This was a song I played in my head when I was a 5K runnier in the early 70s. I did well.

[@curbowman]

4:34 "I played all the wrong notes" - yet it sounds awesome!

[@mauricedorreboom5388]

Reminded me of Eric Morecambe telling André Previn; I am playing all the right notes, but not necesasarly in the right order!

[@hisomets]

For the first 30 seconds I thought I was having a stroke 🧠🍿

[@JeffRL1956]

The very first 45 rpm single I ever bought was "Popcorn". I later bought the LP, too. I still have both of them.

[@simonnash9563]

“God is a Moog” fantastic. Or if that isn’t your cup of tea maybe “God speaks to us through a Moog” floats your boat (to mix my metaphors). No matter what, I just hope I have the same amount of energy and joy when I am as old as this dude. Superb edition of this great channel

[@whitelotus_zero]

You mean GOD is not DOG??

[@RichardKoper]

Wat een held! Samen met Kraftwerk is hij verantwoordelijk voor 1 vd. grootste revoluties in de muziekwereld. Sympathieke vent, met een goed gevoel voor humor 'God is a Moog' :-)

[@MichelLinschoten]

Nou er waren we wel meer, tangerine dream,jean Michel jarred, Klaus Schulze

[@eddiewalpole]

What a delightful improvisation by the man himself.

[@austinarroyo9629]

A true trailblazer of an entire music genre

[@lucasalves820]

Beautiful! Greetings from Brazil. Rest in peace, master

[@pingpong430]

Legends never die....tyfor this Diamant of Musical History..

[@marlieskeizer]

Klassiek staat aan de basis van alles! 💜

[@jhaluska80]

Popcorn got stuck in my head in late 2001 / early 2002 when I heard Hot Butter's version of it on a NPR advertisement for a food segment. I so desperately wanted to know the name of it I emailed NPR to find out what it was called. They replied and said since the food segment was about Popcorn, they thought the song Popcorn was fitting.

[@yeguor]

lol that's a great story

[@simonkormendy849]

I was born in 1969, on the 31st August, so that makes the original version of Popcorn by Gershon Kingsley 54 years old now.

[@yb8080]

Always loved that song.

[@angelbangtana9885]

the word genius is bandied about far too much. however in this case... this guy is next level human. fantastic

[@SpeccyMan]

I first heard the Hot Butter version and it was this that began my love of electronic music.

[@ianedmonds9191]

I loved that song so much as a kid given a tape of it at maybe 8 years old.

[@squirrelattackspidy]

I love the classical keyboard version he plays.

[@lexluthor3890]

Incredible! Someone commented on a video of the song saying there is a history behind this song so I looked it up. Just wow.

[@anupvadnere5950]

This person is time traveller salute to him

[@pvasudev1967]

I purchased an EP record with the popcorn instrumental piece in 2009 in a Calcutta market. I never knew the story behind the man who composed the music and the synthesizer on which it was played. Thanks to you tube I know it now.

[@ANGBelgium]

Rest in Peace.

[@KanalvogtSG]

1:23 Is there a full version of Gershon Kingsley's speech about the synthesizer?

[@Koruvax]

2:39 "And then people liked it". That's one way to put it :D

[@edwinreid8355]

First remember hearing this on an advert for the Cereal Corn Pops. Makes sense now.

[@Holonomics]

I absolutely love this song. I would have been 2 when it was released but I do have memories of it in the mid 70s so this was maybe one of the first songs I actually have a memory of as I remember it being on the BBC, maybe with a video of people trampolining. Maybe someone can confirm if this is correct or if I am not remembering correctly. In the early 80s I think I bought the single when I was getting into synth music. This is such as great video as I have never actually known anything about the person and people behind it.

[@stefanhakkers1983]

Ongelooflijk vooruitstrevend nummer en wat een investering voor die tijd(synthesizer).

[@franciscorodriguez275]

Who´s old enough to remember the SEGA Pengo arcade? Hope he´s got all his royalties...

[@wolfgangboettcher3126]

Das waren Zeiten

[@geraldwagner8739]

He never lost his German accent.

[@Octovisuals]

Thank you.

[@klausnielsen9419]

3:55 in the video, classic- popcorn version, is it possible to find a full version of this. ???? .. it sounds very beautiful

[@osmantikos2710]

Legend

[@user-lk8lg1ys5o]

I like him

[@David-yw2lv]

That record was frequently used as background music for football highlights.

[@alysononoahu8702]

Moog!!! GENIUS !!!

[@SharpblueCreative]

Who knew. A Bach tune is what influenced Popcorn

[@JohnPaulBuce]

rip legend

[@wolfgangboettcher3126]

Coole Sache

[@LamanKnight]

Now that's a thing I never expected to learn: the song's title isn't referring to the staccato notes sounding like popcorn popping; basically someone said, "we think it sounds like pop music, but it's also corny." Well, for something so "corny," I'm glad it's still around.

[@liddlebirdie]

In this interview, Mr. Kingsley says that when he accepted the suggested name, he liked it because it describes "pop" for pop music and "corn" for 'kitsch'!

[@liddlebirdie]

PS Yesterday our bluegrass group played at Allegro retirement home in St. Augustine and met the bass player (with Hot Butter) on this - Mr. Russell George. What a history and what a modest, interesting fellow. We had a great time chatting with him, and he gave us each one of the various CDs he played on. Mine happens to have Popcorn! A big favorite of mine ever since I was 18.

[@Wukia]

bum bum bum bum bum bum bum

[@rabit818]

Of course, he was influenced by Schubert and Bach

[@mitchelltreadwell]

What is the TV show seen at 3:26? Is there a longer version of that clip available?

[@brandtbecker1810]

Then John Williams ripped off the tune (and not for the first time either) for the Cantina Band song for "Star Wars - A New Hope". I'd always wondered why the "Cantina Song" sounded so familiar the first time I heard it!!!

[@echodelta9]

Williams ripped of so much of Prokofiev for Star Wars too. I saw the FMQ at Purdue 72ish.

[@bertenqvist7324]

Kingsley did not wrote the missing tone, Hot Butter refined it and Jarre Buttered it up later till perfection,.. : )

[@bertenqvist7324]

Even Dave Crocket´s theme is influensed by that throw, even Ennio´s the Googly Huggly and the Buddly-

[@salvi1999]

the first 15 seconds are from a movie, documentary or something?

[@Top2000agogo]

It's Gershon Kingsley playing and we've edited some footage that fitted the sound ;-)

[@fortroadmassive4095]

Way to short why not longer vids?

[@Antillen44]

They are made for a TV-show, it's a subject in that show, so only a 5 to 6 min or so.

[@fortroadmassive4095]

@@Antillen44 Ah right. Pity I would watch them all day long!!

[@Top2000agogo]

@@fortroadmassive4095 Sorry! As said, this series is a part of a bigger show here in the Netherlands. So that's why they're always 5-7 minutes.

[@enlacdmx4379]

¡ Palomitas de maíz !

[@omersarcadeadventures2152]

Talks about coca cola In the background: Pepsi cola

[@keithstuartgoldstraw3356]

i wonder if this was his only tune he ever composed, he must have come up with loads of tunes in his time, if not then why is he a one tune wonder? that is so sad.

[@symphony137]

Are you kidding? He released multiple albums with his songs and also composed music for a few movies.

[@DJ-ov2it]

rip

[@craighill4709]

Not to be over picky but although popcorn is a work of genious itis not a song as a song has lyrics making it an instrumental tune

[@robertsteinberger5667]

Toen was de prijs 35000 dollars, die prijs zakte tot 800 in de jaren 90 en is nu 10000 euro, dus nog steeds een koopje....

[@hhhudba4887]

Electricity

[@mauricedorreboom5388]

Ehm, someone can not be half jewish, it is inharited by the Mother. So if you father is Jewish and your mother is not, ... you are not a jew.

[@barductube]

In Nazi Germany 1933-45 hundreds of thousands of people were being captivated, imprisoned and finally killed for being half Jewish, quarter Jewish, even your great grandparents had to be approved "Arians". Now you're telling us that 3/4 of them weren't even considered to be Jewish by the Jews? Being Jewish was per definition a race then, not a religion. And you're telling off a man who has fled from this terror and genozide, and suffered racist humiliation enough for a lifetime in his youth. I suggest you get your history informations right before offering such advice. My own grandmother has had to flee from Germany in 33 for being married to a half Jew, this was considered to be "race shame, race violation" Rassenschande, and made her a candidate for the Concentration Camp, too.

[@chocloditelensman]

This song has zero credibility. Lol.