Sy Mann’s Switched On Santa is a vintage holiday album, from the original 70’s explosion of ‘switched on’ and ‘Mooged out’ albums.
From the liner notes:
“Sy Mann giftwraps all your Christmas favorites in the most exciting musical sound, and puts them under your glittering tree. Gift tagged to read, ‘Merry Christmas from The Moog!'”
It looks like the album has not been rereleased on CD or in digital format, so it may only be available on vintage vinyl.
Tracks:
SIDE 1
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Jingle Bells
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Tijuana Christmas
My Favorite Things
The Little Drummer Boy
SIDE 2
Christmas Bells
White Christmas
Joy to the World
When Christmas Comes
Angels we Have Heard on High
Silent Night
What Child is This
If you know anything more about Switched On Santa, leave a comment and let us know!
I have a cd rip of this… and it’s on some private torrent websites.
Its on spotify actually! just search switched on santa
I love 70’s Moogsploitation (or is that Carlosploitation?) and this is a fine example. Carlos did it better, of course, when she stooped to cover Eleanor Rigby on “By Request.” But of course, not as festive as this Switched-on Santa. (Who cheats with acoustic drums.)
I love that it’s not perfectly in sync. Manual playing FTW.
I like it! Its not as cheesy as most Moog music from the seventies
Cute, but that’s the kind of sound that caused/causes people to take a synth as a goofy noise machine and nuttin’ more. A few did it well. I had a bizarre album called “Electric Tommy,” which was respectful and didn’t crap on the Who at all. Even better was “Switched-On Gershwin” by pianist Leonid Hambro and the great early synthesist Gershon Kingsley. That version of “Rhapsody In Blue” was handled seriously and made the grade. I just wince a little when a synthesizer is used in too cutesy a manner for too long at a stretch. Its not a negative with those early players, either; the lexicon was being established, after all. I’m just one of those types who want to hear a ‘weird’ sound two times out of ten, not nine. Friends don’t let friends get so drunk that they play Moog farts out the back window until the police show up. Seriously, that scares the utter S**T out of people who have no clue! :))
Its actually a lot better than the Christmas crap churned out by the drones from X-Factor and The Voice.
That’s Jean Jacques Perrey portraying Santa on the cover! Although he doesn’t play on the LP.
This 60s synth Xmas by Douglas Leedy LP is a lot better in my opinion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gSLWmQzfZM
With Buchla!
And this one from electronic psych pioneer Joe Byrd is quite good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8lSq7PUzlA
I really like this one. Interesting arrangements of several of the tunes. It’s a keeper.