Hot Butter were an American

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

band fronted by the keyboard player and studio musician Stan Free. The other band members were John Abbott, Bill Jerome, Steve Jerome, and Danny Jordan and Dave Mullaney. They were best known for their 1972 version of the

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014 ...

instrumental hit "

Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

", originally recorded by its composer,

Gershon Kingsley Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922 – December 10, 2019) was a German-American composer, a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, founde ...

, in 1969. The track became an international hit, selling a million copies in France, 250,000 in the United Kingdom, and over two million globally.

History

The group released two albums, ''Hot Butter'' (Musicor MS-3242; 1972) and ''More Hot Butter'' (Musicor MS-3254; 1973), primarily of covers, on LP issued by Hallmark Records. The two albums were compiled on CD as ''Popcorn'' on the

Castle Music Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's productio ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

in 2000 (with an album cover from the 1974 Australian release of ''More Hot Butter'' titled ''Moog Hits'', depicting the five other band members immersed in melted butter produced by Free's synthesizer), though several tracks, including

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...

's "Mexican Whistler", were deleted. Tracks written by members of the band were "At the Movies" (the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of "Popcorn") and "Tristana", by all the band members except Free, and "Space Walk", by Dave Mullaney and his brother. "The Silent Screen (Hot Butter)" is credited to all the members except for Free, but it's actually an

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

of the main theme of the first movement of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's Symphony No. 40. Among the other artists covered by the band were Stephen Schwartz,

Jerry Lordan Jerry Lordan (born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan, 30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He achieved 3 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting c ...

and

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richar ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who pioneered space age and experimental pop music. He also assisted in the development of recording practices like over ...

and

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits ...

Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for '' The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in his ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoc ...

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

Piero Umiliani Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores. Biography Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation ...

Jean-Joseph Mouret Jean-Joseph Mouret (11 April 1682 in Avignon – 22 December 1738 in Charenton-le-Pont) was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are rarely p ...

, Billy Joe & the Checkmates, Joe Buffalo's Band,

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' '' Bitches Brew'', and ...

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ) (June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams described him ...

, Chuck Rio, and

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Cl ...

and The String-A-Longs. Mullaney and Abbott did most of the arranging. The Jeromes, Jordan, and Richard E. Talmadge

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

the albums with MTL Productions for Musicor. In addition to "Popcorn", another well known track is

August Msarurgwa August Musarurwa (usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) was the Zimbabwean composer of the 1950s hit tune "Skokiaan" (also known as Skokiyana, Skokian). History August Musarurwa was born and raised in the Zvimbamap district of ...

's "

Skokiaan "Skokiaan" is a popular tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Musarurwa (d. 1968, usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the Tsaba-tsaba big band-style that succeeded Marabi. Skokiaan (Chikokiyana in Shona)< ...

", which was included on

RE/Search RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fan ...

's compilation album ''Incredibly Strange Music''. Follow-up singles included The Shadows' " Apache", Chuck Rio's ( Danny Flores) "

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican state ...

", Billy Joe and the Checkmates' "Percolator", Joe Buffalo's Band's "Slag Solution", and Gene Farrow with G.F. Band's "You Should Be Dancing".

Members

Stan Free

Stan Free (born Stanley Friedland) (April 12, 1922 – August 17, 1995) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

musician, composer, conductor and arranger. Free was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

in 1922, and received a classical musical education, studying with

Alexander Siloti Alexander Ilyich Siloti (also Ziloti, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Зило́ти, ''Aleksandr Iljič Ziloti'', uk, Олександр Ілліч Зілоті; 9 October 1863 – 8 December 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, ...

and also at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. While still in his teens, he organized a combo (Stanley Friedland's Royal New Yorkers) that played in the Catskills. He also served as a staff sergeant in the Seventh Cavalry in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, seeing combat in the Pacific. Upon his return, he became active in many musical endeavors, including serving as musical director for one of the first live television variety talk shows, "Cafe De Paris" with Sylvie St. Clair, on

WABD WABD (97.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile, and it ...

, the old DuMont channel in New York (1949). The Stan Free Trio played in many New York jazz clubs of the day, including The Composer, The Embers, The Living Room and Hickory House to name a few. He was the featured performer for several summers at Herb McCarthy's Bowden Square in Southampton, Long Island. He recorded several albums (now out of print) under his own name: ''Free For All: The Stan Free Trio'', ''Piano A La Percussion'' and ''Stan Free Five: Would You Believe? Jazz Alive''. Free's best-known recording was the Moog hit "

" (1972), with the album named ''Hot Butter''. In addition to Free, five studio musicians contributed to the album. Free also toured and recorded with the First Moog Quartet (1970–72), organized by

. Additionally he arranged music and conducted for many performers, notably the jazz vocalist

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shi ...

(Chris Craft), and the comedian Jack Carter. He was also a

studio musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

for many of the rock and pop groups of the 1960s, including The Four Seasons,

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

and

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and " Along Comes Mary") a ...

. In 1979, Free played percussion on the Broadway Show ''

The Most Happy Fella ''The Most Happy Fella'' is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the 1924 play '' They Knew What They Wanted'' by Sidney Howard. The show i ...

''. He was married with children and grandchildren, and died in New York.

Discography

Albums

''Hot Butter''

*Musicor MS-3242 (U.S.); Pye International NSPL.28169 (UK), 1972 Side one # "

" (

) (2:30) # " Day by Day" ( Stephen Schwartz) (3:44) # " Apache" (

) (2:50) # "At the Movies" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (2:31) # "Tristana" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (3:29) # "

Song Sung Blue "Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album ''Moods'', and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation ...

" (

) (3:54) Side two # "

Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the f ...

" (

) (2:34) # "Tomatoes" (

) (2:27) # "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for bot ...

" (Trad. Arr. Abbott, Mullaney) (2:37) # "

Love at First Sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

" ( S. Gainsbourg) (2:38) # "Song of the Narobi Trio" ( R. Maxwell) (2:13) # " Hot Butter (The Silent Screen)" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (2:04)

''More Hot Butter''

*Musicor MS-3254; 1973 Side one # "Percolator" # "Slag Solution" # "Sounds" # "

Wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

" # "Skokiaan" # " Pipeline" Side two # "Space Walk" # "The Masterpiece" # "Tequila" (Instrumental) # "Syncopated Clock" # " Kappa Maki" # "Mah-Na, Mah-Na"

''Popcorn with Hot Butter''

Side one # "Popcorn" (Instrumental) # "Day by Day" # "Apache" # "At the Movies" # "Tomatoes" Side two # "Pipeline" # "Hot Butter" # "Telstar" # "Tristana" # "Song of the Nairobi Trio" # "Amazing Grace"

''Moog Hits''

*Musicor Records, L34954, 1974 (Australia) Side one # "Slag Solution" # "Sounds Simple" # "Wheels" # "Skokiaan" # "Russian Whistler" Side two # "Space Walk" # "The Masterpiece" # "Tequila" # "Syncopated Clock" # "Mah-Na, Mah-Na" # "Mexican Whistler"

''Popcorn'' (CD)

*Castle Music ESMCD907 (UK), 2000 # "

" (

) Bourne Music. # " Day by Day" ( Stephen Schwartz) Valando Music. # " Apache" ( Lordan) Francis Day & Hunter. # "At the Movies" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) Catalogue Music. # "Tristana" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) Catalogue Music. # "Song Sung Blue" (

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

) Ardmore & Beechwood. # "

" ( Meek) Ivy Music Ltd. # "Tomatoes" ( Hefti) Famous Chappell. # "

" (Trad. Arr. Abbott, Mullaney) Artal. # "

" ( Gainsbourg) Shapiro Bernstein/Britico. # "Song of the Narobi Trio" (

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage o ...

). # " Hot Butter (The Silent Screen)" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) Artal. # " Mah-Na-Mah-Na" ( Umiliani) Carlin Music Corp. # "

Masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

" ( Mouret, Parnes) September Music Corp. # "Percolator" ( Bideu,

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

) . # "

" ( Kusarurgwa) Peter Maurice Music Co. Ltd. # "Slag Solution" (Morgan, Ranzzano) Copyright Control. # "Sounds" ( Macero) Warner Chappell Music Ltd. # "Space Walk" (Mullaney, Mullaney) Copyright Control. # " Syncopated Clock" ( Anderson,

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

) EMI Harmonies Ltd. # "

" ( Rio) MCA Music Ltd. # "

" (

Petty Petty may refer to: People * Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist * Bryce Petty (born 1991), American football player * Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host * Eric D. Petty (born 1954), Am ...

) Campbell Connelly & Co. Ltd.

Singles

"Popcorn"

*Musicor MUS 1458 (

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

); Pye International 7N.25583 ( UK), July 1972 Side one # "Popcorn" (Gershon Kingsley) (2:30) Side two # "At the Movies" (Abbott, Mullaney, Jerome, Jerome, Jordan) (2:31)

"Apache"

*Pye International (UK) 7N.25598, 20 Oct 1972; Musicor (GDR)12 348 AT, Oct 1972 Side one #"Apache" Side two #"Hot Butter"

"Tequila"

*Musicor 12 469 AT, 1972 Side one #"Tequila" (1:47) Side two #"Tomatoes" (2:21)

"Percolator"

*Musicor SMU-88678 (Mus 1473 U.S.); Pye 7N.25609, 1973 Side one # "Percolator" Side two # "Tristana"

"Slag Solution"

*Musicor 1481, 1973 Side one # "Slag Solution" Side two # "Kappa Maki"

"You Should Be Dancing"

*12" 45 Dynamo DS 12-DS-603-8, 1977 Side one # "You Should Be Dancing" (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb) (5:13) Hye Fye Music Ltd Side two # "You Should Be Dancing" (track without lead vocal) (Warren/Farrow) (4:42) Hye Fye Music Ltd Arranged by B.K. Bowie; produced by Jerry "Swamp Dog" Williams, Jr.

References

External links

* Allmusic.com biography* * {{Authority control American instrumental musical groups American synth-pop groups