Instruments that never really caught on

[Stumpy Pepys]

So which instruments have barely (or never) troubled the world of popular music, barring maybe some obscure album tracks?

1. The Bontempi Reed Organ has never bothered the charts to my knowledge, unless I misheard one as a harmonium
2. The only example of an ocarina I can think of is Wild Thing by The Troggs
3. My only Stylophone recollections are Space Oddity and Kraftwerk's Pocket Calculator
4. I quite like the sound of the Philicorda (a Philips tonewheel organ), but it's barely featured on record
5. I can't think of a single pop act with a recorder player
6. Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man didn't feature a hurdy-gurdy; neither does any other record I know of.

[Gangster Octopus]

3. My only Stylophone recollections are Space Oddity and Kraftwerk's Pocket Calculator

Wow, your memory's removed all traces of Rolf Harris. Are you the BBC?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Wow, your memory's removed all traces of Rolf Harris. Are you the BBC?

I know he endorsed it, but did Rolf have a Stylophone hit?

[Gangster Octopus]

Ah, good point...

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Vox Starstream guitar is another one. Peter Kember from Spacemen 3 is the only exponent I think (it's all over Playing With Fire).

[Giggler]

Readers who listened to Pete Mitchell and Geoff Lloyd on Key 103 in the mid-90s may remember "Can you gue-e-ss/Wha-a-t Pete and Geoff are play-ay-ing/On the-e-ir sty-lo-phone (stylophone)"

[beak]

There's so many weird musical instruments I would love to have a shot of. I wish I there was a lending library for obscure musical instruments.

To start with, off the top of my head: the tromba marina, the daxophone, and the octobass. Also, whatever the fuck you call this thing.

Also, the city of Baku:

he organised several monumental concerts, which he called Symphony of Sirens [Simfoniya gudkov, Гудковая симфония], inspired by the nocturnal spectacles of Petrograd (May 1918) and by the texts of Gastev and Mayakovsky. He eventually took these concerts to a number of Soviet cities celebrating the anniversaries of the October Revolution: Nizhny Novgorov (1919), Rostov (1921), Baku (1922) and finally Moscow (1923)[22]. The most impressive and elaborate of these concerts was held on 7 November 1922 in the harbour of Baku in Azerbaijan. For this, Avraamov worked with choirs thousands strong, foghorns from the entire Caspian flotilla, two artillery batteries, several full infantry regiments, hydroplanes, twenty-five steam locomotives and whistles and all the factory sirens in the city. He also invented a number of portable devices, which he called Steam Whistle Machines for this event, consisting of an ensemble of 20 to 25 sirens tuned to the notes of The Internationale. He conducted the symphony himself from a specially built tower, using signalling flags directed simultaneously toward the oil flotilla, the trains at the station, the shipyards, the transport vehicles and the workers' choirs .

[wittoner]

[QUOTE=Stumpy Pepys;1477105]So which instruments have barely (or never) troubled the world of popular music, barring maybe some obscure album tracks?


5. I can't think of a single pop act with a recorder player

Recorders were briefly in vogue in the late 60s/early 70s e.g. Mighty Quinn by Manfred Mann , Hitching a Ride by Vanity Fare & Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones

Dion's "Donna the Prima Donna" and "Lazy Sunday" by The Small Faces failed to spark off a Kazoo epidemic (perhaps thankfully)

Godley and Creme's "Gizmo" was touted as the next leap forward at one time but seemed to be quietly shelved.

[Auntie Beryl]

https://www.onetouchfootball.com/sho...oy-instruments

Sizzling Stylophone chat linked above.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Recorders were briefly in vogue in the late 60s/early 70s e.g. Mighty Quinn by Manfred Mann , Hitching a Ride by Vanity Fare & Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones

I'll give you those, except The Mighty Quinn was definitely a flute. Played by Klaus Voormann, trivia fans.

[Sean of the Shed]

[gjw100]

The budget-priced Wasp synth which was released at the tail-end of the 70’s was actually quite a nifty little piece of kit and somewhat ahead of its time as an early adopter of digital technology and a flat keyboard. It never caught on with musicians though and didn’t last very long as a production model. My brother purchased one in 1978 via mail order but, sadly, never even got to see it let alone play it as my father intercepted the delivery whilst he was at work, decided it was a cheap-looking piece of crap and made the delivery guy take it back for a refund.

[Stumpy Pepys]

I used to play with a ukulele group and one member had a U-Bass.

[Disco Child Ballads]

There's likely to be a whole load of folk records that feature the hurdy-gurdy. Richard Thompson occasionally plays them.

[WOM]

Arcade Fire made fairly big use of one on Neon Bible. We saw Regine playing it during that tour.

[Toby Gymshorts]

The Dube doesn't seem to have grabbed the imagination of the music world.

[3 Colours Red]

Other than Devo, Herbie Hancock and a couple of twats busking on the Tube from Kings Cross to Euston (that last one might be a bit personal), who had a hit using a keytar?

[johnr]

The theremin had a bit of a revival a few years back, but - thankfully, having seen a few gigs with folk gesticulating around it - it never really caught on.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The theremin had a bit of a revival a few years back, but - thankfully, having seen a few gigs with folk gesticulating around it - it never really caught on.

Never went away though. The Flaming Lips, Portishead, The Pixies, Space and Captain Beefheart, off the top of my head.

[Capybara]

And Pere Ubu.

[jwdd27]

Brian Jones can tick off recorder (Ruby Tuesday), theremin (Please Go Home), dulcimer (Lady Jane, I Am Waiting), mellotron (2000 Light Years From Home, also theremin), marimba (Under my Thumb) and oboe (Dandelion). I think he had a go on guitar on a couple of tracks too.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Sitar too (Paint it Black)

[johnr]

Never went away though. The Flaming Lips, Portishead, The Pixies, Space and Captain Beefheart, off the top of my head.

Sorry not to be clear, that's what I meant by a 'few years ago'. I also saw Mercury Rev use it, and a few lesser bands. Haven't seen it since.

[diggedy derek]

Recorder – The Beatles' "Fool On The Hill"?

[Benjm]

Is the recorder still popular in primary schools or has the ukulele usurped its status as favourite first instrument?