Dick Hyman & Mary Mayo: Moon Gas


There is a distinct possibility that this is the greatest record ever recorded before 1968. Space age bachelor pad music meets concrete music. 1963 was the recording date ! Unbelievable. Strange synths, oscillators and custom made electric guitars with help of the lowrey organ. No words can really describe this record. Dick Hyman was prolific and was known to be able to play any style of music on any given keyboard instrument. He had a million selling record playing a harpsichord (if you can do that you’re pretty great!). Mary Mayo did some back up vocals and a few solo records, but nothing quite as famous as this one here. Small amount of trivia: Mary Mayo was born in my grandfather’s home town of Statesville, North Carolina; possibly the antithesis incarnate of this music.

Take a listen:

“Space Reflex (Blues in 5/4 Time)”

“Moon Gas”

24 Comments

  • redredlangouste says:

    DAMN HOW DID YOU EVER HEAR ABOUT THIS RECORD????? IT IS LIKE TOTALLY UNKNOWN!!!!! BEST RECORD BEFORE 1968 IS CORRECT!!!!!!! DO YOU ENJOY THE COMPANY OF 12 YEAR OLDS????

  • undoubtedly more interesting than john cage.

  • hemol says:

    this pisses all over ‘real’ hiphop from a great height

  • also it’s better than cotton candy.

  • ‘real’ cotton candy.

  • jordan says:

    great find!

  • neologism says:

    not the most secret, but very rare and expensive. cool find, glad you shared some tracks, i know i wont track one down.

  • davesrecords says:

    hey red whatever…eat a d*ck!

    everybody else, thanks for the comments.

  • redredlangouste says:

    just out of curiosity, what happened in 1968 to knock this out of the “greatest record ever recorded” spot?

  • gary busey says:

    just curious, when can we hang out redred?

  • redredlangouste says:

    hey gary busey – eat a tw*x!

  • yuichi2 says:

    daves, really appreciate you posting up really solid stuff at SS and here. Thanks!!! yet another record going on the want list.

  • enoch light says:

    I made this record in 1963 back when everything was happening man. In 1968 things changed and I went to Thailand. Later, I was sought for questioning in relation to an international child porn ring. That’s all behind me now and I’m making music again. Thanks for your interest. – Enoch

  • dick hyman says:

    Enoch you crazy bastard you didn’t make this record. These are my compositions and despite the fact that many people confuse us two, you make chintzy lounge records and I write serious music. Eat a dick with hotsauce in the hole.

  • One of my favorite records ever… strange and beautiful … hypnotizing …

  • michael jackson says:

    let’s toast to the future where no one questions us, enoch.

  • Jan Patrice says:

    Is the sound track music that Mary did for a movie with Frank Lovejoy who acted as Gen Curtis Lemay in a ‘maybe called’, “Our Strategic Air Command” in the 1950s, available somewhere?
    Jan P.

  • surfer greg says:

    turn off all the lights, get your girl friend, go to the moon? I have had this for ten years and never get tired of it. Nowdays the vocals remind me of the B52s only better. Just the name…. come on “Moon Gas” blues, robot sounds, Dick Hyman on Hammonds and Lowrey organs. Its not strange sounding only imaginative and when you hear it you know there will never be anything like this again. Did we go over the cover? There is this shade of blue a dark aqua and…. you got it! moon gas. experamental swing from a place back in time that thought it was the future and is totally alive now! I’m sorry folks as you can tell, I really do love this one. Mono rules

  • Loaf says:

    Absolutely astounding record. I had a chance to talk to Dick Hyman about this record in 2004. He said they had a “blast” making it with door bell buzzers and oscillators great reverbs, etc. I have a signed mono copy and really want the stereo LP. Have a digital transfer of a stereo copy. Get it if you don’t have it, no disappointments here.

  • sully says:

    this rules, thanks

  • mrdiamondhead says:

    I quite like eating dick,and the fag shit is so 2000 and late, and I have a copy and a sealed copy that is H2O damaged.

  • A Dude says:

    Some RUDE commenters can’t change the fact that this record is THE TITS

  • gg says:

    This lp desparately needs to be reissued on vinyl from the master tapes. One of my faves, but really hard to find not beat up if one is lucky to come across it at all.

  • dd says:

    My dad dated Mary Mayo sometime prior to 1952. We had this lp in our house when I was a kid.

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