Disney’s Switched On Main Street Electrical Parade

Here’s a slice of both Disney and synth history – the Disney Main Street Electrical Parade – which features a very Mooged-out “switched on” soundtrack:

The Main Street Electrical Parade’s underlying theme song is entitled “Baroque Hoedown.” The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley, who played a major role in the creation of “switched on” music.

Originally, the parade’s soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977, it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which was used until January 2009 in Disney’s Electrical Parade.

The parade originated in 1972, when this music probably sounded futuristic, and has returned in updated incarnations for years.

Here’s Jean-Jacques Perrey himself performing Baroque Hoedown:

More on the Disney Main Street Electrical Parade at wikipedia.

Footage via Indiepopgirl:

Footage of the Disneyland/DCA electrical parade was shot on May 28th, 2006

3 thoughts on “Disney’s Switched On Main Street Electrical Parade

  1. Thanks for someone in the e-music community finally recognizing this! I saw the Disney electrical parade a few years ago not knowing that the music was done by Perrey. But as soon as I heard it, I was blown over, and knew it had to be Perrey or Kinsley. That was the last place I would have ever expected to hear such music!

  2. One thing that isn't obvious when watching the movie is that the soundtrack was played on multi-track tape, and the floats had different mix of parts. You heard the mix changing as floats moved by, with everything in sync.

  3. One thing that isn't obvious when watching the movie is that the soundtrack was played on multi-track tape, and the floats had different mix of parts. You heard the mix changing as floats moved by, with everything in sync.

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