Moog Music is back in business!

Just found out last night that one of the best-known names in electronic music is back in business. Moog Music lives once again. The company was founded in the mid-1960s as R.A. Moog, Inc. in Trumansburg, NY (just outside of Ithaca). In the early 1970s, it merged with another company, MuSonics, moved to Williamsville, NY (just outside of Buffalo), and became Moog Music. The company then moved to Cheektowaga (another suburb), where it stayed until the mid-1980s, when it (finally) folded.

The company is best known for making synthesizers -- from the huge modular ones that Keith Emerson toured with, to the classic Minimoog, to the polyphonic instruments like the Polymoog and Memorymoog. In the early 1980s, digital keyboards started appearing, and the analog synths were getting phased out.

Meanwhile, in the late 1970s, the original founder, Bob Moog, moved to North Carolina and formed another company, Big Briar, which sold theremins (unclechristo has one of these) and analog effects pedals/devices called "Moogerfoogers".

At the 2003 NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show, it was unveiled that Big Briar changed its name to Moog Music. I presume the name was stuck in legal limbo for the last several years. They also announced a new version of their classic Minimoog synthesizer, updated for the 21st century with MIDI, storable patches, and the classic Moog filter -- the best in the business.

If I should be so fortunate to win the lottery, I want to trade in my computer keyboard for one of these!