On this now more than half a century old clip, the pioneering French musician Jean-Jacques Perrey demonstrates the early synthesiser the Ondioline as part of a quiz show called I’ve Got A Secret. The year is 1960 and electronic instruments (in particular synthesisers) are still fascinatingly new. The point of the show, as the name would suggest, is for guests to reveal a secret to the host and audience and then make the panel of judges guess what their secret is. And I gave away Perrey’s secret in the first sentence of this paragraph. Oops.
Not to worry - the panel guess almost instantly what Jean-Jacques’ “secret” is:
Perrey then goes on to demonstrate the Ondioline to the genuinely awed people in the studio. What is perhaps more awe-inspiring for the modern audience is the host Gary Moore nonchalantly smoking a cigarette:
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Happy birthday Jean-Jacques Perrey!
Jean-Jacques Perrey is Mr Ondioline (1960)