Popcorn (instrumental)

"Popcorn" (first version "Pop Corn") is an instrumental song composed by Gershon Kingsley in 1969 for the album Music to Moog By. It was performed on the Moog synthesizer and released on the Audio Fidelity label. The name is a combination of pop for Pop music and corn for kitsch. The song became a worldwide hit in 1972, when it was covered by Hot Butter, an American pop band. Since then, multiple versions of the piece have been produced and released, including those by Vyacheslav Mescherin, Anarchic System, Popcorn Makers, the Boomtang Boys, M & H Band, Crazy Frog, and the Muppets.

Hot Butter version
In 1972, a rearranged version of the instrumental was recorded by Kingsley's First Moog Quartet. This was intended for the namesake album (First Moog Quartet) which had been otherwise a re-release of the 1970 First Moog Quartet album with the same name. The 1972 version of the instrumental had the current title "Popcorn". In the same year, Stan Free, a fellow member of the First Moog Quartet, re-recorded another instrumental, based on the 1972 version, with his own band Hot Butter. This was released as a single and became a hit in mainland Europe, spending several weeks at No. 1 in several countries on the continent, including France (4 weeks at the top) and Switzerland (10 weeks), ultimately becoming the biggest-selling single of 1972 in both countries. "Popcorn" was also a No. 1 hit in Germany (3 weeks), the Netherlands (7 weeks) and Norway (9 weeks).

Record World said that the "catchy tune played out in intricate synthesizer counterpoint expands on a musical idea first brought out in the popular percolater commercials on TV."

Track listing
7" single


 * 1) "Popcorn" – 2:30
 * 2) "At the Movies" – 2:31

Crazy Frog version
In 2005, Crazy Frog released a cover of "Popcorn", the remix of which was arranged by Jamba!, and also marketed as a ringtone. The song differs from Crazy Frog's debut release "Axel F" in that it does not contain the trademark "Crazy Frog sound" by Daniel Malmedahl.

The single was a hit in various countries, particularly in France, where it enjoyed its greatest success. Replacing Crazy Frog's own song "Axel F" at No. 1 on 24 September 2005, the track remained at the top spot for seven weeks, with its best weekly sales of 71,777 copies in its second week. Certified diamond status just three months after its release by the SNEP, as of August 2014, this version of "Popcorn" is the 40th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 458,000 copies sold. The track also topped the charts in Belgium, New Zealand and Spain.

The animated music video was produced by Kaktus Film and Erik Wernquist of TurboForce3D and features Crazy Frog causing chaos at the undersea labs of the drones. A significantly shortened version of this video was also used for the Frog's version of "U Can't Touch This".

Track listings
UK
 * 1) "Popcorn" (radio mix)
 * 2) "Popcorn" (radio mix instrumental)
 * 3) "Popcorn" (potatoheadz mix)
 * 4) "Popcorn" (radikal mix)
 * 5) "Popcorn" (resource mix)
 * 6) "Popcorn" (video)

Australia
 * 1) "Popcorn" (radio mix)
 * 2) "Popcorn" (potatoheadz mix)
 * 3) "Popcorn" (resource mix)
 * 4) "Who Let the Frog Out?"

Legacy and influence
French electronic composer and musician Jean-Michel Jarre recorded a 1972 version under the pseudonyms Pop Corn Orchestra and Jammie Jefferson. Later he was inspired by this song to compose his 1976 biggest hit Oxygène (Part IV). In early 2019, when Kingsley died, the experimental composer Blanck Mass chose "Popcorn" as one of the 10 most influential compositions of his career.

Other versions
The 1972 cover by the Popcorn Makers reached No. 7 on the German charts and No. 1 on the Dutch Charts. The version with vocals by French band Anarchic System was released in 1972 and reached at No. 13 on the German charts, No. 10 on the Dutch charts and No. 1 on the Ultratop 50.

In 1987, the French M & H Band (sole member Mark Haliday), released a version of "Popcorn" which peaked at No. 8 on the Norwegian charts and at No. 20 on the Swedish charts. This single's release was accompanied by the first purpose-produced music video. Canadian group the Boomtang Boys covered "Popcorn" in 1999, their version peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, where it stayed for 9 weeks. It also reached No. 10 on RPM's Canadian dance chart. Richárd Moldován known as Richi M released in the 2000 year a cover version which reached at No. 9 on the Swedish charts.

In popular culture
In a comical reference, a version of the song was included in the 2010 skit by The Muppets called "Pöpcørn: Recipes with The Swedish Chef." In 2022, Swedish singer Tove Lo sampled the Hot Butter version in her single "2 Die 4".