Philips was and is an innovative company, it brought us the cassette, the compact disc and the DVD. But in 1956 it secretly researched the posibilities of contemporary electronic music. There seemed to be a great future in it.

They asked acoustic engineer Dick Raaijmakers if he could make a real popular modern tune with the electronic equipment, to hear what was technically possible. Raaijmakers career at Philips started at the bottom, on the assembly line. But he worked his way up to “acoustic engineer”.

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In this new position he found himself surrounded by the most advanced experimental equipment, and more than ten professional recorders, on which he made his dubs and sound-effects. All handmade by cutting, layering and splicing tape. The results were impressive. Even now his first commercial song “Song of the Second Moon” from 1957 still sounds remarkably fresh.

Raaijmakers worked under the pseudonym “Kid Baltan”, his work-nickname reversed (NatLab Dick)

His first song “Song of the Second Moon” from 1957 on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsk6AcjQF24

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