Plenty of bands from the 1960s changed the way we experienced music. From The Beatles' revolutionary way of producing pop music to the genre-broadening guitar stylings of Jimi Hendrix, plenty of 1960s musicians changed the game of music for the better. One unsung group of heroes among those musicians includes Lothar And The Hand People. And I'll bet you've never heard of this theremin-wielding, spacey psych-rock outfit.
Lothar And The Hand People formed in 1965, composed of members John Emelin, Paul Conly, Rusty Ford, Tom Flye, and Kim King. They were notably quite different from other psychedelic rock acts at the time. That says a lot, considering the 60s were the heyday of the genre. Lothar used the theremin and modular synthesizers heavily in their music. For the unaware, the theremin is an early 20th-century electronic instrument controlled by not actually touching the instrument, but by manipulating the space between the device's antennas.
Electronic instruments were at the very heart of the band. "Lothar" was the name of the theremin itself, and the band members were referred to as "the hand people." It was as if the theremin was the frontman, and the meat sacks behind the rest of the instruments were just session musicians helping the sentient device to bring its music to life.
To many music historians and fans, this band is considered the very first rock band to tour and produce music using synths. Even though they aren't as well-known as many of their contemporaries from their era, this Denver-formed rock band performed with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful, and others.
Sadly, like many fascinating outfits from their time, Lothar And The Hand People was a short-lived band. With Capitol Records, they only released two albums: Lothar And The Hand People in 1968 and Space Hymn in 1969. The title track from Space Hymn was quite popular on the radio. Their self-titled debut album featured a robot-like cover of "Machines" by Manfred Mann. The band broke up in 1970.
While Lothar And The Hand People are somewhat forgotten, they have been honored by modern-day greats in the electronic music world. The Chemical Brothers sampled their song "It Comes On Anyhow" in 1997. Saturday Night Live even spoofed the band back in the day in a skit. However, I don't think those acts of reverence are enough. I'd love to see Lothar And The Hand people get even more love in the 21st century and beyond.
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