The Moog synthesizer "bent the course of music forever" Rolling Stone declared.Bob Moog, the man who did that bending, was a lovable geek with Einstein hair and pocket protectors. He walked into history in 1964 when his homemade contraption unexpectedly became a sensation---suddenly everyone wanted a Moog. The Beatles, The Doors, The Byrds, and Stevie Wonder discovered his synthesizer, and it came to be featured in seminal film scores including Apocalypse Now and A Clockwork Orange. The Moog's game-changing sounds saturated 60's counterculture and burst into the disco party in the 70's to set off the electronic dance music movement. Bob had singlehandedly founded the synth industry and become a star in the process.But he was also going broke. Imitators copied his technology, the musicians' union accused him of replacing live players, and Japanese competitors started overtaking his work. He struggled to hang on to his inventions, his business, and his very name. Bob's story upends our notions of success and wealth, showing that the two don't always go together.In Switched On, author Albert Glinsky draws on exclusive access to Bob Moog's personal archives and his probing interviews with Bob's family and a multitude of associates, for this first complete biography of the man and his work. Switched On takes the reader on a roller coaster ride at turns triumphant, heart-breaking, and frequently laugh out loud absurd---a nuanced trip through the public and private worlds of this legendary inventor who altered the course of music.

Foreword by Francis Ford CoppolaPreludePART ONE: THE FLUSHING GEEKChapter 1: Depression's ChildChapter 2: Bronx CheersChapter 3: Our GuaranteeChapter 4: No ExitPART TWO: SLIPPING BACKWARDS ON A BANANA PEELChapter 5: Transistor Man and the CrusadersChapter 6: Do It YourselfChapter 7: The AbominatronChapter 8: A Eunuch in a HaremChapter 9: A Few Thousand ScrewsPART THREE: COSMIC SOUNDSChapter 10: Hallucinations for Your EarChapter 11: The Star CollectorChapter 12: Long Live the Moog!Chapter 13: Hello, HALChapter 14: The Plastic Cow Goes MoooooogChapter 15: Socket To Me, Baby!PART FOUR: SHORT CIRCUITSChapter 16: PanicsvilleChapter 17: Mini and the BeastChapter 18: A Palace RevolutionChapter 19: The Island of ElectronicusChapter 20: I Bought Bob MoogPART FIVE: AN APOCALYPSE NOWChapter 21: The Gelatin PitChapter 22: VexationsChapter 23: GenericideChapter 24: Yankee Go HomeChapter 25: The Briar PatchPART SIX: THE GRAND POOBAHChapter 26: Genius for HireChapter 27: Comes Now the DefendantChapter 28: The Desperate VoyagerChapter 29: Patron Saint of ElectrogeeksChapter 30: The Show That Never EndsPostludeAcknowledgementsNotesIndex