As the O.C. Register reports, the co-composer of “Baroque Hoedown” has passed away at the age of 87. Jean-Jacques Perrey helped pen the catchy tune which was made famous by Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade. Perrey, who was French, died in Switzerland due to complications related to lung cancer.
From the O.C. Register:
Perrey was an early pioneer of electronic music as one of the first musicians to use the Moog Synthesiser. He and Gershon Kingsley co-wrote the music and recorded it for a 1967 album called “Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music From Way Out.” It had a sound like an electronic harpsichord.
In 1972, it was picked as the kind of music needed for the famous Disneyland parade.
When the parade returned in 1977, after a two-year hiatus for America on Parade, the parade returned and then-musical director Don Dorsey made sure to bring it back.
“His music was visionary,” Dorsey said. “‘Baroque Hoedown’ is only one tune from his catalog, but brought happiness to millions and millions of people all around the world through Disney’s parade.”
Incidentally, the Main Street Electrical Parade, which made Perrey’s tune to famous, is set to return to Disneyland next year, with rumors that it will take its final bow in the near future.