The Philicorda was an electronic organ first produced in the 1960s by
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
. It was Philips' first entry into musical instruments and targeted the home market.
History
The Philicorda came out of the
Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium
The Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium (English translation: ''Philips Physics Laboratory'') or NatLab was the Dutch section of the Philips research department, which did research for the product divisions of that company. Originally located in the ...
in
Eindhoven, under
Tom Dissevelt
Thomas Dissevelt (4 March 1921, Leiden – 1989) was a Dutch composer and musician. He is known as a pioneer in the merging of electronic music and jazz. He married Rina Reys, sister of Rita Reys, in 1946.
Tom Dissevelt was also known as bass ...
and
Dick Raaijmakers
Dick Raaijmakers (Maastricht, 1 September 1930 – The Hague, 4 September 2013), also known as Dick Raaymakers or Kid Baltan, was a Dutch composer, theater maker and theorist. He is considered a pioneer in the field of electronic music and tape mu ...
, who worked on electronic music and electronic musical instruments; it was here that the prototype of the AG7400 organ was produced.
1960s Models
The AG7400 was launched onto the market in 1961, as a four-octave, 49 keys single manual, beginning with tone C version. Unusually for the time, it offered several audio inputs and outputs. The organ also shipped with a volume pedal and offered three settings--organ, organ with bass keys and single-finger chords. The AG7400 did not have an internal speaker.
At the beginning of 1963, its successor, the AG7500, was officially launched as the Philicorda. As well as the AG 7500/00, various other versions were produced amongst others for the English (AG7500/11?) and German (AG7500/22) markets. Located below the AG7500 was a tube amplifier with speakers.
The AG7600, launched soon after, was a soundbar type separate amplifier with loudspeakers and offered a spring reverb effect.
The Philicorda 751 (22GM751 with various country specific suffixes such as 22GM751/22 for Germany) was launched in 1967, some of them had both valves (preamp stage) and transistors, followed by the 22GM752, which was fully transistorized. A later model, the 22GM753, launched at the end of 1967, was designed for the stage and was fully transistorized.
Although Philicordas, from the AG7400 to the 22GM753, had slight differences in sound, the Philicorda's typical warm tone, originally produced using neon bulb based octave
dividers, was consistent over the years.
Single-Finger Chords
Each Philicorda had 17 pre-programmed chords (C - A7 - Dm - Eb - Em - F - D - G - E7 - Am - B - G7 - Cm - B9 - Gm - F7 - C7), although key assignments varied between models.
Licensing
In the US, the Philicorda 753 was distributed by
J. C. Penney under the Penncrest name, available in blue or black, as opposed to the previous natural wood finishes.
1970s Models
The GM754 was launched in the early 1970s, with altered chord availability, speaker holes below the chassis and sliders instead of knobs.
The GM760 series were double-manual organs. In the late 1970s, Philips launched the double-manual PhilicordaRhythm series.
In pop music
In the 1960s, the Philicorda was utilized by bands including
The Monks
The Monks, referred to by the name monks on record sleeves, were an American garage rock band formed in Gelnhausen, West Germany in 1964. Assembled by five American GIs stationed in the country, the group grew tired of the traditional format ...
.
In recent years, the organ has undergone a revival. Notable users include Nick Power of
The Coral
The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album '' The Coral'', from which came the single " Dreaming of You", was nominated for ...
and
Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake. The Philicorda also features on
''19'' by
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
.
{{Electronic organs
Electronic organs
Philips