Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922 – December 10, 2019) was a German-American composer,[1] a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, founder of the First Moog Quartet, and writer of rock-inspired compositions for Jewish religious ceremonies.

They had originally met in Essen, when his father, returning from Berlin on a business trip, had dropped in to a wine bar managed by two sisters, one of whom soon became Kingsley's mother.

He joined the Hagana Jewish Settlement Police (Notrim) and also played jazz in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

His parents and brother had escaped to Cuba, from where, eventually, they succeeded in obtaining visas for the United States,[11] where Kingsley met up with them eight years later.

[14] A song written by Kingsley and Perrey, "Baroque Hoedown" (from their 1967 album) was used by Walt Disney Productions for the Main Street Electrical Parade theme parks; and the song "The Savers", best known as the theme for the game show The Joker's Wild from 1972 to 1975 would go on to fame in 1968 as the Clio Award-winning music for a television advertising for No-Cal diet drinks.

[15][13] Embarking upon a solo career, Kingsley, in 1969, released on Audio Fidelity Records, the album Music to Moog By, an album consisting of covers of popular songs, some of which were by Ludwig van Beethoven and The Beatles as Für Elise, Nowhere Man and Paperback Writer, while others were traditional like the British ballad Scarborough Fair.

Other group members included Howard Salat, Stan Free, Eric W. Knight, and Ken Bichel.

[20] While reactions were mixed,[21] immediate results included a university tour and some interesting collaborative works with the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Some of these compositions are more experimental, featuring spoken word and beat poetry backed by synthetic noises and tones.