by Stewart Mason It's the curse of Terry Snyder's legacy that, although his Persuasive Percussion series of albums are so identified with the space age pop era that exotica enthusiasts Stereolab credited their drummer Andy Ramsay with "persuasive percussion" on several albums, most latter-day fans of these records solely attribute their success to producer Enoch Light and arranger Lew Davies. While Light and Davies' contributions are not to be underestimated, these albums were credited to Terry Snyder, albeit in small print on the back cover, for a reason: Snyder's remarkable skills on a variety of percussion instruments are what makes Persuasive Percussion perhaps the definitive instrumental album of the space age pop era. This first volume of the four-part Persuasive Percussion series sets the template not only for the other three, but also for all the audio-spectacular percussion records issued in the wake of this album's phenomenal commercial success (two years in the Billboard Top 40, including 13 weeks at number one). Rather than writing their own tunes, Snyder, Light, and Davies chose familiar middle of the road standards such as "I'm in the Mood for Love," "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," and "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" for Davies' Latin-tinged arrangements and Light's gimmicky extreme stereo separation production style. The wisdom of this decision is obvious; unlike many space age pop albums, Persuasive Percussion is designed to appeal not only to obsessive hi-fi enthusiasts, but also to less technophilic listeners who simply enjoy the songs. What makes the album still work when most other audio-spectacular records sound tiresome to contemporary ears is the undeniable talent of Snyder and his backing crew, the All-Stars. Hand percussion is notoriously tricky to play well, but Snyder handles a dazzling variety of instruments with remarkable facility. The strong melodies are served well by the jazz-based arrangements and supple musicianship; because Light avoids the cheap ping-pong effects of many of his imitators, the production actually enhances the songs rather than acting as a distraction. Most space age pop records fall into the kitschy so-bad-it's-good category; by contrast, Persuasive Percussion is a genuinely interesting, enjoyable album.