Music of the 1970s is often identified as music of the "riff."

The decade produced countless songs that are identifiable simply by one part, a part so recognizable that you know everyone has heard it, whether or not they know the name of the song, or who wrote and played it. That riff may overshadow that musician's work, standing higher than that musician's decades-worth of contributions to music.

In 1972, Edgar Winter wrote the song "Frankenstein," an instrumental with a melody that has gone on to solidify its place in classic rock play lists. That, along with the song "Free Ride," was released on the record "They Only Come Out at Night"; both became classic rock staples, helping the record sell millions.

The instrumental hit "Frankenstein" wasn't originally going to be on the record.

"We had no intention of recording the instrumental. We didn't even have a name for it," said Winter on the phone this week from his Los Angeles home. "We happened to have two or three 20-minute versions of it, long jamming versions we used to warm up with in the studio, and we thought maybe we could edit it and put it on the record."

Recording in those days was done with tape, and tape was always rolling.

"We had the tapes of the song laying all over the studio, trying to edit a shorter version together, and drummer Chuck Ruff said 'It's like Frankenstein,' referencing building a monster. And a monster was born."

The multi-instrumentalist Winter, who plays guitar, bass, saxophone and keyboards, is also the first person credited with playing a synthesizer as a lead instrument, which is what he did for "Frankenstein."

He was also the first to play a keyboard attached to a guitar strap, a possibility he discovered while shopping in a music store.

"I was looking for a vehicle to feature the synth, I had gotten the idea of putting a strap on a keyboard," Winter said. "It seemed simple and obvious."

Besides its long-term fame, "Frankenstein" has seen some new popularity by being one of the harder songs to play on the video game "Guitar Hero."

Winter, who hasn't recently had hits as big as "Free Ride" or "Frankenstein," has remained successful in the music business, now going on 40 years.