If I were to stop you on the street, pull this photo out of my pocket and show it to you, what would you say? Would you say, “Hey, that guy’s wearing a football on his head!” Or, “Hey, that guy is dressed up like a viking! Is he playing dungeons and dragons?”
Or would you say, “Hey! That’s Moondog!”
Those are all good reactions, but that last one is actually 100% correct. This is a photograph of Moondog, aka Louis Thomas Hardin, aka the Viking of 6th Avenue, aka one of my new favorite American composers.
Check out this short piece, “Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie),” from his album Moondog 2, recorded in 1971 (2:48):
This piece seems to be fairly representative of his work– a complicated, underlying percussive element, with building counterpuntal melody on top, and insane time signature. I also freaking love the bass line.
There are a lot of amazing things I could tell you about Moondog (and I’ve only known about Moondog for a few weeks– a friend and I were trading recent obsessions, and she tipped me off): he was blinded when he was 16 in a farm accident (that would have been 1932), he lived on the streets of New York City for about 20 years, and he only wore clothing that he made himself, all various homages to Thor, the Norse god of thunder.
And did I mention his name is Moondog?
I don’t know all that much about him yet (I’ve been trying to get a hold of a copy of his authorized biography, but without much luck), but I do know that he invented a lot of his own instruments, and is one of the best employers of counterpoint that I’ve ever heard.
I’ll leave you with this amazing gem: in 1957, he scored part or all of an album for Julie Andrews (!!!!!) and Martyn Green. A children’s album. Of nursery rhymes and silly songs. It was called Tell It Again, and here’s the album’s 22 sec intro:
And here are Julie and Martyn doing an uncharacteristically creepy version of “Little Bo Peep,” and a rendition of “Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater” that’s appropriately creepy (37 sec):
If you want to read more, check out this great interview from right before he passed away.
Tags: avant-garde, moondog, mp3
