Malcolm Mooney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malcolm Mooney
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Born | 1944 (age 80–81) |
Genres | Krautrock |
Instruments | Vocals |
Associated acts | Can, Tenth Planet |
Malcolm "Desse" Mooney (born 1944) is an American singer, poet, and artist. He is best known as the first singer for the German band Can. This band played a type of music called krautrock.
Contents
Biography
Early life and travels
Malcolm Mooney's father was a jazz piano player. He had learned music from a teacher who also taught Nina Simone. Malcolm grew up in Westchester County. From a young age, he loved music and tried learning instruments like the accordion, clarinet, and saxophone. In high school, he joined a singing group called the "Six-Fifths".
Later, Mooney moved to Boston to live with his sister. He studied art at Boston University, hoping to become a painter and sculptor. While in Boston, he met a composer named Ivan Tcherepnin.
In 1967, Mooney and his friend, Joshua Zim, left the United States. They wanted to avoid being called to join the army during the Vietnam War. They flew from New York to Luxembourg, stopping in Reykjavík. From Luxembourg, they hitchhiked to Paris. A friend of Ivan Tcherepnin, Serge Tcherepnin, let them stay in his apartment.
After a short time, Mooney and Zim continued their journey. They hitchhiked south through France to the coast of Spain. They hoped to cross to Morocco and travel across North Africa by camel. However, the Strait of Gibraltar crossing was closed, so they were stuck in Algeciras.
Mooney and Zim spent three weeks on the island of Formentera. They then traveled across the Mediterranean Sea to Bombay (now Mumbai). After a brief stay, they hitchhiked back to Europe. They arrived in Paris in late summer 1966. There, Mooney met Hildegard Schmidt, whose husband was the German composer Irmin Schmidt. Hildegard learned that Malcolm wanted to be a painter. She invited him to Cologne, Germany, to meet people in the German art world. In April 1968, Mooney flew to Cologne. He stayed with the Schmidt family in their apartment.
Joining the band Can
While in Cologne, Malcolm Mooney became good friends with Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay. They were starting a band and asked him to be their lead singer. The band was first called "Inner Space." But Mooney came up with the name "The Can," which was later shortened to Can.
The band showed him some instrumental music. They asked him to write lyrics for it. This became the song "Father Cannot Yell" on their album Monster Movie. The song was inspired by his travels and his friend Zim. Holger Czukay said that when Malcolm sang, he pushed the band into a strong rhythm. Irmin Schmidt also said that Malcolm's arrival helped the group become a rock band.
Mooney recorded enough songs with Can for their first album. It was first called Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom. No record company wanted to release it at first. But it was finally released in 1981 as Delay 1968. Can's second album, Monster Movie, became their first one to be released in 1969. It was popular in the German underground music scene. Other songs Mooney recorded with the band are on the albums Soundtracks and Unlimited Edition.
Soon after recording Monster Movie, Mooney left the band and went back to America. A doctor told him that leaving the band's busy music would be better for his well-being.
Later projects and art
Mooney rejoined Can in 1986 to record a special reunion album called Rite Time. He has also released three albums with a band from California called Tenth Planet. On their first album, there is a new version of "Father Cannot Yell."
In 2002, Mooney sang on a song called "Salted Tangerines" for Andy Votel's album "All Ten Fingers." This song was based on one of Mooney's own poems. The Tenth Planet band later released another album called inCANtations.
Today, Mooney mostly focuses on his visual art. In 2007, he showed one of his art pieces at White Columns in New York. In 2013, Mooney started working with drummer Sean Noonan. They recorded an album called Pavees Dance: There's Always the Night. They performed together in France in 2014.
In April 2017, Mooney performed at the Barbican Centre in London. He sang with The Can Project, a reunion concert with Irmin Schmidt and other musicians. The concert had some sound problems, especially with Mooney's singing.
In 2021, Mooney's art was shown at the Aspen Art Museum. In 2022, he had an exhibition in New York called "Works 1970-1986." He started making geometric art in 1970 for a play. He also made silk screens inspired by a type of African cloth called kente cloth. This inspired his grid paintings and drawings throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Mooney also learned more about textiles from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
Mooney's work often mixes art with useful objects. He has worked on stage designs, graphic designs, textiles, and even fashion shows. He likes to combine different types of art in his work.
Discography
Malcolm Mooney appears on the following original albums:
With Can:
- Monster Movie (1969)
- Soundtracks (1970)
- Unlimited Edition (1976) – compilation, includes all the tracks on earlier Limited Edition
- Delay 1968 (1981) – compilation
- Rite Time (1989)
- Anthology (1994) – compilation
- The Lost Tapes (2012) – compilation, 3-CD and 5-LP box set
With Tenth Planet:
- Malcolm Mooney and the Tenth Planet (1998)
- Hysterica (2006)
- inCANtations (2011)
White Columns: with Luis Tovar and Alex Marcelo
- Malcolm Mooney (2011)
With Andy Votel:
- All Ten Fingers (2002)
With Dave Tyack
- Rip Van Winkle (2003)
With Sean Noonan
- Pavees Dance: There's Always the Night (2014)
- Tan Man's Hat (2019)
With Jane Weaver
- Modern Kosmology (2017)
Videography
- Romantic Warriors IV: Krautrock (2019)