Moe Tucker facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Moe Tucker
Tucker in 1966
Background information
Birth name	Maureen Ann Tucker
Born	(1944-08-26) August 26, 1944 (age 80) Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, U.S.
Origin	Levittown, New York, U.S.
Genres	Experimental rock proto-punk rock and roll art rock avant garde folk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter
Instruments	Drums percussion guitar vocals bass
Years active	1963–c. 2007
Associated acts	The Velvet Underground Half Japanese Daniel Johnston Jonathan Richman

Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. She became famous as the drummer for the rock band The Velvet Underground. Moe Tucker also sang lead vocals on some of the band's songs, like "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking With You".

After The Velvet Underground broke up in the early 1970s, she took a break to focus on her family. She started making music again in the 1980s. Until the late 2000s, she released four studio albums and played as a session musician for other artists. In 1996, Moe Tucker was honored by being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Velvet Underground.

Early Life

Maureen Tucker was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City. She grew up in Levittown, New York, in a middle-class family. Her father, James, was a housepainter, and her mother, Margaret, worked in an office. She had an older brother, Jim, who was friends with Sterling Morrison, and a sister named Margo.

Music Career

Joining The Velvet Underground

Moe Tucker started playing the drums in 1963 when she was 19 years old. When she was asked to join The Velvet Underground, she had left Ithaca College. She was working for IBM as a keypunch operator. The band's first drummer, Angus Maclise, left in November 1965. He felt the band was "selling out" because they took a paying job.

Tucker was asked to join because the band's guitarist, Sterling Morrison, remembered her. She was the younger sister of his high school friend, Jim, who also played drums. Moe Tucker was often noticed for her unique, gender-neutral look. Despite this, she has said she never faced problems because of sexism during that time.

Moe Tucker's Drumming Style

Moe Tucker's way of playing drums was very unusual. She played standing up instead of sitting down. This made it easier for her to reach the bass drum. She used a simple drum kit with tom toms, a snare drum, and an upside-down bass drum. She played with mallets instead of drumsticks.

She rarely used cymbals. She believed a drummer's job was just to "keep time." She felt cymbals were not needed for this and would make the other instruments harder to hear. Music critic Robert Christgau said Moe Tucker was a "great drummer." He thought her simple, self-taught style changed music history. He said the idea of how the beat works in punk music started with her.

Singing and Other Instruments

Besides drumming, Moe Tucker sang lead vocals on three Velvet Underground songs. These included the acoustic song "After Hours" and the experimental "The Murder Mystery." Both were from the 1969 album The Velvet Underground. She also sang "I'm Sticking with You," which was recorded in 1969 but released later on the 1985 album VU. Lou Reed, another band member, said "After Hours" was "so innocent and pure" that he couldn't sing it himself.

In the early days, Tucker sometimes played the bass guitar during live shows. This instrument was usually played by John Cale. If Cale was busy with his viola or keyboards, Morrison would play bass. However, sometimes Reed and Morrison played their guitars, and Cale was busy. In these cases, Moe Tucker would play bass.

Leaving and Returning to the Band

Moe Tucker temporarily left the group in early 1970 because she was pregnant with her first child, Kerry. Because of her pregnancy, Tucker could only play on a few songs for Loaded. This was the band's fourth and final album with Lou Reed. Billy Yule, the younger brother of bassist Doug Yule, filled in as drummer for live shows and some album songs.

Tucker returned to the band in late 1970. By then, Lou Reed had left, and Doug Yule was leading the group. She toured North America and Europe with the band in 1970 and 1971. Soon after, she left the band and the music business to raise her family.

Later Work and Reunions

Moe Tucker was part of The Velvet Underground reunion in 1993. They toured Europe and released a live album called Live MCMXCIII.

In 2017, she performed at the Grammy Salute to Music Legends awards. A band, including John Cale, played two Velvet Underground songs. The Velvet Underground received the 2017 Merit Award. In 2021, Tucker appeared in Todd Haynes' documentary The Velvet Underground.

Other Musical Projects

In 1971, Tucker moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where she lived with her husband and children. In the early 1980s, she divorced and moved to Douglas, Georgia. She worked at a Wal-Mart distribution center. She left that job in 1989 to tour Europe with the band Half Japanese.

Tucker started recording and touring again. She released several albums on small, independent labels. On these albums, she sang and played guitar, leading her own band. Sometimes, her former Velvet Underground bandmate Sterling Morrison played with her.

Besides her own music, Tucker has played on other artists' records. She also produced Fire in the Sky (1992) for Half Japanese. Their guitarist, John Sluggett, plays drums on her solo recordings. She has also appeared with Magnet and former Velvet Underground members Lou Reed (on New York) and John Cale (on Walking on Locusts).

Tucker played drums and produced the album The Lives of Charles Douglas for Charles Douglas in 1999. She also played bass drum, wrote songs, and sang with the group The Kropotkins from 1999 to 2003. In a 2010 interview, Tucker said she had stopped making music a few years before.

Musical Influences

As a teenager, Moe Tucker was a big fan of Babatunde Olatunji. She first heard his music on a radio show. Olatunji, along with Bo Diddley and The Rolling Stones, inspired her to become a musician. She learned to play drums by practicing along with popular songs on a used drum kit. She did not have any formal lessons.

Personal Life

Moe Tucker was married in the early 1970s and divorced in the early 1980s. She has five children: Kerry, Keith, Austen, Kate, and Richard. Tucker lives in Douglas, Georgia, where she raised her family.

Backup Band

• John Sluggett
• Sonny Vincent
• Victor DeLorenzo
• Hank Beckmeyer
• Tico Zamora
• Lance Cagle
• Daniel Hutchens
• Daniel Fullerton

Discography

Studio Albums

Solo Albums

With The Velvet Underground

• The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
• White Light/White Heat (1968)
• The Velvet Underground (1969)
• Loaded (1970)

With Half Japanese

• Fire in the Sky (1993)

Live Albums

Compilation Albums

Extended Plays

Singles

As lead artist

Other Appearances

• Charlie Pickett – Route 33 (1986)
• Lou Reed – New York (1989)
• Shotgun Rationale – Who Do They Think They Are? (1992)
• Shotgun Rationale – Roller Coaster (1993)
• John Cale – Antártida (1995)
• John Cale – Walking on Locusts (1996)
• John Cale – Eat/Kiss: Music for the Films by Andy Warhol (1997)
• Magnet – "Don't be a Penguin" (1997)
• Charles Douglas – "The Lives of Charles Douglas" (1999)
• Bloodkin – "Out of State Plates" (1999)
• The Kropotkins – Five Points Crawl (2000)
• The Raveonettes – Pretty in Black (2005)

See also

In Spanish: Maureen Tucker para niños