Malcolm Mooney
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Malcolm Mooney is an African-American rock music singer, poet, and artist, probably best known as the original vocalist for German Krautrock band Can.
[edit] Biography
Mooney began singing in high school, and was a member of an a capella vocal group known as the Six Fifths. He gained some fame as a sculptor in New York, then moved to Germany where he became a friend of Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay prior to the formation of Can, and decided to take up the vocal spot with them, also coming up with the name The Can for the group, later just shortened to Can.
An album of material was recorded, entitled Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom, although no record company was willing to release it so they tried again, successfully this time, and released Monster Movie, which became the band's debut album. It was successful in the German underground scene of the time, and combined Can's Velvet Underground-influenced rock with Mooney's mixture of paranoid ramblings and James Brown-style vocal funk. "Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom" was released in 1981 as compilation album Delay 1968, and various other tracks that Mooney recorded with the band during this period appear on Soundtracks, and compilation Unlimited Edition.
He left the group in 1969 after he suffered a mental breakdown on-stage, getting caught up in the band's groove a bit too much and uncontrollably chanting "upstairs... downstairs..." until the band had to stop playing. [citation needed] Before this, he had already been known to possess some psychological problems. His therapist told him that getting away from the chaotic music would be better for his mental health.
He rejoined Can in 1986 to record a one-off reunion album, Rite Time. He also has released one album with the band Tenth Planet, on which a new version of the song "Father Cannot Yell" from Monster Movie appears.
[edit] Discography
Malcolm Mooney appears on the following original albums:
With Can:
- Monster Movie (1969)
- Soundtracks (1970)
- Unlimited Edition compilation, includes all the tracks on earlier Limited Edition (1976)
- Delay 1968 compilation (1981)
- Rite Time (1989)
With Tenth Planet:
- Malcolm Mooney and the Tenth Planet (1998)
[edit] Trivia
- The rock band The Mooney Suzuki takes its name from Malcolm Mooney and Can's later vocalist Damo Suzuki.
| Can |
| Holger Czukay | Michael Karoli | Jaki Liebezeit | Irmin Schmidt |
| Malcolm Mooney | Damo Suzuki | Rosko Gee | Rebop Kwaku Baah |
| Discography |
| Albums: Monster Movie | Soundtracks | Tago Mago | Ege Bamyasi | Future Days | Soon Over Babaluma | Landed | Flow Motion | Saw Delight | Out of Reach | Can | Rite Time |
| Compilation albums: Limited Edition | Unlimited Edition | Opener | Cannibalism | Delay 1968 | Incandescence | Cannibalism 2 | Anthology | Cannibalism 3 | Peel Sessions | Radio Waves | Can Live | Sacrelige |
| Famous songs: "Yoo Doo Right" | "Mushroom" | "Halleluhwah" | "Vitamin C" | "Spoon" | "Moonshake" | "I Want More" |
| Related articles: Krautrock | Spoon Records |
