Originally published at: Remembering Moondog, The Viking of 6th Avenue | Boing Boing
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many folks will know a bit of Moondog’s work through the re-working of his wonderful track “Bird’s Lament” by the artist Mr. Scruff as “Get A Move On” which was then used in the early aughts in a host of Lincoln car commercials.
I was working in a record store at the time and this made life miserable… cuz neither the Mr Scruff nor ANY Moondog was in print.
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My kinda Dude!
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Longtime fan of his fantastic music. I built this.
And I 3D printed a “record” for my vintage Fisher Price “phonograph” of part of his “Elf Song,” which really lends itself to the music box quality of the audio.
I recommend Robert Scotto’s Moondog, The Viking of 6th Avenue and its accompanying CD.
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That is exactly how I found his music, and I am very glad I did.
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Yeah exactly! came for “Bird’s Lament”; stayed for “Enough About Human Rights.”
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Machines were mice and men were lions once upon a time
But now that it’s the opposite its twice upon a time.
Possibly interesting trivia: I first heard about Moondog on MTV. No, he didn’t have a video, they featured him on a segment of MTV News.
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Really, I’m not the only one who’s into Moondog? I’ve been a fan of his for decades, and a snippet of his piece “Autumn” is my current ringtone.
Every once in a while Boing Boing reminds me that I’m not as weird as I think I am.
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Eclectic is too small a word. There are symphonies. And spoken word pieces. And cool jazz. And this.
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Sorry for the OT: I’ve had nothing but trouble printing records like this. They come out really rough and don’t play properly. Do you have any tips?
I didn’t know that Lincoln commercials used his music, but it explains why I giggled like an idiot every time I called the Lincoln dealer that serviced my Ford Fiesta back then. Because the ‘hold’ music was a two-minute loop of Bird’s Lament played elevator-style, which seemed so completely, randomly out of place. Thanks for clearing up this long-time mystery.
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Hmmm. I sliced the models with Makerbot’s old software, probably .1mm layer height. I imagine they would have printed really nice on the Ultimakers at work at a higher resolution. Try changing your slicer?
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Saw him a couple of times in NYC when I was a kid. He was a little unnerving standing tall and quiet on the sidewalk. Never heard him play music on the street which might have changed things.
I have his Columbia album and sometimes sing his “Be a Hobo”:
He reminds me of Harry Partch in some ways.
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Back in 2014 my wife and I dropped some fairly large coin on a Kickstarter for a Moondog documentary “The Viking of 6th Avenue” by Dog Days Films. I think the director’s name is Holly (something) and we received updates on its progress (or lack of) up to update #46 back in May, since then it’s been silence from them.
I’m starting to get a bit sad. They received more than $100,000 and so far … crickets.
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Not the same, but here’s an audio documentary of him:
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Zounds! Listening here to Moondog for the first time, I’m starting to wonder if Animal Collective (their early stuff) was influenced by him.
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My coins weren’t large by any stretch of the imagination but at the time my budget felt the hit… A kickstarter disappointment for sure.
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