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.
My kinda Dude!
I have this shirt –– fans can find it here
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.
That is exactly how I found his music, and I am very glad I did.
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.
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.
Eclectic is too small a word. There are symphonies. And spoken word pieces. And cool jazz. And this.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Not the same, but here’s an audio documentary of him:
Zounds! Listening here to Moondog for the first time, I’m starting to wonder if Animal Collective (their early stuff) was influenced by him.
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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