First of all many
thanks to everyone who sent me information so I was able to update this
site, including Uli Schmidt and Gerald. Special thanks to Lisa Collins,
Moondog's 'lost daughter' who provided me with invaluable information
about her Mother and Moondog and also sent me some unpublished
photographs.
I started this page for different reasons than you would think. I learnt
how to make a Web page and uploaded a Windows help page to my Web site.
Needless to say there are 1000's of Windows pages out there so I decided
that I needed a subject that hadn't been done in depth before and of
course a subject I cared about. Then one night I thought of Moondog. All
the information on this site is a compilation of everything I have found
on the Web, plus some written material. I never expected the site to
attract the attention it has. I know I've only had about 600 visits but
that I think is amazing for basically a very obscure artist. I was very
pleased to receive E-mails from people giving me information, this updated
site is the result of those people who I thank very much.
I first heard Moondog in 1970 when a track called Stamping Ground
appeared on a CBS compilation album in the UK called 'Fill Your Head With
Rock'. I must admit I felt it just to be a nice oddity, especially with
the spoken introduction, and basically forgot all about him. In 1970 I
went to America to stay with some friends in Vermont and I was played
Moondog 2. I had never heard anything like it. The vinyl version which I
heard had a nice little trick up it's sleeve in that after what you
thought was the final track there was a very, very long gap. So I got up
and was just about to take the record off the turntable and up pops a Harp
solo called Pastoral played by Gillian Stephens. A track totally different
from the rest of the album. I've never liked Harps much and still don't,
but this tune was wonderful....I was hooked. It's still my favourite
Moondog track. The gap, by the way, doesn't happen on the CD version.
Still to this day I've only ever heard Moondog 1 & 2 out of all of his
recordings but they are a precious part of my collection. Now I've found
out how much is out there perhaps I'll buy a few more. I lost the vinyl
version of Moondog 2 many years ago and as it was never released in the UK
thought I'd never find it again. This was before the days of buying
records on the Internet. A friend who used to go to New York every now and
then, finally tracked a CD version down for me which included Moondog 1.
It was great to have it back again, but I have to say the CD version is
not a patch on the vinyl. Columbia in their wisdom have tried to cram too
much onto 1 CD so the compression is really horrible. It doesn't have the
presence of the original. It also lacks the sheet music and lyrics that
came with vinyl version and the gap before Pastoral. Many years ago I had
a contact at CBS in London and gave him a tape of Moondog 2 in the hope
that he could get it released. He said that he and the whole of his office
thought it was brilliant but it had no commercial potential so they would
not release it. I have to say I never did follow that logic. So sadly
until the Internet came along it was generally unavailable in the UK. I
thought that it was time to try and do a definitive Web Page on Moondog.
There is a lot of material out there but it's scattered all over the place
and there is a lot of repetition. I've trawled around as much as I can and
so this is my attempt to bring it all together in one place.
If you have any
more information or anything else the please
me
Peter Hodge September 2001
