Moondog

Those are all questions. Good ones for the most part, I'd say. And deserving of answers!

Sadly, wikithingy tells me, he is no more - Moondog, born Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), was a blind American composer, musician, poet and inventor of several musical instruments. Moving to New York as a young man, Moondog made a deliberate decision to make his home on the streets there, where he spent approximately twenty of the thirty years he lived in the city. Most days he could be found in his chosen part of town wearing clothes he had created based on his own interpretation of the Norse god Odin. Thanks to his unconventional outfits and lifestyle, he was known for much of his life as "The Viking of 6th Avenue".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSimbyS_YlA

Of course, there was another, earlier "Moondog" - Mr Rock & Roll, Alan Freed himself:



and his Moondog's Rock & Roll radio show surely inspired the title of this LP by The Band:



Mr Freed certainly provided the name for the rock & roll oriented record shop in Manor Park, East London, run by an old acqaintance of mine in the 70s, Moondog's Records:



"I knew Paul who owned Moondogs for quite a few years.  The shop was small but he carried a large stock of mainly repro Rockin' 45's.
Paul would go out to Austin Texas for record fairs at times.  I had a large Buddy Holly collection that I sold to him.  Paul moved on (I am not sure where he went) and the property then became the Elvis shop.  Moondogs were a real Alladins cave for people who loved and collected 50's music.....
....Moondogs was on East Ham High Street but I don't think he opened until the early 70. s, I tended to go into the junk,electrical shops in the main thing,I wasn't like paying 10/- for a single then unless it was a real big sound.it was hard getting more than £1 for anything in 1968 especially in Manchester,I think about that trip to London the most I would pay was 2/6d.,unless it was new import release from Record Corner or Soul City.
I become friends with the guy in Moondogs can't remember is the name though nice guy he was.....
....Paul Sanford moved on around 1983 or so,then the shop was taken over for a short period by Rex Inge(Rex's Rockin' Records).Shortly after that it was taken over by Barney Koumis & it stayed opn as Moondogs until around 1986/'87."  from http://www.britishrecordshoparchive.org/moondogs.html

pinhedz wrote:

felix wrote: ... another, earlier "Moondog" -

With all due respect, Master Felix, I think you might be mistaken.  Was the DJ hosting "Moondog" shows earlier than 1947? 

I stand corrected, Mr Pinz.  for "earlier" read "later" throughout.    



^ this track included on the 1969 UK CBS double LP sampler "Fill Your Head With Rock", still on the shelf and dusted off very, VERY occasionally ...