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Malcolm Mooney Biography

malcolm-mooney
  • Born:
  • Years Active: 1960s-1990s
  • Member of: Can
  • Genre: Rock & Alternative

The original frontman for the legendary Kraut-rock band Can, Malcolm Mooney was an American native who began singing while in high school, joining an a cappella group called the Six Fifths. After gaining some renown as a New York sculptor, he set off to hitchhike around the world, and while in Paris met the four German members of the fledgling Can, joining them in 1968. After fronting the group on their 1969 debut Monster Movie, Mooney's volatile offstage behavior and deranged onstage performances reached their boiling point, and on the advice of his psychiatrist he left Germany in 1970 to return to the U.S., where he spent the next decades largely outside of the music business. Backed by the San Francisco-based avant-rock outfit the Tenth Planet -- guitarist Ken Kearney, bassist Kent Randolph and drummer Marc Weinstein -- he resurfaced in 1998 with a self-titled LP. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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