Moondog

We're from New York, darn it.

I stumbled across an article in a pile of old magazines ( Wilson's Quarterly; Autumn '07 ) about Moondog. In 1954, the N.Y. court adjudicated the case Hardin v. Freed. ( Moondog, nee Louis Thomas Hardin and Alan Freed, big time DJ ) Freed claimed that Hardin was infringing on his trademarked name and his audience was being mislead and his value was being diminished. Hardin was a blind man, living on the streets, dressed as a Viking wizard, and playing avant-garde compositions. Freed was a DJ at WINS, i.e. not a waco. You would think the issue was foregone, but testimony by some heavy hitters (Benny Goodman, Arturo Toscanini ) and the fact that Hardin recorded as Moondog before Freed trademarked the name saved the day. Freed would soon see the inside of the courtroom again when that little payola matter came up.

I met Moondog once. In Utica N.Y., in the summer of '72, he just sort of wandered into town. Trust me, there are very few six foot, blind, Viking wizards in Utica, then or now. My friends and I showed him around, so to speak, listened to stories, rustled up some dinner, and gave him a couch to sleep on. The next day we packed him a lunch and took him to the throughway entrance, and down the road he went. Today, looking back, I wish I'd had the sense to write down some of those stories.

Here are two recordings.
• Birds Lament
• Viking 1