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Moby

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Moby

Moby (born Richard Melville Hall on September 11, 1965 in Harlem, New York, and raised in Darien, Connecticut) is an American singer, electronic musician and the name of his live band.

Moby is best known for singles like "Go", "Porcelain", "New York, New York" with Debbie Harry, "South Side" with Gwen Stefani, "We Are All Made of Stars" and "Lift Me Up". He has also released music under the names Voodoo Child, Barracuda, UHF, The Brotherhood, DJ Cake, Lopez, and Brainstorm/Mindstorm.

Moby plays keyboard, guitar, and bass guitar. He took his nickname from the novel Moby-Dick which was written by Herman Melville, his great-great-granduncle.

Music career

Early years

Moby used to be in a punk band called the Vatican Commandos, which was formed in 1980, but was kicked out after their first release, a 7" titled "Hit Sqaud for God." He apparently abandoned punk in 1989 for electronic music. He realized his music tastes and growth were going in opposite directions of his previous bands.

His first album "The Story So Far (aka Moby)" featured the single "Go", which gained popularity in many discos, and earned a spot on the UK charts. The song is so popular that Moby still plays "Go" regularly in his sets. "Go" is a progressive track using the string line from "Laura Palmer's Theme" from the TV drama Twin Peaks. In 1993 he released a B-sides album named 'Rare: The Collected B-Sides 1989-1993'. One song on this album, Thousands, earned him a world record for the fastest song ever. It reached, appropriately, 1000 BPM.

1994-1998

His first album for Elektra Records was Everything Is Wrong, which earned early critical praise and minor commercial success. He followed that up with a hard rock/electronic album called Animal Rights in 1996. In 1997, he released I Like to Score, a collection of music included in movies. Among those tracks was an updated version of the James Bond theme used for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. However, both Animal Rights and I Like to Score were commercially unsuccessful and Moby and Elektra parted company.

1999-2004

After a decade's worth of music, Moby's breakthrough album was 1999's Play. Mainstream reviewers raved about his talents on the album (released on V2 Records) though some early fans were let down. The album has 18 tracks and was the first album in history to have all of its tracks commercially licensed: "Porcelain," for instance, appeared on TV commercials for Bailey's Irish Cream, Hong Kong's PCCW and Nordstrom, Volkswagen's MKIV Jetta, and the Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach, and also serves as TVE 1's ident music in Spain; "Find My Baby" was on a commercial for American Express featuring golfer Tiger Woods. The album's tracks eventually were accepted in various radio formats, but because of Play's extensive licensing, the album could have been financially successful even without radio play. In addition to fame garnered through its licensing, Play is also notable for its extensive sampling of old blues recordings collected by Alan Lomax. In a 2005 posting on his web site, Moby theorized that his eagerness to license his music is a result of "growing up in poverty." [1]

In 2001, Moby founded the Area:One Festival. It was a popular touring rock festival that featured an eclectic range of musical genres. A second tour was organized for the following year.

In 2001, Moby also earned the ire of Eminem after calling his music misogynist and homophobic; Eminem later satirized Moby (among others) in "Without Me," calling him a "36-year-old baldheaded fag" and questioning his relevance with the claim "Nobody listens to techno." Moby replied that he hadn't played techno since 1992. The two were in a confrontation at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, though Moby expresses respect for Eminem as an artist.

In 2002, Moby briefly had a television show on MTV, Señor Moby's House of Music, which focused mostly on more obscure electronic music. Also in 2002, Moby released 18, an album that had 18 tracks. The most popular song on the album was "We Are All Made of Stars". Moby says he wrote "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" in response to the 2001 terrorist attacks, which happened on his birthday.

2005

In 2005 Moby released "Lift Me Up", a single from his album Hotel, which featured, in addition to numerous remixes, UK company Digimpro's software. The program allows users to remix the song - using any or all of the samples included—and save it as an MP3 file. Thus unlimited, personalized versions of the title track were possible. Digimpro had previously seen exposure with group Erasure's singles "Breathe," "Here I Go Again Impossible," and "Don't Say You Love Me," allowing users the same ability. Instead of his usual usage of samples, all of the vocals and instruments on "Hotel" were performed live in the studio by Moby and vocalist Laura Dawn, who is the Cultural Director of MoveOn.org.

For certain dates on Moby's 2005 European tour, Liveherenow provided concertgoers with compact disc recordings of the show 10 minutes after it ended. Other Mute Records artists like Erasure and Client have previously used this company for similar reasons.

2006

Moby has recently scored the soundtrack for Richard Kelly's upcoming movie 'Southland Tales'; whilst he is generally against composing music for films, he was a huge fan of Kelly's previous film 'Donnie Darko' and could not resist the offer the director gave him.

Also, a compilation album of his greatest hits, entitled Go - the Very Best of Moby will be released on November 6, 2006. Along with his best-known singles, it will include a new track, New York, New York for which Debbie Harry has provided vocals. The video can be viewed online as Windows Media or Real Media video streams. In the French edition, Slipping Away (Crier La Vie) will be sung in duet with French superstar Mylène Farmer (#1 in France). [2]

In addition, Moby has reunited Richard Barone's legendary 80s pop group The Bongos to produce a new version of their song, The Bulrushes. The song will be included as a bonus track on the upcoming special edition release of the band's debut album, "Drums Along The Hudson," on Cooking Vinyl Records.

Besides music

The name Moby comes from the Herman Melville classic Moby-Dick. He claims he was able to trace his ancestry back to Melville, and so chose the name Moby in tribute. He is a vegan, non-denominational Christian and self-proclaimed "simpleton" (for his often sincere and idealistic political assessments). He has expressed pro-choice views. Moby lives in New York City's Little Italy, where he's lived for a decade in a small apartment in a five-story building across the street from David Bowie. Until recently he co-owned a small restaurant and coffee shop called TeaNY, where he occasionally waited tables. He also organized the Little Idiot Collective, a group of artists that also includes cartoonist and musician James Kochalka.

Activism

Moby is well known advocate for a variety of progressive causes, working with MoveOn.org, and PETA, among others. He created MoveOn Voter Fund's "Bush in 30 Seconds" contest along with singer/MoveOn Cultural Director Laura Dawn and MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser.

He also actively engages in nonpartisan activism. He has performed benefit concerts for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function [3], promoting music therapy. Moby also serves on the Board of Directors of Amend.org [4], a nonprofit that implements injury prevention programs in Africa.

He is an advocate of network neutrality and he testified before the US House committee debating the issue in 2006 [5][6] .

Political quotes

Wikiquote has quotations related to Moby.
  • "One simple word: ugh. Is something still considered a conspiracy if it's played out right under our noses?"
  • "It will be interesting to see what the long term fruits of our national apathy will be, 'cause so far they've been pretty foul."
  • "I'm actually kind of impressed by Iraq's patience right now...I mean, look at it objectively. They've opened their doors to UN inspectors, they're being bombed by British and American troops, American forces are massing at their borders, American diplomats are actively looking to assassinate Saddam Hussein, etc." [7]
  • (On convincing people not to vote for George W. Bush in 2004) "For example, you can go on all the pro-life chat rooms and say you're an outraged right-wing voter and that you know that George Bush drove an ex-girlfriend to an abortion clinic and paid for her to get an abortion. Then you go to an anti-immigration website chat room and ask, 'What's all this about George Bush proposing amnesty for illegal aliens?'"[8]

Moby's songs used in other media

Several of his songs have also found their way into major motion pictures, television shows and commercials. Indeed, in 1997 Moby released a compilation of tracks used in and inspired by the cinema called I Like to Score. His music was also used to great effect in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday.

His album Play was also the first ever album to have all of its tracks featured in either a film, advert or television programme; with several of the tracks having been utilised by more than one of these media.

"Ah-Ah" and "Next is the E" were featured in:

"First Cool Hive" was featured in:

  • The movie Scream

"Inside" was featured in:

  • The WB's hit show Popular

The ambient piece "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters," was featured in:

"Flower" was featured in:

"Natural Blues" was featured in:

"Rafters" was featured in:

  • The 2003 Australian Swimming Championship, Broadcast on the Seven Network.

"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" was featured in:

"Extreme Ways" was featured in:

"Honey" was featured in:

"When It's Cold I'd Like To Die" was featured in:

  • The final scene and end credits of episode 67 of the HBO original series The Sopranos ("Join The Club")

"Porcelain" was featured in:

  • the 1999 film The Beach
  • commercial bumpers for Spanish TV channel TVE
  • the 2001 film Is Harry On The Boat
  • a 2005 flash animation of the same name on Newgrounds by Kevin Landry
  • A 2000 Canadian Baileys Irish Cream Television Advertisement

"My Weakness" was featured in:

"The Sky Is Broken" was featured in:

"One Of These Mornings" was featured in:

"Lift Me Up" was featured in:

"Oil 1" was featured in:

"In My Heart" was also featured in commercials for the Nokia Nseries phones

"Bodyrock" was featured in:

"Memory Gospel" was featured in:

"New Dawn Fades", originally by Joy Division, was featured in:

"Anthem" was featured in:

Discography

Albums

File:MobyHotel.jpg
Moby Hotel

Official albums

Limited edition bonus discs

Moby 18

Released under the pseudonyms

  • Time's Up" (Instinct 1989)
    • The Brotherhood
  • Instinct Dance (Instinct 1991)
    • Moby/Barracuda/Brainstorm/Voodoo Child
  • The End of Everything (Mute 1996)
    • Voodoo Child
  • Sugar Baby (Trophy 1996)
    • DJ Cake
  • Baby Monkey (Mute 2004)
    • Voodoo Child

Compilations

Virtual Albums

Singles

  • 1991 "Go" #10 UK
  • 1993 "I Feel It / Thousand" #38 UK
  • 1993 "Move" #21 UK
  • 1994 "Hymn" #31 UK
  • 1994 "Feeling So Real" #30 UK
  • 1995 "Everytime You Touch Me" #28 UK
  • 1995 "Into the Blue" #34 UK
  • 1996 "Bring Back My Happiness" (Feb 1996)
  • 1996 "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" (26 August 1996) #50 UK
  • 1996 "Come On Baby" (4 November 1996)
  • 1997 "James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-Version)" #8 UK
  • 1998 "Honey" #33 UK
  • 1999 "Run On" #33 UK
  • 1999 "Bodyrock" #38 UK
  • 1999 "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad" #16 UK
  • 2000 "Natural Blues" #11 UK
  • 2000 "Porcelain" #5 UK
  • 2001 "South Side" (featuring Gwen Stefani) #14 U.S.
  • 2000 "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad / Honey (Remix feat. Kelis)" #17 UK
  • 2002 "We Are All Made of Stars" (UK) #11 UK
  • 2002 "Extreme Ways" (UK) #39 UK
  • 2002 "In This World" (UK) #35 UK
  • 2003 "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" (UK)
  • 2003 "Jam For The Ladies" (UK)
  • 2005 "Lift Me Up" (UK, 28 February 2005) #18 UK
  • 2005 "Raining Again" (Europe, 23 May 2005; Australia, 6 June 2005) #52 Australia
  • 2005 "Spiders" (UK, 30 May 2005) #50 UK
  • 2005 "Beautiful" (Europe, 12 September 2005)
  • 2005 "Dream About Me" (UK, 8 August 2005)
  • 2006 "Slipping Away" (UK, 23 January 2006) #53 UK
  • 2006 "New York New York" (Featuring Debbie Harry) (UK, 23 October 2006)
  • 2006 "Slipping Away (Crier La Vie)" (Duet Featuring Mylène Farmer) (France, 25 September 2006) #1 France

Videos

  • Moby Play: The DVD (2001)
  • Moby 18: DVD + B Sides (2003)
  • Moby Live: The Hotel Tour 2005 (2006)
  • Moby Presents: Alien Sex Party

Biographies

  • Moby: Replay, 2001 Olmstead Press Paperback ISBN 1-58754-011-8

See also

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