Freddy Moore

Infobox Musical artist
Name =Freddy Moore

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Background =solo_singer
Birth_name =Frederick George Moore
Alias =Rick 'Skogie' Moore
Born =Birth date and age|1950|7|19|mf=y
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died =
Origin =
Instrument =Guitar
Genre =Rock, rock and roll
Occupation =Musician
Years_active =1964–1985, 1990–present
Label =Rhino Records, Infinity Records, Radioactive Records, General Records, North Country Music, Mill City Records
Associated_acts =The Kats, The Nu Kats, Boy, Skogie, Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos, The Kat Club
URL = [http://www.demophonic.com www.demophonic.com]
Current_members =Dennis Peters, Pete McRae, Peter Wingerd, Patrick Boone, Richie Kohan, Loni Specter, Paul Strickland, John Nyman
Past_members =Bobbyzio Moore, Al Galles, Mark (Skarkey) McEwen, Mark Goldstein, Jim Greenberg
Notable_instruments =

Frederick George Moore (born July 19, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a singer-songwriter, also known as Demi Moore's first husband.

History

Moore grew up obsessed with the newly popular Beatles, and moved to San Francisco, California in June 1964. He grew a Beatle cut and got into hassles with surfing, hot rodding school associates. "I didn't have any friends and really didn't want any. I just sat in my room and played Beatle songs and wrote my own." Moore poured through rock fanzines, absorbed and dissected every Beatles album that came out, and listened exclusively to the Fab Four and the Kinks. By October 1964 he had unequivocally decided his vocation was playing rock and roll music and he started writing. "I noticed that the Beatles wrote their own songs, so I figured that to be a rock musician you had to write your own songs." [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

"In the summer of 1964, right after 'A Hard Days Night' came out, my cousin Danny Wick and I spent two weeks making wooden replicas of the Paul McCartney bass, the John Lennon rhythm guitar, George Harrison'slead guitar, and Ringo Starr's drums. We used to lip-synch to records. Danny and I wanted to play real music, the others wanted to lip-synch, but we finally got them going. We learned 'You Really Got Me' by the Kinks, the Beatles' 'And I Love Her' and my first original composition 'Baby Be Mine'." [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

Moore pursued his musical ambitions with the same vigor most 13 year-olds apply to major league baseball aspirations. He started putting together bands and teaching reluctant copycat cohorts to play his songs. His narrow interests and extreme diffidence made finding other players difficult. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972] Moore continued his apprenticeship with the media in Minnesota, keeping to himself, teaching friends to play, writing prolifically, and growing up with the music, always one step ahead of the trends. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972] Moore's listening interests broadened and he continued to single-mindedly pursue guitar virtuosity and related skills like arranging and recording music. When he graduated from Richfield, Minnesota High School in 1968, the outside world intruded in the form of the military draft. To escape, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota to study Music Theory and Composition under composer Dominick Argento. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

For Moore, who had spent most of his youth hunched over a guitar and tape recorder in his bedroom, his college years were a watershed experience. "I found an organ in Scott Hall, and I was playing around with that one afternoon and somebody came in. I thought I must be using his organ time or something, but he said it was alright, and that he'd show me how to use it, which he did." The organist Randy Pink said he was forming a group The Pink Project, which never made it beyond the rehearsal stage, but before his association with Moore ended, he had interested him in Thelonious Monk and other jazzmen, besides starting him on keyboards. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

"When I got into U music, Professor Argento would illustrate his points by pounding something on the piano. It always came out sounding like The Mothers. I thought it was pretty cool, so I started listening to The Mothers more." [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

By Fall, 1969, Frederick G. Moore had written out the chords, melody and lyrics for over 90 songs, forgotten or lost perhaps 90 more, begun his second year of college, learned to arrange, score, play guitar, piano, organ and drums, still wanted to be a rock star, and had rarely played in front of an audience. He was 19. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

Early professional days

Moore's first professional band, An English Sky, was invited to perform at the rock festival an Edina, Minnesota junior high school was having on the school loading dock. Moore proposed the matter to An English Sky, and they turned him down flat. He went over to the Euphorium one night and taught some of his tunes to the band Euphoria, and did the gig solo - his first official performance as SKOGIE. Then followed several weeks of rehearsals with An English Sky with Moore, Euphoria, and Skogie with Euphoria. Finally the two groups formed one 10-man unit. Moore wrote a letter and fired everyone but himself and Goldstein, hired 3 people back, and formed Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos phase I. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

Skogie spent most of their rehearsal time working out complex song arrangements. Moore pulled thirty songs from the 200 he had written out or saved on tape and each week a new one was drawn out of a hat. A song was usually ready for performance after one week of arranging and an additional week of rehearsal. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

The band would close down rehearsal at the Euphorium any time from 10:30 to 12 p.m., and sometimes would go all night. Arranging the never ending stream of work from as prolific a composer as Moore, could get tedious and often did when ideas were sparse. The situation was complicated by the group's obsession with doing things unconventionally or conventionally, but better than ever before. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

The whole atmosphere of a Skogie concert was different from most other concerts. As usual there was the reek of cigarettes, pot, and beer, but there was always a few groups of hard-core Skogie fans who were really into the deeper aspects of the music. [Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos By Tom Mutha. Insider Magazine. May 1972]

Skogie released a single in June 1972 with the help of producer/manager David Zimmerman (Bob Dylan's brother), and released a follow up album in 1974.

Moore's band was later acknowledged by no less than Creem magazine as having been one of the first power-pop bands known to man, during their six-year residency (1970–1976) as Minneapolis' strangest, they were indeed an anachronism. [Nu Kats Grin and Teddy-Bear It. By Laura Fissinger. The Reader. 1980.]

Hollywood days

California laid claim to Skogie (three out of four Nu Kats belonged to that band) in 1976, after extensive national touring and recording experience at three Minneapolis studios hinted at unexplored musical and circumstantial possibilities. Los Angeles was not clutching its breast in anticipation. [Nu Kats Grin and Teddy-Bear It. By Laura Fissinger. The Reader. 1980.]

Hip in El Lay circa 1978 had its finger pointed to New Wave music. "We were in the right place at the right time - making bad business moves. [Nu Kats Grin and Teddy-Bear It. By Laura Fissinger. The Reader. 1980.]

Frederick G. Moore soon became the San Fernando Valley's answer to England's Jeff Lynne, the guiding influence behind the Electric Light Orchestra. Although ELO's orchestrated pop style bears absolutely no resemblance to the rocky bebop sound of Moore's group, The Kats, the two bands have one thing in common -- strong leadership. Like Lynne, Moore functioned as his band's lead singer, rhythm guitarist, sole composer and conceptual designer. But Moore carried his role as star cat one step further. Onstage he was riveting, especially when he unstrapped his guitar midway through each set. [Freddy Moore is The Kats' Meow. By Laurie Bereskin. L.A.Daily News. 1979.]

Young girls responded by enticing Moore toward them with promises of cat food tidbits from Purina and Friskies boxes. The other Kats were pelted with handfuls of dry kibble while Moore bounded back on stage, scrambled on top of an amplifier, and made dramatic feline leaps, marking the end of one song and signaling the beginning of the next. [Freddy Moore is The Kats' Meow. By Laurie Bereskin. L.A.Daily News. 1979.]

When it came to everyday life, however, Moore's nervous system slipped into a relaxing lower gear. Stripped of his flamboyant stage mannerisms, he came across as an affable fellow, who looks rather intellectual due to the thick black rimmed glasses he wears when not performing. And it soon became apparent that his appearance was not deceiving since Moore's conversational wit revealed a sharp mind. [Freddy Moore is The Kats' Meow. By Laurie Bereskin. L.A.Daily News. 1979.]

The Kats uniqueness was largely the result of one of Moore's most engaging concepts -- an individual appropriately named Freddy, an underdog or in this case an underKat. Buoyed by the band's good-natured rock 'n' roll vibes, this song pattern eventually evolved into a rock opera of sorts. The theme was so subtly presented that Moore's songs did not seem contrived, unlike many rock concepts. [Freddy Moore is The Kats' Meow. By Laurie Bereskin. L.A.Daily News. 1979.]

The Kats, who were on the verge of signing a recording contract, were more than ready to graduate from the local L.A. rock scene.

Infinity Records won the bidding war and rushed The Kats into Shelter Studios on Sunset with Tom Petty's production team. Just as final mixes were being completed Infinity Records was dissolved by its Dutch parent company. There was no one left to pay the Shelter Studio bill so "The Kats - Get Modern" became known as "The Great Lost Kats Album". The master tapes remain locked in the Shelter Studios vault.

Demi Gene Guynes entered the picture in August 1979, and began using Demi Moore as her stage name. Freddy and Demi were married in February 1980 (divorced in August 1985).

Shortly after the Infinity Records fiasco lead guitarist Pete McRae departed. The four remaining Kats renamed themselves The Nu Kats, [Nu Kats to Pounce on Riverside. By Mark Muckenfuss. The Highlander. April 17, 1980.] fired their management, signed with Rhino Records, recorded "Plastic Facts" and filmed the video "It's Not A Rumour" featuring soon-to-be-famous actress Demi Moore, which went into rotation on MTV.

The Nu Kats dissolved in 1981. Moore moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan and joined local NYC band The Dates. "I answered an ad in the Village Voice that read 'Wanted: Lead Singer/Lead Guitarist influenced by Squeeze and The Beatles'". Moore became a Singer/Guitarist/Composer of The Dates. While living in New York there was a family illness so Moore hopped on a plane for UCLA Medical Center.

Moore remained in LA and formed a new band called Boy. Boy was more pop than any previous Moore band. Boy released a record on Radioactive and Freddy received a Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA card while portraying 'Arn' in the 3-D film 'Parasite', Boy, can be heard on the soundtrack.

In 1983 Boy disbanded. The Moore Brothers continued writing, arranging and recording new material for another year-or-so. They even put a band together and played a few industry showcases as: BFM (Bobbyzio and Freddy Moore).

Retirement

In 1985 Moore officially retired from the music business.

Back to the studio

In 1990, Moore started writing again. He and several ex-bandmates began recording and releasing CDs of the new material under the name The Kat Club.

Discography

*"Call Me Crazy" - North Country Music by Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos – 1972
*"The Butler Did It" - Mill City Records by Skogie – 1973
* "There's A String Attached..." - General Records by Skogie – 1974
* "L.A. In" - (compilation) Rhino Records featuring The Kats – 1979
* "Get Modern" - Infinity Records by The Kats – 1979
* "Plastic Facts" - Rhino Records by The Nu Kats – 1980
* "Yes Nukes" - (compilation) Rhino Records featuring The Nu Kats – 1981
* "Parasite" - (Film Soundtrack) featuring Boy – 1982
* "Next Door" - RadioActive Records by Boy – 1983
* "Scarred" - (Film Soundtrack) featuring Boy/The Nu Kats – 1984
* "Spring Fever" - (Film Soundtrack) featuring The Nu Kats – 1985
* "Loose Screws" - (Film Soundtrack) featuring The Nu Kats – 1985
* "House Combinations" - General Records by The Kat Club – 1997
* "Source Mississippi" - General Records by The Kat Club – 2001
* "los angelenos" - General Records by The Kat Club – 2007

Filmography

*"I'm A Kat" (1979) United Artists Pictures - Using an experimental 70mm 3D filming technique.
* "It's Not A Rumor" - 1981 Director: Philip Brewin Cheney, Cinematograher: Jan de Bont
* "Parasite" - 1982 Director: Charles Band, Cinematograher: Mac Ahlberg

Videography

*"Lost My TV" (1979) Hollywood Heartbeat - Pre-MTV rock television series.

References

External links

* [http://www.demophonic.com/bio/fgmbio.html Freddy Moore]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/TheKatsV3HomePage.html The Kats]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/NuKatsHomePage.html The Nu Kats]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/BoyV2HomePage.html Boy]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/SkogieAndTheFlamingPachucosV5HomePage.html Skogie and the Flaming Pachucos]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/SkogieHomePage.html Skogie]
* [http://www.demophonic.com/TheKatClubHomePage.html The Kat Club]