Nights at the Roundtable with West Coast almost-total unknowns The Moon and two cuts from their debut album "Without Earth" - She's On My Mind/Walking Around. 1967.
August 30, 2011

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The Moon - worse than being underrated, they were almost total unknowns.


Sometimes you wonder what's the worst fate for a band starting out - to disintegrate before your very eyes, or have the record company fall apart in front of you. In the case of The Moon, it was the latter. With a lot of promise, a gathering of very talented musicians in their own right, excellent production and a file cabinet full of hook-laden tunes, you'd think they were the answer to every A&R Departments dream. Well . . .maybe every A&R Department except Imperial Records. Imperial was one of the pre-eminent labels in 1950's R&B and early Rock n' Roll. Their roster boasted such luminaries as Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson. They were a powerhouse label all the way up until 1967 when things began to fall apart. And 1967 is where The Moon comes in.

The Moon were a collection of musicians, all from the West Coast, who had been involved in various other projects before meeting up. Most notable was David Marks, who had just left the Beach Boys a year earlier. The venture was spearheaded by singer-songwriter Matthew Moore, who had gotten the notice of producer Mike Curb (of later California Lieutenant Governor fame) who bankrolled production of a first album and got release from Imperial who more or less ignored it and offered little or no promotion or airplay.

Sadly, the album went nowhere. Nor did the second album. By the time talk got around to a third album there was no more Imperial records and there was no more Moon.

Tonight's track is off that debut album. It's actually two cuts, which blend into each other, so I kept it that way. She's On My Mind and Walking Around are the last two cuts on side one of the lp.

Another band that barely made it out of the starting gate and who are probably better known now than they were in 1967. Such is the Music Business.

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