R. Stevie Moore

R. Stevie Moore is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Nashville, Tennessee, born in 1952. His work spans lo-fi, experimental music, art pop, hypnagogic pop and singer-songwriter material. He lives and records in his home studio in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Early life and recording practice

Moore is the son of Bob Moore, a Nashville bassist, producer and orchestra leader who also works for Elvis Presley. He makes his commercial recording debut at the age of seven, singing with Jim Reeves on the RCA Victor album Songs to Warm the Heart. By 1966 he is already exploring home recording, using a reel-to-reel tape machine set up in his basement. The following year he forms his first band, The Marlborough, a rock combo. He also works for his father as a studio musician and as an assistant at Mimosa Music, his father’s publishing company.

Home recordings and self-release catalog

After dropping out of Vanderbilt University in 1971, Moore focuses on a career as a performer and artist. His home-recorded debut album, Phonography, appears in 1976 on his uncle Harry “H.P.” Palmer’s HP Music label, with an initial pressing of 100 copies. He later moves from Nashville to New Jersey. In 1981 he establishes the RSM Cassette Club as an outlet for his home-recorded work, making available tapes going back to 1968 and rating them with a “listenability quotient” from 1 to 10. As CD-R becomes a self-release format, the cassette club becomes the R. Stevie Moore CDR Club in 1999.

Moore issues more than 400 cassette and CD-R albums himself, along with dozens of home videos, mainly through his home-based R. Stevie Moore Cassette Club label. He also releases numerous albums on labels around the world. His work includes the professionally recorded tape Clack! in 1980, the LP What’s The Point?!! in 1984, and the double-album compilation Everything You Always Wanted To Know About R Stevie Moore But Were Afraid To Ask, issued the same year by New Rose Records in Paris. The label describes him as one of its strongest songwriters, and the compilation helps bring him a minor sleeper hit in France with “Chantilly Lace”, leading to a promotional visit there.

1980s work and wider recognition

During the 1980s Moore releases further albums including Verve, Glad Music, (1952-19??) and Teenage Spectacular. He describes Teenage Spectacular as the most enjoyable project of his career. He also appears from time to time on the Uncle Floyd TV show, a public-access comedy, puppet and variety programme from New Jersey, and becomes an early on-air personality at the independent free-form station WFMU.

In 1996, Phonography is included in Rolling Stone’s list of the fifty most significant indie records. In 2005 a New York Times writer refers to Moore as a lo-fi legend.

Collaborations and later activity

Moore records FairMoore with Jad Fair of Half Japanese in 2002. The album pairs Fair’s spoken poetry with Moore’s instrumental backing. He also takes part in mail collaborations with Terry Burrows, who also records as Yukio Yung, Ariel Pink, Lane Steinberg and others. In 2007 he contributes a track to Tomlab’s Worried Noodles compilation alongside artists including David Byrne, Deerhoof and Liars; the compilation is put together by British artist David Shrigley, who also interviews Moore for BOMB magazine that year.

From around 1988, Moore works in home video as well as music, and he remains active on YouTube and MySpace.