Monster Movie raving party: Mooney (right) with Can circa ’69
THE unlikely tale of how Malcolm Mooney ended up joining Can in September of 1968 deserves its own prestige HBO miniseries. Visual artist on the run from the US military draft hitchhikes through India, the Middle East and Europe, becoming the singer of a radically experimental – and eventually hugely influential – German rock band? You can’t make this stuff up. “One of my most memorable moments from back then was going to the studio with Can and getting on the microphone for the very first time,” Mooney recalls. “I really had no idea what I was going to do!”