Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944, in Levittown, New York) is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group the Velvet Underground. Tucker first began playing the drums at age 19. When she was asked to join the Velvet Underground, Tucker had dropped out of Ithaca College and was working for IBM as a keypunch operator. The band's original percussionist, Angus Maclise, had left in November 1965 because he felt the band sold out when it took a paying gig. Tucker was drafted because Velvets guitarist Sterling Morrison remembered her as the younger sister of one of his college friends who played the drums. Tucker was frequently noted for her androgynous appearance.
Tucker's style of playing was unconventional. She played standing up rather than seated (for easier access to the bass drum), using a simplified drum kit of tom toms, a snare drum and an upturned bass drum, playing with mallets rather than drumsticks. She rarely used cymbals; she claimed that since she felt the purpose of a drummer was simply to "keep time", cymbals were unnecessary for this purpose and drowned out the other instruments.
Apart from drumming, Tucker sang co-lead vocals on three Velvet Underground songs: the acoustic guitar number "After Hours" and the strange poem set to music "The Murder Mystery", both from 1969's The Velvet Underground album, as well as "I'm Sticking with You", a song recorded in 1969 but left (officially) unreleased until it appeared on the 1985 outtakes compilation VU. Lou Reed said of "After Hours" that it was "so innocent and pure" that he could not possibly sing it himself. In the early days, Tucker also occasionally played the bass guitar during live gigs. (further more on wikipedia)
Links To Peel[]
As a fan of the Velvet Underground, Peel was keen on the material from ex-members of the band.
Sessions[]
MOE TUCKER John Peel 18th February 1992
1. Recorded: 1992-02-18. Broadcast: 03 April 1992. Repeated: None
- Blue All The Way To Canada / Fired Up / Trains / Too Shy
Other Shows Played []
(The list below has been compiled from the database of this site, along with listings from Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add any missing information if known.)
- 1982
- 05 September 1982 (BFBS): I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (album - Playin' Possum) Trash TLP-1001
- 15 September 1982 (BFBS): Around And Around (album - Playin' Possum) Trash TLP-1001
- 1983
- 23 January 1983 (BFBS): I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (album - Playin' Possum) Trash TLP-1001
- 1987
- 14 April 1987: Guess I'm Falling In Love (12" - Moejadkatebarry) 50 Trillion Watts
- 1989
- 28 March 1989: Hey Mersh! (12") 50 Trillion Watts
- 06 April 1989 (Rockradio): Hey Mersh! (12") 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts Records
- 1991
- 28 September 1991: Blue, All The Way To Canada (album - I Spent A Week There The Other Night) New Rose ROSE 273
- 28 September 1991: I'm Not (album - I Spent A Week There The Other Night) New Rose ROSE 273
- 07 October 1991 (Ö3): 'Blue, All The Way To Canada (CD-I Spent A Week There The Other Night)' (New Rose) (JP: 'That's as good as anything I've heard this year, I think.')
- 13 October 1991: Lazy (LP - I Spent A Week There The Other Night) New Rose
- 17 October 1991 (Radio Mafia): Blue All The Way To Canada (album - I Spent A Week There The Other Night) Young God 3104 / New Rose 273
- 26 October 1991: 'Blue All The Way To Canada (LP-I Spent A Week There The Other Night)' (New Rose)
- Best Of Peel Vol 38: 'I'm Not (LP-I Spent A Week There The Other Night)' (New Rose)
External Links[]