Just Ask

Sep 23 2007 Robert Reid

Posers

Q MY dad keeps raving about a blind composer called "Moondog". Any info? - Bill Johnson, Dundee.

A MOONDOG, real name Louis Hardin, had a cult following as a composer and poet with fans among the Beat Generation and later the hippie movement.

Hardin was born in Kansas in 1916 and took his alias from a pet dog which constantly howled at the Moon. Blinded in his teens when a dynamite cap exploded in his face, he went on to study music and later became a successful composer in a range of fields, including jazz and minimalism.

He moved to New York in the 40s and started a three-decade career as a street musician.

Unconventional to say the least, the six-footer wore a straggling grey beard, home-made Viking garb and carried a spear.

Known as the Viking of Sixth Street, his fans included Charlie Parker, Frank Zappa and Paul Simon. Moondog's song All Is Loneliness was covered by Janis Joplin, Prefab Sprout recorded a tribute track to the composer and his work has been sampled since the 70s.

In 1974, Moondog moved to Germany where he had a successful career touring the US, France and Sweden. He died in 1999.

Q A TV buff friend claims the great Mel Brooks once wrote for the Dick Emery Show. He must be joking surely? - Peter Martin, Glasgow.

A BBC's comedy website credits Mel as one of a stellar group of contributors to the show which was shown from 1963 to 1981. It ran for 18 series and 166 episodes. Along with Mel, writers included British greats such as Marty Feldman, Barry Cryer, John Esmonde and Bob Larbey.

Q SETTLE an argument - was the first animal sent into space a monkey or a dog? - Claire Henderson, Edinburgh.

A THE first spaceborn creatures were fruit flies on board a captured V2 rocket sent up in 1946 by Americans to test the effect of radiation at high altitude. Two monkeys, both named Albert, met their doom in separate US missions in the late 40s.

Another unfortunate primate and a number of mice also died in 1951 when their US Aerobee rocket parachute failed to open on its return to Earth.

A similar cargo of animals was recovered alive later the same year - the first successful spaceflight for living creatures.

Laika, the first of a series of dogs sent into space by the Russians, was on board the satellite Sputnik 2. She died days into her journey orbiting the Earth.

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