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I don't think it is clear that Richard Melville Hall stole any name or reputation from the game composer. Hall has said that "Moby" was a nickname from being na

I don't think it is clear that Richard Melville Hall stole any name or reputation from the game composer. Hall has said that "Moby" was a nickname from being named after Herman Melville. Additionally, they both appear to have been actively publishing in the early 90s. This seems more like an unhappy coincidence for Motte, but not a malicious act by Hall.

pjbrunet 11y ago
I was there. Motte was very popular in the Amiga/BBS days in the 80s, worldwide, long before Hall had his supposed Moby Dick idea. Maybe that really was his great-great-great-uncle? Maybe it just wasn't an original name for popular electronic musicians? If he wasn't aware of the original Moby, that tells you he was just ignorant of the electronic music scene during the 90s, which is plausible because most Americans had not been exposed to electronic music yet.
- zck 11y ago
  Hall made his first release as Moby in 1990: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobility_%28song%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobility_%28song%29 . I can't tell when Motte put out what, but at least from his wikipedia page, he only started making songs and using "Moby" in 1988. I don't know how popular he got where, but it doesn't seem obvious that Hall got the name from Motte.
  - pjbrunet 11y ago
    You have to look for the Amiga MODs. Nearly all electronic music was in MOD format back before MP3. http://amp.dascene.net/detail.php?detail=modules&view=5024 http://amp.dascene.net/detail.php?detail=modules&view=5024 "This is a compilation of some of my demoscene music made between 1989 and 1993 when I was still called Moby, before some other guy took my moniker :P. These tunes were released by some of the best demogroups ever : Sanity, Alcatraz, Quartex, Dreamdealers... All tracks were composed using Protracker on the Amiga." https://elmobo.bandcamp.com/album/amiga-days-remasters https://elmobo.bandcamp.com/album/amiga-days-remasters The worldwide distribution was though BBS networks and the Internet. Just for reference, when these Amiga modules started circulating, the IBM PC was only capable of making "beeping" noises.
    - zck 11y ago
      So he was making music as Moby for a year before Hall made his first release as Moby? I think what's happening is that people aren't responding to "Motte was first" so much as to the claim that Hall "hijacked Frédéric's name and reputation".
      - pjbrunet 11y ago
        I'll let the historians figure it out. All I can tell you is that Moby had already established himself worldwide by 1989. I know this because I had one of the largest MOD music collections in Florida from 1987-1993 http://bbslist.textfiles.com/407/ http://bbslist.textfiles.com/407/ and this stuff was way more popular in Europe, I wasn't even part of the demoscene, I was just an unknown ANSI artist. Moby (Motte) was one of the most prolific, talented guys making electronic music at that time. When I heard this one in 7th grade, I couldn't believe what I was hearing from my IBM PC/AT speaker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEmR6mWl1U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEmR6mWl1U the rain and thunder samples, it was unique and unprecedented. This track is from 1989 because I was still living in Coral Springs when I heard it and here is the Impact Inc pack http://arabuusimiehet.com/break/amiga/index.php?mode=group&groupid=619 http://arabuusimiehet.com/break/amiga/index.php?mode=group&g...
    - FireBeyond 11y ago
      Come on. Moby was releasing published songs in 1990, which means he was signed to a label at least several months prior. This whole "89-93" thing is misleading and invents a conspiracy theory where there is none. Not to mention, I had an Amiga those days. And used Protracker. That doesn't make Amiga MOD groups a required staple for anyone in electronic music in that 6-18 month window, and it's disingenuous to claim otherwise. Edit: in fact, per http://www.instinctrecords.com/artists/moby http://www.instinctrecords.com/artists/moby : "Born Richard Melville Hall, Moby received his nickname as a child; it derives from the fact that Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, is his great-great grand uncle. Moby was raised in Darien, CT, where he played in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos as a teenager. Later, he briefly sang with Flipper, while their singer was serving time in jail. He briefly attended college, before he moved to New York City, where he began DJing in dance clubs. During the late ’80s and 1990, he released a number of singles and EPs for the independent label Instinct." I think the jury of reasonable men err on the side of coincidence, not coat-tail riding moniker-stealing.

pjbrunet 11y ago

I was there. Motte was very popular in the Amiga/BBS days in the 80s, worldwide, long before Hall had his supposed Moby Dick idea. Maybe that really was his great-great-great-uncle? Maybe it just wasn't an original name for popular electronic musicians? If he wasn't aware of the original Moby, that tells you he was just ignorant of the electronic music scene during the 90s, which is plausible because most Americans had not been exposed to electronic music yet.

zck 11y ago
Hall made his first release as Moby in 1990: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobility_%28song%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobility_%28song%29 . I can't tell when Motte put out what, but at least from his wikipedia page, he only started making songs and using "Moby" in 1988. I don't know how popular he got where, but it doesn't seem obvious that Hall got the name from Motte.
- pjbrunet 11y ago
  You have to look for the Amiga MODs. Nearly all electronic music was in MOD format back before MP3. http://amp.dascene.net/detail.php?detail=modules&view=5024 http://amp.dascene.net/detail.php?detail=modules&view=5024 "This is a compilation of some of my demoscene music made between 1989 and 1993 when I was still called Moby, before some other guy took my moniker :P. These tunes were released by some of the best demogroups ever : Sanity, Alcatraz, Quartex, Dreamdealers... All tracks were composed using Protracker on the Amiga." https://elmobo.bandcamp.com/album/amiga-days-remasters https://elmobo.bandcamp.com/album/amiga-days-remasters The worldwide distribution was though BBS networks and the Internet. Just for reference, when these Amiga modules started circulating, the IBM PC was only capable of making "beeping" noises.
  - zck 11y ago
    So he was making music as Moby for a year before Hall made his first release as Moby? I think what's happening is that people aren't responding to "Motte was first" so much as to the claim that Hall "hijacked Frédéric's name and reputation".
    - pjbrunet 11y ago
      I'll let the historians figure it out. All I can tell you is that Moby had already established himself worldwide by 1989. I know this because I had one of the largest MOD music collections in Florida from 1987-1993 http://bbslist.textfiles.com/407/ http://bbslist.textfiles.com/407/ and this stuff was way more popular in Europe, I wasn't even part of the demoscene, I was just an unknown ANSI artist. Moby (Motte) was one of the most prolific, talented guys making electronic music at that time. When I heard this one in 7th grade, I couldn't believe what I was hearing from my IBM PC/AT speaker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEmR6mWl1U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKEmR6mWl1U the rain and thunder samples, it was unique and unprecedented. This track is from 1989 because I was still living in Coral Springs when I heard it and here is the Impact Inc pack http://arabuusimiehet.com/break/amiga/index.php?mode=group&groupid=619 http://arabuusimiehet.com/break/amiga/index.php?mode=group&g...
  - FireBeyond 11y ago
    Come on. Moby was releasing published songs in 1990, which means he was signed to a label at least several months prior. This whole "89-93" thing is misleading and invents a conspiracy theory where there is none. Not to mention, I had an Amiga those days. And used Protracker. That doesn't make Amiga MOD groups a required staple for anyone in electronic music in that 6-18 month window, and it's disingenuous to claim otherwise. Edit: in fact, per http://www.instinctrecords.com/artists/moby http://www.instinctrecords.com/artists/moby : "Born Richard Melville Hall, Moby received his nickname as a child; it derives from the fact that Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, is his great-great grand uncle. Moby was raised in Darien, CT, where he played in a hardcore punk band called the Vatican Commandos as a teenager. Later, he briefly sang with Flipper, while their singer was serving time in jail. He briefly attended college, before he moved to New York City, where he began DJing in dance clubs. During the late ’80s and 1990, he released a number of singles and EPs for the independent label Instinct." I think the jury of reasonable men err on the side of coincidence, not coat-tail riding moniker-stealing.