Richard Melville Hall
BORN: September 11, 1965, Darien, CT

Moby was one of the most controversial figures in techno music, alternately praised for bringing a face to the notoriously anonymous electronic genre, as well as being scorned by hordes of techno artists and fans for diluting and trivalizing the form. In either case, Moby was one of the most important dance music figures of the early '90s, helping bring the music to a mainstream audience both in England and in America. Moby fused rapid disco beats with heavy distorted guitars, punk rhythms and detailed productions that drew equally from pop, dance and movie soundtracks. Not only did his music differ from both the cool surface textures of ambient music and the hedonistic world of house music, but so did his lifestyle -- Moby was infamous for his devout, radical Christian beliefs, as well as his environmental and vegan activism. "Go" became a British Top Ten hit in 1991, establishing him as one of the premier techno producers. By the time he came to the attention of American record critics with 1995's Everything Is Wrong, his following from the early '90s had begun to erode, particularly in Britain. Nevertheless, he remained one of the most recognizable figures within techno, even after he abandoned the music for guitar-rock with 1996's Animal Rights.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 granduncle. Moby was born and raised in Darien, Connecticut, 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. In 1991, he set the theme from David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks to an insistent, house-derived rhythm and titled the result "Go." The single became a surprise British hit single, climbing into the Top Ten. Following its success, Moby was invited to remix a number of mainstream and underground acts, including Michael Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Brian Eno, Depeche Mode, Erasure, the B-52's and Orbital.Moby continued performing at dances and raves throughout 1991 and 1992, culminating in a set at 1992's Mixmag awards where he broke his keyboards at the end of his concert. Moby, his first full-length album, appeared in 1992. In 1993, he released the double A-side single "I Feel It" / "Thousand," which became a moderate UK hit. According to the Guinness Book of Records, "Thousand" is the fastest single ever, appropriately clocking in at 1000 beats a minutes. That same year, Moby signed a record contract with Mute and his first release was Ambient, which compiled unissued material recorded between 1988 and 1991. Later that year, The Story So Far, a collection of singles released on Instinct, appeared. In 1994, the single "Hymn" -- one of the first fusions of gospel, techno and ambient music -- was released.In 1994, Moby signed a major-label contract with Elektra Records in the U.S. Everything Is Wrong, his first album released under the deal, appeared in the spring of 1995 to uniformly excellent reviews, especially in the American press, who had previously ignored him. Despite the promotional push behind the album and his popular sets at the 1995 Lollapalooza, the album wasn't a commercial success. The following year, Moby suddenly abandoned techno to record heavy guitar rock for Animal Rights, which received mixed reviews. A partial return to electronica, 1997's I Like to Score, was followed by 1999's Play. Surpassing everyone's expectations, the album became a platinum hit and reached number one in the UK, while Play's tracks were licensed by dozens of advertisers and compilers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Play

01. Honey
02. Find My Baby
03. Porcelain
04. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
05. South Side
06. Rushing
07. Bodyrock
08. Natural Blues
09. Machete
10. 7
11. Run On
12. Down Slow
13. If Things Were Perfect
14. Everloving
15. Inside
16. Guitar Flute & String
17. The Sky Is Broken
18. My Weakness

I Like To Score

01. Novio
02. James Bond Theme (Moby Re-version)
03. Go
04. Ah-Ah
05. I Like To Score
06. Oil 1
07. New Dawn Fades
08. God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters
09. First Cool Hive
10. Nash
11. Love Theme
12. Grace

Animal Rights

01. Dead Sun
02. Someone To Love
03. Heavy Flow
04. You
05. Now I Let It Go
06. Come On Baby
07. Soft
08. Anima
09. Say It's All Mine
10. That's When I Reach For My Revolver
11. Alone
12. Face It
13. Old
14. Living
15. Love Song For My Mom
16. A Season In Hell

Everything Is Wrong

01. Hymn
02. Feeling So Real
03. All That I Need Is To Be Loved
04. Let's Go Free
05. Everytime You Touch Me
06. Bring Back My Happiness
07. What Love
08. First Cool Hive
09. Into The Blue
10. Anthem
11. Everything Is Wrong
12. God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters
13. When It's Cold I'd Like To Die

Early Underground

01. Besame
02. Rock The House
03. Move The Colors
04. Uhf3
05. Party Time
06. Protect Write
07. Go (Original)
08. Permanent Green
09. Voodoo Child
10. Drug Fits The Face
11. Time Signature
12. Peace Head
13. Barracuda
14. Mobility
15. M-Four

Ambient

01. My Beautiful Blue Sky
02. Heaven
03. Tongues
04. J Breas
05. Myopia
06. House Of Blue Leaves
07. Bad Days
08. Piano & String
09. Sound
10. Dog
11. 80
12. Lean On Me