Kevin Paul Mooney (born 5 May 1962) is an English-Irish bassist and guitarist who has worked with

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard (born 3 November 1954), known professionally as Adam Ant, is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

, and others.

Career

Born in the

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Mooney began his musical career in 1977 with the English-Irish punk band The European Cowards, in collaboration with John Keogh and rebel rouser John Herlihy. He was then enlisted as the bass player for

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...

, between 1980 and 1981, appearing on the album ''

Kings of the Wild Frontier ''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' is the second album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 17 September 1980 by CBS Records in the UK and Epic Records internationally. The album was the UK number 1 selling album in 19 ...

''. After leaving the band because of personal conflict and creative differences, he formed the band Wide Boy Awake with best friend John Keogh, Harley Price and Horace Carter Allan. Wide Boy Awake released two EPs in the UK, including songs "Chicken Outlaw", "Billy Hyena", "Bona Venture" and "Slang Teacher", some of which appear on 1980s various-artists compilations. The band were managed by Mooney's then-wife

Pamela Rooke Pamela Rooke (23 June 1955 – 3 April 2022), (known as Jordan) was an English model and actress known for her work with Vivienne Westwood and the Sex boutique in the Kings Road area of London in the mid-1970s, and for attending many of the ea ...

. "Billy Hyena" was accompanied by a music video directed by

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, poet, gardener, and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing ...

. Wide Boy Awake disbanded soon after without releasing a full album. During this period, Mooney guested on Sinéad O'Connor's album ''

The Lion and the Cobra ''The Lion and the Cobra'' is the debut studio album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released on 5 October 1987 by Ensign Records, Ensign and Chrysalis Records. O'Connor recorded the album while in the later stages of pregnancy with her first ...

'', writing and playing guitar on one track "Just Call Me Joe", featuring

Leslie Winer Leslie Winer (born December 24, 1958) is an American musician, poet, and writer. She began her career as a high fashion model before she transitioned into music. Early life Winer was born in Boston to a teenager and handed over to her adoptive ...

on backup vocals. Next, Mooney formed the band Max (not to be confused with the Japanese vocal group

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

) with Leslie Winer, a former associate of

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

, plus John Keogh, Kumar Desai, John Wright, Nik Corfield and Bob Thompson.The band recorded an unreleased album, featuring guitar work by Mooney's former Adam and the Ants bandmate,

Marco Pirroni Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959) frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the la ...

. Mooney formed a new version of Max, which released a drug induced soft rock middle-of-the-road album called ''Silence Running'', produced by

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties". Horn took up the bass guitar at an ...

, but the band dissolved in the wake of money problems and drug-related deaths. Mooney relocated to Florida and then to Boston with Winer but returned to the UK briefly in 2001. He now resides in Berlin. Mooney worked with Leslie Winer as part of the electronic group "C" on the albums ''Witch'' and ''Spider''. In the early 2000s, Mooney formed another band, the Lavender Pill Mob, led by Gary Asquith, a former member of Rema Rema,

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

and

Renegade Soundwave Renegade Soundwave (sometimes shortened to RSW) were an electronic music group. Formed in London in 1986, the group originally consisted of Gary Asquith, Carl Bonnie and Danny Briottet. Their debut LP '' Soundclash'' was released in 1990 on Mu ...

, with Harley Price and

Lee Jason Simeone Lee Jason Simeone (born 20 March 1980 in Rochford, Essex, England) is an English musician, who joined the independent record label Le Coq Musique in 2008. Other artists of the label include Kevin Mooney of Adam and the Ants, Gary Asquith of Re ...

. This group recorded two albums (''The Lavender Pill Mob'' and ''Mike's Bikes'') released independently; the second album featured guest vocals by

on one song, "Black Pirates" (a reworking of "Chicken Outlaw").

References

External links

The Lavender Pill Mob
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mooney, Kevin 1962 births Living people Musicians from the Royal Borough of Greenwich People from Greenwich English bass guitarists English male guitarists British male bass guitarists British rock bass guitarists Irish male songwriters Adam and the Ants members