MOOD N’DOGO

10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT INGO „MOOD“ VON N’DOGO

– This rarely gets mentioned at the occasional Omniversal cocktail parties, but Ingo went to one of the most prestigious music schools in Sachsen-Anhalt in the mid-80’s, under the guidance of dissident East German serial music composer Alpha Blondy (not to be confused with the Ivory Coast pop superstar of the same name). His graduation work was an opera based on Mikhail Bakunin’s little-known celebration of veganism, „Hülsenfrüchte für die Massen“, which didn’t go down too well with the local authorities.

– Back in the carefree 90’s, Ingo was employed as Carla Bruni’s butler. He was apparently chosen for his sartorial elegance, for the curvaceous fitness fanatic used to be a model for Giorgio Armani in Italy when he fell on hard times (although he likes to keep silent about his relationship with songstress Sabrina of „Boys, Boys, Boys“ fame). Carla and Ingo got on like a house on fire, and decided to record a few covers of Blondie tunes under the potential trade name Brownie (with Ingo dressed up as Debbie Harry, of course), but the tapes got lost when the future First Lady of France refurbished her 19th Century parlour.

– Ingo can speak 23 languages fluently. There’s nothing that he likes more than to entertain guests with his rendition of „A Whiter Shade of Pale“ in Aramaic. He also provides the voiceover for Dr Bunsen Honeydew in the Lithuanian version of „The Muppet Show“.

– Ingo is allergic to kumquats and alpaca hair.

– Before launching the Omniversal Earkestra, Ingo has had a long and fruitful career, playing bass with hardcore anarcho-punks Modernas de Mierda, electronic melodeon with industrial tango outfit Guidoune, fuzz guitar with post-lysergic jam band Alter Falter and assorted kitchen utensils with powercut electronics outfit Japanese Pencil, before dabbling with jazz while manning the decks of steel with hip-hop crew Grover Goes To Washington. His first brush with the idea of covering tunes by Sunny del Ra came with Omniversal precursors Ra Lovely!!, under the stage name Moody Twingo (which was quickly changed to its current incarnation when Renault objected)

– Ingo can play the bağlama with his teeth and behind his back. He almost caused a riot when he tried to set it on fire during a particularly fetching Anadolu-Pop version of Jimi Hendrix’s „Third Stone From The Sun“ at the Antalya Bar’n’Grill.

– Ingo is the great-nephew of operatic sensation Florence Foster-Jenkins. „I must have some of her singing genes„, commented the rotund mover and groover.

– Another fascinating factoid that emerged recently is that Ingo worked a couple of years at Merce Cunningham’s studio, even if it was only as a janitor. Somehow, the great choreographer’s talent must have rubbed off on our beloved emcee, as his delightfully idiosyncratic dance moves have moved journalists to wax ecstatic about his stage presentation with such words of praise as „Mood N’dogo’s contortions across the dance floor fascinated the crowd, as if they were witnessing the exorcism of Iggy Pop trapped in the body of Paul Giamatti“ (Monica Galindo, Fashion Doll Quarterly) and „The delirious master of ceremonies‘ take on Spiritual Jazz actually looked more like a Nativity Play conducted simultaneously by Sascha Waltz and the Cardiacs“ (John Johnson-Jones, Architectural Digest)

– Ingo’s religious beliefs forbid him to consume any food or beverage that contains diacritics when translated into Czech. „I will make an exception with the letter „ž“ whenever I have to eat out with friends„, remarked the reluctant idol of the gurning jet-set.

– Ingo almost became a major player in Hollywood. He was a serious contender for composing the soundtrack to Randal Kleiser’s adaptation of the Andrei Tarkovsky classic, „Stalker – The Musical„, starring Olivia Newton-John, The Bee Gees and Keiji Haino, but he fell out with Barry Gibb when the latter made an uncomplimentary remark about one of his favourite albums, Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s „Works Vol. 2“. He was also poised to reprise Michel Piccoli’s role in Adrian Lyne’s adaptation of Marco Ferreri’s „La Grande Bouffe„, starring Michael Douglas and Whoopi Goldberg, but that also fell through due to the usual „gastric differences“ (the role was finally given to Patrick Swayze, but the project was pulled out at the last minute because Duran Duran couldn’t think of a new song to put on the soundtrack).