Everything You Always Wanted to Know About R. Stevie Moore but Were Afraid to Ask

For years the definitive R. Stevie Moore compilation — and none of the ones that have followed have quite matched its epic scope — Everything You Always Wanted to Know About R. Stevie Moore (But Were Afraid to Ask) was released by the French label New Rose Records in 1984. Moore's first vinyl release since 1978's Delicate Tension, this sprawling two-disc set was meant as an introduction to Moore's myriad charms. Ranging all the way back to a 1959 radio commercial Moore did for Heinz canned spaghetti (under the tutelage of his father, Nashville session king Bob Moore), this set is all over the map, from the potent pop/rock of "I Just Want to Feel You" and "First-Hand" to bizarre experiments like "The Holocaust Parade" and atmospheric instrumentals like "For Vini." Moore's popular novelty hits, including the joyous "Puttin' Up the Groceries" and an infamous new wave recasting of "Chantilly Lace," sit next to darker material, like the synth pop classic "Bloody Knuckles" and the Big Star-like breathy jangle pop of "I Wanna Hit You." This album, available as a two-CD set through Moore's website, is also notorious for its lengthy biographical sleeve notes by Robert Christgau (the Village Voice pop music critic didn't actually write the notes, Moore just brazenly stuck his name on them), which are deliberately filled with bits of misinformation like Moore's father being Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore, not Bob Moore. As unfocused and ultimately delightful as the White Album, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About R. Stevie Moore (But Were Afraid to Ask) remains a fine introduction to the man's work.