Moody and the Menstruators were an anarchic, cabaret, performance-art group that formed in 1971 at Reading University as a group of backing singers and pianist, for an ad hoc student band that was to play at the notorious Art Department Christmas Party. Also playing at the same party in a very early gig were Roxy Music.
Also known as The Moodies, the group was a co-collaborative, creative venture by Suzy Adderley, Anne Bean, Becky Baily, Polly Eltes, Mary Anne Holiday, Rod Melvin and Annie Sloan. Rod Melvin played piano and for some shows, Hermine Demoriane performed on the tightrope and Martin Kaufman was also at one point a participant.
The group developed as a stand-alone performance group, with shows consisting of a variety of musical numbers, accompanied mostly by Rod but with some songs performed acapella and some with added instrumentation from other members.
Instant popularity led to ‘The Moodies’ being offered further gigs around the University and then as the Reading University Fringe entry at the Edinburgh Festival and at various venues in London including Dingwalls at Camden Lock, the Bush Theatre in Shepherds’ Bush, the All Nations Club in Hackney, the Howff and finally on a European tour at theatres, a nightclub, the Hamburg Stadt-Theatre and the Melkweg in Amsterdam during which tour, a film was also made for television. The group also performed in several London Art Galleries, to wildly enthusiastic audiences and was featured on the cover of the Sunday Times magazine and in Time Out.
Individual members brought suggestions for musical numbers and took the lead or formed part of the chorus on particular songs with all members working on the musical arrangements, dance, props and staging. The ethos for the group sprung from the move towards ephemeral art forms and performance in the visual arts, concurrent cultural investigations into gender fluidity and sexuality, historical theatrical tradition and a love for many aspects of both popular and avant-garde music. Costumes were hand sewn, theatrical cast offs or sourced from jumble sales and flea markets. Anticipating the DIY methodology of punk, the group had a style that was later embraced by the punk establishment, with Malcolm Maclaren being an early fan.
The group was also associated at times with Peter McLean’s group McLeans, with Brian Eno who occasionally managed sounds for the group and also with the Kipper Kids, who performed simultaneously with Moodies at the two Modernes Theatres in Munich and indeed swapped theatres unannounced and mid-performance on several occasions, to the consternation of the audiences and leaving the returning performers unaware of what had happened in their absence.
After the Moodies longer stay in Germany, the group took a break for a few months and then, at a meeting in London, decided to wind up as most of the members wished to pursue their own projects or other careers. Gone but not forgotten!
Thanks for help in assembling this page to Rod Melvin, Becky Bailey, Chris Bishop and Adrian Whittaker, who held on to a brown paper envelope, tied with a red ribbon and containing many memories, for 50 years.
Many thanks for images and permissions to use them to Eleni Leoussi, the archive and estate of Hans Feurer for the image on the page header, Joe Gaffney, and others unknown who I have been unable to trace. Please contact with further accreditations. Click on photos for accreditations and details.