Editing Moondog (section)

===New York City===
From the late 1940s until 1972, Moondog lived as a composer and poet in New York City, occasionally playing in midtown Manhattan, eventually settling on the corner of 53rd or 54th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.<ref name="Larkin"/> He was rarely if ever homeless, and maintained an apartment in upper Manhattan and had a country retreat in [[Candor, New York]], to which he moved full-time in 1972.<ref name="Scotto, Robert 2007">Scotto, Robert. ''Moondog, The Viking of 6th Avenue: The Authorized Biography''. Process Music edition (22 November 2007) {{ISBN|978-0-9760822-8-6}}</ref> He partially supported himself by selling copies of his poetry, sheet music, records, and his musical philosophy. In addition to his music and poetry, he was also known for a distinctive "[[Viking]]" garb that he briefly wore during the 1960s. Already bearded and long-haired, he added a Viking-style horned helmet to avoid the occasional comparisons of his appearance with that of Christ or a monk,<ref name="furious.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/moondog.html|title=Moondog interview- Perfect Sound Forever|website=Furious.com}}</ref> as he had rejected Christianity in his late teens. He developed a lifelong interest in [[Norse mythology|Nordic mythology]], and maintained an altar to [[Thor]] in his country home in Candor.<ref name="Scotto, Robert 2007"/>

In 1949, he traveled to a [[Blackfoot]] Sun Dance in Idaho<ref name="Scotto, R. M. 2007 p. 45"/> where he performed on percussion and flute, returning to the Native American music he had first come in contact with as a child. It was this Native music, along with contemporary jazz and classical, mixed with the [[Ambient noise level|ambient]] sounds from his environment (city [[traffic]], [[Wind wave|ocean waves]], babies crying, etc.) that created the foundation of Moondog's music.

In 1954, he won a case in the [[New York State Supreme Court]] against disc jockey [[Alan Freed]], who had branded his radio show, "The Moondog [[Rock and Roll]] Matinee", around the name "Moondog", using "Moondog's Symphony" (the first record that Moondog ever cut) as his "calling card".<ref name="Larkin"/> Moondog believed he would not have won the case had it not been for the help of musicians such as [[Benny Goodman]] and [[Arturo Toscanini]], who testified that he was a serious composer. Freed had to apologize and stop using the nickname "Moondog" on air, on the basis that Hardin was known by the name long before Freed began using it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=3442 |title=This Day in History |website=History.com |access-date=2013-08-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211010728/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=3442 |archive-date=2010-02-11}}</ref><ref name="ttbook"/>