Mooney began his musical career in 1977 with Anglo-Irish punk bandThe 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, between 1980 and 1981, appearing on the albumKings of the Wild Frontier. 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. "Billy Hyena" was accompanied by a music video directed by Derek Jarman. 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, writing and playing guitar on one track "Just Call Me Joe", featuring Leslie Winer on backup vocals. Next, Mooney formed the band Max with Leslie Winer, a former associate of William S. Burroughs, plus John Keogh, Kumar Desai, and John Wright. The band recorded an unreleased album, featuring guitar work by Mooney's former Adam and the Ants bandmate, Marco Pirroni. 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, 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 and Renegade Soundwave, with Harley Price and Lee Simeone. This group recorded two albums released independently; the second album featured guest vocals by Adam Ant on one song.
