The Hall of Fame

Keith John Moon (August 23, 1946 – September 7, 1978) was the drummer of the rock group The Who.

Keith Moon is considered to be the greatest and most revolutionary rock and roll drummer of all time, and clearly was one of the most unusual and original rock and roll personalities. Contemporaneous drummers such as Neil Peart, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker and John Bonham could all point to him as a major influence. Moon himself was taught to play by one of the loudest drummers at the time, Carlo Little. His continuing influence is also evident in the style of modern drummers such as Jeremiah Green, and Moon's organic, rolling, anarchic, flowingly controlled yet also out-of-control style remains an influence on popular music today.

Role in The Who

Moon initially played in the style of American Surf Rock and R&B drummers, utilizing grooves and fills of those genres, but playing them much louder and with more authority. He was also heavily influenced by jazz drummer and fellow showman Gene Krupa. He made the move to a British Premier double bass drumset in late 1965, inspired by a conversation he had with Ginger Baker, who told Moon he had ordered an American Ludwig double bass drumset for himself. Moon abandoned his hi-hat cymbals almost entirely and started basing his grooves more on a double bass ostinato consisting of eight note flams, and a wall of white noise created by riding a crash or ride cymbal. On top of this he would play fills and cymbal accents. This would become his trademark style, and can be heard at its best on The Who's 1970 Live At Leeds and 1971's Who's Next albums. Within the band, guitarist Pete Townshend was the timekeeper, utlizing a rhythmic, riffy way of guitar playing, while Moon and bass player John Entwistle soloed on top of this foundation. Townshend's compositions often took on a completely new life of their own after he presented them to Moon and Entwistle, who would transform them into something new and unexpected with their distinctive approaches to playing.

Early in The Who's career, the band developed the concept of "Auto Destruction", which had them destroying their equipment at the end of their more high profile shows. Moon showed a particular zeal for this activity, wildly kicking and smashing his drums. During an appearance on the Smothers Brothers television show, he overloaded a drum with explosive charges which were detonated during the finale of "My Generation", which according to legend resulted in permanent hearing damage for bandmate Pete Townshend and caused Bette Davis to faint. His antics earned him the nickname "Moon the Loon," which he was not fond of.

Because he was not a good singer, Moon was banned from the studio when vocals were being recorded. This led to an ongoing game with Pete Townshend, in which Moon would try to sneak into the room to join the singing. At the tail end of "Happy Jack" Townshend can be heard shouting "I saw you!" as he notices Moon once again trying to join in. Moon did however sing on the track "Bell Boy", on 1974's Quadrophenia.

A reputation for destruction

Moon quickly gained a reputation for being highly destructive. He was known to lay waste to hotel rooms, the homes of friends, and even his own home, often throwing furniture out of high windows and destroying the plumbing with firecrackers. These acts were often fueled by drugs or alcohol, but most of the time, Moon was simply living out his larger-than-life persona.

One of the most famous stories concerns him driving a Rolls-Royce into a swimming pool - it is currently disputed whether this event occurred, with his biographer, Tony Fletcher, denying it, and Roger Daltrey claiming to have witnessed the resulting $50,000 bill. [1] From his known behaviour, however, it is not hard to see how such a story could originate.

Much of his behaviour, though often outrageous, was in a more humourous vein in the company of his great friend Vivian Stanshall, of the Bonzo Dog Band. The exploits of these two are legendary. When Vivian took over the John Peel radio show for awhile, Moon appeared as Lemmy in Vivian's ongoing saga of Colonel Knutt, idiot adventurer-detective. Moon also produced Vivian's recorded version of Elvis Presley's Suspicion.

In 1970, Moon was involved in an incident outside a pub in London in which his friend and bodyguard, Cornelius "Neil" Boland, was run over and killed. Although the coroner said that Boland's death was an accident, and Moon was subsequently given an absolute discharge after having been charged with driving offences, those close to him said Moon was haunted by the accident for the rest of his life.

Moon's penchant for the wild life would eventually be detrimental to both his drumming ability and his reliability as a band member. His playing deteriorated as the 1970s progressed, and he would often need to take two or three weeks to learn how to "play like Keith Moon" again. By 1978, he was only a shadow of what he once was. Moon also sang the high pitch voice on "Barbara Ann"

Work outside The Who

Although his work with The Who dominated Moon's career, he participated in a few minor side projects. In 1966, he teamed up with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck and future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to record an instrumental, "Beck's Bolero", released as a single later that year. Moon is also said to have named Led Zeppelin, remarking that they would "go down like a lead zeppelin". In 1974 he released his first and only solo album, a collection of pop covers entitled Two Sides of the Moon. Perversely, although this record featured Moon's atrocious singing, much of the drumming was left to other artists including Ringo Starr and session musician Jim Keltner.

In 1971 he had a cameo role in Frank Zappa's film 200 Motels. He acted in drag as a nun fearful of death from overdosing on pills. It is widely regarded as one of film's funniest cameos. In 1973 he appeared in That'll Be the Day, playing a drummer at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll. The film also co-starred Moon's longtime friend Ringo Starr of The Beatles. He also appeared as "Uncle Ernie" in the film adaptation of Tommy, a 1969 Who album. In 1976 he covered The Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" for the soundtrack of the documentary All This And World War II.

Death

Keith Moon's final night out was as a guest of Paul McCartney at the preview of the film The Buddy Holly Story. After dining with Paul and Linda McCartney, Moon and his girlfriend, Annette Walter-Lax, left the party early and returned to his flat in Curzon Place, London. He died in his sleep at the age of 32, having overdosed on anti-seizure medication, Chlormethiazole, taken as part of a programme to wean him off alcohol. When the police investigated the cause of his death they determined that there were about 32 pills in his system. Some of the pills were undissolved. Moon's death was not the result of suicide, but was later ruled to be the result of "accidental misadventure." The flat was on loan to Keith from musician friend Harry Nilsson. Coincidentally, Cass Elliot (singer with The Mamas & The Papas) had died whilst staying not only in the same flat a few years earlier, but also in the same bed. Following the loss of a second friend in the building, a distraught Nilsson could not face returning there and subsequently sold the flat to Pete Townshend.

Events after his death

Following his death, Keith Moon was "replaced" in The Who by Small Faces (and The Faces) drummer Kenny Jones, and later by Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr). A number of others, most notably Simon Phillips, have also temporarily occupied the drummer's chair in The Who.

However, both of the remaining Who members, along with the late John Entwistle, have stated firmly on separate occasions that The Who died with Keith Moon.

The most famous tribute to Moon is the muppet character, Animal, a crazed drummer who is so wild, he has to be literally chained to his drum set during performances.

As of September 29, 2005, Comedian/Actor Mike Myers has been signed on to play the lead role in the upcoming biopic of Moon. The film will be produced by Roger Daltrey, Nigel Sinclair and Paul Gerber.

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