He explained that the group had totally lost their way: "Harry Nilsson, Bobby Keyes, Keith Moon. Afterwards I was sitting at the bar and Pete came over. Smith remembers one occasion where he and Moon tore apart a pair of trousers, with an accomplice later looking for one-legged trousers. He'd move his arms forward like a skier. Moon occasionally collaborated with other musicians and later appeared in films, but considered playing in the Who his primary occupation, and remained a member of the band until his death. "[84] She begged Malibu neighbour Larry Hagman to check Moon into a clinic to dry out (as he had attempted to do before), but when doctors recorded Moon's chemical intake at breakfast a bottle of champagne, Courvoisier and amphetamines they concluded that there was no hope for his rehabilitation. Keith with Annette on the night he died. Moon (or Entwistle) remarked that a particular suggestion had gone down like a "lead zeppelin" (a play on "lead balloon"). [133] Butler agrees; despite his relationship with Annette Walter-Lax, he believes that Kim was the only woman Moon loved. The Moon indeed. He became addicted to alcohol, particularly brandy and champagne, and acquired a reputation for decadence and dark humour; his nickname was "Moon the Loon". They gave him a shower and an injection of cortisone, sending him back onstage after a thirty-minute delay. At Moons funeral Daltrey told the mourners he still half-expected Keith to leap from the coffin, claiming it was all a joke. Keith Moon with the Who in 1970 - 74 was just a force of nature, and one I'm glad to have witnessed up close 3 times. "'Tis well." 2. "[152], On 6 September, Moon and Walter-Lax were guests of Paul and Linda McCartney at a preview of a film, The Buddy Holly Story. "[142], Peter "Dougal" Butler began working for the Who in 1967, becoming Moon's personal assistant the following year[143] to help him stay out of trouble. [161][162], Jones left the Who in 1988,[163] and drummer Simon Phillips (who praised Moon's ability to drum over the backing track of "Baba O'Riley") toured with the band the following year. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, In 1967, he contributed backing vocals to "All You Need Is Love". [114] After recording Who Are You, Townshend refused to follow the album with a tour unless Moon stopped drinking,[115] and said that if Moon's playing did not improve he would be fired. At the age of 12, he had joined the Sea Cadet Corp and was given his first musical instrument, the bugle. Moon developed a habit of kicking over his drums, claiming that he did so in exasperation at an audience's indifference. Moon continuously promoted his eccentric clown drummer image through exaggerated or simply false stories about his life. The drummer knocked out part of his front tooth; at the hospital, doctors could not give him an anaesthetic (due to his inebriation) before removing the remainder of the tooth. The chaos ended only when police arrived with guns drawn.[104]. [151], By September 1978 Moon was having difficulty playing the drums, according to roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. He was named as hyperactive as a boy, with a restless imagination and a particular fondness for The Goon Show and music. . Moon suffered a number of setbacks during the 1970s, most notably the accidental death of chauffeur Neil Boland and the breakdown of his marriage. [73], Moon became involved in solo work when he moved to Los Angeles during the mid-1970s. [96] David Puttnam recalled, "The drinking went from being a joke to being a problem. [98] Townshend remembers walking into the bathroom of Moon's hotel room and noticing the toilet had disappeared, with only the S-bend remaining. "[182], In 1998 Tony Fletcher published a biography of Moon, Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, in the United Kingdom. [105] Townshend claimed that the Who were banned for life from all of the hotel's properties,[106] but Fletcher wrote that they stayed at a Holiday Inn in Rochester, New York, a week later. His drumming continues to be praised by critics and musicians. He is probably now best known for his big hit, 'Yesterday Man'. Moon's contribution. Six are enough to be fatal and Moon never regained consciousness. [175] The Jam paid homage to Moon on the second single from their third album, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight"; the B-side of the single is a Who cover ("So Sad About Us"), and the back cover of the record has a photo of Moon's face. [adsense-gallery] [zergnet] Prev 7 of 7 Next. "[110] Doctors told Curbishley that if he had not intervened, Moon would have bled to death. [129] The Moons entertained extravagantly at home, and owned a number of cars. Upon returning home, the couple had a fight. [156] Moon was cremated on 13 September 1978 at Golders Green Crematorium in London, and his ashes were scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance. "[98] He quickly developed a reputation for destroying bathrooms and blowing up toilets. Upon returning, he asked the manager to stay for a moment, as he wanted to explain something. Keith had been exceeding his prescribed dose of Heminevrin the same way he abused every other drug. [13] Moon also admired Elvis Presley's original drummer DJ Fontana, the Shadows' original drummer Tony Meehan[14] and the Pretty Things' Viv Prince. Keith Moon, The Whos hard-partying drummer, was famous for degenerate behavior that still defines the rock star image like blowing up hotel room toilets with cherry bombs. [8] He was interested in practical jokes and home science kits, with a particular fondness for explosions. And Roger, who was the spokesman then, said: 'What are you doing next Monday?' the classic rock band which still performs to this day. [130], In 1973 Kim, convinced that neither she nor anyone else could moderate Keith's behaviour, left her husband and took Amanda;[131] she sued for divorce in 1975 and later married Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan. [111] Marsh suggested that at this point Daltrey and Entwistle seriously considered firing Moon, but decided that doing so would make his life worse. I'd been used to penny bangers before. "[92], In a limousine on the way to the airport, Moon insisted they return to their hotel, saying "I forgot something." "[29] These antics earned him the nickname "Moon the Loon".[30]. "[134] Moon would harass them with phone calls, and on one occasion before Kim sued for divorce, he invited McLagan for a drink at a Richmond pub and sent several "heavies" to break into McLagan's home on Fife Road and look for Kim, forcing her to hide in a walk-in closet. By the time of their final tour with him in 1976, and particularly during production of The Kids Are Alright and Who Are You, the drummer's deterioration was evident. To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. Townshend later said that Jones "was one of the few British drummers who could fill Keith's shoes";[159] Daltrey was less enthusiastic, saying that Jones "wasn't the right style". 2 on the UK charts. [41] At the end of "Happy Jack", Townshend can be heard saying "I saw ya!" His last word was "Mozart!". "[32] In the opinion of Atkins, early recordings of Moon's drumming sound tinny and disorganised;[34] it was not until the recording of Who's Next, with Glyn Johns' no-nonsense production techniques and the need to keep time to a synthesizer track, that he began developing more discipline in the studio. "[78], Early in the Who's career, Moon got to know the Beatles. His work has appeared in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, and the magazines Q, Mojo, Classic Rock, Music Week and Prog. [88] "[We] went through the same stages everybody goes through the bloody drug corridor", he later reflected. [107] During the band's recording sabbatical between 1976 and 1978, Moon gained a considerable amount of weight. 1990. Clover, drummer for the fictional Stormy Tempest (played by Billy Fury) at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll, in 1973's That'll Be the Day. [153], Curbishley phoned the flat at around 5:00p.m. looking for Moon, and Dymond gave him the news. She cooked his favourite, lamb cutlets, after which they went to bed to watch a video of the camp horror film The Abominable Doctor Phibes. [126] Moon was occasionally violent towards Kim:[127] "if we went out after I had Mandy", she later said, "if someone talked to me, he'd lose it. [80] He reprised the role for the film's 1974 sequel, Stardust,[81] in Jim MacLaine's (David Essex) backing band the Stray Cats and played Uncle Ernie in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. I said: 'Right.' "Prisoner of Your Eyes," recorded during the Turbo sessions but not released until Screaming for Vengeance 's 2001 reissue . During some stages of a lunar eclipse, the Moon can appear reddish. Pseudos / Orthographe alternative: Busbee [US], Michael James Ryan Busbee, Mike Busbee He us the author of Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, Is This the Real Life: The Untold Story of Queen, Magnifico! Speaking of both Nilsson and Moon, Lennon said: "I think Harry might still be trying, poor bugger. Keith gasped at the soft voice, sounding exactly the same as the voice of the woman in his dream. Nevertheless, the Who powered through a nine-song set that . Six were digested, sufficient to cause his death; the other 26 were undigested when he died. All rights reserved. [109], During the opening date of the band's March 1976 US tour at the Boston Garden, Moon passed out over his drum kit after two numbers and the show was rescheduled. Moon was the bad boy of rock & roll, the most manic member of an aggressive and fabulously successful band, a full-throttle . The press party for the release of the Who's Next album was held at Tara. Moons final performance with the band took place on May 25, 1978, just months before the musicians premature death at the age of 32. Townshend called vocalist Roger Daltrey and then bassist John Entwistle, who was being interviewed at the time. [121] The incorrect date had been supplied by Moon in interviews before it was corrected by Fletcher to 1946. We were trying to kill ourselves.". According to Pamela Des Barres, Moon had nightmares (which woke them both) about the incident and said he had no right to be alive. In 1966 he worked with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, pianist Nicky Hopkins and future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on the instrumental "Beck's Bolero", which was the B-side to "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and appeared on the album Truth. I was working during the day, selling plaster. But his wild exterior distracted from a slate of intense addiction issues. His mother bought him a drum kit when he was 14 and it was soon apparent that he . And it was this version of Keith Moon that led to his untimely death on September 7 1978. A month earlier, The Who released Who Are You, their first new album in three years. He didn't do anything to talk of. [86] He spent his share of the band's income quickly, and was a regular at London clubs such as the Speakeasy (where manager Roy Flynn recalls having to throw him out on three occasions[87]) and The Bag O'Nails; the combination of pills and alcohol escalated into alcoholism and drug addiction later in his life. He was the drummer for the seminal and influential English rock band The Who. Keith Moons passionate, self-destructive legacy not only endures in rock music but haunts the classic rock band which still performs to this day. "People will be talking about Keith Moon 'til they die, man. "[44], Moon composed "I Need You", the instrumental "Cobwebs and Strange" (from the album A Quick One, 1966),[45] the single B-sides "In The City" (co-written with Entwistle)[46] and "Girl's Eyes" (from The Who Sell Out sessions featured on Thirty Years of Maximum R&B and a 1995 re-release of The Who Sell Out), "Dogs Part Two" (1969), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1969)[47] and "Waspman" (1972). [60] Subsequent live sets culminated in what the band later described as "auto-destructive art", in which band members (particularly Moon and Townshend) elaborately destroyed their equipment. Keith Moon's (original drummer for The Who) last words were "if you don't like it, you can fuck off!" So rock and roll. 1. Moon overdosed on prescribed Heminevrin, a strong sedative meant to ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms as he struggled to get sober. The destruction mesmerised him, and enhanced his public image as rock's premier hell-raiser. "A Quick One, While . Blues singer Bessie Smith died saying, "I'm going . He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen, and in 2011, Moon was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. [91] These acts, often fuelled by drugs and alcohol, were Moon's way of demonstrating his eccentricity; he enjoyed shocking the public with them. "[181], Clem Burke of Blondie has said "Early on all I cared about was Keith Moon and the Who. Open verdict. It was later revealed Moon had 26 undissolved Heminevrin tablets still in his stomach when he died. [157], Townshend persuaded Daltrey and Entwistle to carry on touring as The Who, although he later said that it was his means of coping with Moon's death and "completely irrational, bordering on insane". [59], At an early show at the Railway Tavern in Harrow, Townshend smashed his guitar after accidentally breaking it. But he ultimately died of a drug overdose on September 7, 1978. [25] In the words of the drummer, "they said go ahead, and I got behind this other guy's drums and did one song-'Road Runner.' This is especially true during the instrumental break going into the last chorus. Moon moved back to London in 1978, dying that September from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug intended to treat or prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Or why not treat yourself? "[180], "God bless his beautiful heart" Ozzy Osbourne told Sounds a month after the drummer's death. An addled Keith Moon f***ing with his kid was beyond forgiveness. The setting for "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (from Tommy) was credited to Moon;[49] the song was primarily written by Townshend and, although there is a misconception that Moon sings on it, the album version is Townshend's demo. [143], On 4 January 1970 Moon accidentally killed his friend, driver and bodyguard, Neil Boland, outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. After an investigation, the coroner ruled Boland's death an accident; Moon, having been charged with a number of offences, received an absolute discharge. Daltrey affectionately put the world to rights about Moon's importance to The Who in a conversation with this writer in 2016. Drummer Keith Moon (1947 - 1978), of British rock group The Who, in a radio studio at Broadcasting House, London, 12th July 1973. [21] The Beachcombers all had day jobs; Moon, who worked in the sales department at British Gypsum, had the keenest interest in turning professional. . "[27] Moon also clashed with Daltrey and Townshend: "We really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music", he said in a later interview. "So Sad About Us" gains much of its . Others, including Led Zeppelins former tour manager Richard Cole, remember Moon telling them he planned to wed Annette. In the great green room. I said, Whats wrong? He said, No, no, you suddenly realise who your friends are Moon didnt elaborate, and Carr later admitted the drummer looked, shagged out and like a caricature of himself., Inside the cinema, Keith seemed agitated and insisted they leave an hour into the movie. in Bournemouth. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour. Keith Moon was born on 23 August 1946, spending his formative years in Wembley, not far from the famous stadium. His music teacher wrote that Moon "has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off. This new edition includes a newly written After word that consiers Moon's lasting legacy . Moon and Entwistle left the Who for a week (with Moon hoping to join the Animals or the Nashville Teens), but they changed their minds and returned. [15] He also enjoyed singing, with a particular interest in Motown. Shooting is set to begin on the Moon pic in June, and the casting process has been rumbling along for a few months already. When the audience demanded he do it again, Moon kicked over his drum kit. Go! We'd go home and he'd start a fight with me. As the genius drummer for The Who, wild-man Moon is a non-. But the evening was also Keith Moon's last. During a lunar eclipse, Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the sunlight falling on the Moon. Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password. Sisters Tammy Slaton Says She Was Speechless After Caleb Willinghams Proposal, CNNs Kasie Hunt Gives Birth to Second Baby in Bathroom After 13-Minute Sudden Labor, Pregnant Kaley Cuoco Shares Sweet Selfies with Tom Pelphrey, Waiting For Baby Girl. [90] In addition to hotel rooms, Moon destroyed friends' homes and even his own, including throwing furniture from upper-storey windows. Chris Andrews (born Christopher Frederick Andrews in Romford on 15 October 1942) is an English-German singer-songwriter whose musical career started in the late 1950s. [19] In December 1962 he joined the Beachcombers, a semi-professional London cover band playing hits by groups such as the Shadows. Moon, so far gone in his addictions, was out of practice could barely keep up with the band. 3. Sadly it wasnt. Andrew Neill and Matthew Kent estimated that his destruction of hotel toilets and plumbing cost as much as 300,000 ($500,000). Keith died in London on 7 September 1978, from an accidental overdose . Van der Valk Miss Scarlet & The Duke Antiques Roadshow PBS Newshour Finding Your Roots He claims that, to ensure Harry listened to it, he told . New Musical Express's Roy Carr wrote, "Moonie, if you didn't have talent, I wouldn't care; but you have, which is why I'm not about to accept Two Sides of the Moon. 'My Generation' was a turning point for me because before that it was all the Charlie Watts and Ringo type of thing. The public Keith Moon was The Whos manic drummer and hellraising, daredevil comedian; a man who only ever lived in the moment. It was less helpful for his cocaine habit. Watch. "He was too much of a child himself. Like a train ride you couldn't stop. Featured Specials and Programs. [48] Moon also co-composed "The Ox" (an instrumental from their debut album, My Generation) with Townshend, Entwistle and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Posted by 6 years ago. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he recalled that the drummer "taught me how to break things. 25 JUDAS PRIEST / PRISONER OF YOUR EYES Judas Priest can write a goddamn ballad - "Last Rose of Summer" from Sin After Sin is the definition of a bittersweet kiss, and Turbo 's "Out in the Cold," so icy and forlorn, is secretly one of their best songs. The drummer explained that since a cherry bomb was about to explode, he had thrown it down the toilet and showed Townshend the case of cherry bombs.