The Wonderful Keith Moon

DEFTLEFTHAND

What a brilliant man, he only lived 32 years but pioneered the throwing of televisions out of hotel bedrooms and the blowing up of toilet bowls. Also gave Led Zeppelin their famous name after a gig which they opened for The Who while they were still going under the name The New Yard Birds.

He was a good drummer to boot as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqnkTLViO8o

fryup

mad bastard, that made ollie reed look like a choirboy

Banjo String

Legend , Keith Moon makes 'badasses' like Liam or Noel Gallagher look like altar boys.

Didn't I read somewhere that he actually had ADHD, or so they reckon.

There's a good documentary about his final 24hrs.

FluffyAngel

He was in my class in School.he was never the full moon....

SEPT 23 1989

He drove a swimming pool into a rolls royce

They dont make them like that anymore

DEFTLEFTHAND

fryup wrote: »

mad bastard, that made ollie reed look like a choirboy

They got up to some lovely hell raising when they first met.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl940-3uu9A

donegaLroad

strange how John Bonham was also dead by the age of 32.

Free Hat

He wasn't just a good drummer, he was a great drummer. Perhaps the best ever?

galljga1

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

He drove a swimming pool into a rolls royce

They dont make them like that anymore

It took a particular skill set to do that.

padd b1975

He never fell out of a coconut tree and lived to tell the tale.

Keith Richards FTW.

Giblet

Free Hat wrote: »

He wasn't just a good drummer, he was a great drummer. Perhaps the best ever?

Not while John Bonham was around.

Mahogany Gaspipe

Yeah lets applaud the alcoholic because he was famous and spent his own money on the drink.

The Diabolical Monocle

isnt throwing a tv out a hotel window just an extremely reckless and dangerous thing to do.

it could potentially kill a gay Muslim immigrant child.

Filmer Paradise

Keith was gas alright.

Went to many Who concerts myself but never saw him live (too young).

Read all the stories about him & had a good laugh about it all.

Having said that, it must have been an absolute living Hell for anybody unfortunate enough to live with him.

Birneybau

Mahogany Gaspipe wrote: »

Yeah lets applaud the alcoholic because he was famous and spent his own money on the drink.

Narc

Discodog

Free Hat wrote: »

He wasn't just a good drummer, he was a great drummer. Perhaps the best ever?

Certainly the most unique. The Who never sounded as good without him. Pete Townsend described him as a nightmare to play with & that no two takes would ever be the same.

The Who's bassist, John Entwhistle, did it in style. Again totally unique, an incredible player & died in bed with a stripper after taking cocaine. It's fun to watch the Who's current bassist trying to copy Entwhistle.

LeBash

Class drummer. None of the replacements really covered what he did. Ringos nipper being the closest ive seen.

Filmer Paradise

Discodog wrote: »

Certainly the most unique. The Who never sounded as good without him. Pete Townsend described him as a nightmare to play with & that no two takes would ever be the same.

The Who's bassist, John Entwhistle, did it in style. Again totally unique, an incredible player & died in bed with a stripper after taking cocaine. It's fun to watch the Who's current bassist trying to copy Entwhistle.

I had to laugh at Roger Daltrey's reaction to it.

*Cockney accent* 'It's not a death any man should be ashaymed of!':D

Cold War Kid

Mahogany Gaspipe wrote: »

Yeah lets applaud the alcoholic because he was famous and spent his own money on the drink.

Yeh I don't get this "Legend" stuff about rock-stars whereas junkies/winos would just be deemed junkies/winos.

I'm not saying I don't think to myself "That person would have been some craic on a night out" in relation to Moon et al, or that I wouldn't be a bit "Wow" in relation to the punishment they could inflict on themselves and still function away grand, and perform brilliantly as musicians, or that I wouldn't piss myself laughing at some of the stuff.

But they ultimately died young - conferring "legend" status on them because of their excesses is a bit... teenage?

JupiterKid

Keith Moon was a legend alright - a superb drummer but a mad bastard as well. He had serious alcohol problems but I think it was actually an overdose of drugs that killed him in the end?

Jesus Wept

full time mad bastard

4zn76tysfajdxp

Cold War Kid wrote: »

But they ultimately died young - conferring "legend" status on them because of their excesses is a bit... teenage?

Of course, you don't mean ALL teenagers?

Schwiiing

Keith Moon was dead at 32.

A wasted life and wasted talent.

It's sad that people hold up a life of excess drugs and alcohol as something to be admired.

Discodog

Kieth puts a little too much gunpowder in his bass drum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVa4q-YVjD8

Mahogany Gaspipe

No doubt he left some positive memories; but I think that this thread, like many other re-visionary narratives, venerates the trail of destruction he left in his wake.

His behavior was responsible not only for his own death but that of a colleague of his.

Lesser drug/alcohol fueled behavior that occurs on the streets today by regular folk causes outrage and rightly so! Yet here, because Keithy was a rock and roll star it has become the stuff of legend, bizarre.

anncoates

He was a brilliant drummer and It's good to chuckle at the stories but I think there was probably something wrong with him. Perhaps something that might have been more readily diagnosed these days.

The guy caused the death of one of his best friends and beat his wife regularly, among other things. I don't think he was a well person.

The tale that did make me guiltily laugh was the one where Steve McQueen (his neighbor on LA) got a barring order against him to stop him calling in and invading his intense privacy. Moon apparently turned up to the meeting with McQueen's lawyers in full Nazi regalia.

Discodog

A lot of it is because we long for authentic real people & not the sanitised "talent show" version. No bands around today will have a 50th celebration tour & sell out.

I think that we have an instinctive bull**** detector that realises when bad behaviour is just faked. We seem to actually like real villains.

kneemos

anncoates wrote: »

He was a brilliant drummer and It's good to chuckle at the stories but I think there was probably something wrong with him. Perhaps something that might have been more readily diagnosed these days.

The guy caused the death of one of his best friends and beat his wife regularly, among other things. I don't think he was a well person.

The tale that did make me guiltily laugh was the one where Steve McQueen (his neighbor on LA) got a barring order against him to stop him calling in and invading his intense privacy. Moon apparently turned up to the meeting with McQueen's lawyers in full Nazi regalia.

McQueen was also a wife beater,or am I confusing him with somebody else?

anncoates

kneemos wrote: »

McQueen was also a wife beater,or am I confusing him with somebody else?

We'll, that's certainly debunked my entire post.

SEPT 23 1989

Schwiiing wrote: »

Keith Moon was dead at 32.

A wasted life and wasted talent.

It's sad that people hold up a life of excess drugs and alcohol as something to be admired.

Look at the state of music today without drugs and alcohol

these people burned bright for a short time but their art will be remembered and listened to forever

they destroyed themselves but look at what the left

I admire all of them

Cold War Kid

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Look at the state of music today without drugs and alcohol

these people burned bright for a short time but their art will be remembered and listened to forever

they destroyed themselves but look at what the left

I admire all of them

There's still brilliant music today and musicians are still drinking and taking drugs. There's this weird thing of pretending that the only music around today is X Factor shyte.

Drinking oneself to death/overdosing... bit weird to "admire" it but I guess it only affects them. And their surviving spouse if they had one. And their child(ren) if they had them.
As their peers who didn't die demonstrate, it's still possible to have left a brilliant legacy on music and not kill yourself.

Assaulting people and ****ing up businesses isn't admirable.

Bit of a "But it's coooooooool" vibe coming from you.

SEPT 23 1989

Cold War Kid wrote: »

There's still brilliant music today and musicians are still drinking and taking drugs. There's this weird thing of pretending that the only music around today is X Factor shyte.

Drinking oneself to death/overdosing... bit weird to "admire" it but I guess it only affects them. And their surviving spouse if they had one. And their child(ren) if they had them.
As their peers who didn't die demonstrate, it's still possible to have left a brilliant legacy on music and not kill yourself.

Assaulting people and ****ing up businesses isn't admirable.

Bit of a "But it's coooooooool" vibe coming from you.

too old for cool vibes:D

90% of the stuff i listen to and watch were heavily influenced by substance abuse

It goes hand in hand with the creative mind

I dont admire someone for dying but i recognise what they went through and left behind for us

Cold War Kid

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

90% of the stuff i listen to and watch were heavily influenced by substance abuse

It goes hand in hand with the creative mind

I dont admire someone for dying but i recognise what they went through and left behind for us

Shur same here. It's pretty much a given that drugs taken by the songwriter will make music better.

Discodog

Cold War Kid wrote: »

There's still brilliant music today and musicians are still drinking and taking drugs. There's this weird thing of pretending that the only music around today is X Factor shyte.

Drinking oneself to death/overdosing... bit weird to "admire" it but I guess it only affects them. And their surviving spouse if they had one. And their child(ren) if they had them.
As their peers who didn't die demonstrate, it's still possible to have left a brilliant legacy on music and not kill yourself.

Assaulting people and ****ing up businesses isn't admirable.

Bit of a "But it's coooooooool" vibe coming from you.

There is good music it & the performers will never pass the test of time like the Who, Stones, Beatles etc. They are still selling records & their fans aren't all oldies.

Where the Who really stand out is their ability to write songs about society. Won't Get Fooled Again is as appropriate now as the day it was written. You rarely hear a protest song today - or a student demo :pac:

AlekSmart

Cold War Kid wrote: »

There's still brilliant music today and musicians are still drinking and taking drugs. There's this weird thing of pretending that the only music around today is X Factor shyte.

Drinking oneself to death/overdosing... bit weird to "admire" it but I guess it only affects them. And their surviving spouse if they had one. And their child(ren) if they had them.
As their peers who didn't die demonstrate, it's still possible to have left a brilliant legacy on music and not kill yourself.

Assaulting people and ****ing up businesses isn't admirable.

Bit of a "But it's coooooooool" vibe coming from you.

All good sensible stuff,for sure...but then ye put on the cans,turn up the volume and immerse yerself in THIS and it all goes horribly wrong ......Thank God !!.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNeVHv3Mlg

Cold War Kid

AlekSmart wrote: »

All good sensible stuff,for sure...but then ye put on the cans,turn up the volume and immerse yerself in THIS and it all goes horribly wrong ......Thank God !!.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNeVHv3Mlg

Yeh I can't argue there in fairness.

eviltwin

Great drummer, would have been interesting to see his trajectory had he not died at such a young age. He's not a patch on Buddy Rich though.

Discodog

eviltwin wrote: »

Great drummer, would have been interesting to see his trajectory had he not died at such a young age. He's not a patch on Buddy Rich though.

Actually he is because they are completely different. Rich is the ultimate jazz drummer but not unique. No one played like Moon. He would add the most bizarre random fills. I have never heard anyone play like him & he was so unconventional that most bands wouldn't of wanted him.

Discodog

AlekSmart wrote: »

All good sensible stuff,for sure...but then ye put on the cans,turn up the volume and immerse yerself in THIS and it all goes horribly wrong ......Thank God !!.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNeVHv3Mlg

We all loved that track & dwelt on every word. We understood the idea of teenagers being wasted as in unemployed etc.

Then there was the bit in a BBC documentary where Townshend said that the line was written after Woodstock. He looked at the crowd & said They're all f..cking wasted :-)

4zn76tysfajdxp

Discodog wrote: »

Then there was the bit in a BBC documentary where Townshend said that the line was written after Woodstock. He looked at the crowd & said They're all f..cking wasted :-)

In fairness, he's always revising what inspires him.


Where's the book, Pete?


Where's the book?

Cienciano

Mahogany Gaspipe wrote: »

Yeah lets applaud the alcoholic because he was famous and spent his own money on the drink.

Yes. Just because he was an alcoholic doesn't mean he shouldn't celebrate him

Cold War Kid

Cienciano wrote: »

Yes. Just because he was an alcoholic doesn't mean he shouldn't celebrate him

I think they mean celebration of his excesses rather than of his music.

Cienciano

Cold War Kid wrote: »

I think they mean celebration of his excesses rather than of his music.

He was a rock star. That was his job.

Cold War Kid

Cienciano wrote: »

He was a rock star. That was his job.

Yeah but not to the extent of destruction towards others, and himself to the point of very premature death.

Mars Bar

Free Hat wrote: »

He wasn't just a good drummer, he was a great drummer. Perhaps the best ever?

He was no ginger baker

Filmer Paradise

Discodog wrote: »

Actually he is because they are completely different. Rich is the ultimate jazz drummer but not unique. No one played like Moon. He would add the most bizarre random fills. I have never heard anyone play like him & he was so unconventional that most bands wouldn't of wanted him.

True that. John Entwistle was truly the best bass player in the world & would've fitted like a glove into any of the major bands of the time.

A true musician's musician.

Keith was the best drummer for the Who though.

Discodog

Mars Bar wrote: »

He was no ginger baker

Again no comparison. There are a lot of great drummers but none played anything like Moon.

Technically he was an awful drummer. He couldn't do the basic of keeping time. But he sounded utterly amazing.

AllGunsBlazing

Aye, Pete Townshend was driven nearly demented by Moon's tendency to stray from the beat of the song. He was unique, but not necessarily a drummer's drummer.

Filmer Paradise

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

Aye, Pete Townshend was driven nearly demented by Moon's tendency to stray from the beat of the song. He was unique, but not necessarily a drummer's drummer.

In the late '70s Pete knew that Keith's drumming was not up to scratch & looked for ways to find a role him in the future.

He saw him as an ambassador for 'Who Movies', as they'd done Quadrophenia at that time & owned Shepperton studios at the time.

Roger Daltrey had played the lead role in 'McVicar' aswell, so I think Pete was trying to create other spinoffs from the band to accommadate Keith.

thecamcam

best drummer to rarely use a hi hat ever .

Mars Bar

Discodog wrote: »

Again no comparison. There are a lot of great drummers but none played anything like Moon.

Technically he was an awful drummer. He couldn't do the basic of keeping time. But he sounded utterly amazing.

Moon was good for The Who. He wouldn't have fitted in anywhere else IMO.
He was technically ****e, like you said.

Baker was just phenomenal though. He could play a multitude of styles and had an internal body clock like few others.
He was a mad bastard too. Made enemies every where he went. Blew money on copious amount of drugs. Married four times over. He went to Lagos in Nigeria when the country was in turmoil and went broke and had to flee the country.

Baker > Moon for me