"Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects".
“Has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off."
These are a couple quotes from Keith John Moon’s secondary school teachers, and in many ways they seem to sum up his adult life as well. Moon was born August 23, 1946 in northwest London and grew up in Wembley England. He began playing drums around age 12, left school when he was 14 and was able to buy his own kit at around age 16, taking lessons from one of the loudest British rock drummers at the time – Screaming Lord Sutch’s Carlo Little. Moon adopted Little’s bombastic playing style, but was also heavily influenced by R&B, surf music and jazz, in particular the flamboyant jazz drummer Gene Krupa. He also idolized the Beach Boys, so much so that Roger Daltrey has said that Moon would have left The Who if given an opportunity to join the Beach Boys.
After performing with several London bands in the early ‘60s, Moon auditioned for and joined The Who in 1964, at age 17. Although, Moon quipped that he was never formally invited to join, and said late in life that he had "just been filling in for the last fifteen years." The addition of Moon changed the group, both musically and in terms of group chemistry. His unique drumming style and lack of conventional time-keeping, while creating an original sound, was also frustrating for his bandmates at times. Who producer Jon Astley said, "You didn't think he was keeping time, but he was." Also, due to Moon’s aggressive temperament, the group now had four members frequently in conflict as opposed to only the Daltrey-Pete Townshend clashes, as had been the case previously. Of Daltrey and Townshend - "We really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music," Moon said in a later interview. He and Townshend, though, were many times partners in crime when it came to practical jokes and destructive behavior.
"When you've got money and you do the kind of things I get up to, people laugh and say that you're eccentric, which is a polite way of saying you're fucking mad." — Keith Moon
From the start of his time with The Who, Moon led a self-destructive lifestyle, abusing alcohol and amphetamines, which led to other destructive behavior. When he was sober, he could be a gentle, loveable character but the drugs and drink would transform him. Starting off with moderate mayhem, such as kicking over his kit at the end of shows, Moon became infamous for destroying hotel rooms, friends homes, and even his own home, many times fueled by his alcohol and drug use. His favorite stunt was to explode hotel and changing room toilets, using cherry bombs, M-80 fireworks or even dynamite. It was estimated that his acts of vandalism caused 500k in damages to hotels alone. He was the lovable boozer and an attention seeker, and just wanted to make people laugh, albeit going way too far at times. A friend, Bill Curbishley, said that "he wouldn't walk into any room and just listen.
By 1972 his partying lifestyle had taken a toll on him physically, and he had stopped practicing for long periods of time. Instead of the fun-loving drunk he was a severe alcoholic and over the next few years regularly passed out during shows, one incident culminating in one of rocks greatest stories – during the Quadrophenia tour in 1973 at a show in Daly City California, Moon passed out twice during the show, the second time during Magic Bus. The band continued without him for several songs before Townshend asked, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good?" A drummer in the audience, Scot Halpin, came up and played the rest of the show. A true rock n roll fantasy moment.
In 1978 Moon moved into a Mayfair London flat at 9 Curzon Place, the same flat that ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas had died in four years earlier, at age 32. The lessee, musician Harry Nilsson, believed the flat was cursed and had reservations about letting it to Moon. Townshend disagreed, assuring him that "lightning wouldn't strike the same place twice". Moon was found dead in that same flat on September 7 1978, after taking 32 clomethiazole (sedative) pills. He was 32 years old. (Cue the Twilight Zone music). He died as he lived.
