Keith Moon(1946-1978)
- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Keith John Moon was born to working class parents in Wembley, London,
England, on the 23rd August, 1946. At the age of 12, he had joined the
Sea Cadet Corp and was given his first musical instrument, the bugle.
He left school by 15 and was in his first band, The Beachcombers; this
was around the summer of 1963. There was rumour that Keith was
self-taught, but history says otherwise, he was shown how to play by
the late Carlo Little (1938-2005), Carlo
was the original drummer in
The Rolling Stones and
Screaming Lord Sutch's band, The Savages.
By the age of 18, he had joined a local London band, The High Numbers;
this was to consist of what is now known as
The Who.
With his own unique style of drumming, rolling the sticks along the
skins as to banging the typical beat, he was to become extrovertly
charismatic in his life as well as his playing. With a desire, a need
if you like, to be the centre of attention, this hyperactive, and
largely, self destructive, personality became his own worst enemy.
With a flair for theatrical and ridiculous behaviour, he was the centre
point and self-publicist for, if they liked it or not,
The Who.
In the meantime, he had fathered a daughter, Mandy, to Kim. He may have
been the perfect showman, but behind the scenes, he was often a very
aggressive man to live around and with. Kim soon left him, taking their
young daughter with her.
He started to live the high life in California, with the likes of
John Lennon,
Harry Nilsson and
Ringo Starr, Ringo's son, Zak, was his
godson, ironically, it was Zak who played with
The Who in their later career, during the
nineties and beyond.
While in California, he made his only solo album, Two Sides of The
Moon, for MCA Records, a 1975 release, with many guest artists. Keith
rarely played the drums while away from The Who,
he sang on the album, and played the drums on only three of the tracks.
His on-stage aggression, destroying his drum kits while still playing
them and wrecking hotel rooms, apart from being an obvious publicity
stunt, was fuelled with an over use of drugs and alcohol. This
addictive side to his nature flowed into the 70s, playing against the
band, his family and friends. His drumming became irregular and
unpredictable. He put on weight, so much so as to have him sit in a
chair with the backrest toward the camera, to hide his paunch, on the
cover of the last The Who album with Keith, the
1978 Who are You.
He died in September 7th, 1978; his death was an accident, by the
overuse of the prescribed medicine that was designed to ease him off his
drink addiction. He died in the same London apartment as
Cass Elliot, from
The Mamas and the Papas, who had
died there some four years earlier.
England, on the 23rd August, 1946. At the age of 12, he had joined the
Sea Cadet Corp and was given his first musical instrument, the bugle.
He left school by 15 and was in his first band, The Beachcombers; this
was around the summer of 1963. There was rumour that Keith was
self-taught, but history says otherwise, he was shown how to play by
the late Carlo Little (1938-2005), Carlo
was the original drummer in
The Rolling Stones and
Screaming Lord Sutch's band, The Savages.
By the age of 18, he had joined a local London band, The High Numbers;
this was to consist of what is now known as
The Who.
With his own unique style of drumming, rolling the sticks along the
skins as to banging the typical beat, he was to become extrovertly
charismatic in his life as well as his playing. With a desire, a need
if you like, to be the centre of attention, this hyperactive, and
largely, self destructive, personality became his own worst enemy.
With a flair for theatrical and ridiculous behaviour, he was the centre
point and self-publicist for, if they liked it or not,
The Who.
In the meantime, he had fathered a daughter, Mandy, to Kim. He may have
been the perfect showman, but behind the scenes, he was often a very
aggressive man to live around and with. Kim soon left him, taking their
young daughter with her.
He started to live the high life in California, with the likes of
John Lennon,
Harry Nilsson and
Ringo Starr, Ringo's son, Zak, was his
godson, ironically, it was Zak who played with
The Who in their later career, during the
nineties and beyond.
While in California, he made his only solo album, Two Sides of The
Moon, for MCA Records, a 1975 release, with many guest artists. Keith
rarely played the drums while away from The Who,
he sang on the album, and played the drums on only three of the tracks.
His on-stage aggression, destroying his drum kits while still playing
them and wrecking hotel rooms, apart from being an obvious publicity
stunt, was fuelled with an over use of drugs and alcohol. This
addictive side to his nature flowed into the 70s, playing against the
band, his family and friends. His drumming became irregular and
unpredictable. He put on weight, so much so as to have him sit in a
chair with the backrest toward the camera, to hide his paunch, on the
cover of the last The Who album with Keith, the
1978 Who are You.
He died in September 7th, 1978; his death was an accident, by the
overuse of the prescribed medicine that was designed to ease him off his
drink addiction. He died in the same London apartment as
Cass Elliot, from
The Mamas and the Papas, who had
died there some four years earlier.