Keith Moon

Keith Moon backstage before a Who concert in Ludwigshafen, Germany in 1967

Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English drummer who played for the rock band the Who from 1962 until his death in 1978 (from an overdose of clomethiazole). He was known for his unique style of drumming, and for his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour. Moon died three weeks after the release of the band's eighth studio album, Who Are You.

Quotes about Keith Moon

• During the last year of Keith's life, he was attempting to dry out quite a lot, and I was drying out with him. We were, in fact, involved in a mutual project. … I went to his hospital bedside on a couple of occasions just after he'd had a little ... epileptic fit of some description, following withdrawal of alcohol. ... The tragic thing was seeing Keith go back to drinking. You see, he … had never really decided to quit.
  • Graham Chapman, in an interview on Parkinson in October 1980 (series 10, episode 8)

• I seem to have met quite a few dangerous people in my time, in one way or another, and one sticks in my mind: a dear, old friend named Keith Moon, drummer for The Who. And I first met Keith at a ... charity soccer match in which Monty Python was playing the rest of the world, and Keith was playing for the rest of the world. And I was rather annoyed at the way that the players in this charity match were taking the game rather too seriously. And I come along dressed as the colonel figure from the series, and just generally strolled around making a nuisance of myself: ordering people about, standing in the goal … and that kind of thing. And Keith must have felt similarly bored with the way things were going that afternoon, ... [for he] left the field himself and drove back on in someone's car, and scored several goals before anyone could catch him. That cemented the relationship between us, I think, and the two of us went off to the bar afterwards and drank very, very, very, very, very, very, very many drinks, and I taught him there a game which I'd like to show this evening because I'm trying to popularise it around the world.
  • Graham Chapman, at a speaking engagement at Syracuse University, New York in the winter of 1988. In the game mentioned, one walks with coins wedged between one's thighs and perineum, and attempts to drop the coins into a glass on the floor.

• When Keith played, he had a mix of pure rock ’n’ roll with a bit of American surf music thrown in, and when he played with the Who you were left feeling like there could be a train disaster at any time. Who records were a really exciting listening experience. … I started to look into Keith Moon, and realised that he was totally unique when it came to the way he set his drums up. And then I saw The Kids Are Alright, and [I] could see his drums close up and hear the way he played, and I had to go and buy a bunch of Who records. It occurred to me that, simply, no one else played like him. And I was left with the idea that he never liked to play the same way twice. Which is really how a lot of jazz musicians think and play, with their constant improvisation. Keith had that sort of spirit, too, and at that time it was unique in rock music.
  • Todd Sucherman, who became Styx's drummer in 1995. Quoted in A Tribute to Keith Moon (There Is No Substitute) (Omnibus Press, 2016).

• I think it’s fairly safe to say that Keith was the first man to ever say he loved me, in his last days sadly, but I believed him, and I think he might have been the first man I was able to sincerely tell I felt the same way.
  • Pete Townshend, as quoted in A Tribute to Keith Moon (There Is No Substitute) (Omnibus Press, 2016).

External links

• Profile of Keith Moon at TheWho.com
• Keith Moon on IMDb