Tuesday 23rd August 2016 would
have been the 70th birthday of Keith Moon, former drummer of British
rock band The Who.
Affectionately known as “Moon the Loon”,
he was renown for his madcap antics and
eccentric behaviour, which included driving a Lincoln Continental into a
Holiday Inn swimming pool on his 20th birthday (this has often been wrongly
reported as being his 21st birthday, being probably due to the legal age of
drinking in the US being 21).
As a drummer he had few peers. Voted the
2nd greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone poll, he played the
skins similarly to his lifestyle, with a sense of wild abandon that blew the
minds of fans and admirers alike.
But he is mainly remembered for his life
of excessive drinking and partying which eventually took it’s toll. He regularly
smashed his drum kit on stage, and became infamous for trashing hotel rooms
along with the obligatory throwing the TV out of the window. He was also fascinated
with blowing up toilets with explosives (cherry bombs). Is it any wonder that
many hotel chains refused to accept him on their guest list.
Keith Moon drum solo
Moon died on 7th September
1978 at the age of 32 from an overdose of the prescription drug Heminevrin.
Used to combat alcoholism or
withdrawal symptoms from alcohol, he was given 100 tablets to use “as he
pleased” but to take no more than 3 a day.
32 were found in his system with just 6 digested (certainly enough to kill
an adult).
He died at a flat in London’s Mayfair, rented
to him by musician and singer Harry Nilsson.
Spookily that same flat was also the
location for “Mama” Cass Elliot’s death 4 years previously and Nilsson was
concerned about letting it to Moon, considering it to be cursed.
Fellow
Who member Pete Townsend wrongly assured him that “lightning would not strike
in the same place twice”. Sadly it did.
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