Keith Moon

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Keith Moon at a concert in 1975

Keith John Moon (born August 23, 1946 in London , United Kingdom , † September 7, 1978 in Mayfair , London, England) was a British musician who was the drummer of the rock group The Who until his death . With his extremely dynamic, fast playing and his exalted demeanor, he was one of the most conspicuous drummers of his time.

Career

Keith Moon began playing the drums at the age of fifteen, inspired by TV appearances by extroverted big band drummers and the movie Drum Crazy with the popular American jazz drummer Gene Krupa . He found his first and only teacher in Carlo Little, who played as a drummer with London stars like Screaming Lord Sutch and Alexis Korner and lived in Moon's neighborhood. Moon initially worked in a few student groups before he joined the semi-professional cover band "The Beachcombers" in 1963. Keith Moon joined the rock group "The Who" in the spring of 1964 after the much older drummer Doug Sandom had to leave the group under pressure from guitarist Pete Townshend . At the beginning of the career of "The Who" Keith Moon developed ritual orgies of destruction together with Townshend at the end of their performances to increase publicity. Although he did not appear as a composer or singer in "The Who", Moon was an important part of the group due to his exalted and show-like style. In contrast to the conventional drummers of the beat era, Moon not only formed a rhythmic foundation, but also introduced the drums as a solo instrument into the rock scene.

Similar to the drummer of the Beatles Ringo Starr , Moon was considered the group's joker, even if he showed much wilder appearances and a more excessive lifestyle: Like the drummer of the R&B group The Pretty Things , Viv Prince, he was noticed by heavy drug and alcohol consumption and destroyed his drums as well as various hotel and apartment furnishings after almost every important appearance - long before this became the behavioral standard of aspiring rock stars. So he got his nickname Moon the Loon (loon short for lunatic: "Moon, the madman").

Keith Moon died in 1978 of an overdose of the sedative clomethiazole ("Heminevrin"), which he was taking to get rid of his alcohol addiction. He was cremated in Golders Green Crematorium , the oldest crematorium in London , and his ashes were anonymously buried there.

The musician was married to the model Kim Kerrigan (1948-2006) from 1966 to 1973 and has a daughter, Amanda Jane (born July 12, 1966). His successor at The Who was Kenney Jones (formerly The Small Faces , The Faces ).

In 2004, Moon was posthumously voted "Greatest Rowdy in Rock Music" by the British music magazine Q. He relegated Prince , Marilyn Manson and Elvis Presley to their places. The Rolling Stone placed Moon in 2016 to second place of the 100 best drummers of all time (behind John Bonham of Led Zeppelin ).

Moons drums

It is noteworthy that Keith Moon managed almost completely without the usual hi-hat in his drumming . The energetic double foot drum ( double bass ) became his trademark.

Solo work

literature

Web links

Commons : Keith Moon  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. Dave Marsh: Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. London: Plexus, 1983. pp. 124-126.
  2. ^ MacMillan Dictionary
  3. ↑ Memorial plaque at Golders Green Crematorium in Greater London on: Find a Grave .
  4. 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. Rolling Stone , March 31, 2016, accessed August 6, 2017 .