(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Thu 22 May 2025 22:00, UK
Drummers like Keith Moon come along once in a lifetime and leave quite a mark when they go. Fueled by amphetamines, anarchy, and rock and roll, Moon’s endlessly energetic drumming style was essential in establishing The Who as the poster boys of 1960s rock rebellion. Fittingly, for such an enigmatic artist with a penchant for chaos and destruction, Moon first joined the ranks of the mod rockers following a drunken meeting at a Greenford hotel in 1963, during which he managed to destroy a drum kit.
At that time, Moon was performing with various teenage rock outfits around London, mainly performing cover versions of popular tracks by the likes of The Shadows. These generic pop hits severely underutilised the drummer’s playing style. After all, Moon had been taught to play the drums by Carlo Little, who cut his teeth performing with Screaming Lord Sutch, making him one of Britain’s wildest–and loudest–performers.
In an attempt to satisfy his constant desire for chaos, along with his seemingly endless resources of energy, Moon began employing stage theatrics during his performances with The Beachcombers. In later years, he would cause a stir by putting explosives in his drum kit, igniting them at the end of The Who’s performances and, on one occasion, causing permanent hearing damage to Pete Townshend. However, in his Beachcomber days, he settled for shooting the lead singer with a starter’s pistol.
Still, performing with a group like The Beachcombers didn’t seem to suit Moon or his playing style, so he went in search of another group. “We were working a circuit which a group called the Detours used to work,” the drummer told Melody Maker in 1972, and people used to come up to us and say, ‘You’re not as good as the Detours. They’re a smashing band.’ After a couple of months of this, I was fed up of people saying this and I decided to have a look at them.”
“I had heard a rumour their drummer was leaving, too, so I went down to a pub near me, the Oldfield Hotel, to see them,” Moon continued. Immediately, the Detours proved to be a natural fit for the drummer. “They were outrageous,” he remembered. “All the groups at that time were smart, but onstage, the Detours had stage things made of leather, which were terrible. Pete looked very sullen. They were a bit frightening, and I was scared of them.”
Before too long, Moon decided to infiltrate the group, recalling, “I asked the manager of the club to introduce me to them. I was standing there, and I had a few drinks, so I thought I’d play. I crept around the side and asked Dave, the drummer, if I could do a couple of numbers. He said yes.” The drummer’s first performance was expectedly anarchic. “I must have been outrageous,” he shared.
“I had dyed ginger hair, ginger cord suit. I was horrible. I looked a right state,” Moon laughed. “I did a couple of numbers and broke the bass drum pedal, being rather heavy-handed.” Seemingly, though, this abrupt end to the performance earned Moon a spot in the band. “Nobody actually said I was in the group. I was just there and I’ve been there ever since,” the drummer said. Shortly thereafter, The Detours rebranded as The High Numbers, complete with a mod image, before eventually settling on the name The Who.
Keith Moon might never have been formally asked to join the group, but his individualistic drumming style quickly proved itself to be essential to the sound of The Who, becoming a highlight of their rock-centric early records. What’s more, the drummer continued to adapt and improve his stylings as the band progressed, until his tragic death in 1978, at the age of only 32. Rock’s brightest sparks always seem to burn out the quickest.
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