{"id":1831,"date":"2020-04-26T20:54:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T20:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2020-04-26T20:57:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T20:57:54","slug":"ftv-moon-the-loon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1831","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Moon the Loon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was on one of those TV shows that tried to be \u2018really hip\u2019 back in the 1970s, yet some how still seemed like a typical TV musical variety show, just aimed at a younger audience.\u00a0 This show would do little vignettes of comedy between popular music acts of the day.\u00a0 The guest host was always drawn from the \u2018who\u2019s hot right now\u2019 list of celebrities who the network hoped would draw in the younger demographic.\u00a0 The guest host of this particular installment was Keith Moon, drummer for one of the biggest bands around, The Who.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember anybody else who appeared on this particular show, but I remember two things very clearly about Moon\u2019s appearance.\u00a0 My first thought was, \u201cHow often does a drummer become famous enough to host a nationally broadcast TV show without the rest of his band taking part?\u201d\u00a0 Moon\u2019s propensity for zany antics was well known so my second thought was, \u201cI wonder if he will be able to be funny enough for a network TV show?\u201d\u00a0 Such was Moon\u2019s fame at the time.\u00a0 Yes, he was able to spin his time with The Who into off shoot appearances like this but sadly, no, he wasn\u2019t able to be particularly funny on TV.\u00a0 Doing \u2018zany things\u2019 that might be funny in some contexts was Moon\u2019s fortay.\u00a0 Putting him in front of a TV camera hoping he would (do something zany) did not guarantee that he would actually be \u2018funny\u2019.\u00a0 As my father reminded me from time to time, \u201cBeing a smart aleck isn\u2019t the same as being funny.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On this occasion, I felt embarrassed for Keith Moon as the concept of \u2018zany equals funny\u2019 dissolved before our very eyes.\u00a0 Atypically (for most flashy drummers), Moon always said he hated drum solos, yet on this show, he sat behind his clear acrylic drum kit (it had been made exclusively for TV appearances) and played a solo.\u00a0 Luckily he avoided hitting the floor tom that had live goldfish swimming about inside it (which enraged pet lovers everywhere – imagine how they would have reacted had he actually hit the fish tank drum!\u00a0 Knowing Moon, if they had told him not to, he probably would have).\u00a0 Ironically, it didn\u2019t matter to Keith Moon because looking back at his tragically short life now, we can see that Keith Moon was completely immune to embarrassment and loved nothing more than to be the center of attention.\u00a0 We can\u2019t ignore that Moon\u2019s frenetic lifestyle would do him in much too young, but in this case, we will focus on how he became a famous drummer in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Keith Moon\u2019s parents were as sane and normal as one could expect people who survived the deprivations of World War II England to be.\u00a0 His father was a farmer, and as such could have sat out the war at home as farming was considered an \u2018essential occupation\u2019.\u00a0 Alf Moon would have none of this (\u201cthe coward\u2019s way out,\u201d he called it).\u00a0 He did not particularly like farming anyway and wanted to experience city life.\u00a0 When little Keith graced Alf and Kit with his presence after the war, he was an energetic boy who loved nothing more than to sit by the wind up Victorola spinning 78s.\u00a0 Knowing what a live-wire he could be, his parents were always surprised when his school teachers deemed him a \u2018wonderful boy\u2019.\u00a0 When he was involved in school performances, it was obvious to all that he loved the attention, but there were limits to what school could do for Keith.\u00a0 A school chum of his recalled Keith\u2019s attitude toward school was, \u201cI go to school and if I don\u2019t learn anything, who gives a toss anyway?\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps it was his ability to charm everyone around him, even when he was making mischief at school, that would later give him carte blanche to behave in such an outrageous manner with no apologies offered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When it came time for Keith to sit for his 11+ exams, fate seemed to stack up against him on all fronts.\u00a0 The 11+ was an educational fork in the road that in the English school system of the 1950s would determine if one would ascend to Grammar School (which might lead to a white collar career in his future) or to the Secondary Modern School (seen by most as a dumping ground for those destined to occupy the lower rungs of the workforce ladder).\u00a0 Sidney Poirtier\u2019s film, <\/span>To Sir With Love,<\/span><\/i> was a cinematic peek at life in an urban Secondary Modern School.\u00a0 Because his birth date fell nine days short of the cut off point, Keith took the 11+ exam when he was on the young side by nearly a full year.\u00a0 His apathetic approach to school coupled with his young age all but guaranteed he would fail the 11+ and be shunted to Secondary school.\u00a0 Though he was grouped with the \u2018A class\u2019 (those students deemed to be of keen mind and likely able to succeed in school), he struggled to keep up.\u00a0 Moon had always had a short attention span and to compensate he became the quip spouting class clown.\u00a0 He continued listening to music on the wind up record player and to the Goons comedy acts on the radio (an activity the whole family shared).\u00a0 He further cemented his reputation as a cut up around school by replicating the Goons material word for word.\u00a0 Being young and somewhat small in stature, Keith found a way to avoid being bullied by making the tough kids in school laugh, but he could also punch his way out of trouble if he had to.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His first instrument was actually the bugle he attempted to play when he joined the Sea Cadet Corps, which led him to the trumpet (which he never learned to play very well).\u00a0 When he switched over to drums, it was the big bass drum the diminutive Moon would bang away on as the Cadets practiced their marching.\u00a0 Hearing Billy Kidd and the Pirates was a watershed moment in Keith\u2019s rock and roll education.\u00a0 While early British rock drummers were more scarce than hen\u2019s teeth (most recording drummers had jazz and big band music backgrounds and no particular love of rock music), Elvis Presley\u2019s drummer, D.J. Fontana, made a big impression on young Keith.\u00a0 Seeing Sal Mineo portray Gene Krupa\u2019s frenetic, gesticulating style in the biopic <\/span>Drum Crazy<\/span><\/i> also played a major part in how Moon would attack the drums as much as he played them.\u00a0 Before he could embark on a career as a drummer, he, of course, would have to own a drum kit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Moon\u2019s road to owning his first kit began when he walked off the street into the Paramount Music store and met Gerry Evans.\u00a0 The two school washouts who loved the drums bonded and\u00a0 became fast friends.\u00a0 Evans invited the fourteen year old Keith to his home to let him have a go at playing his kit.\u00a0 Evans recalled, \u201cThis bloke, he got on a drum set and he was Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson immediately, he was like a madman let loose on a drum kit with no idea of what he was doing.\u00a0 He was just hitting everything in sight, and making a load of noise.\u00a0 To me it was, a) the thing that you don\u2019t do, and b) it sounded like rubbish.\u00a0 It was like dealing with a madman.\u00a0 There was no way that this guy was going to be a professional drummer, it was impossible, because he didn\u2019t have a clue, he was like the worst drummer you\u2019d ever seen in your life.\u201d\u00a0 Moon couldn\u2019t follow Evans\u2019 advice to get a kit and start practicing because he didn\u2019t have a job.\u00a0 While Evans was at work, Moon would wander the streets of Soho pilfering things here and there.\u00a0 He would then hook up with Evans after work for more of the same.\u00a0 Gerry was somewhat mortified at the number of pranks that Moon played but never saw them as malicious;\u00a0 just the manifestations of a bored, hyperactive boy with no powers of concentration.\u00a0 Evans also spent a lot of time apologizing to his friends and neighbors for Moon\u2019s latest antics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Life for Moon and Evans revolved around music and how they would become famous playing the drums in a band.\u00a0 When Evans hooked up with some musicians looking for a drummer, Moon came along for the ride.\u00a0 When The Escorts would rehearse, Moon would help Evans set up his kit and occasionally the band would let him bang out a few tunes.\u00a0 He was still a wildman and Evans was definitely a better time keeper, but because Keith made the band laugh, he became kind of an honorary member.\u00a0 When Moon finally landed a job at Ultra Electronics (he wasn\u2019t school material, but he wasn\u2019t dumb either – he found he had what it took to work with electronics, even if the 9 to 5 job thing drove him nuts).\u00a0 With at least some income assured, Evans put him on to a used blue Premier drum kit that Moon could pay for on time.\u00a0 Buying on HP (Hire Purchase it was called) required a signature from his parents.\u00a0 Alf and Kit saw something in Keith\u2019s passion for the drums and thought perhaps it would give him something to focus on.\u00a0 When they got the drums home and set up, Keith again, as Evans stated, \u2018Attacked them like a complete madman.\u00a0 All out of time, like a maniac.\u201d\u00a0 Moon wasn\u2019t a drummer yet, but at least he now had a proper drum kit to practice on.\u00a0 Eventually the drums migrated to his bedroom and thus began his drum education.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When later asked how he came to be a drummer, Moon usually deflected the question until one\u00a0 interview he gave in 1975.\u00a0 What Moon told <\/span>Circus<\/span><\/i> magazine was, \u201cI found out that I really could not do anything else.\u00a0 I tried several things and this was the only one I enjoyed doing.\u201d\u00a0 He always professed that his drumming skills were innate and that he never took a lesson, but that only holds true if one discounts Carlo Little, the drummer with Screaming Lord Such and the Savages.\u00a0 Little had played proper drums in an Army band and after his national service, he\u00a0 quickly became one of the first true English rock drummers of note.\u00a0 Getting Little to give him lessons was another typical Keith Moon adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Keith was practicing at home but knew he had to watch other drummers to pick up some tips.\u00a0 Moon was too young to gain entry to the local pubs to see live music, but he still managed to talk his way into the Oldfield.\u00a0 Charmed by the fifteen year old, manager Louie Hunt invited the polite young man (who called him \u2018Sir\u2019) to visit anytime, as long as he didn\u2019t stray too far from the edge of the stage.\u00a0 As 1961 turned to 1962, Moon continued his routine until he and Evans attended a Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages show at Wembley Town Hall in June.\u00a0 The show marked a turning point in Moon\u2019s education on how to be a proper rock and roll drummer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After their set was done, Evans was surprised when Moon introduced himself to Carlo Little backstage and asked if he would be willing to give him drum lessons.\u00a0 Little told him, \u201cI\u2019m not a teacher, mate.\u00a0 I\u2019m self-taught, I probably could do with some lessons meself.\u201d\u00a0 Moon persisted: \u201cNo.\u00a0 You\u2019re fantastic.\u00a0 You really are.\u00a0 Me and my friends come and see you all the time,\u00a0 The way you hit the bass drum . . .\u201d\u00a0 Little thought it over and finally told Moon, \u201cI can only teach you what I know.\u00a0 Ten bob for thirty minutes.\u00a0 Wednesday at seven.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the address.\u201d\u00a0 Moon managed to cut the cost down a little by telling Evans that if he paid part of the fee, Keith would be glad to show him everything Little taught him.\u00a0 The biggest revelation Little imparted was the importance of the bass drum patterns that drove everything else.\u00a0 The lessons went on for a while and Little felt that his pupil was learning, but still had a long way to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As fate would have it, later that summer the Evans family went on holiday and The Escorts had several gigs to fill.\u00a0 The excited Keith Moon had improved to the point where he was asked to fill in for Evans.\u00a0 Moon was loud and wild to the point that some of the teen club owners canceled future engagements until Evans returned.\u00a0 The band was relieved when their steady drummer came back, but they were interested enough in Moon\u2019s \u2018Carlo Little\u2019 style of playing.\u00a0 The Escorts continued to play some jobs with Keith on drums without bothering to tell Evans.\u00a0 At seventeen years of age, Evans found himself managing the first all drum music store in the city, called (naturally) Drum City.\u00a0 He was able to juggle playing with the Escorts for a while but was eventually replaced by his pal.\u00a0 By all accounts, Evans never knew that he was being phased out by Keith Moon before the nature of his Drum City job made the transition permanent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The two drummer\u2019s friendship declined as Evans got tired of Moon\u2019s constant destructive pranking.\u00a0 When Moon visited Drum City with an empty snare drum case and left with a full one (without taking the time to actually buy something), it proved to be the last straw.\u00a0 Moon never had many close friends and when he did manage to form a closer relationship with someone, the friendship wore thin over time.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter to Keith because he had Carlo Little\u2019s drum style to perfect, The Escorts to play the drums with, and a whole world to tear up with his pranks.\u00a0 In part two of <\/span>Moon the Loon<\/span><\/i>, we will look at the next act in Keith Moon\u2019s professional life as the drummer in a band he helped become one of the biggest in the world:\u00a0 The Who.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video – Once The Who got rolling, I<\/em> Can’t Explain<\/em>\u00a0was their first single.<\/span><\/p>\n

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