The Rookie discovers Keith Moon

Hello readers! In the second column for the music rookie, I’m going to write about one of my favourite musicians, The Who drummer, the late, great Keith John Moon. Now The Who, in spite of being an extremely influential band are not really that hyped or well known among people today - not like other classic rock bands like say, Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. But The Who, and in particular Moon and his eccentric genius, are what got me interested in classic rock in the first place. I can still remember the first time I heard them, simply because Bono of U2, another favourite band of mine, said that he counted The Who as one of the most important influences on U2. I remember putting in the Live at Leeds Cd in the stereo and being blown away by the sound of the thunderstorm that was emanating from the speakers. That was the day I became a classic rock convert.
A Wembley boy, this man drummed like no other, as he once famously said, “I’m still the best Keith Moon-style drummer in the world.” With a chaotic hyperactive style of drumming - and of life in general, he held his own on the stage alongside musicians such as Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, in what was the loudest rock and roll band of its era. Moon joined the Who when he was 17, graduating from being a bugle player to being a drummer at 14, being taught by one of the loudest drummers at the time, Carlo Little.

Keith started of with simple, basic 5 piece kits, but as his chaotic style’s demands got a bit too much for the rather Spartan kit, he moved on to a Premier double bass kit, and later on, to increasingly elaborate kits. The equipment change obviously influenced his playing style, making it even wilder, and helped him develop his trademark touches that defined the sound of The Who, with Keith Moon. What was so peculiar about his style was that he almost never played on his hi-hat cymbals, instead basing his grooves on his double bass with repeated patterns in the low end with eighth note flams, with a wall of sound created by riding his crash/ride cymbals. On this rather elaborate base, he would build his fills with hard hitting machine gun tom-tom fire and cymbal accents. If you are feeling confused with this description, look above at the diagram to get a better idea, plus there are a few definitions below to help too:

For the gear fanatics, his classic set up consisted of two 14x22 inch bass drums, three 8x14 (Tuna Can) mounted toms, two 16x16 floor toms, a 5x14 metal snare (usually a Ludwig Supraphonic), and one extra floor tom of several different sizes (but mainly 16x18 or 16x16). Moon’s classic cymbal setup consisted of two Paiste 18” crashes and one 20” ride. In 1973, Moon added a second row of tom-toms (first four, then six) and then, in 1975, two more timbales.

When he wasn’t demolishing toilets with cherry bombs or driving Rolls Royces into hotel swimming pools, he was giving rock drumming a new definition with his chaotic and (sometimes literally) explosive drumming. To appreciate classic rock drumming (and classic rock by itself too) at its best, look no further than the Live At Leeds album by The Who, also considered to be one of the best live albums in rock as well.

Flam: A flam is two notes played almost together with the slightly louder note following the softer one.

Riding: You ride cymbals when you roll on them to create a continuous wall of sound.