Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Hal Blaine
Drummers The man Neil Peart called his "six favourite drummers": Wrecking Crew legend Hal Blaine
Clem Burke, Ancienne Belgique (AB), Brussels, Belgium, November 1998
Drummers "I've analyzed hundreds of players over the years. They're all a part of what I do": Clem Burke's 10 essential drum albums
The Monkees
Artists “He was not an actor, he was a singer-songwriter, and they told him he was going to write and record his own music. And basically, he was not allowed to do that": Micky Dolenz explains Mike Nesmith's "frustration" at being in The Monkees
Beatles Abbey Road Billboard on Sunset Strip
Bands "It was ugly, like watching a divorce between four people. After a while, I had to get out": Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on the recording of Abbey Road, track-by-track
Roger Taylor and Hank Marvin
Bands “Every one of them said yes without hesitation": Hank Marvin and Roger Taylor have just remade a '60s classic for charity
Lemmy in 1982
Artists “Hendrix was incredibly sexually magnetic on stage. He had a body like a snake”: Lemmy’s funny stories about Jimi, Ozzy, Little Richard and the crazy world of Motörhead
Getty Compile of Artist Pics
Artists “It’s one of the most affecting responses to death ever put on record”: 9 fresh long reads on tracks with astounding musical moments
  1. Artists
  2. Drummers

10 things you didn't know about Keith Moon

News
By Rhythm magazine published 20 March 2015

Well, you might know them – but they're still awesome Moonie facts!

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

His first dep job cost the band their gigs…

His first dep job cost the band their gigs…

Keith was 14 when he discovered drums and found his calling. He obviously made quick progress and his madcap style was there from the start. Keith’s boyhood drumming pal Gerry Evans told us, “I got in a little pop group out of Mill Hill and we were doing Wembley Town Hall on Monday nights. Keith would set my drums up and the agreement was I’d let him play. The trouble was as soon as he got on the drums it was all hell let loose, because he always played like that, from day one.”

Gerry worked at Paramount Music in London and it was he who enabled Keith to buy his first Premier kit, second-hand for £75. “When I was away on holiday,” Gerry adds ruefully, “he took my place in my band, the Escorts, and they lost all our gigs.”

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
He had drum lessons

He had drum lessons

The only handful of lessons the teenaged Keith took, apparently, were from London rock monster Carlo Little (founding drummer of Screaming Lord Sutch And The Savages). Carlo had a reputation as the most slamming drummer around and no doubt bolstered Keith’s natural tendency to power-drumming while emphasising the need to keep time.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
He pioneered the extended kit in rock

He pioneered the extended kit in rock

Keith’s famous Premier Red Glitter wrap kit (1965) had two of Premier’s unusually proportioned 14"x8" mounted toms, before in mid-1966 he got his first double bass drum Red Glitter Premier. Determined always to have the biggest kit, he soon had three top toms rather than two – all 14"x8"s which created an expansive, almost timpani-like signature tone. He also had three floor toms instead of two and placed one to his left, preceding the fusion style of the 1980s by well over a decade.

In 1968 Keith added a gong to the Champagne Silver kit heard on Live At Leeds (1970). From 1973 he added a set of four single-headed concert toms, thus ending up with 12 drums. This grew further in 1975 to the white kit with copper-plated hardware, to which was added timbales and further concert toms, making 16 drums, plus a pair of Premier timpani.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
He played Ringo on celluloid…

He played Ringo on celluloid…

In his finest moment on film, That’ll Be The Day (1973), set in a 1950s/’60s Butlin’s-style holiday camp, Keith channeled his friend Ringo for his portrayal of drummer JD Clover, of the fictional band Stray Cats (managed in the film by hustler Ringo). Starr had been serving out a Butlin’s summer residency when he was plucked away by The Beatles.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
He was almost replaced by a session drummer on The Who's first single.

He was almost replaced by a session drummer on The Who's first single.

On the first of The Who’s three 1965 singles, ‘I Can’t Explain’, producer Shel Talmy hired a session drummer as cover – as he had when recording The Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’, for that session bringing in Bobby Graham. However, as Townshend recalls, Keith, “jovially told the session drummer to ‘scarper’, which he did”, and proceeded to put in a performance as tight as Graham’s on the Kinks’ session.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
He pioneered playing to sequencer

He pioneered playing to sequencer

On the opening ‘Baba O’Riley’ and the epic ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ (Who’s Next, 1971) Keith nails the synth tracks while not losing one bit of his drive. Pete Townshend: “In my home studio I played Keith a few synthesiser-chopped rhythmic demo backing tracks.

It was a revelation how well and comfortably Keith was able to play along, and I realised this was how he had always played drums with The Who, following, rather than leading, the tempo set by John and myself.” In April 1971 The Who first tried this unheard-of technology live at the Young Vic. “Keith could play to a pre-recorded tempo exceptionally well,” adds Townshend, “Something that every good drummer can do today, but was unheard of in 1971.”

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
He didn't use hi-hats much…

He didn't use hi-hats much…

A unique element to Keith’s (early) set-ups was the lack of hi-hat. He did add a hi-hat in later years, but it wasn’t a big part of his drumset. Predominantly he used a lot of ride and a lot of crash. A good example of this is in the ‘Who Are You’ video of the band in the studio, and for the hi-hat 16ths, Keith is leaning over to the hi-hat set to his right.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Philly Joe Jones refused to teach him…

Philly Joe Jones refused to teach him…

When Miles Davis’ drummer Philly Joe Jones came to London in the ’60s, Keith sought him out for a lesson. Upon boasting to the American that he earned several thousands a week playing in the style he did for The Who, Philly admonished him to go away as anything he could show him would spoil it!

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
He did not drum much on his own solo album…

He did not drum much on his own solo album…

There are a number of theories as to why Moon was primarily vocalist on his 1975 solo album Two Sides Of The Moon. Keith had dismissed suggestions of a drum-centric album, as he largely considered drum solos tedious. Also, Cozy Powell was already considered the ‘Sandy Nelson of the 1970s’, with ‘Dance With The Devil’ in the British Top 20 over Christmas 1973.

On many selections, he chose to be backed by drummers other than himself, including Jim Keltner and Ringo Starr. A recently injured wrist could have been the reason for this, but it is also thought that Moon’s time-keeping may have been suffering through stimulant abuse. He may also have been hoping to enhance his emerging standing as an ‘all-round entertainer’, after presenting Radio One programme A Touch Of The Moon (1973); as well as acting appearances in Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels, That’ll Be The Day and Stardust.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Two Sides Of The Moon 2 could have happened...

Two Sides Of The Moon 2 could have happened...

The tracks, featuring Steve Cropper of Booker T and the MGs, comedian Peter Cook, Ringo Starr and future-Who drummer Kenney Jones. The tracks, including Randy Newman's ‘Naked Man’, Steve Cropper’s ‘Do Me Good’ and ‘Real Emotion’ were later included in a 1997 reissue of Two Sides Of The Moon.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Want more?

Want more?

Check out our 10 greatest Moonie moments feature here on Radar. And you can still pick up Rhythm’s Keith Moon special (February 2015) celebrating the life and legacy of the legendary Who drummer, digitally at for iOs and Android.

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
Categories
Drums
Rhythm magazine
Read more
Hal Blaine
The man Neil Peart called his "six favourite drummers": Wrecking Crew legend Hal Blaine
Clem Burke, Ancienne Belgique (AB), Brussels, Belgium, November 1998
"I've analyzed hundreds of players over the years. They're all a part of what I do": Clem Burke's 10 essential drum albums
The Monkees
“He was not an actor, he was a singer-songwriter, and they told him he was going to write and record his own music. And basically, he was not allowed to do that": Micky Dolenz explains Mike Nesmith's "frustration" at being in The Monkees
Beatles Abbey Road Billboard on Sunset Strip
"It was ugly, like watching a divorce between four people. After a while, I had to get out": Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on the recording of Abbey Road, track-by-track
Roger Taylor and Hank Marvin
“Every one of them said yes without hesitation": Hank Marvin and Roger Taylor have just remade a '60s classic for charity
Lemmy in 1982
“Hendrix was incredibly sexually magnetic on stage. He had a body like a snake”: Lemmy’s funny stories about Jimi, Ozzy, Little Richard and the crazy world of Motörhead
Latest in Drummers
Nick Banks performing with actual Pulp in 2023
"Can you believe this?": Watch Pulp drummer Nick Banks join tribute band Pulp’d at Fake Festival
Barry Keoghan
“I met him at his house and he played the drums for me”: As he prepares to play him in the Beatles biopics, Barry Keoghan has been studying Ringo Starr’s technique up close
Billy Cobham performs at Blue Note on February 23, 2024 in Milan, Italy
“Miles runs into the studio with his horn and shouts ‘hit the record button,’ and we were recording. We wrapped that album up by midday”: Billy Cobham on Miles Davis’s agile approach to recording
Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey is back in The Who. “I take responsibility for some of the confusion… Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised”, says Pete Townshend
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater
“I oversaw every element - not just the music and the lyrics and the melodies and the production, but also the merch and the fan clubs and everything”: Mike Portnoy talks about his years away from Dream Theater
Zak Starkey
“I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night”: Zak Starkey explains why he got fired from The Who
Latest in News
Sebastian Bach in his Skid Row days
“I sometimes do seven shows in a week. A week! I did 91 cities in 2024 — I’m not exaggerating. For an old man I think I deserve a little credit”: Why ex-Skid Row star Sebastian Bach is the hardest working man in showbiz
Sheeran Grohl Mayer
“Mayer on guitar, Grohl on drums. A lot of fun making this”: Ed Sheeran just revealed the cross-brand, multi-star pile-on he’s made for the F1 movie
Lindsey Buckingham Charli XCX
“Getting kinda saucy already”: Watch Lindsey Buckingham react as he checks out Charli XCX’s Von Dutch video for the first time... alongside his daughter
David Lee Roth in 1985
“The acrobatics. The sexuality. In his prime, he was the super frontman of all time”: The rock icon hailed by Gene Simmons as the GOAT
Money
From bedroom to billions… The Sunday Times Rich List 2025 just revealed the wealth and rankings of the UK’s biggest music stars
Lorde
“I love making bangers. Someone’s got to make them. I’m really proud when they come out of me”: Lorde reveals that she used the drums from Radiohead’s Reckoner while she was writing new single What Was That, and they probably weren’t too hard to find

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...