The Story Of Keith Moon’s Life Before The Who

The Who wouldn’t have made it big if it weren’t for Keith Moon, and without the band, Moon’s drumming skills would’ve never become legendary.

That’s a true story to tell when he was just like any other drummer in the London circuit. His love for drumming developed late when he was already 15 years old and at that point, he’d jump from one band to another, playing in pubs and earning little money.

The Who’s official drummer didn’t begin with Moon. The title was given first to Harry Wilson, then replaced by Doug Sandom after a year of playing. Both didn’t drive The Who into instant greatness, and after a failed audition at Fontana Records, Sandom quit when Pete Townshend criticized his playing.

Soon enough, the two paths crossed when the band was looking for a stand-in drummer. Like a flick of the light, Moon was inducted as an official member of the group when he auditioned but was a bad trade for him since he was already playing as the drummer of another group named the Beachcombers. For a brief period, Moon even tried his best to fill both duties, until he got sick of it and pick The Who as his sole focus from then onwards.

Moon’s drive and passion for drumming became the missing piece of the puzzle that The Who has long been waiting for. Moon also addressed the band’s influence on him that made him play in his authentic, true self.

“Before, I had just been copying straight from records, but with The Who I had to develop a style of my own,” he said to Drum Magazine. “I took [the idea] from Gene Krupa with all the stick twiddling and thought it was great. The sticks used to fly out of my hands because I was sweating like a pig. They’d just slide out. All these things had an effect on the audience.”

After recruiting him as an official drummer, The Who blasted off and started a long and amazing journey as a foursome with skills far better than any other playing band. Each one of them could conclude that they made each other better, and without that twist of fate, The Who would’ve never made it in the first place.