
There’s a great story reported by RollingStone.com that says the London Olympic Committee has approached Keith Moon’s agent to see if the drummer would like to take part in the summer’s festivities?
It is of course refreshing that the Olympic Committee is not being ageist, and is prepared to overlook Moon’s past bad behaviour at parties. In the seventies this included driving his car into a hotel swimming pool.
They have clearly been swayed by the fact that Moon has cleaned up his act considerably in the last 34 years, with his indiscretions being relatively few, what with his being dead and everything.
There’s a terrific quote from Moon’s agent who appears to have taken it all in good humour. “I emailed back saying Keith now resides in Golders Green crematorium, having lived up to the Who’s anthemic line ‘I hope I die before I get old”. If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him.”
There is no truth in the rumour that the same committee have approached the representatives of Jimi Hendrix, John Entwhistle and Jerry Garcia to ask them to reform The Grateful Dead….
There are two Keith Moon books I can recommend to those who like their rock biographies. Dear Boy is a wonderful account of Moon’s life. The author, Tony Fletcher attempts to debunk some of the myths that have arisen around Moon, including the “Car in hotel swimming pool” story. As Fletcher found out however, the trouble is, Townsend insists he saw a car in a swimming pool! It’s difficult to know what to believe…
The other is Moon the Loon. Now out of print, this paperback was written by Moon’s personal assistant Dougal Butler, published in 1981 and gives a very funny account of the great man. Read them in tandem, and there’s a fun and potentially factually accurate account of the great man.
If you’re quick, you might finish them both just in time to see him perform at the London Olympics. I hear Freddie Mercury is on standby…
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